The Autobots were occupied fighting Decepticons and endless waves of drones deep within the fresh ruins of Chicago. Shockwave and Driller battled Ironhide, Bumblebee, and Sideswipe. Optimus was locked in a fight to the death with Megatron many blocks to their west.
The ARC team piloted the mech through the confines of the gridded streets. Their battle had destroyed at least half of the city and depleted most of their energy reserves and weapons. Their target was only one lone Decepticon, but one that would not get away so easily this time. Their short range EMPs had disabled his ability to create a groundbridge, removing his cheap getaway from so many bitter fights before. The long conflict had worn him down and singled him out, finally pushing him to the point of disadvantage. Now, his blasters and toothless corded serpents failed to stop the mech's advance as it barreled through the destruction.
A hot blooded battle cry erupted from Tommy, Heather, Cole, Archer, Sadiyah, and Danielle as they raged forward and punched into Soundwave's chest with all of their momentum, driving him into a skyscraper. Glass and concrete rained down around them. Another heavy blow and they were through the spark chamber, a blighted brilliance shining through the gore. His desperate attempts to push the mech off were met only with fury. Their fist closed down around the electric ball inside before wrenching it from the grasp of wires and energon lines. He fell in a sparking bleeding heap to the churned asphalt, his cunning loyalty to the Decepticon cause at last extinguished. Tommy took one last stomp on the demon's head just to make sure.
Bumblebee pulled away from the memory, cutting off the projection he'd been displaying against the tan exterior wall of the home.
Danielle presented another mental picture frame to him that he began projecting immediately as well.
Inside it, Archer cheered, pumping both fists in the air after winning an arm wrestling tournament on the base. His left arm shined in the sunlight, gleaming white metal and blue silicone joints. The memory jumped forward, focusing now on his arm delicately cradling a bundle of light yellow cloth. Inside it lay a pink cooing baby. Sadiyah smiled at his side.
The happy memory faded away and was replaced with a brilliant blue sky, lazy clouds floating over a gently twinkling ocean. Waves lapped at the warm white sand, the beach empty save for scattered palm trees and two youthful but matured women sitting in beach chairs, basking in the sun. Cold drinks sweated in their hands while they laughed in the calm serenity. It would be another week of bliss before they had anyone to report to.
Wrinkled and traced with zig zagging scars, a frail hand picked up Danielle's from where it laid on the thin white sheet, giving it a soft squeeze. As if holding the bouquet of scars together from one finger, a silver band cradling a dark purple and blue stone glittered in the light.
Danielle slowly surfaced from the bond, gripping back with what strength she could muster. Bee came back to his own mind and observed the bittersweet scene that was unfolding before him. Danielle lay in his servo, propped up on pillows and covered with a sheet just to her ribs. Her hair rippled down her shoulder in a long gray braid that had been so carefully crafted by Heather, who sat at her side. It was a placid mid morning, the breeze was warm and the shade beneath a proud old aspen tree was cool.
"I miss that island" said Danielle, her voice scratchy and hushed. Her wrinkled face smiled when her eyes found Heather's, who smiled right back and responded "I miss having you both all to myself for once."
Bee smiled down on the women, his armor encrusted with battle scars. The dwindling war on Cybertron had not been kind, and none of the Bots had kept their Earthly disguises. Now, his body was a rugged dark grey metal with crisscrossing yellow and silver blotches, a camouflage that blended in with the rebuilding husk of a planet.
It had been several months since his last visit to Earth but his spark had tugged him back to this place. Even now, it twitched and flared, acutely aware that the other end of the bond was weakening. He tried to keep his emotions from her, but she knew he felt it too.
A flicker of pain creased her forehead, prompting him to reflexively reach out to take the feeling away from her. It bit into his chest even as she pulled back on it.
With slow halting words broken by inhales, Danielle asked him "No, let me... have this... Where I'm going... I won't feel anything... You still have plenty of time... for hurt... Please…" He searchered her face, finding that stubbornness just beneath the surface. She took a gasping breath as he shamefully acquitted and let go of her pain.
Heather laid down next to Danielle and embraced her in a hug. "You always were the brave one. What are we supposed to do without..." Tears hitched her voice, stopping her from completing the sentence. Bee lifted them both to his chest with a subtle closure of his hand, wishing to hug them back to comfort. He felt her prying at the bond again, and he dove down into it once more.
She presented him another memory to share with them all.
Bee and the mech were fighting side by side, like cornered animals, standing against two Seekers and a horde of drones. They were being pushed back, pinned on a bridge. A missile was headed straight towards Bee's back, on track for a direct hit, when Archer called it out. Visceral terror froze Danielle in her seat, staring down the rocketing bomb.
Without hesitation, Heather took control and shoved Bee over the guardrail to the deep rushing river below. The missile struck the mech just after Archer had detonated all available onboard munitions, blowing it to shreds and knocking the pilots from their connections. Arcee found Bumblebee later that night and they returned together to base, not much worse for wear.
Danielle's memory faded away as Bee brought up his own.
A metal landscape dotted with the towering remains of blackened and derelict alien skyscrapers. The thin atmosphere loomed gray and hopeless as Bee raced forward. His processor nearly overclocked as he dodged ceaseless blasts while calculating the trajectory of Heather's body. She plummeted towards the ground after Starscream had dropped her from aloft. Her suit's life support systems were operational, but she had been knocked unconscious.
With one more push for speed, Bumblebee launched himself from the ground, transformed midair, caught her limp form and tucked it to himself before transforming back and fleeing the battlefield.
She later awoke just as they reached the fortified Autobot outpost, cloaked against prying sensors. Once through the airlocks and into human hands for medical care, she removed her helmet and hoarsely told Bee "I love you, but I'm never scouting with you again, not here or Earth." At the stung look he gave, she finished "It's for our own safety, big guy. Danielle would kill us both if one of us died out there." She threw him a half cocked smile. "Thanks for bringing me back in one piece."
The scene shimmered into a new memory. Danielle sat behind Heather, hugging her tight and resting her head on her shoulder, both nestled in Bee's palm. Heather starred up into his optics, the luster in her eyes betraying the mist behind them. She nodded to him.
In one fluid motion, his chest plates pulled back to reveal the dancing spark within. The familiar blue fire played inside the electric arcs that surrounded it, washing both women in it's warmth. Heather felt a pull on her mind, a knowing she only superficially understood from their explanations. She knew it was this great being before her that she felt, gentle warrior that he was. Closing her eyes, she leaned into the sensation.
As the memory ended, Heather felt a tender kiss brush against her forehead. Through her blurred vision she could see Danielle weakly reaching out to brush away the hair that stuck to her love's tear tracks.
"I could never… have faced this life… without you both." Danielle said between labored breaths. "I was brave because... you showed me how to be." Her eyes squeezed closed against a new sharpening of pain that lanced through her body. She could feel Bee's distress and tremors radiating from Heather as she silently cried on her shoulder.
Her world was gradually slipping away; the cicada song growing faint, the whisper of the breeze blowing silent, the comforting whir of unseen mechanisms inside Bumblebee spinning down into muted vibrations. Even the splotches of sunshine through the leafy canopy that warmed her were cooling.
Summoning her last modicum of strength, she spoke "You still... have each other… Don't waste this love… mourning..." She fumbled blindly for Heather's hand, squeezing it feebly when she found she was already holding it. "Promise me."
Though her voice creaked with grief, Heather managed to speak up "I promise."
Bumblebee bowed his head and fought his instincts as a swell of pain rose up the bond. "I promise." he said, fighting the icy fear that had begun to creep through his circuits. He held her body secure in his hand, but she was slipping through his grasp all the same. In an instant, her agony dissolved and he felt her posture soften against his metal.
Heather had felt it too. "Danielle?" She lifted the hand that now lay limp in her own. "No, please. Don't leave me yet. Danielle!" Wide rivers ran down her face as she gently prodded at Danielle's neck, checking for a pulse, and watched for the rise and fall of her chest. Both were shallow, almost undetectable.
She looked up at Bee in desperate denial. He gently stroked her back with his free hand and shook his head slowly, optics dimming. "She's unconscious and I don't think she will wake up again…" He pried at their link, afraid to hope he might find her there still. It wavered tenuously like a single strand of delicate silk, but held. "I might still be able to show you what she's seeing." With that, he fell back into the bond, finding her mind disturbingly still and unguarded, and began projecting the image onto the house one last time.
Memories shivered like tufts on a dandelion, attached but only barely.
Danielle and Heather laid on Bumblebee's hood far out on a desert plane, staring out into a sunset flaring scarlett in the western sky. Time had just begun to crease their skin but had yet to take any meaningful physical toles.
Danielle puzzled Heather's question. "I mean, if I could go back in time and change my past…? Yea, I would have stopped all that suffering I had to endure. But… I don't know. I don't think any other path would have led me to this exact moment, and I wouldn't trade this for anything." She pulled her into a hug.
Brilliant laughter careened into the world from behind them. In a lush garden, surrounded by sunflowers and dragonflies, little Danielle toddled and danced about in her yellow sundress. She peered through the day's glare as an older man stepped from behind an ancient oak tree. He chased her in circles, hooting and laughing along, until a sweet voice beckoned to them both from the kitchen widow. Running into the home, the table was set for three and piled high with sweets of any desire.
"I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance"
Through the billowing curtains, under a pale moon, stood a young blond man tenderly embracing a young brunette woman in a slow dance.
"Never settle for the path of least resistance"
Music drifted in the ambiance as they swayed in a harmony neither knew they had needed.
"Livin' might mean takin' chances, but they're worth takin'.
Lovin' might be a mistake, but it's worth makin'."
The moon faded from its perch. The flaming sunset drained it's colors and bled away it's light. Even as the smiling faces faded in the home, their laughter remained.
Bee found himself forced out of the memory. He met Heather's gaze, bidding the world to stand still and not move forward into the next moment. He could only watch as time pressed on, heedless of his pleas.
Heather leaned down and placed a featherlight kiss on Danielle's paling lips. As she pulled away, she felt a warm puff of breath greet her own, but only one.
His spark spun frantically, trying to maintain it's connection. A burst of pain shocked inside his chest, so powerful even Heather grabbed at her own. Then it was gone. He found himself wishing it would return so that he could at least feel something where her bond had been for decades.
I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. If it isn't too much trouble, I would love to hear your thoughts about it :)