Disclaimer: Nothing about or associated to Transformers belongeth to me. Unfortunately.
The silence of the room was absolute, thick enough to be cut cleanly by the blade of a guillotine yet which of the two was the executioner was unclear. Bumblebee's doorwings quivered faintly, the nearly invisible motion betraying his fear. And his anger. He felt it bubbling up from the pit of his tank, a painful but empowering heat he found difficult to keep in line.
He took a slow and careful step forward, violet light casting bright highlights and dark shadows down the seams of his front. It hid the light quivering of his plating well, the purple optics of the cell's captive never leaving his face. It may have been the heat of the moment, or just the panic in his systems at the time, but Bumblebee could have sworn his attacker's optics had been the fiery crimson standard to the Decetpticons.
He found he didn't really care in that moment about something as silly as colour, not with this mech slumped over a handful of meters away. Bumblebee took the opportunity to study the mech, moving up from balanced pedes, tracing the titanium chain links added recently to keep him firmly cemented to the far wall. Every inch was in iridescent black, not truly matte nor glossy, but a point in between. Sharp turns and pointed angles littered his legs, arms, sides, everywhere. It reminded the scout vaguely of a quilled mammal he had accidentally run over on the road once.
Optics slowly creeping closer to his attackers face, he was vaguely surprised to find that he felt more numb than anything else. Wasn't he supposed to be furious? Scared? He thought he should have felt at least a small glimmer of hatred in his spark, but apart from the heat in his tanks he found himself in an odd state of unfeelingness. Blank.
If this had been Cybertron in the war's early vorns, Zosimo could have been the poster mech for the Decepticon Cause. Dangerous angles, talons and denta of a beast, and what he remembered to be a gleam of malice in a pure red gaze. The gleam was curiously vacant now, in optics that couldn't decide whether they wanted to be red or blue.
Zosimo sat quietly throughout the inspection, unwilling to look away but not risking the scout bolting if he were to move. Bumblebee had come looking for him, for a purpose he was unclear of but by no means unhappy about. It could be his moment, his chance.
Yes, he felt guilty for what he had done. He regretted it, not the act, but the way it was carried out. He should have waited, watched from the sidelines of battle and allowed his unique flare to catch his Bee's interest. Instead he had rushed in like a fool, a criminal with only one thing in mind.
That didn't mean he had forgotten the betrayal, the abandonment, the lies. Forgiveness was coming easier to him recently, but forgetfulness was not so easy. He couldn't dare to hope that the same could be said for Bumblebee, not yet. It was too soon, too fresh.
Zosimo takes a shallow invent. "I…I know it-it's not what you want to hear. Especially not from me. But… Bee… I can't tell you how so-".
"How what?" Bumblebee hissed quietly, static biting at the edges of his voice but seemed to agree with his disgust. "Sorry? You're trying, you dare, to try and apologize for this? Try to use words and make it all go away?"
Zosimo let out a quiet mechanical whine, a sad noise echoing his rejection but finding he well deserved it.
"What makes you think I want anything from you?"
"Well… if not to see me then why-"
"Stop." Bumblebee demanded. "You don't get to ask me a Primus damned thing. All I want from you are answers, to hear what feeble excuses you have for what you did to me." His voice curdled with loathing. "And then I'm going to leave, and I'm never going to have to see you again. Ever."
Bumblebee stepped as close as he could to the bars, mask drawing down over his face to try and maintain the courage he felt slipping away. It was the optics, they held true sorrow and regret. But murderers are not acquitted if the crime was a passionate one, and neither would this be.
"I don't really care why you were here, what you were after in the first place. You had the option to keep going. To crawl like a turborat through those vents right on by that cover. I would never had heard you, never seen you. But you chose to revel yourself, you chose to jump in like a monster and take something you wanted. I am not some fucking object, you had no right. No fucking right!"
It was getting hard for Bee to keep his voice down, conscious that Sideswipe was beginning to stir in his recharge behind him. He didn't have much time, ratchet or Optimus must have noticed he was gone by now. He took a deep intake and focused on what was important.
"All I want from you, Decepticon." He whispered. "Is a reason. Why?"
Zosimo seemed taken aback for a moment, ill prepared for the tide of anger rolling off his once-friend's EM field. His claws clacked against the floor, helm twitching as he held back his attitude and actually thought about what Bee wanted.
'It' wanted him to tell the scout to piss off, that he was just a pretty bot in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was still hungry, the Praxian, despite the extra nanites and minerals enriching his energon, had not been enough. Bee was the only one Sam was willing to fight against 'It' for, if for nothing more than the answers the scout was entitled to.
He tried to compose himself, make his words roll out clear and precise, but one he'd opened his mouth the words just kept coming.
"I w-was so hungry, so-so hungry. I haven't eaten in… I can't remember. I-I can't remember the last time I ate." He gave an airy humorless laugh.
"You smell so good, even now I can smell the energon I your cables. Asking me to ignore that would be like asking a crack addict to get clean. I couldn't, I needed you. I still need you so much… I-"His voice caught. He was getting off track.
"No, no. It's not your fault, this wasn't your fault. This was mine. I was an idiot, Bee. I thought I could resist, thought I could forget about you but I can't. I can't. Don't blame yourself for a second, it was me. All me. I remember you, I need you, you were the only one that was ever there for me. The real me."
Bumblebee warbled angrily, confusion rattling his processors. "I've never seen your pitiful chassis in my life, mech. Who the Pit do you think I am? How can you speak to me like you know me, I don't keep company with rapists." While he said this Zosimo began shaking his helm vigorously in refusal.
"No no no, I remember. I know. You were there when I got my first ticket, I was scared out of my mind that dad was going to kill me. But you were there to reassure me, you told me it would be okay, and you were right. I was only grounded for a week. You were there to hold me against your chest and let me bawl my eyes out when the dog died in that movie with the zombies. You nuzzled my head when I found out about Mikaela, told me I didn't need her and you were right. I didn't need her at all, only you. Only you. You said you cared, said you loved me."
Bumblebee stood in stunned silence, even as the rambling continued.
"You said you loved me, I didn't know what you meant at the time. I thought you meant like a brother, until I started feeling like that too. Brothers don't feel that way towards each other, it was deeper than that. I never told you it back… and…. And I shouldn't torture you by saying so, Primus knows you don't shouldn't hear it. But I loved you too. I love you too. I couldn't help it, even though I was flesh and you were metal, it didn't matter. I love you, Bee" He whispered.
When he quieted he couldn't look Bumblebee in the optics, keeping his helm low. The silence was as tense as it was in the start, but now with a growing rumble of thunder rattling from the scout's chest.
"Who are you… who the FRAG ARE YOU? What are… who told you that? Who told you any of that?" He stalled when Zosimo's purple optics rose to meet his, a familiar glint of hopefulness in them.
"No. Oh hell no. Impossible. That's not possible. They, they were dreams. THEY WERE DREAMS! You're a stranger, a psycho! How do you know about that? That was my SAM, a HUMAN, my partner! Did you torture him, get him to tell you these things!? I know you bastards took him! How do you KNOW?"
"Bee-"
"NO! I hate you, with every cable and wire in my frame I swear to it I hate you! I love Sam, SAM. You are just some delusional, sick glitch. I don't know you, I've never met you, how the Pit could I ever love you? You're not him, never him!"
He wrapped his fists around the bars, ignoring the stinging electricity they sent through his servos as his optics blazed in fury. He refused to hold back his cries, furious tears streaming down his covered face in the wake of the stress. His helm felt light, he felt like he was going to crash.
"What did you do!?Frag what you did to me, what did you do to him? Where is my Sam? Where are you lot keeping him? Where!?"
Bumblebee's questions were halted by a deep horn that reverberated around the hanger's walls. They had finally found his empty med-berth. He let out a surprised squawk and wriggled in a panic when a pair of thin silver arms wrapped tightly around his waist and pulled him away. He hissed, cussing angrily and clawing his blunt digits on the plating.
"Shhh, shhh Bumblebee! Bumblebee it's okay, mechling. It's going to be okay, but we gotta go. We gotta leave. Right now." Sideswipe hushed in an urgent tone. He was slowly able to reverse his way from the cell, dragging Bumblebee along with him. There were no protests coming from Zosimo in the cell, who sat with his optics a dull burgundy and murmurs flowing freely from his lips.
"Sideswipe, no! He knows! He knows something! I know he does Sides, please! I know!" Bumblebee whined, stress from the early wakening and straining situation pushing his frame to exhaustion. He hung limp, dragging his pedes in front of him as he was reversed out of the hanger and the door locked firmly behind them.
He looked up from his hushing of Bumblebee's whines at the call of his name. Striding towards them at a half trot-half run were Optimus and Jazz, the smaller of the two heading right by them and into the hanger while the Prime came to halt, quickly taking Bee from the frontliner and cradling him in his arms.
"Bumblebee, what were you thinking?" He asked, not at all expecting the answer he didn't receive. He looked up worriedly to Sideswipe, annoyance flaring his plating. "Why didn't you alert us to his location soldier?"
Sideswipe had the ball bearings to rub the back of his neck sheepishly, mumbling quietly about having lost a few night's recharge and being exhausted beyond that from restraining Zosimo.
Optimus growled, field flaring heatedly. "Rest assured, we will be having a very long, very formal conversation about your conduct Sideswipe. Later."
The two turned at the slide of the brig door, watching as Jazz rubbed the seams under his visor before his digits flew over the door's number pad, resetting the password. He sent a comm. To Optimus as he stepped closer to the group.
:We need to have a long talk after dealing with Bee, Prime. That mech in there ain't lucid enough to tell me nothin', but I can tell yah now that letting this mech go back to the 'Cons in this state is a mistake. Trade or no trade.:
Optimus sent back a ping of acknowledgement, then turned to Sideswipe. "I want you to go find Ironhide and Jolt, and have them stand watch over the brig. Tell Jolt to be stocked up on sedatives to be administered to the prisoner every 3 Terran hours. I don't want that mech to be able to lift a talon, let alone cause any more trouble than he already has."
Sideswipe nods and quickly goes off to collect the guards. Optimus stuck around, rocking on his pedes and watching his creation's wings flutter smoothly in the light breeze. He sent Jazz a quick order to watch the brig until Ironhide and Jolt arrived, before turning and marching towards the central building where the main quarters of each mech resided. Taking a few turns and narrowly avoiding a human or two he arrived at Bumblebee's quarters and placed him on his blanket and mattress covered berth. A secret joy for the little mech to help keep him warm at night and cushion his wings.
Bumblebee twittered sleepily, batting at Optimus's fretting servos trying to wrap him like a mummy in sheets.
"Optimus-"He whined quietly. "I'm fine, I swear. I just wanted to… to have a talk with it."
"I know what you were doing Bumblebee." Optimus admonished calmly. "And while yes, you deserve to hear his reasons for doing what he did, there are things about that mech you do not understand. He is dangerous, even Jazz thinks the mech is out of his processor. You can't trust a single word out of his intake, you can't really trust your emotions right now either. You just went through something that… that no mech deserves to-"
Bumblebee whirred. "I'm tired about hearing what people do and don't deserve today Optimus, I just wanted some answers, anything. And you can't tell me you would have willingly let me talk to him even if he were suspended in spark restraints like those at Trypticon prison. Hughh, don't look at me like that, you know you wouldn't, don't deny it."
Optimus didn't contradict him, nodding in acceptance. "Be that as it may, that was a very careless thing you did Bee. He already got to you once, and we nearly didn't get there in time. You could have said something to set him off, what if Sideswipe wasn't there. He may have been restrained but I have no doubts that if he really wanted you he'd find a way to get to you."
Optimus got up from his perch on the edge of the berth with a sigh. "I know you had worthy intentions young one, but Zosimo is being traded for the return of William and Mikaela in less than a day-"
"Wait, huh?" Bumblebee asked softly. "What happened to Will…? Mikaela?"
"They were taken by Astrotrain not long after Zosimo's capture. William was taking her home, she was quite distraught. They were taken hostage, and Megatron has arranged a trade. Zosimo for the humans. I want that mech away from you, so I agreed to his terms."
"What, no, Optimus there's still so much I don't know. The things he said to me, only Sam would know those things, I've never told anyone. Optimus I have proof now that they took him, I just have to get the 'con to confess and-"
"Bumblebee, you are not going back into that brig. If you think that mech has something to do with Sam's disappearance, we will have plenty of time afterwards to deal with the new information. For now you are going to stay here, and rest. You need to gather your strength again."
Bumblebee warbled in protest, radio finally switching on when his voice refused to respond. "I'm not some little kid!" he stated. "I'm a big kid now-I can make-my own decisions!"
Optimus shook his helm. "This is not something up for discussion, until the trade has been completed, you are confined under category one security to your quarters. I'll come by every few hours to check on you, but you need to stay in here."
Bumblebee's attempts at protest were dismissed when Optimus ran his servo down the side of his helm, stroking an audial soothingly.
"I promise you youngling, this will be taken care of soon. Trust in me."
With that the Prime moved slowly to the door, turning back for one last long look, then left Bumblebee's quarters and locked the door behind him with his security code. Only he and Ratchet would be able to enter now.
Bumblebee waited a klik before sitting up and violently tearing the blankets from his frame. He balled them up and whipped it at the far wall with a shriek. He sat panting, then drew his knees up to his chest, burrowing his helm in his knees. He didn't bother trying to stop the coolant that flowed freely from his optics.
The steady dripping of condensation from the ceilings was both a blessing and a curse to Mikaela's state of mind. Despite it being akin to water torture, and her throat was so dry it hurt to swallow, the repetitive noise was something she could look forward to and rely on. It didn't stop, even when heavy metal footsteps shook the puddle the water had collected in. She sat up against the glass of her jar and readjusted her hold on Will's head in her lap, pushing greasy and matted hair out of her face to meet Shockwave's gaze with a blaze of her own.
"Look what the cat dragged in, a washed out garbage can. What kind of crap are you full of this time hm?" She sneered.
"Your defiant attitude is not logical for maintaining your continued survival, little organic. Not when your friend appears to be struggling to cool his brain temperature to minimal functionality."
Mikaela looked down and away, petting Will's arm as he lay shivering feverishly, panting hot air from his mouth and chest rattling with every inhale. He was getting steadily worse as time went by, running a temperature of over 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Every few minutes she would get a light static shock jump from his skin to hers, causing her to grunt.
"What have you assholes done to him? I thought there was going to be a trade, your rust bucket of a leader said-"
"I would watch your tongue, fleshling, and think before slandering Lord Megatron. On the topic of the trade, don't fret, it's still going to happen. We will send you back to your comrades and Zosimo will be returned to us in one piece. Whether you and the male are fully intact however, in entirely based upon your conduct."
The scientist raised his hand and wrapped his talons firmly around the jar, lifting it from his desk and narrowly avoiding Digger's cheery lunge for the container. He warbled mechanically in scolding to the worm, sending it off back to its kennel in a huff.
"Now then, little human, there is something I'd like to show you that I think you will find… interesting."
He stepped out of the lab and wandered down the dimly lit hallways, taking turns and bends in a memorized order through the ship's maze-like underbelly. They came to a set of double doors which retracted with a ping as Shockwave padded close.
The open room looked like a macabre parody of a medical bay, various tools, saws, scalpels, and parts scattered on counter tops or hanging like ornaments from mounts on the plain walls. The room was clean and sterile, the faint smell of oil and energon reaching Mikaela's nose suggesting it had been used fairly recently.
She paned her eyes across the berths, all vacant except for one in the far right corner. The frame on the berth was limp and silent, its plating only lightly armored and the dull dark grey of naked protoform. It was thick at the chest, but lankier that heavy hitters like Ironhide. If Mikaela had to compare the frame's build to anyone she would say it looked the most like Jolt, not tall but not short, not heavily layered but certainly not a pushover either.
However, taking a closer look she noticed its chest plates were fully bared, the chamber within empty of any life force. It was like an empty shell, a cadaver for examination.
Shockwave walked smoothly over to the frame, setting the jar carefully on the adjacent berth away from the edge, lest it fall. He unlatched the jar's lid, keeping it steady against the side of his cannon. He reached in and carefully grasped Will, ignoring Mikaela's yelling and pulling on his fingers. Replacing the lid and laying Will in a sort of makeshift chamber on a metal gurney beside the frame, he went about hooking up various cables to the chamber and pressing down a long string of code.
Once the sequence was complete, the chamber sealed itself and small tubes snaked their way into the space from its base. The tubes had needle-like projections on their ends and went about worming their way into the arteries and brain stem of Will's unconscious body.
"I'm going to give you a choice, human."
He pulled up a datapad, flicking through schematics and calculations until an image of what she assumed to be Will's torso was presented to her. She squinted her eyes, trying to make out what she was looking at past the overwhelming white blur marring the image.
"That's a pretty shitty x-ray, if you ask me. The image is all distorted."
Shockwave rumbled in light amusement. "That, fleshling, is what cybertronians call a spark."
Mikaela's eyes widened, then she snickered sceptically. "Sure it is, and I'm the Easter Rabbit. I thought you were off your rocker before this, but this is extreme, even for you lot."
Shockwave waved off her disbelief. "He isn't the first human we've done this to, nor will he be the last. The newly turned are very… unique individuals. They have an unusually high occurrence rate of spark traits, like warping, electrical pulse manipulation, and similar advantages. Many do not survive the transition, but those who do turn out valuable assets. Your ex-mate's contribution to our research was most helpful."
"Sam… you keep saying stuff like that. You keep talking like I'm naïve, but I know when someone is trying to get the rise out of me. Just tell me what you want me to know, because frankly at this point I think you're all huff and no puff."
"Very well, if you insist on the details. I respect the need people have for knowledge. Witwicky was the first to go through the transition, his spark was the strongest of them all, thanks to the influence of the Allspark already imbedded within his fragile body. It would have killed him eventually, so really we did him a great service by giving him a new frame. He turned out to have a number of traits, but the Allspark made it hard for his mind to make a clean transition. He became somewhat of a multi-personality, always hungry. But I believe you're aware of that already, so now it's time for a decision on your part."
Mikaela's throat tightened and she closed her mouth, stomach trying to expel its contents only to realize there was nothing in it to throw up. She was scared, she wanted Leo, Bumblebee… anybody. "What do you want from me?"
Shockwave ran his claws idly up and down the chest plates of the empty frame. "Your friend's new spark it destroying his body from the inside out, organic tissue is not meant to withstand large amounts of radiation or electrical forces for long periods of time. To put it in perspective, your friend is being hit with the equivalent of a bolt of lightning every three seconds. That spark is keeping him alive, but also destroying his tissues. So you have an ultimatum, as Lennox is currently unable to speak his will. Your first option is to leave the spark in the body and return you as you are now for the trade. You will be fine, but the spark is only capable of supporting the body for approximately 30 Terran hours. He will die a human."
He stopped his petting and turned his single optic to Mikaela's shivering body. "Your second option is to give me your honest permission, and allow me to perform the transplant. Lennox will survive, but no longer be human. This is your only opportunity to make this choice. After this it will be the decision of Lord Megatron whether he lives or dies, and trust me when I say he does not care either way. It will be like the flip of a coin."
Mikaela's mind was blank, disbelieving and unable to process anything more that 'Oh my god, this can't be happening. This isn't possible, it's just not. You can't make one thing into another, you can't.' Mikaela was no genius, but this went against the very laws of nature. Biological organisms weren't supposed to be made into machines, weren't meant to live much over 100 years. This would change Will's life, he has a wife and daughter for Christ's sake! He has a home, a career, friends, a life! What kind of 'options' were those, die human, or live a robot?
"Though I understand your primitive processors are struggling to understand the situation at hand human, I would appreciate an answer now. I do have other projects than just this and Lord Megatron would not be pleased if my schedule was to stray. You have five seconds, what is your choice? Option one, or Option two?"
Mikaela began hyperventilating, eyes jumping from Will's sparking body to the frame o the berth.
"Four."
Why her, why now? Was this some sort of punishment, for leaving Sam? She didn't love him anymore! Sure, leading him on had been cruel, but it didn't mean she was wrong about everything!
"Three."
She couldn't breathe. Annabelle would grow up without a father, lost to a sick science fair project rather than fighting for the freedom and peace he wanted for her.
"Two."
Ironhide would be devastated, the two were brothers in arms. They had bled together, recovered wounds side by side, they had told each other secrets even their mate's didn't know, hard choices made that they wouldn't understand.
"One. Last chance human."
She hoped they would understand her choice.
"Wait." She spoke softly. "I… I've made my choice."
'Please Will, forgive me.'
