"There are a few rules to address before Bee can leave," Ratchet growled before Ironhide could dart out of the med bay with the youngling.
"Aww, Ratchet, come on. Isn't he good to go?" Ironhide complained and shot a glare Jazz's way when the saboteur chuckled.
"No. Primus, Ironhide, just listen and you two are good to leave," Ratchet sighed using all the will power he possessed to not just pick up a wrench and chunk it at the black mech's head.
The guardian grumbled as he directed his charge back to a chair and stood by Bumblebee, waiting, with his arms crossed, clearly not happy about having to learn more medical instructions. Medicine wasn't his strong point. Period. So why force such knowledge into him? One look at his recovering charge was his answer.
"Ironhide, his instructions could be important. It's best we all listen to them," Optimus said, having to suppress a chuckle at his friend's antics. Everyone knew the black mech hated the med bay and fought any excuse to remain longer than needed. A quick glance at the youngling showed the old warrior was rubbing off some of his beliefs onto his charge as the small mech squirmed impatiently.
"Thank you Optimus. Now, I don't want to hear a single word from you, Ironhide, lest you wish your aft welded to my floor during your next scheduled scan," Ratchet threatened before picking up from where he was interrupted.
"Fine, whatever," Ironhide muttered and Bumblebee smacked his guardian's leg to get him to shut up so they could get out faster.
"Thank you Bee. Now, all of you listen closely since you will be the few mechs close by him till he is healed, Jazz, I expect you to repeat this information to the twins, Mirage, and Blur."
"You got it Doc."
"Alright, first things first, Bee will be on light duties only. If I hear even a whisper of him even thinking about training I'll make sure all your afts have an extra exhaust port. Do I make myself clear?"
Jazz, Optimus, and Ironhide nodded swiftly. It would be one term they wouldn't mess up on. Satisfied that his threats were being taken seriously, Ratchet continued, "Bee, you're still losing a fair bit of energon so you'll need twice as much as normal. Don't drink double the amount or you'll just give yourself energon toxicity. Instead you will have some after recharge, five joors later, five joors till your usual recharge time, and just before recharge. Understand?"
Bumblebee nodded, that seemed simple enough.
"There is no argument on the next condition: you will recharge here in my med bay every orn till I find you stable enough to be out of my supervision. I will not have you alone on this ship or during your recharge."
The thought of being constantly surrounded by pestering mechs was horrible to Bumblebee. The youngling groaned.
"Primus, Ratchet, is there anything else?" Jazz snickered, "I think you might have forgotten to chain a medic to him."
Ratchet ignored the silver mech and stayed focus on Bumblebee; he wasn't done yet.
"Listen well, Bee. If there is another attack, you will stay out of battle. Do I make myself clear?"
"Good luck with that," Jazz snorted, again interrupting the CMO but before Ratchet could retaliate Optimus cut in.
"What?" he asked, not understanding what his third in command meant.
"I'm just speaking from observation, Sir. Bumblebee has an unusual talent for getting into the thick of things," the saboteur explained with a shrug holding his hand up in defense.
"He's right," Ironhide sighed forgetting Ratchet's orders from a moment ago, and yet again the medic's reply was postponed as now Bumblebee cut in.
"Look, Ratchet, I'm not going to stand by while the Autobots get attacked right in front of me."
Ratchet glared at Jazz as if the mech put those exact words in the youngling's mouth. Bumblebee may not like having to sit on the sidelines, but Ratchet was not going to risk the youngling's life by having him fight in an unstable condition. Just as he was about to let every mech in the room know of the uncompromising position, another mech walked in.
"Don't worry Bee will be well protected," Mirage said as he walked through the doors to the medbay. "No doubt all the Autobots will take your orders to heart and he'll have a hard time separating any off duty mechs from him, much less the ones assigned to watch him."
Bumblebee groaned again as he was reminded that he would be constantly smothered until completely healed, which was a long time in coming. This time Optimus didn't stop the chuckle as he knew what the young mech was thinking.
"Can't you just put me offline till I'm good to go?" Bumblebee asked, almost begging.
"What?" Ratchet asked, surprised, "I think my terms are perfectly acceptable."
"Of course you would," Ironhide muttered and Ratchet glared at him.
"Alright, if that's all then I'll let you two get out and moving, and the rest of you to whatever you were doing before or are going to do," Optimus said, confident that the youngling was finally going to be alright.
"Wait one more thing. Everyone on the ship needs to be warned about his condition. I don't need dozens of mechs rushing in here when Bee coughs up energon. I only want to be notified of a bad attack but by then whoever is with him better already be on the way or else."
"Will do, Ratchet. I'll notify the ship immediately. If you will excuse me," the Autobot leader said, giving them all a small bow and swiftly leaving.
Optics following the large mech out of the room, Bumblebee looked back over to Ratchet for permission to finally be free. With a reluctant nod from the CMO, the youngling hopped out of his seat and darted to the door forgetting guardian and friend behind in his rush.
"C'mon Bee, it's not that bad to be locked in there with the Hatchet, is it?" Jazz asked but the only answered he received was the identical look of horror from both guardian and charge.
"Hmm, how about we go get some energon before reuniting with the crew?" Jazz offered breaking the two medic-fearing mechs out of their ridiculous reactions and giving them something else to think about. Not waiting for an answer, the silver mech turned and left quickly followed by the two.
Ironhide chuckled as he watched his charge follow behind Jazz practically vibrating with energy and anticipation from finally being out of the medbay free to move around and both older mechs knew he wouldn't care where he went first. All that mattered was that he was out.
"So Bee, what's our first stop on the list? The rec room?" Jazz questioned while watching the yellow mech observe the hallway as if he hadn't seen it in vorns.
"Sure! But only if it's not crowded."
"No worries Bee, I'll just get Hide to toss 'em out on their afts if they refused to go," Jazz replied with a wink his way before resuming their walk.
Bumblebee looked to his guardian to see if the saboteur was speaking the truth, but with an impassive shrug from the black mech the youngling was left to wonder.
Soon the three mechs reached their destination and entered the room expecting an immediate reaction to Bumblebee's presence however instead they were greeted with multiple backsides as all those present were absorbed in some holo-vid. Sharing a curious look, they crept forward for a better look as to what was so interesting.
Ironhide instantly knew it was some sort of fight scene until he realized those fighting looked oddly familiar. Then it clicked, this was the recording, most likely stolen recording, of Bumblebee's fight with Starscream. Primus, was that really caught on the cameras? Instantly captivated by the video, the guardian was unable to look away as the small yellow mech crashed into the much larger seeker signaling to those watching that the battle had just begun.
Frag, he didn't want to see this, he didn't want to watch but his optics were refusing to listen as they remained trained on his charge watching every move, watching every detail, watching every second. But even as he watched he couldn't believe it. So long had he fought against his charge being trained that never had he known or seen just what skill Bumblebee had developed. All this time he was sure Sunstreaker and Blur's details of the battle before the last had been exaggerated but now he was shown otherwise and it had been far from giving his youngling fair justice. It was incredible and nearly perfect in execution as the small mech fought so brutally yet so precisely against the very seeker that was in the brig currently.
He nearly cheered and laughed along with his companions at the Decepticon as the seeker hopped around on one leg for a moment due to the yellow mech's quick ability to improvise and cause effective damage. However, seconds later, his cry of outrage roared over the hisses and curses spat from the others as the seeker slammed a dagger down on the yellow mech's shoulder though relief flooded his frame as the second was unable to make contact. Still he continued to watch in shock, hardly believing that this was truly the same mech that he had raised for so long until finally the last blow from Bumblebee fell and finally Starscream was offline.
The holo-vid clicked off and for a long moment no one moved starting at the blank space in front of them trying to process everything they had just seen until interrupted by Jazz's comment behind them.
"Primus Bee, where the frag did you learn that?" he asked drawing everyone's attention to the youngling finally noticing that their little warrior was present.
"Uh…" he tried to answer but couldn't. In truth no one had particularly taught him exactly what he had did. He had just known what to do, how to fight and keep it up. Of course he had been trained, but most of that fight had been purely his ability to improvise instantly and not hesitate. Everything else he couldn't provide an answer for.
Not hindered by the youngling's awkwardness Blur darted over and wrapped an arm around Bumblebee's shoulders with a smile, "how/ya/doin'/youngling?"
Still unable to formulate a response he looked around in surprised as more mechs got up and started coming closer buzzing with questions and comments. Quickly becoming too overwhelmed, Bumblebee shrank back until he knocked into something much larger. Before he could see just what it was, a comforting hand dropped on his shoulder and he relaxed knowing his guardian was there behind him.
"Alright you slag heads, back off. Give him some room. He needs to rest and all the nagging isn't helping you annoying afts," the black mech growled quietly his warning clearly being heard by the others.
Mech instantly scattered not wanting to be a part of Ironhide's legendary way of dealing with agitation. Taking it as a cue that he was free again, Bumblebee moved over to the couch and sank down on it wearily. Just that small time frame of excitement had already tired him and he tried to give his guardian a reassuring smile as Ironhide watched him with concern.
"I'm fine," he told the weapon specialist knowing just what the mech was thinking.
Taking a moment to decide if he should believe his charge, Ironhide nodded and sat next to him, "alright, just, take it easy."
For a short time Bumblebee relaxed on the couch next to Ironhide but he couldn't keep his composure and squirmed restlessly under the stares directed towards him and the barely audible whispers onlookers were passing back and forth between each other. He hated being the center of attention and was grateful the larger mech next to him quickly caught onto his unsettled demeanor and offered an easy way out of the situation.
"Hey, it's been a while since ya seen Wheeljack, want to give him a visit? I know he's been working on something new."
Jumping at the opportunity to leave the room and the dozens of mechs behind, Bumblebee nodded eagerly and hopped up instantly to leave. Ironhide grinned and motioned to Jazz to stay. The youngling didn't need both of them at the moment.
"Slow down Bee," he called after the yellow blur that darted from the rec room and found his charge waiting in the hallway with an impatient tap tap of his foot on the floor.
"You should look into getting lessons from Blur too, he'd speed ya up Hide. You're too slow," Bumblebee commented with a smirk.
"Hush it youngling. I'm built for a fight you've got speed for a reason. Now go on, just try to not leave me behind," he replied with a shake of his head.
Thankfully the young mech did keep at a pace Ironhide could handle but as soon as they reached the medic/scientist's room he could not wait and darted in.
Not new to being barged in on or sudden appearances, Wheeljack took a moment to finish up what he was doing before looking up and noticing it was Bumblebee who had entered.
"What a pleasant surprise. I heard you were up and about," he said with a grin, studying the brightly colored mech, "you do look so much better."
Waving him off, Bumblebee moved over next to him and looked over the various items scattered over the table, "what are you working on now?" he asked.
Optics brightening, Wheeljack began rambling off his newest invention to the youngling knowing well that the small mech would gladly listen and ask questions about it, something it seemed many feared to do since only a handful dared to approach his room/lab.
Confident that his charge would be fine here for a long while, he left them be.
For the rest of the orn, Bumblebee remained in the scientist's lab, entertained and occupied by being allowed to help Wheeljack with some of his latest ideas while also learning a few things here and there. However, unnoticed by the medic, Bumblebee's subtle grimaces and winces remained unknown as the youngling never voiced his pain. Yet, when Ironhide returned he instantly could sense something was wrong and swept his charge out of the room, herding him towards the med bay and cursing every step of the way. He had fraggin forgot Bumblebee's energon and the youngling had probably been on his feet since he had left which was something he shouldn't being doing.
"Bee!" he yelled as the youngling suddenly stumbled into the wall and doubled over.
Taking a long moment, the youngling didn't say anything before finally straightening up and looking at his guardian with dim optics making his exhaustion very obvious. He need recharge and soon. Guilt punched the weapon specialist hard as he knew this was his fault for not paying attention and forgetting the youngling's needs.
"I'm sorry Bee; I forgot you needed energon and rest. C'mon, we're almost to the med bay," he said, pulling Bumblebee to his side to give him added support.
"Don't worry Ironhide…I'll be fine," he muttered quietly and managed a smile but it didn't quite fit and he definitely didn't deny the help from his guardian as they headed back.
/…/…/…/…/…/…/…/
"Ironhide!" Rachet screeched and stormed into the rec room.
The black mech winced while the few Autobots occupying the room as well looked up in alarm, all ready to rush out to escape the Hatchet yet their only route blocked by the said medic so they resorted to cowering in their seats, praying he only was going for Ironhide.
"What were you thinking?" Rachet yelled as the weapon specialist finally stood up and moved over to him slowly. He knew well the source of the medic anger; after all, he had dropped his charge off and literally ran in hopes of escape the scenario he was in now.
"I dropped him off with Wheeljack and forgot," he tried to explain.
"That is NO excuse! You brought him back exhausted and nearly deprived! How the FRAG do you expect him to recover if he doesn't heal PROPERLY?"
Ironhide flinched.
"I put those rules there for a reason," he continued, the wrench waving threateningly over head, "his systems need rest and constant refuel from the loss of energon. Fraggit Ironhide, just because he tried covering for your sorry aft doesn't mean it worked, not when I saw the condition he was in. He fell into a deep recharge as soon as he hit the berth!"
Wide blue optics snapped up and stared at Ratchet in shock, he didn't think the youngling had been that taxed.
"Yes!" he growled knowing what the weapon specialist was thinking, "if it happens again, I swear to Primus that your pit-be-damned aft will be in a pile of scraps so useless not even a DRONE could use you for spare parts!"
Even the other mechs cringed at the threat. They knew well that out of all bots to say such, only their CMO would be sure to stay true to his word. Especially after the time Sunstreaker had push the Hatchet one too many times and after an unscheduled visit in the med bay, he found himself flying backwards the next time he had fired his cannons.
"Will he be alright?" Ironhide asked.
"At the moment he is on an energon drip that'll last throughout his recharge cycle with a light sedative that will hopefully ease any pain he has. Next time try to be more attentive Ironhide, I don't need to tell you that he's suffered enough."
With a nod from the black mech, Ratchet left.
"What are you slag heads looking at?" Ironhide roared as soon as the medic was gone and when he noticed every mech was still watching him.
They jumped and frantically went back to what they were doing not wanting to risk frustrating the weapon specialist's further. NOW they knew for certain where the youngling got his hidden temper from. Being surrounded by Ironhide and Ratchet for all of his life, the well known anger had to rub off eventually not to mention the newly revealed fury that their commander had been hiding.
/…/…/…/…/…/…/…/
Mirage watched the small mech in frustration. Not long ago, Ironhide had dropped Bumblebee off and left as soon as the youngling was on the berth. Thankfully the young mech had fallen into recharge almost immediately yet she didn't need Ratchet's curses to know her pupil was in pain as his frame was still tense.
Coughing roused her from her thoughts and she looked up when the medic came over, hearing it as well.
"Primus Bee," he muttered, "I was hoping you would stay in recharge."
Not giving the small mech a chance to speak, he quickly checked his vitals and hooked up a fresh energon drip.
"I'm fine. Please don't be made at Ironhide. It's not his fault," Bumblebee said hoping to get the medic to believe him.
"Hush youngling," Ratchet growled, "you can't cover up for him this time. It was his responsibility to watch over you."
Refusing to give in, Bumblebee shook his head stubbornly and thought of how to get the CMO to listen. Watching, Mirage probably should have been proud of the young protégé's silver-tongue as he calmed down the hatchet and explained smoothly his version of what happened, and she was certain Ratchet was going to let it finally drop until suddenly the youngling curled up in pain as he choked again on more energon. The fire returned to the medic but Mirage didn't blame him. She too wanted to rush out and give Ironhide a true piece of her processor for being such an idiot.
"Stay with him," Ratchet growled and left the med bay.
"That was some nice talking," Mirage said settling down again after a moment, "too bad it didn't work."
With a defeated sigh, Bumblebee could only shrug dragging a chuckled from the femme.
"Try and rest Bee, you need it," she added but with a shrug from him the femme knew well it was going to another long orn.
"How is he?" Ratchet asked quietly upon his return expecting to find Bumblebee offline but his spark sank when he saw those baby blue optics still lit up brightly.
"Mirage, you should go," he sighed, "you don't want to stick around for this and I won't be recharging myself for some time so I can handle it."
"Are you sure? I don't mind."
"Thanks Mirage, but really, it's not something you're going want to remember," Rachet said slowly, prepping more energon in case of an emergency. The exhaustion that filled Ratchet's optics for what was to come unsettled Mirage and despite her programming screaming at her to remain, she left. Outside she was stopped by running into Optimus as he tried to enter at the same time of her departure.
"Prime! Excuse me sir, you startled me."
Optmius looked at the spy in surprise. Nothing caught the femme off guard; she had to be extremely distracted for such. He wondered what was so troubling.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Rachet asked me to leave. I was struggling with the issue if I should argue with him to stay and help."
"Help? Is something wrong?"
"Bee. He came back and can't recharge, his attacks are interfering," she answered while leaving the part with Ironhide out. The commander would find out later.
"Get some rest Mirage, it's an order," he told her after thinking for a moment. It was the least he could do as he knew the internal conflict the femme was currently fighting.
Entering the med bay, Optimus made his way over to where his CMO was hovering over the youngling, his hands working on something minor on Bumblebee's arm.
"Optimus!" Bumblebee exclaimed in surprise while sitting up but he fell back the next klick with a groan regretting the action.
"Stay still!" Ratchet snapped pushing his patient back down with a growl.
For a few klicks, Optimus watched, completely forgetting his earlier question but the medic finally answered, "it's another attack due to the stress of fatigue on his systems," frowning he wanted to know more but again the medic beat him to it.
"I don't know if he'll be able to recharge. All the other times he didn't, but one can hope. Son of a scrap slaggin fragger, I'm going to tear Ironhide a new aft," he growled quietly but the larger mech still heard.
"What about Ironhide?"
"Nothing!" Bumblebee squeaked seeking the opportunity to cover for his guardian but Ratchet silenced him with a glare.
"Now I am suspicious," Optimus muttered and grabbing Ratchet's arm, he pulled the medic away from the youngling, "tell me."
"Ironhide missed two of Bee's scheduled refuel times and because of it he came back extremely worn down and slightly deprived."
"What!" Optmius yelled.
"I already dealt with him," Ratchet growled in response.
"Please…please don't be mad," Bumblebee said, "It was my fault too. I knew when I needed to go, but I didn't tell Wheeljack. It's my fault, not Hide's."
Optimus sighed, the rising anger now dissipating.
"Bumblebee, you don't need to cover for Ironhide. It was his responsibility to watch over you."
"Exactly!" he yelled, "He has been my guardian for as long as I can remember! You think that now, after vorns and vorns have passed he's going to just stop? He made a mistake!"
They all looked at him, surprised by the fierce tone he was emitting and clearly supporting his guardian despite what had happened.
Trying to keep his gaze firm, his determination wasn't enough to keep from having to drop the argument when he dropped back to the berth coughing roughly.
Optimus took a long moment as Ratchet fretted over the youngling before nodding, "you make a compelling argument, Bee. However, I still need to discuss this with Ironhide but I will keep in mind your side before deciding what course of action needs to be taken. Is that fair enough?"
Knowing he couldn't ask for more, Bumblebee nodded then shrank back when Ratchet came towards him with the dreaded tubes.
"I'll keep you updated," the CMO told Optimus clearly telling the larger mech to leave and the commander didn't need to be told twice.
/…/…/…/…/…/…/…/
"Ironhide," Optimus called, as he entered the rec room causing the mechs within the immediate area to freeze again for the second time that orn though their commander did not openly express the same anger as the hatchet did earlier yet they knew it was serious when the black mech flinched in response and stood slowly.
"We need to talk," he said, "now."
"That's twice now; both Ratchet and Prime have come for Hide. What did he do?" Hoist asked the mech next to him as they both watched the two depart from the room silently.
"I think it has something to do with Bee. Sunny said he saw Mirage leaving the med bay earlier and she was furious, "Sideswipe speculated.
"Well it can't be too serious if Optimus isn't that upset," the young medic pointed out.
"Maybe, or he's waiting till they get to Prime's office to assassinate him."
For a moment they stared at each other before laughing and going back to their game, occasionally guessing what their leader had planned for their weapon specialist.
"Give me a mission then! One that won't be finished till he's healed enough to look after himself," Ironhide growled yet there was a definite tone of misery to his voice.
"I'm not so certain if that's the best course of action," the Autobot commander sighed, "Bee needs you. He holds no blame on your part and even fights for you. If I send you away during this stressful time he'll feel vulnerable and overall it may do more harm than good."
Ironhide looked back up at his commander, the truth ringing clearly in the words of Prime but not allowing himself a second longer to debate it, he shook his head, "then what? I can't get off of something like this without some form of punishment."
"At the moment, I can't think of one. You're also doing a well enough job of beating yourself up so that might be enough this time," he reasoned.
The guardian wanted to argue his point further but with the guilt still dominating his thoughts he dropped it for now until he could sort out a solid support for his reasoning.
"Good, now go. I have work to do," Optimus said when he saw Ironhide was dropping the subject.
Waiting until the black mech was gone, the large blue and red mech dropped back into his chair, folded his hands under his chin, and fell into deep thought about everything that had recently occurred.
/…/…/…/…/…/…/…/
"How are you feeling?" Ratchet asked once the youngling onlined after finally getting some much needed recharge.
"Tired but good," he answered truthfully.
"Alright, first I want you to refuel and then we'll discuss the possibility of your release afterwards."
Snatching the cube from Ratchet, the youngling downed it quickly for two reasons, both because he desperately needed it and also because the bright hope of speeding up the process of escaping the med bay. He was nearly finished when his guardian walked in. Trying to ignore the harsh glare from the CMO, Ironhide made his way straight towards Bumblebee.
"Hey Hide!" the small yellow mech greeted cheerfully, pausing for a moment until Ratchet barked at him, "all of it!"
With an apologetic shrug to his guardian, the youngling finished the energon with one last gulp.
"How are you doing Bee?"
"I'm fine. I promise."
Ratchet snorted loudly as he positioned himself behind the larger mech, arms crossed, and wrench out tapping on arm threateningly.
"If you're fine after that I'll eat my lugnut," he grunted, taking the empty energon container and going over Bee's vitals while somehow managing to shoot sharp glares at Ironhide.
"Rachet, please, a moment?" he asked with a quiet sigh.
With a growl of displeasure, the medic reluctantly left them alone once he was satisfied the youngling was alright.
Waiting till he heard the door closed, Ironhide turned back to Bumblebee, "are you alright and please don't lie."
"Yes Hide. I'm fine, I promise. Just a little tired and sore. Didn't get much recharge though that's why Ratchet's mad.
"It's a little more than that," he grunted.
"Stop blaming yourself."
"You should be blaming me! It's my fault."
"What good would that do? You weren't even there! I knew I needed to refuel but I said nothing. I'm tired of everyone telling me what to do, to try and control my every choice and action! Now when I try to take some control of my life back, you get in trouble. So no! This is my fault!" he argued, sitting up to glare at his guardian.
Ironhide looked at his charge in surprise. He truly didn't believe what Prime had told him about Bumblebee's defense for him.
"I just want everyone to open their optics and see that I'm not a youngling anymore despite how old I am!" he continued trying his best to not yell but he was trying to get his point across to the larger mech.
"I'm sorry Bee. It's just hard. Forever you will be my youngling. I will always want to protect you."
"I can take care of myself," he muttered, looking away.
"So I have learned. Give it time and maybe I can finally accept it."
"More time," he sighed sounding tired, "I stopped being a youngling a long time ago."
The truth of his words burrowed deep into Ironhide's spark though he wished it wasn't so and his voice cracked slightly, "I'm sorry I haven't treated you as such Bee. I'll just always remember that tiny innocent bundle of cute wires you once were."
His charged looked up at him sadly and looked like he wanted to speak but Ironhide beat him to it, "but right now I want to talk to you about something important."
"You're leaving," the youngling cut in. He already knew where this was headed.
"How…?"
"Because I know you as well as you know me. You've done this before and if I try to convince you it's not your fault you'll punish yourself worse," the youngling explained as his guardian stared at him in surprise.
"Ironhide," he continued as the rare use from the youngling of the larger mech's full name made him flinch slightly, "you are a grown mech, a wrecker, and a soldier. You do not need my permission for anything. Yes, I will miss you like I always but I also don't need you to be here every moment to protect me. Just…I hope you don't take too long to realize you are doing this for the wrong reasons.
Slightly floored, the guardian watched the youngling silently. Everything he had tried to plan had instead turned upside down. He honestly hadn't expected such a reaction from his charge. He actually though Bumblebee would beg him to stay, to not leave and cry out apologies for nothing he did wrong. It had happened all the other times but now…now the youngling was doing the exact opposite. For once his charge seemed older and he suddenly wished it wasn't so.
"Listen," Bumblebee wasn't quiet through yet, not when he finally had his guardian's complete attention, "you are my guardian and will always have the greatest respect from me while holding one of the closest spots in my spark. Whatever you decide I will always support you no matter what."
The warrior's optics searched the youngling for a moment before the gruff-tougher-than-reinforced-armor-trigger-happy-weapon-specialist grabbed Bumblebee into a firm hug.
"Bee," he grunted, pulling away a second later, "I want you to keep at your training. Help Prowl with the twins and make sure Optimus doesn't over do it."
The youngling could only nod.
Watching his charge for a moment longer he gave another quiet nod, "look after yourself," and he was gone.
/…/…/…/…/…/…/…/
"Are you sure about this," the larger mech asked for the third time in less than a breem.
The weapon specialist nodded, refusing to speak again since he was tired of repeating himself to the commander.
"Very well. Stay safe Hide. This mission is not to be taken lightly. Come back the same way you left," Optimus said.
With nothing further, Ironhide gave his leader a brief nod and without hesitation turned and left.
FINALLY...yes I know...FINALLY!
I realized it has been over a YEAR since my last update for this story and I'm soooo sorry for all the readers who have been waiting. Writer's block is truly a curse and thrives on the pleas of others to continue. But no worries because it has been done!
This story should continue to pick up it's pace and hopefully update. The next chapter will be short so I will TRY to have it out BEFORE Thanksgiving but there are no promises. I hope everyone continues to hang in there with me despite the delay and I want to give a special thanks too all those who continued to show support during my long absence. Smokes91 , Bee-alicious , Faecat , TTfanTT , lokkish, obsydiandreams ,Lucky Koi , Brianna L. Random , WavvyTheFur , foxykitsuneyouko , xStarSaber , ponygirl-loves-mcqueen , renegadewriter8 , Loveless427 , and others who are holding in for this story to keep going. Also. A big thank you to Vanillathunder for the continued awesomeness and believing that I could eventually get past that evil block. On top of all that, I must throw out a HUGE thanks to my new review-unoffical-betareader for this story Fire_in_the_Ice. You're a great help and will continue to be!
So stick with me you guys and maybe we can get back on track with this story. Don't forget, Barricade will be making his appearance soon!
Last bit of news, for those who are also following along with To Punish and Enslave, chapter 4 has just been added a few days ago so don't forget to wander over there and let me know what you think!
Please, pretty pretty please review and let me know how Nightspark is doing despite it's long break.
-Stormsailor