The Daughter's Father Watches

Quietly, We'll Assume

He's No Longer With Us

But He Left This Dusty Room

And Your Name, And It's An Honor

It's a Shame, But It's Your Honor

Take It On Your Shoulder

'Till You Can Find Another

Tired? More like exhausted. He was sure that everyone had felt the same, but he hadn't had any sleep the past few days. He could easily tell that Ironhide hadn't had much recharge, either, and in turn Ratchet. The others were harder to tell than those that he could. Jazz had been more jittery, like he hadn't had a drug that he had been addicted to for a lifetime, for the past few days while Bumblebee was gone. Prowl had seemed exhausted as well, but if only for the fact that he was trying to help the Prime search for the young bot. Skidz and Mudflap had become depressed, like one of them had just lost the other, and they couldn't go on any longer. Those two seemed more depressed than anyone else, Skidz becoming more moody than he had been, and Mudflap had become more reserved. There were a lot of others who acted in such ways, however that was a long list.

Optimus relaxed in his office, now feeling any stress or tension finally ebbing away as he leaned back in his chair, servos folded over his chassis as he gazed up at the ceiling as if it had some interest for him. For once, since the moment that Bumblebee had gone missing, Optimus Prime could finally relax and know that everything was okay, at least for now. He hadn't been able to see the yellow mech since they had gotten back to base after narrowly escaping Decepticon clutches - they were lucky to get out of the base, seeing as how their destructive presence had cause the inactive volcano to start shaking and creating tremors; they were lucky that it didn't erupt, however it was close to, as Prowl had stated - and had gotten everyone gathered; the Prime still had work to do, from explaining what they had been doing at Mount Saint Helens, to hunting down Decepticon forces. Ratchet had kept him up to date on the young mech's status, and so far, he was doing alright.

Sighing and leaning forward, he grumbled to himself as he viewed the Datapads that lingered on his desk, scattered around in an unorderly fashion. Being a leader seemed to have more work than anyone bargained for, however he knew better than to simply refuse it or question it; it had to be done, and he did not want to burden anyone else with the work that he had. He trusted other bots to help him, yes. He was just too kind to place his work onto someone else. Right now, he seemed to have more of a work load then he needed as well; so much work, most of it for government officials that he had to turn in. But of course, it was his job.

He was the Prime, after all.

XXX

Stirring awake, he barely realized where he was; it was dark, and for a moment his spark began thumping hard in his chassis. Was he captured again? Did the rescue not really happen, and he was still in a dark, cold, cell back at the Decepticon base? He hated having those kinds of dreams; where something you want to happen happens, and then you wake up and realize that it was all fake and you're back where you started. But the thing that caught him off was that he wasn't cold, like he had thought. He was covered in a blanket, and at first he thought that he was in that room where Soundwave had tested on him. But his limbs were tied down, and as he lifted his helm, he realized that there were more berths, and some equipment around the room. Medical equipment. He was in the med bay. Relaxing a bit, he knew that he wasn't still captured by the Decepticons, and that he was back home and safe. The big, black mech sitting beside his berth seemed to ease his pain as well.

Ironhide was sitting in a Cybertronian-sized chair, slightly hunched over, and strangely snoring as he slept. Obviously, he had been there a while, and it didn't look like he was planning on leaving his charge any time soon. Bumblebee sighed in relief as his helm fell to the side, silently watching his sleeping guardian. He was safe. He wasn't going to be hurt anymore, at least not for now. And he knew over Ironhide's dead frame, too; he'd probably never be let out of the base alone now because of what happened to him. Ironhide would probably keep him locked up in his quarters if he could, and never let him out. He could be like that, and Bumblebee didn't hold it against his guardian to do something like that, if only to keep him safe. The yellow mech smiled at that thought, gazing up at the ceiling as he weakfuly pulled up the sheets, so that they were drooped over his shoulders before hiding his arms back under the covers.

He felt mighty proud of his little family that he had. He knew Ratchet would probably shoved a few wrenches in a few places that they shouldn't be shoved in in the next Decepticon that he saw. It sounded pretty painful, but like Ironhide, Bumblebee wouldn't hold it against the medic to do something like that. He'd hate to see what Jazz would do to the next Decepticon he saw, much less to Megatron; he had rarely ever seen the silver mech loose his temper over something, or even go to seek out revenge for something that someone did. The thought of Jazz doing something like that, well, it Bumblebee lay there and wonder what Jazz would do in a situation like that. It was really hard to think of, honestly, because, as stated before, he hadn't really ever seen Jazz actually loose his temper or go out to seek revenge. Probably playfully, when 'Bee himself had been a sparkling, he would jokingly do stuff like that while playing with the little sparkling, but other than that, he had never do something like that with such seriousness.

Optimus Prime, he knew, would be kicking some aft once he found out what all went down back at the used to be Decepticon headquarters. He knew he couldn't keep what Megatron and Barricade and his buddies had done to him from Optimus for too long, yet was afraid of what he might do to them once he found out. He actually pitied them, knowing Optimus would at least be thoroughly pissed once he found out and all, and he would hate to see the Prime's wrath come out. Like Jazz, he hadn't seen the Prim actually really pissed off at something or someone, and was sure that he wasn't the kind of guy to go out looking for revenge, at least as far as he knew him. So when he tried to think of things Optimus might do to them for what he did to his lover, well, it kind of struck him as odd, and he went processor dead with any ideas that may have occurred when trying to think of what Optimus might do.

Sighing, he knew that he wouldn't be getting anywhere with this topic, and therefore decided to let it slide; pulling the blankets close to him as he slowly tried to drift off into recharge. He was back home, in safe arms, wasn't to get hurt ever again, and wasn't going anywhere for a long, long time; what more could anyone ever ask for?

This chapter was mostly a drabble; more "fun" stuff with be looked upon next chapter. Also, I'm curious: I'm wanting to pair Aquajet up with someone, maybe a canon or something. For those of you who read this, got any ideas? I mean, as long as it's not someone whose already taken and all. [I think I have all the pairings I wanted to do in the first chapter if you want to check it out.] I'm just wondering if it's a good idea and all. If you like the idea, and have a canon character in mind - or an OC, it doesn't matter - feel free to post and say something. As I said, I'm kind of interested in this. And if you guys are interested in AJ's past, I've started a story about it called Burning in the Skies. Also, the song is Enough for Now by The Fray.