a/n: Welcome back everyone! I've been on a writing spree lately :) I'll most likely pre-write as many chapters as I can and release them weekly or every few days so I don't bombarde you guys with chapters or get burnt out too quickly haha. All of your reviews have been dearly appreciated! Thanks for coming back and seeing how Echo and Bumblebee's story develops! ~ Echo

Chapter 15: Consequences

Keeping an Autobot scout busy at base without being able to exercise his wheels was hard. A few days into his punishment, Bumblebee was miserable sitting around doing practically nothing. Ratchet had a few odd jobs here and there to accomplish, but for the most part, the scout was unable to perform the majority of the needed base repairs. Echo tried to involve him in her work as much as possible, yet her mechanic speak was lost on him.

The yellow bot sat on the medical berth, watching the lieutenant rewiring one of their medical scanners. Every now and then he would retrieve the tool she needed. Then after a moment of small talk, it was back to sitting on the berth. Never did Bumblebee think he would memorize all the rock patterns on the ceiling of the silo, but here he was going over each crack and carving.

Echo lifted her goggles to say something to the mech, only to find him staring up at the rocks. With a smirk, she shifted to sit down and lean up against the scanner for a quick break. "Serves you right for being so selfish," she said. She chuckled when Bumblebee turned his helm to her with a raised optic ridge. "Selfish?" he whined.

"Mhmm," Echo said, "Who are you to sneak off and have fun while the rest of us are stuck here fixing this rundown base?"

Bumblebee realized that she was joking and playfully rolled his optics. Feeling relieved, he sent one of Ratchet's tools her way. The femme caught it with her lightning quick reflexes, pretending to be offended at him. "Rude," she said with a smile. Bumblebee beeped a laugh and lifted himself off the berth. Settling himself down next to Echo, he moved so that he was facing her and crossed his servos.

"What's your top speed?" he asked. The black fembot scoffed and set down the tool. "I don't race," she replied. Bumblebee's antennae perked and he looked at her with both disbelief and amusement. Echo saw this and frowned, "What? I don't!"

"You're a horrible liar, you know that?" Bumblebee chirped, scanning her up and down. Echo felt somewhat exposed by the glance, yet it wasn't uncomfortable. She still frowned at him for his comment, but it was subtle. "I am not," the femme said.

"Let's see," the scout said, looking up at the ceiling, "First, you pretended you hated me when you got here…"

"I did not hate-" Echo exclaimed, her voice a higher pitch than normal.

Bumblebee continued over her, beeping a laugh. "Then you kept saying you were okay even though you were always spacing out," he whistled. Echo flinched, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Bumblebee often caught her just staring off thinking about the past and she would make some obvious excuse. "Well, I-"

"And then you told me Goldgear was the one who trained me even though he wasn't an instructor for my graduation class."

The femme stilled, her spark now pounding in her ears. Slowly, her optics traveled to meet the scout's. Oddly enough, the mech was smiling and appeared sympathetic. "Oh I checked," he buzzed, "There were just too many coincidences."

Echo hung her helm, completely and utterly ashamed of herself. She had no way to explain her lies or why she told them. At least, not in a way that didn't sound crazy. How do you tell someone that their processor was fried, causing them to forget centuries of war and love and their own mate?

"Don't worry, I'm not much of a good liar myself," Bumblebee said, a smirk in his optics. "Everyone around here always seems to read my processor no matter what. Especially you." Echo glanced up at this, her frame relaxing somewhat with how casual the mech was about all of this. He must have known she was lying this whole time and ran with it. He didn't appear mad at all.

The look Echo gave him made Bumblebee's spark pulse harder. As he had taken note of the other day, anytime he got close to her, his spark went nuts. Being around her all day on base confirmed this. He wanted to mention it to her, to see if possibly she felt the same way. But he was more interested in finding out all of the truths behind these lies. The scout wasn't angry or significantly hurt by her dishonesty, as he could tell they were conjured up from pain.

There was an unspoken request for the truth. The Guardsman could see it in those sweet optics of 'Bee that he was patiently waiting for this moment. It was the opportunity for her to get everything off her chest without being rushed or chastised. Echo had expected much different. She thought the scout would be angry at finding out their past, thinking she had abandoned him. There was the possibility that he still might react this way, but the femme would have to endure it sooner or later.

So, here goes nothing. "Goldgear was the instructor for my academy class," she said, "I graduated the cycle before you." That was a start, Bumblebee thought to himself. His helm rested against the medical berth and tilted to the side.

"Ahh," 'Bee said, "So where did you learn the same moves as me?" Echo had to look away, her spark beating faster and faster. Centuries boiling down to one moment. One anxiety-dripping, gear-wrenching moment. "I, um-"

"Echo! I need you over here!" Ratchet hollered from across the silo. Echo flinched hard, smacking her helm against the wall behind her. She cursed in Praxian before rubbing the impacted area. Turning to Bumblebee-who had nothing but concern for her in his optics-the femme tried her best to smile with all of the emotions coursing through her systems.

"Can I take a raincheck on this conversation?"

The scout warbled a laugh and nodded. "You're picking up Earth phrases pretty quickly," he beeped, his frame shaking with his chuckle, "Sure, we can talk later."

A vent of relief exited the femme. She started to doubt her fears that he would be pissed with her upon hearing their story, as the mech was still so kind-sparked. Putting on a gentle smile, Echo held out a servo to help the scout stand up. He took it readily, not really needing her help in rising up but appreciating their close proximity nonetheless.

A blush crept on the lieutenant's faceplates as their black and yellow metal brushed against each other. Bumblebee gazed upon her with nothing but affection, his optics rotating to take all of her in. Ratchet once again called for Echo, breaking the young bots apart. As she pulled away, Echo glanced back at Bumblebee, the two of them sharing a smile.

""""""""""

When the Guardsman finished Ratchet's tasks, she went back to speak with Bumblebee, only to find that the scout was no longer there. Instead, she saw Bulkhead and Arcee conversing. They greeted her and when prompted on the younger bot's whereabouts, told Echo that he was playing in the hangar with Raf. Checking the time on her HUD, the femme realized she had taken quite some time in her duties.

The sound of a lob ball hitting concrete was hard to miss as Echo entered the hangar bay. It was no longer used by the military and completely empty now that the scraplet trap was gone. The bots had made their own Cybertronian-sized basketball hoop to throw the lob ball into after being introduced to human sports. Only Bumblebee and Bulkhead really used the thing.

Rafael was sitting away at some distance from his guardian whilst he ran around the bay making shots. Echo paused to gaze at the two. Both looked so happy and were laughing at whatever they were talking about. The femme had half a processor to turn back and allow them to enjoy their time, but the human child saw her before she had the chance to depart. "Hi, Echo!" he called out, waving over the bot.

Bumblebee's doorwings fluttered and he spun on his peddes to see her. He, too, waved Echo to join them. With a little hesitation, Echo grinned and waltzed to the duo. "Hey," she said. Stopping in front of the yellow mech, who was holding the lob ball, the lieutenant cleared her voice box and glanced between the human and scout. "What are you guys playing?"

"Basketball," Raf replied, "Er, well Cybertronian basketball I guess."

Echo's ears twisted in amusement along with her smirk. "Cybertronian basketball?" she asked, turning to Bumblebee. He nodded his helm and raised his antennae. Handing the lob ball to the femme, it allowed him to gesture at the large hoop. "We had to adjust a few things from Earth sports," he buzzed.

"I see," the femme said, inspecting the round lump of metal scraps. She had never partaken in lobbing or sports for the most part, even when she was a part of the Wreckers. Femmes-before the war of course-were not really involved in these things and were raised to keep the family household and produce sparklings. Thankfully, Echo never had to experience that era of her people. It took a planet wide civil war and mass genocide for female Cybertronians to be viewed equally as capable warriors. Still, Optimus didn't expose his daughter to activities like this.

Bumblebee saw how she was looking at the ball and tapped her shoulder. When he garnered her attention, the mech teasingly pointed at the hoop. "You throw it," he buzzed. Echo's ears flattened and her face drooped unamusedly. This made the mech snort. "I know how to play," Echo said. Her optics rolled and landed on Rafael. The young boy also seemed entertained by his guardian's teasing.

"Oh yeah? Prove it."

Echo slowly turned to Bumblebee. Her optics scanned the mech up and down multiple times with wide eyes. Her optic shudders narrowed as she spoke. "Do you have a death wish, scout?" Raf smiled at them, knowing the two bots he viewed as his caretakers were growing closer. Their flirtation had become more often and obvious in the way Echo and Bumblebee looked at one another.

'Bee nodded his helm before jolting forwards to steal the lob ball from Echo's servos. She gasped and stared in surprise as he effortlessly shot it through the hoop. The mech cockily turned to his lieutenant with a smirk and raised antennae. Echo returned the facial expression and pushed past him to get the basketball. "You are so on!" she shouted as the mech tried to get around her, both of them shoving each other playfully.

Rafael laughed and cheered them on, playing the role of a referee, but mainly sat back to enjoy watching them bond.

"""""""""""

Echo and Bumblebee were both exasperated and resting on the ground by the time Bulkhead came around to take Raf home. The trio had been talking about battle stories and scouting missions. Both the lieutenant and yellow scout looked disappointed to see their charge go, but bid him good night and promised for more fun the next day. Neither noticed how Rafael looked back at them with a joyful smile, happy to see them alone together.

The air grew heavy around the young Autobots once they were completely alone. Echo blushed and looked everywhere except the scout, while he regarded her cautiously. He could tell that she was still very hesitant to tell him why she lied, and therefore didn't press her on it. Bumblebee sat patiently, letting her make the decision herself.

"It's just so hard for me to talk about this," Echo admitted. Bumblebee nodded and shifted so he was leaning in her direction. He still remained silent. "I can barely talk to my own father about it," Echo added. 'Bee's antennae perked and he tilted his helm. "Optimus hasn't been telling me the truth either, has he?" he chirped.

Echo peeked at him and nodded. "No, he hasn't," she confirmed. It made the femme think of another negative of her decisions. Not only would she have to repair her relationship with her mate, but also mend the broken trust between Bumblebee and Prime. She saw the hurt in the scout's optics that a mech he viewed as his mentor had been lying to him as well.

Both bots were being punished and enduring the consequences of their actions: Bumblebee for racing and defying orders, and Echo for making herself and her family lie to him. However, in a way, they were bonding through this. Bumblebee's understanding and acceptance fit perfectly together with Echo's gradual progression through her traumatic past. If it was even possible, it made Echo appreciate and love the mech more so than before.

Seeing how reluctant and scared the fembot was, Bumblebee decided tonight was not the night for this conversation. Reaching over to her, 'Bee curled his digits around her servo and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't say anything if you're not comfortable," he buzzed, "That raincheck doesn't have an expiration date."

Echo stared up at him with undeniable shock. Her lips formed the most genuine smile she's had in a long time. She placed her own digits over Bumblebee's, feeling how he slightly shuddered at their intimacy.

"I'll wait until you're ready," Bumblebee said. The femme vented happily and her grin widened. "Okay," she said, "That sounds great." After a long time of sharing stories and Bumblebee talking about how weird it was when the team first came to Earth, it was time for Echo to go to bed. She was taking over for the scout's patrol shift in the morning and needed the recharge, especially after their basketball game.

"I'm gonna stay for awhile to clear my processor," Bumblebee mentioned when Echo parted to go to the barracks. "Ahh," Echo said, watching the mech get up and go for the lob ball. Her processor churned in thought, wondering if what she was about to do was a good idea.

Bumblebee was completely unsuspecting as the Guardsman approached him. She lifted up on her peddes to softly peck him on his cheek. The scout froze up and glanced down at her. When he registered the giddy smile on her face as she bid him goodnight, Bumblebee turned a deeper shade and gently touched where she kissed him. "Goodnight," he replied, still dumbfounded.