Woot, the second part of my little crackfic:3 Or at least the little teaser fics. Hahaha Hey, maybe if I write enough crackfic parts, I'll be able to put them together into a full story! XD mah bad. I intended to put all this in the first part, but it was 10 am, I hadn't had any sleep, and I decided I'd just write more or finish it tonight. Hahaha :3 Anyway. Yeah. Like I said, in no particular order again, 'cause I still only have a rough idea about how it's going to go.
There was no need to call for Ratchet as Optimus careened to a stop in the clearing they'd long since taken to using as their meeting place, Sam and Mikaela crying out in surprise as the abrupt stop almost threw them on top of the moaning form laying prone on the cot in the sleeper compartment of Optimus' cab. Ratchet had already been alerted by Bumblebee's alarms as Starscream had attacked before his communications were shut off, and Optimus had, upon finding the humans and the unconscious human who accompanied them, had redirected Ratchet to meet in the usual place. He had arrived only a few minutes before them.
Even before Optimus had rolled to a complete stop, the door to the sleeper compartment had swung open, and the two confused, terrified humans knew it was their signal to climb out, carrying their unconscious ward with them so that the Autobot leader could transform. It wasn't a shock for them to come face to face with Ratchet as they climbed out, the injured man – still wrapped in Mikaela's shawl, for their modesty more then his own – carried between the two of them as carefully as they could manage.
"What is the situation? Optimus, what has happened? Where is Bumblebee? I expected him to bring the children!" Bumblebee's short, scrambled cries for backup had concerned the old medic deeply – as had Optimus' subsequent orders to rendezvous elsewhere, and to find one of their number seemingly missing was not something he enjoyed. Optimus took little time in transforming, kneeling down and putting his open hand next to the two teenagers without answering the medic.
They took the signal and carefully lay the battered blonde in his hand, eyes terrified and large as they watched him stand back up, cupping both hands under the unconscious human for support and holding him out to Ratchet as if in answer.
"They have informed me that until an attack by Starscream, this wounded human was Bumblebee." He rumbled, his disbelief at the possibility evident despite the matter of fact way he had said it. Ratchet looked from the human he held for him to examine to his commander's suspicious gaze, confusion etched on his mechanical face.
"What? That's impossible…"
"I said the same myself." Sam couldn't help but feel the panic rise to an all new level as the thought crossed his mind that Optimus might think they were lying. Mikaela herself simply gripped firmly to the sleeve of Sam's shirt as she stared up at the gigantic mechanoid aliens, a strange expression etched on her features.
"Optimus, you have to believe us! I swear, we're not lying! Bumblebee was hit by a…some sort of…I don't know! Starscream shot him with something! It was huge, like…a missile! When the dust cleared, Bumblebee was gone, but…he was there! Right where Bumblebee landed! He said something about escaping to you, and then he went unconscious! Look, he even has your symbol, under his hair!" Sam didn't know who he seemed to be pleading with more, the leader of the Autobots or Ratchet himself.
Optimus glanced down at Sam as his medic blinked in obvious surprise, looking back down at the human in Prime's hands, taking note of the flash of disheveled red hair mixed in with all the blonde on the man's forehead, lifting the patch and scanning the strange discoloration of the skin beneath.
"I do not distrust you Sam. It has to be a trick, that is all. In all the years of fighting, the Decepticons have never been able to create a weapon with the capabilities you describe. Nevertheless, I doubt this human would willingly agree to be used as a Decepticon pawn. He must have been – "
"Optimus, the boy is right. This human has a strange discoloration of the skin in the shape of our emblem! Look, there." Ratchet's voice cut off the leader shortly, and it was obvious by the surprised jerk of his leader's head that it wasn't something he'd expected to hear coming from the elderly medic. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the partially-concealed patch as well, and after a moment he simply shook his head, glancing up at Ratchet.
"I do not know what game Starscream is playing at. Perhaps when the human is conscious he will be able to tell us more. He is injured, though. We must see to his wounds before we can be sure he is well enough to tell us anything. What can you do?" There was a cautious tone in Prime's voice as he spoke, and Ratchet nodded, continuing to scan the unconscious, though obviously pained human, even as it's moans of pain seemed at times to grow louder and louder.
"It does not appear to have any life threatening injuries. The shortness of breath appears to be caused by the pain of fractured ribs and clavicle, and there are numerous contusions and abrasions, but I do not detect any internal hemorrhaging or ruptures. The human's jaw also appears to be dislocated out of place. I do not have delicate enough instruments to correct the dislocation: I am only equipped to repair Autobot injuries, and I would be afraid of injuring it further was I to try."
"What would need to be done to correct the issue? Will it be required to transport the human to a hospital for first aid? It would risk being unable to question the human afterwards, but if we had to, I would allow it to be taken to a human Emergency ro – "
"No, no, it is not severe enough at this moment to require that, and I agree: to transport the human to a medical facility, we may lose the ability to question it after it has awoken. Give it to me." He had obviously already been researching the first aid techniques and needs for a human who had sustained such an injury as Optimus had been speaking, and Optimus nodded, carefully depositing the limp form in Ratchet's hands, eliciting a feeble cry of pain.. "All I need is to reposition the jaw in it's correct alignment. However, as my hands are far too large for that, I will need assistance in the process."
The way he looked down at Sam and Mikaela as he said it made the blood instantly drain from the boy's face. The sounds of distress being made by the unconscious form, whom he still believed was Bumblebee, as ludicrous as it sounded, were already enough to make him feel nauseous. The thought of popping a dislocated jaw into place and causing even more pain made him freeze, as he sometimes did in the worst of situations, despite himself.
"Ratchet, I can't…I don't know the first thing about…what if I hurt him more???"
"Nonsense, I will instruct you, Sam, I simply cannot do it with my own hands. It is a simple procedure."
Sam simply shook his head, staring blankly up at Ratchet, his feeling of nausea only growing. Mikaela, though, seemed to come out of her quiet, bewildered shock as he hesitated, stepping out from behind him. "I'll do it Ratchet. Let me see him."
The large bot kneeled down to her, holding his hands out to her a few inches above the ground, and she stepped closer, her eyes gazing timidly at the battered man he held. She felt confident enough that she could what he instructed her to do – she'd learned a little about first aid in her health classes at school – but that still didn't mean she felt comfortable hurting the already seriously hurting man. Nevertheless, she nodded, reaching a hand out to rest it on the blonde's arm as if to calm his agonized moans and gasps for breath. "Ok, what do I do?"
"Alright. Simply hold his jaw in both of your hands, with your thumbs behind the back teeth, and push it down firmly until you feel it pop back into place."
She swallowed what little fear she could as she sensed Sam shuffling up nervously behind her, staring over her shoulder, and reached out with gently trembling hands. Even her gentle touch brought a soft cry from the injured man, his brow furrowing as he jerked as if to get away from her despite being unconscious, and she jerked her hands away, glancing back at Sam. "Sam, hold his head for me! He's going to hurt himself more!"
Her boyfriend stared at her in a somewhat shell shocked expression before nodding weakly, moving to the side of her and reaching out, biting his lip as he held the man's head, doing his best to avoid the painful jaw and hold him still at the same time. The man's eyes fluttered softly as he was restrained, pale blue irises flashing from between the barely-opened lids, but he didn't come to full consciousness, and Mikaela nodded to herself, taking a breath and reaching out once more, gripping his jaw the way she'd been told.
He tried to struggle softly once more, but Sam's grip tightened despite himself, and perhaps out of fear herself, Mikaela acted quickly, pushing on the man's jaw, ignoring as the pain it caused sent him into more and more violent reactions, his voice rising in volume and his body jerking sharply until she felt a firm, but rather sickening "pop," the jaw setting back into place.
Unfortunately, the pain was enough to bring the man to full consciousness, and shocked, terrified blue eyes shot open, the expression changing in an instant to one of rage as he screamed, lunging violently enough to throw them off. He instantly leapt for the first thing his eyes landed on, and Mikaela gave a startled shriek as she found herself tackled to the ground, a hand squeezing roughly against her windpipe as the man pinned her to the ground with a surge of adrenalin, his fight instinct taking over. She fought to breathe as she clawed at his arm, staring wide-eyed as he lifted an arm as if to punch her, only to shriek and fall back, clutching at his ribs in agony as the fractured bones sent sharp pains through his body with the movement of his arm at such an extreme angle.
The action lasted only for an instant, and when the blonde's eyes finally opened from the agonized grimace, he stared at the arm he'd been intending to strike her with as if fascinated, soft moans escaping his lips at each struggling breath. His movements seemed confused, bewildered, as he flexed his arm, gasping in pain as the muscles flexing around the broken ribs tore at him painfully. He didn't seem to notice those around him, or even Mikaela still pinned underneath him for that matter, until Sam stepped closer timidly, eyeing him with a mixture of fear and curiosity on his face.
"…Bee…?" The blonde looked up sharply, and the fear in his expression was evident even to the large Autobots who had stepped closer when he'd attacked, stopping themselves from tearing him away from Mikaela only because of the abrupt change in his demeanor, the obvious way his own bruised and injured body had seemed to snap him out of the instinctual way he'd leapt to attack.
"Sa-AH!" The human cried out sharply as he tried to speak, his hand going to the recently reset jaw, and he curled up against himself, pained whimpers escaping his closed lips as his eyes skewed shut against the sharp, shooting agony he felt when he tried to talk. Beneath him, Mikaela didn't seem to know what to do, pinned as she was while he sat on her stomach, the shawl they'd used to cover his nakedness long since thrown off in the struggle. She eyed him cautiously, not moving, though her eyes glanced up at the others standing above them questioningly.
The loud, ground-shaking thump of a large mechanical foot barely seemed to register with the pained young man, and it wasn't until Optimus was kneeling beside the three tiny Earthlings that he looked up, seeing the Autobot for the first time since he'd awoken. The expression on his face was a strange mixture of shock and fear and relief, and he sat up straighter, staring up at Prime even as he was looked back upon, his confused expression met with a stern, suspicious, but non-confrontational gaze.
"These children claim to know you. They say that I know you. Do you know who I am?" for a moment, the only response he received was a trembling whine as the human began to tremble, and even the gigantic leader of the Autobots could see the tears creating tracks in the grime covering the man's face. But finally he nodded, distress and confusion in the way he gazed at Optimus.
"I suspect you will experience discomfort when attempting to communicate with us, but we need to ask you a few questions. It is important for us to know what transpired approximately a half an hour ago. Do you feel like you can communicate in your present state?" Again a pause, the human's eyes darting back and forth as if floundering for understanding of his situation, and then despite the pain he must have felt in doing so, he gave a sharp, strangled laugh through clenched teeth, groaning and cringing at the discomfort before looking back up at Optimus. When he spoke, he did so through a tightly clenched jaw, one hand pressed firmly against it as if doing so relieved some of the pain, his words mumbled as a result, but for the most part understandable.
"I…can't…I don't…see…a radio…but…at least I – oooh…I still have my voice…Sir…" for a moment, the humor in the situation seemed to escape the others around him, but then a sort of disbelief crossed even Optimus Prime's features, and he stood up, silent for a long moment. When he spoke again, the question was short, to the point, as if simply to confirm what had already been implied in the man's response.
"What is your name?" The human tried to laugh again, but the sound couldn't hide the sob that accompanied it, his demeanor beginning to slip farther and farther into distress.
"B - …Bumblebee…Sir…It's…I'm…me…! Optimus, Sir…please…what's…what happened…to me???" Ratchet made a short sound, almost like a human scoff or gasp, and he looked at Optimus, shaking his head.
"This can't be right, Optimus! This has to be a Decepticon trick!" The only response Prime gave, though, was to the humans what sounded like a series of electronic shrieks, clicks, and buzzes, and though it wasn't anything a human would have been able to understand, it was obvious that it had been directed at the human "Bumblebee."
He shook his head in response, confusion etching his features. "I…can't…I don't understand you…too…high…and too low…I can't understand what you said!" though mumbled through clenched teeth, his voice was beginning to take on a distinctly panicked tone, his trembling only increasing as his anxiety level rose.
Optimus processed what he'd said for a moment and then the sound came again, more complex, and it became obvious to human ears that things that had been too high or too low on the range of sound had been adjusted to match the range of human hearing. It drew a soft cry of relief from the man, and he nodded sharply, an attempt at a smile crossing his pained features.
"I understand you, yes, of course I know our language! Yes, I am Bumblebee, I am loyal to you, Sir! I don't know what happened to me! Everything is…everything is changed, I can't…I don't know what's going on!" Ratchet's attention was instantly drawn to the human on the ground, shock written on his features, and though Sam and Mikaela were unable to translate what must have been Cybertronian speech, it was obvious to them that the human Bumblebee could, and had, and had answered what had been said to him by their leader.
Not even Optimus was able to hide the shock caused by what this meant. No humans were capable of understanding their language, and the fact that this one was could only mean that he was, as unbelievable as it sounded to each of them, telling the truth about who he was.
Optimus knelt down once more, holding a large hand out to the now much-smaller Bee, who – after staring at it for a moment – realized his intentions and rose, staggering over and dragging himself into the hand, pulling his knees up to his chest gently as his leader stood back up, taking him with him. Mikaela pulled herself off the ground, glancing at Sam before they both turned their concerned eyes back up at the human in Optimus' hand.
"Do not allow yourself to be alarmed, Bumblebee. Stay calm, and tell me: Do you remember what happened before you sustained these injuries?" His voice no longer holding the suspicion it had before, he spoke to the Spy in a soothing voice, recognizing that he was succumbing to stress and fear, an understandable reaction in light of his situation. Bee nodded softly, as though not entirely sure he truthfully did or not, but attempted to speak of what he did nonetheless.
"Sam, Mikaela, and I…we were out by…the highway. Jumping a sand dune. Playing. I'm sorry, sir. I shouldn't have been lax in my duties. Perhaps if I'd done my job I would have –"
Optimus cut him off, shaking his head as he heard Bumblebee's tone rising to a frantic, upset sound, finding a way to blame his current state on himself. "That does not matter now, Bumblebee. What happened at the sand dune? How did this happen to you?"
Bumblebee shook his head, one hand pressing against his forehead as if it hurt to think, as if he were having problems remembering what had happened. He sighed as he glanced back up at the concerned features of his leader, his jaw still tightly clenched together to avoid too much pain.
"I…Sam alerted us to the approach of a human flying vehicle…I looked up, and…I saw…I knew it was Starscream…He was transforming in mid-flight…I tried to…hide the children, to keep them safe…and…then I tried to communicate with you, to call for backup…but…he dropped something…threw something at me…I…tried to shoot it down, but…I missed…and…the -…the last thing I remember is being hit…and…feeling pain…all over my body…I couldn't move, Sir…It hurt so badly, I couldn't move! And…and then I…can't remember anything after that…" He seemed to wilt, as if his explanation didn't seem adequate enough for him, as if he were ashamed of his inability to recall what had truly happened. Optimus, though, simply shook his head soothingly, both hands cupping gently together against Bumblebee's back to create a sort of protective pocket around the unhappy human, looking down at the children.
"Sam, Mikaela, did you see what happened after the attack?"
"Not much. Everything was dusty, whatever they hit him with blew a hold in the ground, it was hard to see. When it cleared, Starscream was gone and we found him…we found Bumblebee in the middle of the crater."
"And you said that the object in the crater when I found you was the weapon Starscream had used? It is imperative that we retrieve that object, etermine what it is and what it did!"
"Yeah, that's right, it was in the middle of the crater near Bee! Everything went by so fast, but I remember that!" Optimus nodded at Sam then, glancing at Ratchet and holding his hands out for him to take the human Bumblebee from his grasp.
"Ratchet, I'm going to investigate and see if the weapon is still there. Keep Bumblebee and the children safe until Ironhide arrives, and then you rendezvous with me at the coordinates Bumblebee sent before his communications were interrupted."
"But Optimus, what if the weapon does the same thing to you? We need to be careful, we don't know what it is or how it works!" Despite his words, he took Bumblebee in his own hands, cradling him close to his chest unconsciously.
"That's a risk I have to take. We need to know what it is they've done to him, and if they intend to do it again! If anything happens, I want you to contact me immediately! Ironhide and Captain Lennox will be here shortly, until then, stay under the cover of the trees: If they can't see you, the Decepticons won't be able to attack you like they did Bumblebee, if that's truly their intentions." Before he was even finished saying it, he'd transformed into the familiar red and blue Peterbilt, and without waiting for an answer, he tore off through the forest, making his way towards the location of Bumblebee's last electronic communication.
Ratchet looked down at the trembling, cowering Bumblebee in his hands for a long moment, scanning and processing the information regarding his health for a long moment. Finally, he glanced down at Sam and Mikaela, kneeling down closer to the ground. "I'm going to transform. You three climb inside. If there is trouble before Ironhide arrives, we'll need to make a quick getaway." He placed Bumblebee gently down on the ground, Sam and Mikaela each grabbing an arm and helping him to his feet, supporting his uneasy weight between them as carefully as possible to avoid causing him too much discomfort to his broken ribs. In an instant, Ratchet had transformed, and the rear doors to the Hummer 2 Search-and-Rescue vehicle had popped open invitingly. They climbed in, helping Bee inside, and shut the doors behind him as they led him to lay down on one of the stretchers inside, covering him with the thin, almost useless sheets covering the medical stretcher.