A/N: I'm back! Finally... I know it's been a while but I hope that I can update this story a whole bunch more while I study abroad in Japan!
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers Prime! Only Xenia!
*Autobot Outpost Omega-1*
"Follow the light." Ratchet commanded Optimus, after speaking to Xenia and sending her to her room. "Good." He moved to light slightly to the left. "Good!"
He turned to light off, and said, "I wouldn't recommend anything strenuous, Optimus, but it appears your systems have fully recovered from the Cybonic Plague."
"Thanks to your medical expertise, old friend." Optimus commended.
"It was our scout who braved unknown territory to bring back the formula." Ratchet gestured to Bumblebee.
"Really, it was nothing!" Bumblebee waved his hands in front of him wildly.
"It was a good thing that Megatron was still alive." Arcee said.
"Did you just say that?"
"Yeah, I actually said that."
"What matters is that both you and Xenia are on the mend." Ratchet reassured. "While Megatron...?"
"Arcee may have shot the life support system, but who knows what happened afterwards." Bumblebee shrugged.
"Bee's right. Spent enough time making sure he got off the support system, just didn't stick around to see what happened afterwards." Arcee explained.
Bumblebee walked off into the interior of the base while the others discussed some other boring things.
He got to the end of the hallway before he stiffened and began to tremble. All of a sudden, Megatron's voice echoed in his head. "It is only a matter of time before the others begin to suspect all is not right with you, scout. So before they gain control of the situation, I must be allowed to gain total control over you!"
*Xenia's POV*
After my short nap, I made my way out to the front room where the kids were teaching Bulkhead and Bumblebee how to play some Earth games.
"Basketball in the way of Cybertron! Let the games begin!" Miko shouted and blew into a whistle.
Bulkhead was standing in front of a hoop while Bumblebee was holding our lobbing ball. Bumblebee threw the ball at the hoop, but Bulkhead jumped up to grab it out of the air and threw it into the basket.
"Yeah! Go Bulk!" Miko cheered.
Bulkhead scooped up the ball and threw it back to Bumblebee. "Come on, best two out of three!"
"You're on!" Bumblebee challenged, catching the ball.
He got into a charging position, while I slowly crept around them.
"Hey there, Ratchet. Need any help?" I asked, scanning the screens.
"Yes, you can track a new source of Energon, while I fix a few things in the system." Ratchet responded distractedly.
"Sure thing, boss."
"Oh, and by the way, here's some medical grade Energon." He handed me some light pink Energon in a container. I took it and injected it into my system.
"Thanks, Ratchet." I said, getting to work.
"That's all you will be consuming until your... situation has resolved."
"Aww... What about Energon treats?"
"No, that many sweets isn't good for you."
"Scrap..."
A sudden bang! made both of us jump and turn to the game in play.
"Bumblebee, the hoop is that way." Bulkhead pointed.
"Sorry, I guess I got a bit distracted."
"Bee, are you okay?" Raf asked.
"I'm fine! Best three out of five, Bulkhead!"
"Alright, three out of five, Bee" Bulkhead slammed his fist against his hand.
*The next day*
It was 8am, and Bumblebee still hadn't shown up to pick Raf up for school. He took out his cell phone and dialed Jack's number. He picked on the third ring.
"Raf? What are you doing? Class has started!"
"Bumblebee never picked me up from school. Do you know where he is?" Raf voice was full or anxiety.
"I don't know. You should call Xenia, see if she can rush you over to school before homeroom is over."
"Alright, thanks Jack." And he hung up, then began dialing Xenia's comm link.
"Raf?" Xenia's voice came through groggily, like she had been sleeping. "What's up, buddy?"
"Hi, Xenia. Bumblebee never picked me up for school. Do you think you could give me a ride? My parents have already gone to work."
"Sure thing, just give me ten minutes." She yawned.
"Thanks, Xenia." And he hung up.
Where was Bumblebee? He was acting a little strange during the basketball game yesterday. He should told Bee to go see Ratchet before they left.
Raf kept worrying and worrying until Xenia showed up ten minutes later, and drove off the school.
*Meanwhile, back at Base*
Bumblebee was walking past the control center, when he stiffened again. He walked up to the console and grabbed one of Ratchet's tools.
"Yes, scout. Obey my very will!"
And Bumblebee crushed the tool with his bare hands.
"Bumblebee!" Bumblebee relaxed and turned around, holding the evidence in his hand. Ratchet looked at him incredulously. "I needed that!"
"This?" Bee looked down at the tool in his hand.
"What has gotten into you?"
"Well, see, I've been seeing visions of Megatron ever since the CPP."
"You've been seeing Megatron?" Ratchet asked, skeptically. "Come over here, then."
At that moment, Xenia drove through the entrance and transformed.
"Hey, Bumblebee! What gives? Raf called me and asked for a ride. Where were you?" Xenia asked, cocking her hip.
"Bumblebee has been seeing visions of Megatron. Waking nightmares, if you will." Ratchet said, leading Bumblebee into the medical chamber. "I'm going to put you in a medical induced stasis until we can figure out what is going on with you. Is that alright, Bumblebee?"
"Do what you have to." Bumblebee nodded.
"Alright, I'm inducing stasis now." Ratchet said, tapping away on the control panel. Bumblebee shuttered his optics and shut down.
"Xenia, keep an eye on Bumblebee and try to figure out what exactly is wrong with him. I know this isn't really your forte, but I need to fix this before the others get back."
"Sure, I'll try my best." I nodded, then turned to the console and began running standard tests.
The base was peaceful for once, and I could focus on running diagnostics on Bumblebee's systems without any fear of interruption and distraction. Optimus, Bulkhead, and Arcee detected the Decepticon warship in the Arctic Circle and melting the polar icecap, so Ratchet and I were the only ones on base. I hummed softly as I went through Bumblebee's systems one by one, trying to find what could be causing his visions of Megatron.
I went through a few memories from the after the cortical psychic patch, and just as I was moving on the memories before the CPP, Bumblebee suddenly powered up.
"What? That shouldn't be possible!" I frantically began another shutdown routine, but Bumblebee had already exited the medical chamber.
He began making his way over to the ground bridge and I tried to stop him. "Bumblebee, what do you think you're doing?!" I demanded, trying to pull him back to the chamber. As soon as I grabbed his arm, Bumblebee turned towards me and threw me to the ground. I cried out and rolled away from him just as the ground bridge opened. He calmly walked through the portal just as Ratchet ran in with his tools.
"Xenia! Are you alright? What happened?" He asked in a flurry, checking for injuries and on the sparkling.
"Bumblebee... he just got up and activated the ground bridge." I explained, waving towards the still open portal.
"What? But he was in stasis!" Ratchet exclaimed, standing up to look at the coordinates that Bumblebee input. He gasped. "These are the same coordinates that we last encountered Megatron. Why could he possibly want to go there?"
"I have no idea..." I pondered, but at that moment, Bumblebee came back through the ground bridge with something held tight in his servo and turned to the console.
"Bumblebee, what on Cybertron do you think you're doing?" Ratchet demanded, and stopped when he saw what Bumblebee was holding in his servo. "Is that... Dark Energon?"
Bumblebee ignored us and began inputting another set of coordinates, but I pleaded, "Bumblebee please, what are you doing? Why do you have Dark Energon? What has been going on with you?!"
Bumblebee turned to me and said in a voice that was definitely not Bumblebee's, "Bumblebee's not here anymore."
Chills ran down my backplates. And it all suddenly clicked.
Megatron.
Was in Bumblebee's head.
And as soon as he said that, he walked through the portal and disappeared again.