A/n: Thank you all for your lovely and motivational reviews on the previous chapter! I'm glad you guys liked the new focus for the story :) it was so much easier to write that I already have another chapter ready to go! Please enjoy! ~ Echo
Chapter 14: Pulling Rank
"Annnndddd," Echo drew out a long vent, "Done!" She stepped back away from the medical berth and set down her tools. Swaying her tail, Echo turned to see Bumblebee online his optics and blink. His servos reached up to feel the new metal attached to his helmet. The smooth yellow battlemask was perfectly curved to fit snugly on his helm when not in use. It was also designed to not block his new antennae, which he suddenly felt and fluttered.
"Whoa," the scout hummed as he inspected his right antenna. "You like it?" Echo asked with a wide smile. To her, the mech looked like a curious sparkling discovering their tail for the first time. It was adorable and made her glad she was able to do this for him.
"I love it," Bumblebee said. As he did, his antennae perked up to emphasize his point, serving their exact purpose. Echo blushed and swept her tail to wrap around her peddes. "Try out your mask," she said. The scout glanced her way for a moment before activating his battlemask. It slid into place, a bluish-tint of glass rising up to provide oblong views for his optics whilst the rest of his face was covered in the same yellow as his body.
His HUD kicked in, scanning the room and feeding him information. When Bumblebee looked at the glyphs, he realized Echo coded it in Iaconian, his birth language. With a digit, the mech lifted up the lip of his mask, raising it just enough so he could peek at Echo without the HUD covering her. "You made it Iaconian?" he chirped in disbelief. The femme shrugged with a grin and nodded. "I figured you would like that," she said.
Bumblebee deactivated his mask and sat up in the berth. Looking up at her, his "ears" as he liked to call them, fluttered as he reached over to grab one of her servos. "Thank you," 'Bee said, "The mask is perfect and now I can express myself better."
"Good," the femme said, somewhat thankful no one else was around to see her this shy. Bumblebee let go of her digits and stood up off the berth, glancing down at her. "I have to go get Raf from school now," he buzzed. Echo gestured her helm towards the exit tunnel and flicked him with her tail. "Hurry so I can see his reaction to your helmet," the lieutenant laughed.
Bumblebee slipped past her, a smile evident on his faceplates. "Yes, ma'am," he chirped, knowing it would make her roll her optics. Indeed it did, and also caused Echo to swat at his doorwing. The scout transformed to his vehicle mode and took off, his engine roaring through the silo. Echo smiled after him before turning to clean up the medical station.
""""""""""
The next day….
Bumblebee woke up with a jolt from his berth. Glancing around in a panic, the mech already had a hunch that he had slept in far too long. He pulled up the new HUD Echo gave him and found that he had indeed shut down hours longer than intended. "Scrap," he buzzed, pulling himself to a standing position. The scout rubbed his optics tiredly and stretched his doorwings. Shuffling over to the doorframe of his quarters, he pressed a button on the control panel and dragged himself out to the silo.
Thankfully, another bot had picked up Raf from school. Ashamed at sleeping through his guardian duties, the mech began walking over to where the young boy was playing video games to apologize. Yet, a whisper caught his receptors.
"'Bee, over here," Jack said. Bumblebee looked at the teenager curiously. The human waved him over with urgency, also holding up a finger to signal that this was to be a secretive conversation. Taking a quick glance back at Rafael, the scout stepped towards Jack, who was leaning on the catwalk. Tilting his helm, 'Bee raised his antennae inquisitively.
"I need to ask you a favor," Jack said. Bumblebee raised an optic ridge at this and dipped his head as if to hear better. He knew Jack couldn't understand his beeps and whirrs like the Autobots and Raf did. Thank Primus for body language, boosted by the modifications Echo did to his helmet.
"There's this girl I want to impress and I already said I would compete in a race she's going to," the kid said. Bumblebee straightened out at this. Of course the first thing that popped into his processor was that racing was forbidden, but the bot felt sympathy that Jack was doing this for a crush. He, too, had done things to try and impress Echo over the past few months, so he knew what it felt like to want to earn their attention.
"Arcee already said no," Jack said. "Can you help me out? It's tonight at eleven."
'Bee vented, looking to the floor. That sympathetic part of him wanted to help the kid out. Yet, he knew it would probably get him in trouble since both Optimus and Echo have been cracking down on racing and enforcing Prime's rules. Bumblebee put his optics back on Jack and slowly nodded his helm. But then he also remembered that he needed to take Raf home, so he would need to tell his charge he would be gone. Pointing at Raf, 'Bee gestured for Jack to make sure it was okay with him.
The scout followed Jack to the lounge area whilst the latter asked Rafael if it would be okay to take Bumblebee and have another bot take him home. Being more obedient of the three children, Raf was very hesitant to break the rules and allow 'Bee to do this.
"C'mon, just this once?" Jack said when Raf asked him what he would do if Optimus or Echo found out.
"Absolutely not," a firm voice declared. Bumblebee turned nervously to see Echo glaring daggers into his frame. His doorwings lowered in disappointment and a puppy-dog look came across his faceplates. The femme rolled her optics at this and crossed her servos over her chassis. "No racing," she reaffirmed, "It's too dangerous."
"Echo-" 'Bee whirred, but was curtly interrupted. "Optimus' rules," Echo ground her denta. Her tail whipped in the air, nearly smacking Bulkhead beside her. The Wrecker seemed quite disturbed at how adamant she was about all of this, and shook his helm at Bumblebee to tell him to listen to her.
Bumblebee's antennae raised, signalling that he was about to say something. Echo's optics sharpened. Pointing a digit at the mech, she said, "Scout," then pointed to herself, saying, "Lieutenant. You're not going." Raf reeled a tad at Echo's sudden authoritarian tone. It pained the femme to have to pull rank on her old partner. For centuries they fought side by side as scouts, so it felt somewhat wrong to be doing this. Yet, Optimus did put her in charge of enforcing his rules.
"I already promised Sierra I would go to this race," Jack whined, his face distraught. Echo's grimace softened a bit. Looking at Bumblebee, she could tell he wanted to do this to help Jack. It was sweet of him to be somewhat of a wingman, but it was still far too dangerous. She was aware of the race Arcee and Jack had against Vince even though everyone was trying to be secretive about it. Echo had decided not to tell Optimus about the incident thinking it was a one and done deal, but now it was becoming a habit.
"Sorry, Jack, but my answer is still no," Echo said, her ears flattening and tail drooping. Without another word, she turned around and went back to the medical station to continue helping Ratchet with repairs. Bumblebee tapped his digits as he looked after her. Beside him, Raf was observing the look on his guardian's faceplates, knowing 'Bee was debating whether to follow her orders or not.
"She's going to be really mad at you," the child said. Bumblebee nodded and his antennae lowered. Peering at Jack, who seemed defeated, the scout motioned for Bulkhead to come closer. "We'll show up at the race, show off to Sierra, and then go home," 'Bee chirped, "I'll deal with Echo later." Rafael-not so sure about this-translated for Jack, who brightened immediately.
"I don't know, kid," Bulkhead grunted, "Pissing off Echo and Optimus isn't such a good idea." Bumblebee shrugged and tipped his helm in Jack's direction. "Hey, you and Optimus helped me get on Echo's good side. So why not help Jack get Sierra?" he buzzed. This made the Wrecker vent knowing the scout somewhat had a point. It was just the execution of the plan that was misguided. "Fine, but I'm not going to that race and having Echo claw me to death," Bulkhead said, jabbing a digit at the younger bot.
"""""""
The lieutenant walked back into the silo after finishing her project. Removing her protective goggles, she went to place them on Optimus' desk before seeking out Bumblebee and Raf for some companionship. Tuning into her surroundings, Echo found a distinct lack of chatter. Things were quiet. Far too quiet.
Scanning the silo, Echo found Bulkhead standing behind the lounge area with Raf and Miko on the couch playing a game. No Jack. No Bumblebee. Odd. Stepping closer to the trio, Echo picked up Arcee walking towards them as well. The older femme also had a confused look on her faceplates. "Where's Jack?" the motorcycle asked.
Those at the lounge froze in place, Miko and Raf losing the game because they stopped playing. Both Echo and 'Cee looked to each other knowingly before approaching the group further. Prime's daughter looked at the two surprised humans and then glanced up at the Wrecker. "So when were you going to tell us that Bumblebee and Jack left to go racing?" she asked.
"Uhhh," Bulkhead stuttered, looking to Miko for help. Echo rolled her optics in frustration and stormed away from the scene, headed towards the exit tunnel. Reaching up to her helmet, she opened a secure transmission to Bumblebee through their shared HUD system. "Where are you?" she said heatedly.
"Hi, Echo," "Bee whistled, "I, uh, might have gotten into some trouble here." Echo, though maintaining a firm tone, felt herself hitch in fear. Looking back at Arcee and Bulkhead, she responded, "What's going on?" Before the scout could answer, Echo heard blaster fire in the background and screeching tires.
"Knockout's on my tailpipe," Bumblebee said.
"Send your coordinates and keep Jack safe," Echo ordered before cutting off the call. She looked at Raf and Miko. "You two stay here while we go get them," she barked, gesturing for Arcee and Bulkhead to follow her. With a glare thrown over her shoulder, the femme growled through her denta. "And by stay here, I mean stay here."
The Wrecker and motorcycle were hard pressed to follow the angry Corvette down the freeway towards Jasper. Echo, both determined to get Jack back home safe and whoop Bumblebee's aft, kicked clouds of dust up as her engines roared. Following Bumblebee's signal, the lieutenant led her fellow bots to a bridge where the mischievous scout and Jack were already out and waiting for them.
Echo slammed on her brakes, transforming hastily. With her furious optics set on the embarrassed Bumblebee, the femme stomped towards him. "I am gonna kick your fragging aft," she hissed, grabbing the mech by the grill on his chassis. 'Bee held up his servos in surrender, his optics lowered in regret. He braced himself for the lecture he deserved and let both his doorwings and antennae fall in defeat.
"You-" Echo started, but was stopped by Jack running up to her with his hands flailing. "Not now, Echo," he said, "Knockout kidnapped Vince thinking he was Bumblebee's charge!"
The fembot released Bumblebee, turning her frame to face the human. "What?!" she exclaimed, looking between Jack and Bumblebee. The scout shrugged and gestured off down the highway. "He took him that way back into town." Echo shook her helm in disbelief. With a frustrated vent, she flicked her helm towards Jasper. "Let's go get him before the Cons turn him to goo," she ordered, swiping her tail.
As Arcee and Bulkhead transformed and sped off towards the city, Jack going with his guardian, Echo glanced back over to 'Bee. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but the femme cut him off. "We'll talk when we get back to base," she said. Converting to her vehicle mode, Echo took off, Bumblebee tailing her.
The pair sped into town not far behind Arcee, Bulkhead, and Jack. Now in patrol mode, Echo and Bumblebee scanned every alley and street they passed looking for a sign of Knockout or his assistant Breakdown. As Echo passed a hotel parking lot, she took a closer look at a police car pulling out of the lot and driving down another street.
"Go ahead, I'm gonna check this out," Echo said to Bumblebee. He chirped in acknowledgement as the femme cranked on her brakes and swerved onto the street after the patrol car.
Shortly after splitting from the main group, Echo received a call from Arcee saying Knockout sped past her and Bulkhead at a stoplight. Telling them to pursue with vigilance, the fembot continued to follow the cop, who consistently ran stop signs and ignored speed limits. She had a sneaking suspicion that this was Barricade, but kept a low profile until she could be sure. The last time she saw the Con, he had a state trooper logo on his vehicle, but this one was a county sheriff.
The patrol car turned down an alley after blowing a red light. Echo, who knew from her patrols that this was a dead end alleyway, cautiously turned to pursue. As she drove past the open fence gate, there was no cop car to be found. The femme transformed and looked above her. Even then there was no sign of a certain Decepticon scout.
"Bumblebee, report," Echo said after reaching a digit up to her helmet. She continued to scan the alley above her in case the Con pounced on her from nowhere, as he tended to do. "Knockout has the kid. Arcee is chasing him out of the city while we hold off Breakdown," Bumblebee said, sounding like he was exasperated from a fight.
"Okay, make sure they get onto the highway," she said before changing her comm to a different frequency. "Father, we have a problem," she whispered through her HUD. A couple seconds of static followed before Prime answered the call. "What's the situation, little one?" he asked. The tone of his voice was full of concern and urgency.
"Knockout has taken a human hostage and Megatron's lap dog is here," Echo said, implying Barricade, "I need your help boxing them in on the highway."
"Understood," Optimus said, this time much more calm and stoically.
Echo's audio receptors picked up the sound of a Mustang nearby. Looking back out onto the street, she saw the same cop car rolling past the alley. The femme did her best to shrink down behind a trash bin, but the vehicle stopped just beyond anyways. Echo saw the familiar red reflection of rear lights. The Mustang backed up just enough so the lieutenant could see there was no driver.
Smirking, the Autobot leaped from behind the garbage and ran towards Barricade. Before the mech could convert to engage, Echo jumped and transformed to her vehicle mode. Landing on the street beside him, the Corvette took off, leaving tire marks on the asphalt. Drifting to the side, Echo accelerated down towards the highway.
Barricade caught up quickly, his engine growling in effort to keep the chase. He tried to do a pit stop maneuver, but the femme would slip to the other side at every attempt. The two sent large clouds of dust into the air in their chase. Echo needed to shake off the scout before he could assist Knockout. She weaved back and forth on the road to block the mech from going around her, making him flare his engine in irritation. All of the dirt she was sending his way was blocking his vision.
Once the highway was flush with the ground and there were no more guard rails, Echo zoomed off into the desert, Barricade hot on her tailpipe. The femme nearly laughed to herself as the Con fell for her trap. She drifted until she had spun around completely and drove back onto the highway, surrounding the mech in a billow of dust. Barricade, not used to driving in the desert like she was, found it difficult to realign himself, his rear tires burning on the sand.
The distraction gave Echo a big enough head start to catch up to Arcee and Knockout. The Kawasaki motorcycle was struggling to catch Knockout's Aston Martin model, but Echo's Z06 was fast enough to pass her and gain some ground on the Decepticon medic. If her plan to box him in was going to work, she needed to get in front of him or at least keep him from speeding away with Vince. Pushing her engines to the maximum, she got up to his side.
Just as Barricade tried to run her off the road, Echo inched closer to Knockout. The metal of their vehicle modes scraped against each other, causing a receptor-splitting sound. "Not the finish!" the femme heard the medic scream. He tried to return the favor, but a loud truck horn and flashing lights caught both of their attention. The canyon wall to the right of the highway had fallen away, revealing Optimus hauling tailpipe down a side street.
Echo peeled off from the Con as her father rammed his truck into Knockout's side. Easing on her brakes, the lieutenant avoided being hit by the Aston Martin spinning out of control. Echo converted, as did Prime, who walked over to pick up the Con stuck in a dirt mound.
Optimus effortlessly lifted Knockout off the ground and ripped off his driver-side door, revealing an unconscious human male in the passenger seat. Echo lifted her servos up to take the teenager from her sire. The poor kid was wrapped up in a seatbelt, which the femme worked quickly to undo.
Prime threw Knockout aways as the Con transformed and checked himself for injuries. The medic, enraged by the scratches and lost door, made to do something about it. "You'll pay for this," he declared. However, the sound of approaching vehicles scared off the Con, who sped off in his vehicle mode back down the highway.
Both Echo and Optimus looked Vince over for any visible injuries, fearing that their cover might have been exposed. He seemed fine, which allowed the leadership to look upon the other Autobots incredulously. Echo was frowning at Bumblebee in particular, still deeply hurt that he defied her explicit orders.
Optimus made it clear that a serious conversation would occur back at base after the team returned Vince to where he belonged. Echo placed the child into Bumblebee's passenger seat so the scout could drive off with him and Jack. The rest of the team then drove back to base and waited for Bumblebee to return. Echo explained to her sire everything that happened, even Arcee's race with Jack the day before.
At first, the humans were upset that Echo ratted them out to Prime, but the leader explained how she made the right decision to involve him and that orders needed to be followed. Because of how late it was, Optimus sent all of the children home after promising to speak to them the next day.
Now, Optimus and Echo stood up in front of the others. Prime looked stern, clearly disappointed with his team. Echo was still displeased, but seemed partially sympathetic, not yet used to disciplining subordinates. She peeked at Bumblebee, who was sitting on a crate sulking. As soon as he got back from dropping off Jack and Vince, he shuffled over to his little corner to await punishment.
"You all have deliberately disobeyed orders," Optimus spoke, gaining everyone's attention. "I did not think I would have to remind you that an order relayed through Echo should weigh the same as my own voice," he said. Bulkhead flinched and Arcee looked away in shame. Bumblebee didn't respond at all, just continued to glue his optics to the floor.
"I have entrusted her to help me delegate orders and keep everything in line in my absence or in the event I can no longer lead."
Echo glanced at her father at this. The statement derailed her current thought process. It brought up dark thoughts of what if something happened to him. Her spark pained even imagining such things. He must have felt her turmoil through their sire-offspring bond, as he peered at her from the corner of his optic momentarily.
"I do not want to hear of any more racing or sneaking out of base," Prime continued, facing his warriors. He absorbed their sullen and regretful looks, knowing they got the point. Scanning over Bumblebee, the red and blue mech knew he needed to pass on some form of discipline. Thinking of how his daughter was focusing on repairing her relationship with the mech, his processor lit up with the perfect solution.
"Bumblebee," Optimus said, cringing at how the young mech winced at his name. Having known his most trusted scout for centuries, Prime had grown quite fond of Bumblebee and hated having to admonish him. "Until further notice, I am confining you to base. You may still aid us when necessary on the field but you will remain here to help with base repairs."
Echo snapped her helm to Optimus, optics wide. The other bots did the same, not expecting their leader to be so harsh. They had no idea Optimus had an alternative motive to this.
"Sire," Echo said, "It's my fault that I didn't keep a closer eye on them. I should have—" Before Optimus held up a servo to silence the lieutenant, everyone—including the scout—looked to Echo dumbstruck. Had she just tried to take the blame for all of this? She was even surprised at herself for sticking up for him so quickly.
"Were you not clear in your orders, Echo?" Prime asked with a firm tone. His optics were narrowed at the young femme. Though joyful that she had started having Bumblebee's back like in the past, he wouldn't let her emotions overrule his decision. The fembots' ears curled downwards. Looking away, she said, "I was."
"Everyone to their quarters for the rest of the night," Optimus said, stepping away from his daughter, "Bulkhead will take over as Rafael's guardian." The mech said nothing else and headed for his room, still seething.
Echo watched him leave with confused optics. Why did he assign the Wrecker to watch Raf instead of herself? She flicked her tail in ponder as Arcee and Bulkhead bid the younger bots goodnight. Still confused, Echo turned to Bumblebee. He was standing up to leave, his whole frame radiating guilt and embarrassment. Traveling his gaze up to the lieutenant, Bumblebee vented.
It felt like punishment for Echo, too. To have to see him sulking like this and deal with him being separated from Raf all day at base….That's it! Echo straightened out with the realization that Optimus wanted Bumblebee to be here at base with her whilst she repaired it. To bond.
The femme wasn't sure if she was grateful or angry. Needing a moment to think over her father's meddling—and because she didn't know what to say to Bumblebee—Echo nodded at the scout and departed for the barracks.
"Lieutenant?" the scout's guilt-ridden buzz radiated through the hallway after her. Echo's ears immediately perked and she turned on her peddes. Her optics fell upon his sullen form, especially focusing on the apologetic look to his faceplates. "You don't have to call me that," she spoke softly, more so than she had intended.
Bumblebee took her tone as an invitation to approach and did so, stopping only a few feet away. His spark began to beat quicker, the mech thinking nothing of it but sheer nervousness. "I'm sorry I defied your orders," he chirped, "I thought I was doing a good thing by helping Jack but I was so wrong." Echo vented at this and rolled her optics. She understood why the mech still wanted to help Jack impress Sierra, but still felt hurt that he went behind her back. "You disappointed me," was her honest reply. It earned a defeated sigh from 'Bee, who hung his helm and glued his ashamed optics to the ground.
Echo felt as though someone had punched her in the gut. This mech got to her so easily and merely seeing him upset ate at her like a pile of scraplets. Whatever splinter of their bond that remained feeded her his emotions and made her live them out painfully.
"I expected more from my partner," she added with a half-hidden smile. The bot knew this statement would excite him, for it was the first admission of their growing relationship and friendship. It worked, as 'Bee's optics snapped to her own, shock evident. They regarded her for a moment, trying to detect any hint of sarcasm in her gaze. When he found none, Bumblebee's doorwings perked and Echo saw his smile. "Partner?" he repeated cheerfully.
Feigning irritation to mask her feelings, the femme scoffed. "You heard me, skauti." Again, the name she gave him riled up 'Bee, as it was Iaconian for "scout". His face heated up in a blush that he tried to hide. Rather than focus on it and embarrass him further, Echo chose to send him a parting smile before turning back towards her quarters. "Goodnight, Bumblebee," she said blandly, imagining how giddy he must be feeling at the moment. He returned the statement, watching the femme disappear into her room.
Bumblebee felt his spark pulse slower the further she got from him. Narrowing his optics, he inspected his chassis, then looked to Echo curiously. When she was out of sight, 'Bee's pulse rate returned to normal. Taking note of this, the scout cautiously made way to his quarters, wondering what in the Pit had just happened.
a/n: Thanks so much for reading! This chapter was a little bit episode-centered, but I felt so comfortable writing it because it really adds a lot to the dynamic between Echo and Bumblebee. Plus 'Bee getting himself into trouble gives a good excuse to have him confined to base! Can't wait to post the next chapter :) ~ Echo