"I can't believe he talked me into this."
Bumblebee and Steeljaw muttered simultaneously as they waited by the ship that the Council provided for them. Off the record, of course, because news of this mission is not meant to get out to the public. Only a select few know about any of this.
Not that Bumblebee was complaining. He's glad that this is all private. Last thing he wants is about a dozen or more Cybertronians coming up to him and asking why he is standing next to a lone ship, in a restricted area of the airfield, and with Steeljaw no less.
"What is taking Knockout so long?" Bumblebee whispered, getting antsy waiting for the red mech to show-up. He looked at Steeljaw and noticed he was extremely quiet, and not causing any trouble. "Steeljaw?"
"Hm?" The other mech perked to attention, but he didn't face Bumblebee.
"Is something wrong? You don't seem to be yourself today."
Steeljaw laughed.
"Since when have I given you any reason to worry about me? Ah, wait, let me rephrase that: when have I given you any reason to worry about me, excluding all of the times I tried to make Earth my own while you and your team tried to stop me?"
Bumblebee didn't answer.
"Anyway, are the cuffs really necessary?" Steeljaw added, glancing over his shoulder plate at his bound servos.
"It was either that, or I could have thrown you in a stasis pod and rolled you onto the ship," Bumblebee mused, cracking a smile. "Knowing you, I kind of figured you would prefer to be awake."
silence
"I guess I can live with them for a little while longer," Steeljaw said, seemingly sharing Bumblebee's amusement. "But as soon as I get on that ship, they're coming off."
"Once we're out of Cybertron's orbit, then they'll come off. Promise."
The unmistakable sound of shouting prevented Bumblebee and Steeljaw from continuing their banter. Both mechs turned their attentions in the direction of where the ruckus was coming from. To absolutely no surprise, Knockout had finally arrived, with Starscream and Jazz in-tow. The medic and the Seeker were arguing, and as they got closer, Bumblebee noticed how completely done with this scrap Jazz was.
Once they reached the ship, Knockout took a controller out of his subspace, pressed a button, and entered the ship, still butting-helms and yelling back and forth with Starscream. Jazz made it halfway up the ramp before wandering back down.
"Hey, Jazz," Bumblebee greeted. "You alright?"
Jazz stopped in front of Bumblebee and Steeljaw. He reached for his helm and pressed a digit against the side.
"You say somethin', Bee?" Jazz asked.
"Oh, you shut off your audio receptors."
"Yeah. I could only stand listening to them for so long before I wished I was offline. Since I don't want that to happen anytime soon, I went with the next best thing."
"Understandable. So, what were they fighting about?"
"I don't know. I stopped listening after only a few kliks."
"Well, why don't you go get a good rest, bud? Sounds like… I mean, it looks like you need it."
Jazz smirked at Bumblebee, then left.
"Why didn't you put the loud mouth in a stasis pod?" Steeljaw asked, causing Bumblebee to laugh.
"Ah… I don't know," Bumblebee trailed before grabbing Steeljaw gently by the arm. "Come on, let's go."
