Cybertron was dying.
The Decepticons ruled out every city that wasn't controlled by the Autobots, and destroyed anyone who didn't comply with them. Megatron ordered his soldiers to deactivate any bot who stood in their way, whether they were mechs, femmes, younglings, or sparklings.
It wasn't until Decepticon forces reached the city of Kalis that they were met with resistance. Two sparkmates had fought back against the evil forces, urging their tiny sparkling to run far away from the destruction that was happening in their city. The small sparkling, being no more than a metacycle old, followed his creators orders, running into an abandoned part of the destroyed city that was mainly vacant buildings. He heard the screams of them, not knowing nor grasping what in Primus was actually happening.
"Decepticons, let no bot live! After him!" Starscream screamed into the air, watching as three seekers followed the stumbling sparkling into the abandoned section. "Leave no survivors for the Autobots!"
The sparkling, whose colors were primarily yellow with a tinge of black, ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. He looked behind him and saw the fighter jets a couple of strides away from him, and ducked into an abandoned building, shutting the door and running into a supply closet.
"Find him!" The small bot covered his receptors as energon tears filled his optics, one daring to slip down his faceplate. He brought his knees to his chest plate and huddled into a ball, hearing footsteps getting closer and closer to him. A small whimper escaped his mouth as he shit his optics tightly, hearing a pause in the steps.
"Did you find him?" A voice screamed in the air as the sparkling rolled into a tighter ball. He held his breath as he slowly peeped his head up, seeing the seeker facing the closet.
"No, Starscream. I can't locate him anywhere. Not even his energon levels are visual yet. He must be less than a vorn old than." The gruff voice said as his footsteps got further and further away.
"We'll search tomorrow, Barricade. Megatron will want him as a pet." Starscream replied, evilly chuckling as the small bot uncovered his receptors. He slowly peeked his head back into the closet and heard the two Decepticons form into jets, taking off into the dark sky.
A small whimper escaped his mouth as he shakily stepped out of the closet and ran under a vacant desk, pulling his knees to his chest.
The small sparkling looked around, energon tears filling into his optics as he sniffled, realizing that he was completely alone. His creators were gone. The Decepticons had torn his city apart. He had no one to protect him or tell him what to do, or where to go.
An orn, but it seemed more like a megacycle to the bot, had past. The sparkling had been deprived of his daily energon fixing, and started to feel weak. Sparklings were meant to have their supplements for them to grow into strong and healthy bots.
The bot, who was now laying under a vacant desk in a curled up position suddenly perked up, upon hearing random shuffling and noises from outside the building. The sparkling sat up, terror glazing over his baby blue optics, as he stood up, seeing the front doors begin to open. He dashed back into the storage closet, whimpering as footsteps piled into the building.
"There's an energon signal here, Optimus. It's very weak and faint, but it's still there." A gruff voice said, the small bot whimpering in fear as he heard someone approach. He desperately looked around the small supply closet, looking for something to cover his small body with, but couldn't find anything. Instead, he covered his head with his small servos.
"I can hear something, Ratchet. Scan the room, it could be a survivor." A strong, but gentle voice said. The tiny bot covered his face as he heard footsteps come closer and closer to him, before the door opened. He looked up and was met with a tall figure, primarily blue and red. He tried backing up further, but soon realized that he was cornered in the closet. The mysterious mech looked down at him with pure shock through his dark blue optics.
"P-Please don't h-hurt me!" The small bot cried out as tears rushed down his faceplate. "I-I don't want to b-be a p-pet!" The tall figure leaned down and held his servo up, signaling for a white and red bot to come forth.
"It's a sparkling." he said with astonishment as the other bot came up to the sparkling, seeing terror. all over his face. "Do not be afraid, little one. We are not going to hurt you," The tall bot said as he held out his servo, watching as the tiny bot slowly but cautiously ease out of the corner. "Where are your creators?"
"T-The bad bots shot t-them." His little voice quivered as the red and white bot sighed, backing up slightly.
"We missed them, Optimus." The blue and red mech stood up and sighed heavily, looking to see that three Autobot warriors were guarding the door. "What do we do with him?" Both mechs looked down at the shaking sparkling, who looked up at them with scared optics. He sat in a small position, holding his arms and legs to his chest, slightly whimpering as Optimus felt his spark churn.
"We must take him. We cannot leave him here for the Decepticons." The red mech nodded as Optimus leaned down, looking at the shaking bot.
"What is your name, little one?" Optimus asked gently as the small mechling looked at him with innocence.
"B-Bumblebee," Optimus held his servo out as Bumblebee skeptically looked at him. The sparkling looked to the Cybertronian, feeling uneasy about him.
"My name is Optimus Prime. I am the commander and leader of the Autobots."
Autobots! Bumblebee had heard that word before. His creators had insignias printed on their shoulders, and Bumblebee had a small red one on his head.
"A-Autobots," The sparkling whispered as he pointed to his forehead, softly grazing over the insignia. Optimus smiled and softly laughed, seeing Bumblebee carefully climb into his servo. He grasped Optimus' large fingers as he sat in the middle of his servo, watching as the leader stood up straight.
"That's right, Bumblebee. That's our symbol." Optimus said gently as the red and white mech came over, scanning the small sparkling. "This is Ratchet. Our field medic. When we get back to our base, he's gonna check you over to make sure you're nice and healthy." Bumblebee looked up at Ratchet, seeing him look over a hologram.
"His energon levels are low, Optimus. Dangerously low for a sparkling." Ratchet said as the leader nodded, standing up. Bumblebee looked up at Optimus before pressing his small body into the commander's chest.
"We better be heading out. Before Decepticon forces come back." Bumblebee whimpered at the name and burrowed his head near Optimus' spark, feeling some comfort. He closed his baby blue optics as Optimus and Ratchet moved towards the exit. The leader held the small sparkling against his chest, walking out of the abandoned building.
"Autobots, roll out!"
xXx
Bumblebee tiredly opened his optics and slowly sat up, looking around at his surroundings. He saw that he was laying on a berth, a small yellow blanket and pillow on his small body, and a small machine sitting a couple of yards away from him. He wiped his optics and saw a somewhat familiar mech come up to him.
"Hello there," Bumblebee saw Ratchet come up to him with a smile as he leaned down, looking at the small sparkling. "How was your recharge?" Bumblebee smiled and quietly chirped happily.
"I still feel icky," he said in the smallest voice as Ratchet smiled, patting his small head.
"How about a nice bottle of energon? I bet that'll make you feel a little better." Bumblebee nodded as he held the blanket to his faceplate, watching as the medic stood up and walk to the opposite side of the room. The door slid open as Bumblebee watched another familiar face walk in, seeing his savior, Optimus Prime.
"Hello, little one." Optimus said as he walked over to the berth, watching as Bumblebee stood up with the blanket in hand. He lifted up his arms and waited before the commander picked up the sparkling, holding him against his chest. "How is he?"
Ratchet poured energon from a cube into a small bottle and added a few supplements specifically designed for the sparkling. He tapped one of the many screens in the room and displayed it on a hologram.
"His levels are slowly getting back to normal. Thank Primus we found him when we did, or who knows how malnourished he would have been." The medic said as he handed his leader the bottle. "I could feed him if you want," he offered as Optimus shook his head, positioning the smaller bot to lay in the crook of his elbow.
"I'll feed him. You should probably go for a recharge. It's been quite a rough time, jumping from city to city." Ratchet sighed and nodded, muttering a tired 'thanks' before leaving the medical room. Optimus turned his attention to the sparkling and brought the bottle down, Bumblebee grasping the top of it as he quickly suckled at the bottle. "Hungry one, are we?" Optimus whispered as Bumblebee closed his optics, drinking the energon that he had been deprived of. The Autobot leader subconsciously ran a finger down the smaller bot's cheek, watching as Bumblebee drank. "My spark aches for you, little one."
A knock at the door shook Optimus from his thoughts as he looked to the door and saw one of his valued Autobots, Wheeljack.
"So the rumors are true. We have ourselves a 'lil sparkling." The Autobot inventor walked forward, seeing the small sparkling open his baby blue optics.
"What can I do for ya, boss?"
"Wheeljack, I need to request your invention and scientific skills." Optimus said as Wheeljack smiled down at the little sparkling, who finished the bottle of energon. "This little one needs a place to recharge, and I don't think that this berth is the right. Especially for a sparkling." Wheeljack nodded and smiled.
"I'd be happy to design a smaller berth for him. What humans call a 'crib'. Maybe a few toys for the little guy." The inventor said as he waved his finger at Bumblebee, who smiled and waved at him. "What's his name?" Optimus sat the small sparkling up and held his against the back of his servo, slightly burping him.
"Bumblebee." Wheeljack patted his head as Bumblebee smiled at him. "Our newest Autobot." Optimus said proudly as the sparkling burped, and then giggled.
"I'll get started on that berth and a few toys." Wheeljack said as Optimus nodded, holding Bumblebee up.
"'Bee!" Bumblebee cried as Optimus and Wheeljack chuckled lightly, the Autobot leader reaching for another bottle of energon. Wheeljack smiled at Bumblebee one last time before going out of the med bay and to his lab.
"Here we go." Optimus said as he gave Bumblebee another bottle, watching as he greedily drank the blue liquid. "Let's see," he muttered as he grabbed the yellow blanket and gently wrapped the sparkling in the fabric, watching as Bumblebee nuzzled his head into the blanket. His optics began to droop as he gripped the top of the bottle, holding it with Optimus' help.
"What do you say, Bumblebee? How about we go down for another recharge?" Optimus said as he gently placed a drowsy Bumblebee on the berth, easing his head on the pillow. He pulled up a chair and sat down, still holding onto the energon-filled bottle. "Rest, little one. Wheeljack will build you a much comfortable berth." Optimus said quietly as Bumblebee completely relaxed, slipping into a recharge.
He took the bottle out of his mouth and placed it on a nearby table, lightly dimming the lights and returned to his seat next to the recharging sparkling. He grabbed a monitor and displayed a hologram, looking at all the information that they had gotten on Bumblebee, which was not a lot.
The only information that they had received was where he was created, how old he was, and his creators, who were offline. He had been created on Kalis and was only less than a few megacycles, equivalent to a vorn old, which was very young in Cybertronian terms. Optimus looked at the sparkling's profile on the Cybertron database to see if he could even muster the slightest clue on how to properly raise a sparkling.
He had thought about dropping Bumblebee off at a youth center, but them soon remembered that Megatron had abolished all the centers to stop the creatings of younglings and sparklings. Being with the Autobots was the only choice that Optimus had, and it wasn't the worst.
There were femmes and mechs about in the Autobot base who would help raise him, such as Chromia, Arcee, Jazz and Ratchet. Not to mention Wheeljack, who was somewhat attached to the small bot.
But Bumblebee would need a designated guardian, to be with him when he needed to be recharging, who fed him his daily energon. Someone who would be gentle and caring for him.
Optimus looked down at the sparkling and smiled, running a finger down his small cheek. Bumblebee whistled in his recharge as he felt Optimus' finger.
xXx
After he had awoken from his recharge, Optimus had introduced Bumblebee to all the Autobots on the base. Some were very friendly, some were excited to have a sparkling on base, and some were not amused by him.
He was first introduced to Optimus' first lieutenant, Jazz, who thought Bumblebee was just the heart and soul of the Autobots. He was also introduced to some of the in-training younglings, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, who were the base's designated twin trouble makers. Ironhide seemed to have a small soft spot for the sparkling, commenting on how he would be a great addition to the Autobots when he came of age.
Wheeljack presented Optimus and Bumblebee a small little metal berth with a special pillow and blanket that would help him slip into an easy recharge, along with a small stuffed toy in the shape of the Autobot insignia. Bumblebee of course adored it, and hadn't put it down since Wheeljack gifted him with it.
He placed the crib into Optimus' quarters, along side the commander's berth along with specially made bottles that had the supplements at the bottom, easy for Optimus to serve to the sparkling.
The Autobot leader had glady taken the position of becoming Bumblebee's guardian, seeing how attached he was the the youngest and smallest member of the Autobots.
It was nightfall when Optimus returned to his quarters, Bumblebee in his arms. He closed the blinds that were in his room and looked at the sparkling in his arms, seeing him fully in recharge. He placed Bumblebee into the crib and draped a blanket over him gently, seeing the bot having a tight grip on his new toy. Optimus moved the crib closer to his berth and sat down, looking at the slumbering bot.
"You have a new family. And we will love and protect you with everything that we have. In Primus' name." Optimus whispered as he stroked Bumblebee's small head, leaning down to place a fatherly kiss on his head.
"Welcome home, Bumblebee."