Chapter Three – The Band of Heroes
11:19am the next day.
"You said he's in here?" whispered Ratchet, tiptoeing into Bumblebee's quarters.
"Yeah, right there, ya see?" Bumblebee pointed over Ratchet's shoulder, his finger aimed in the direction of his recharging berth. "Right… there."
The medical officer's optics scanned the recharging berth through infrared vision, and then finally locked on to the tiny human boy, asleep, snuggled comfortably under a blanket. Ratchet chortled shortly, moving to stand before the berth with a friendly grin across his faceplate. It'd been so long since any of them had seen a human in their base…and, scanning his memory banks, he realized that this was the first time.
"Ohh, there's the human," Ratchet sighed in a warm voice, crossing his arms. "So small, he is. He looks healthy."
Darren mumbled something in his sleep, nuzzling his cheek into his backpack that was being used as a pillow. He coughed lightly and gripped one of the straps with his fingers, his mouth hanging open some ways as he breathed deeply. Drool trickled from his mouth. Darren was sleeping like a baby bot.
This made Bumblebee's optics warm to a passionate, deep blue, and the young mech felt his spark flutter within a happy pulsation. He moved beside Ratchet, keeping his optics locked on the human.
I love you, Darren…You're valued so greatly in my spark.
Lifting a hand, he tenderly stroked Darren's blonde hair with a few fingers, drawing lazy circles into his scalp. Darren giggled softly and Bumblebee couldn't help but smile wider. He'd never felt any sort of love like this before. Not even towards Optimus, or any other comrade.
Not even Arcee, he realized.
I will keep you safe, Darren, Bumblebee thought, whirring pleasantly. I won't let you return to a life where you're invisible. In my optics, you're everything. And in my spark, you're at its core.
"I can't see a fraggin' thing," Jazz's complaining voice broke his thoughts, and the second-in-command struggled to see over the taller mechs. "Will you guys move?! You've had your time."
"Shh! You'll wake him." Bumblebee hissed at him. He stumbled forward as Jazz walked on his heels, and he let out a low growl from his throat. "Frag it, Jazz. Watch where you're going for once." He flashed his optics a lightning blue down at the silver mech. "You'll get a turn soon enough."
A voice groaned, and Ironhide unexpectedly appeared. He pushed Jazz aside with a rough palm, waddling his bulky form through the two arguing mechs and into the room. His footsteps were massive thuds that reverberated dully through the metal ground, even rattling Bumblebee's armor plating some. Ratchet snickered, stepping aside to give his friend enough room.
Optimus entered a moment later, towering above his crew.
"You'll wake him up…Walkin' that hard," the medical officer muttered with a smile.
"Oh, pipe down," Ironhide shot, moving between Ratchet and Bumblebee. He leaned down and set his faceplate merely a foot away from Darren, his cold blue optics scanning without the least bit of warmth from his strict, war-hardened spark. He grunted, disgusted at the organic he found to be primitive and violent.
"S'just an irritating human boy," Ironhide spat. He flicked Darren's side with a mighty finger and Bumblebee gasped, his spark skipping a beat inside him. Darren groaned.
"Ugh'," Ironhide scoffed. "Absolutely disgusting."
"Easy, there, Ironhide," warned Optimus lowly, giving the specialist a forewarning glare.
"Ironhide!" Bumblebee cried. He watched Darren make a face and squirm uncomfortably in his sleep. "You could've hurt 'im!" The young mech gulped and sat beside Darren. "Dear, Primus."
Ironhide muttered something as he leaned back, setting his hands on both hip compartments.
"Oh, calm down! I didn't hit him that hard. Don't fry your circuitry."
"B-But, but... Hide…" The youngling whined.
Bumblebee whirred sorrowfully and ignored Ironhide's commentary, cupping the boy in his hands. He stroked Darren's front with a finger, calming him in his wriggles of discomfort.
"Why did you do that?" Bumblebee asked, pressing Darren against his spark. The human muttered, calming at Bumblebee's spark's peaceful hums and steady rhythm.
Ironhide snickered in an evil smile, trying his best to hold it in.
"You know how I feel with humans…"
Jazz chuckled under his breath. "Fraggin' Decepticon," he uttered quietly. He thought no one could hear his remark.
"Mute it, Jazz," Ironhide growled.
"Ironhideeee…" Warned Optimus again. "I think it's time for another detention again?"
Ironhide mumbled an indistinct reply.
"Just…don't you ever do that again, Hide," Bumblebee said softly, setting Darren back on the berth. "Promise me." His big blue optics lifted to him.
Ironhide grunted in indifference. He really didn't care for organics.
Jazz sighed, his level of annoyance exceeding its limit. If no one would move, he would. He darted around Ironhide and hopped up onto the berth, sliding his sleek form to sit next to Bumblebee. The young mech smiled at him, and Jazz returned the greeting.
"So, this is him?" Jazz's voice questioned a moment later. Optimus stood next to Ratchet and crossed his arms across his chassis.
Everyone's optics were on Darren, staring, scanning.
"M'hm," replied Bumblebee. He stretched out his body on the cold metal berth, alongside Darren's, and cupped a palm around the human's body, soon easing the boy against his stomach. Darren turned onto his back and let his head fall to a side, locks of golden blonde hair falling onto his forehead. Bumblebee gently flicked the wisps away with a single fingertip, then nudged his finger against Darren's jawline, stroking the hard bone tenderly. Darren smiled and fluttered open his eyes, letting his vision slowly sharpen before it fixed on Bumblebee.
The mech smiled at him, his spark skipping in a strong pulse of love.
"Good morning, my little friend," he greeted the human. "Did you sleep well?" He nudged his fingertip into Darren's stomach, making the human laugh as he nodded, then yawned while stretching his stiff limbs.
Optimus' smile grew. Never before had he seen Bumblebee so affectionate …almost like Darren was his own sparkling. His spark was so attached to the boy, and Darren was growing very comfortable around the young mech. It hurt to remember that they couldn't keep Darren forever. He would have to return to his home eventually, to his parents. Keeping him from them wouldn't be right.
Looking at Bumblebee, Optimus vented out a sigh very quietly. Seeing the younger mech smile in such an adoring care for Darren made his lips curved into a grin too, and Darren was thrown into laughs as Bumblebee tickled his stomach easily, making warm chirps and purrs. Optimus' wouldn't tell Bumblebee the news now…and, come to think of it, he didn't think he ever could. It'd be too spark-wrenching.
Bumblebee's spark was fond of Darren's presence. It received many happy pulsations when the human was around. A strange bond, Optimus thought. He twitched. No, no, he told himself. This definitely wasn't a bond. How could he think such a thing? It was love.
Bumblebee loved Darren. And no one could take that love away.
The yellow mech sat the human on his back in his palm, continuing to tickle him. Bumblebee laughed with him and even leaned down, playfully squinting his optics at the boy. Darren was turning red in the face, trying to push away Bumblebee's finger. Of course, it didn't work.
"Jeez, Bee, stop!!" He cried loudly in his laughs. "Ahaha! Stop! I surrender! I surrender!"
Bumblebee purred, laughing at the same time.
Jazz leaned over Bumblebee's shoulder, getting a clear glimpse of Darren. He laughed heartily in that thick, deep voice his voice modulators provided him with.
"Haha, hey Bee, I think he's serious," Jazz whispered in one of Bumblebee's receptors. "He's as red as a fraggin' pair of Decepticon optics."
Bumblebee snorted playfully and withdrew his finger.
"Okay, I'm done. I'm done, Darren."
Darren sighed deeply, his chest falling quickly.
"I've never laughed so hard," he confessed. "I hate it when people tickle me there."
Jazz leaned up, revealing himself. Darren blinked, looking to him. His smile faded.
"Hey," The second-in-command welcomed the human. He threw him a lazy wave. "How you doin'?" He smiled.
Darren's pale blue eyes widened at Jazz, and they blinked again. His breath halted and suddenly, he felt eyes on him. Many pairs of eyes…ALL of them.
TEN eyes.
"Uh-Uhmm…" His voice quivered.
Shakily, he looked away and upward, and he cried out softly in a gasp, alarmed at so many robots. The rest of the Autobot platoon. Everyone Bumblebee had told him about was right here, staring at him.
How long had they been watching him sleep?
Why were they here anyways? They'd surely seen a human boy before.
His heart was pounding so fast. He was sure they could see it (and of course, if anyone could "see it," it was Ratchet and his always-scanning internal sensors.) Darren slowly gulped down a lump in his throat and scurried into an opening in Bumblebee's stomach armor, hiding. He hid away from them in the darkness of Bumblebee's armor and latched his hands onto a plate of metal, his fingers clutching it tightly.
They all laughed at him, their laughter a huge uproar that made him shake.
His fear amused them?
"We're not going to hurt you," Darren heard Optimus' voice coo. The human's eyes shot up to the might transformers', and he whimpered. He couldn't believe he was acting like such a coward. He knew they weren't going to hurt him…, but he couldn't bring himself to believe that.
"Yeah, it's okay," Ratchet added a minute later. "C'mon, now..."
Bumblebee's laughter shook Darren, as he was close to the robot's stomach, and the mech reached a hand into the opening in his armor, slipping a few fingers in. He wrapped his slender fingers around his body, and then pulled Darren out. Darren felt himself rotate as Bumblebee sat him in his metal palm. Darren's eyes were wide still and he looked up at them all, his breathing quick and shaky.
He was here. This wasn't a dream. The medical officer, the guy with all the cannons, the second-in-command, the Optimus Prime…they were all here. Alive. In the flesh…er, metal.
"…Th-The rest of the crew," Darren breathed.
Jazz laughed at him.
"Thas' right, kid," the mech chuckled. One of his four claws nudged into his shoulder as a friendly shove, but Darren fell flat on his side. Bumblebee whirred in a laugh, helping Darren sit back up by titling his hand at an angle.
Ratchet shifted and smiled. "What's your name?"
The human blinked. "D-Darren Lomeli," he answered softly. Bumblebee's finger returned to the back of his head, stroking his blonde hair gently. "Darren Elion Lomeli." He twitched, fighting back the urge to tremble in the presence of the Autobots.
Ironhide grunted, glaring harshly at the boy. "Humans have the strangest names…"
Bumblebee shot him a cold flash of his optics. "Like 'Ironhide's' anything better. I'd take what you said back if I were you, Hide."
Darren snickered. He loved how Bumblebee snapped back. His accent made him sound so cool.
"Ohhhh!" Jazz said to mimic a crowd, laughing. "Ironhide, I don't think you can top that. A youngling practically just dissed your aft."
Bumblebee gave Jazz a friendly wink, smiling. "You bet I did."
Ironhide waved a hand haughtily. "S'just a youngling! It's not like he could – "
"I'll kick your aft!" Spat Bumblebee, flashing his optics again. The youngling hissed. He'd have enough of Ironhide. First he hurt Darren, and now he was insulting him. Bumblebee's coolant ran warm.
"Okay, okay, enough!" thundered Optimus, exerting some force against Bumblebee's shoulder to push him back from Ironhide. "Calm down, you two."
Silence. Darren blinked, not knowing what to do. He'd never heard Bumblebee argue before.
The weapons specialist glared death at Jazz, then Bumblebee, and in return, the young mech clicked his tongue heatedly while releasing a hiss. Ratchet exchanged a skeptical look with Optimus, and the commander only sighed as he stepped away.
"What is with you two?" Prime breathed in a light chuckle, massaging his temples.
Darren's eyes went to a different robot every second as they suddenly all talked at once. Bumblebee argued heatedly with Ironhide in Cybertronian, and Jazz butted in, trying to stop them. Optimus and Ratchet could only sigh again. It was no use to try and stop them.
Regardless of what was going on, they all conversed normally like any group of his friends would. Darren laughed with them at the appropriate times, noticing how every few moments, their eyes would return to him.
Being the center of attention…he didn't like it. At school, he was the quiet kid, the one that did good and got good grades, friends with all the teachers…the one that you had to get to know first before you could judge him. Never had he been Mr. Popular or the talk of the school. All these eyes on him – It made his stomach twist.
Speaking of which, his stomach growled at the worst moment possible, when their conversations were beginning to settle down. Bumblebee was the first to chuckle, nudging his giant finger into Darren's stomach. It growled again, and Darren's cheeks flushed red. He clutched his stomach, embarrassed.
"Hungry, aren't you?" Bumblebee asked softly, wrapping a part of his finger around Darren's waist. He smiled. "You want something to eat?"
Darren blinked his pale blue eyes with a nod. "Oh-Okay," he agreed a little uneasily. What was he going to feed him? Certainly not any food he was familiar with…so he thought.
Bumblebee acknowledged and looked up to Optimus, then everyone else.
"You all don't mind if I feed him, right?" He asked, looking from one Autobot to the next. "I won't be taking that long. A-And you all can stay if you'd like."
Ironhide waved a hand. "Gahh', it's fine with me," he grumbled a little too quickly, already turning to leave. "I'm goin' back to work." He muttered something again that sounded like, "Goodbye," as he threw them a lazy wave. His footsteps reverberated again through the ground, and then finally faded once his massive form was well down the hall.
Ratchet sighed with a nod. "I best go too. I'll leave you alone, for privacy matters," he stated quietly, smiling. "I'll see you two later, I suppose. I'll be in my quarters if any of you need me." Soon, the medical officer was out of sight.
Jazz grunted and slid around to sit closer next to Bumblebee and a moment later, Optimus joined them, sitting at the edge of the berth. They all looked down at Darren with warm expressions, making the human boy squeeze Bumblebee's finger with his tiny hands.
Why the hell do they keep doin' that?!, he wondered. I'm just a human! Nothing more!
Darren saw Optimus' metal lips curve into a fatherly smile and for once, the mighty transformer reached out a finger to touch him. Darren leaned back in alarm, then calmed as Optimus' fingertip gently stroked his cheek. He heard Optimus laugh softly, moving his finger away.
The three robots began talking in Cybertronian again, creating all sorts of awkward sounds that didn't sound humanly possible…or robotly possible. This made Darren's brow furrow.
What could they possibly be saying about him?
Was it that bad that they had to talk in a completely different tongue?
Suddenly, they all laughed. Darren looked up at them all, his eyes wide.
They were already staring.
He didn't like this. Not at all. He thought Bumblebee was feeding him, not making him some sort of little pet that everyone had to touch all over, and make cute little faces at.
One of Jazz's fingers nudged him in his left cheek, and Darren glared softly. He wasn't in the mood, but he hid it from them. He really wanted food…and some alone time with Bumblebee. For once since his meeting of the robot, he wanted to be alone with him.
It seemed like forever that they were talking. Back and forth, laughing and smiling at him, petting him in places that made him shiver at all sorts of tickling sensations. For robots, they were mistakenly gentle, not something most people would consider them. Darren caught himself seeing them as just…really large humans. Not wires and circuitry hidden beneath metal armor plating.
Darren jumped as Bumblebee lifted him to the air, handing him to his friend, Jazz. The human choked back a whimper and unwillingly sat in the second-in-command's palm, his blue eyes looking straight up at the mech's optics.
Jazz smiled and laughed. "H-Hey, he's not that bad lookin'," the mech chuckled in his booming voice. "Almost as good lookin' as me, I'll give 'im that much."
Darren smiled. Jazz was very friendly, and he liked this about him. The boy smiled as a finger ran over his spine and into his side, stroking his skin gently. He laughed and pat Jazz's finger. Darren was becoming more comfortable around the Autobots. They were becoming his new family almost…
Optimus lifted a palm beside Jazz's, wiggling his fingers slightly for the boy to come to him. Darren crawled into Optimus' palm and he was lifted to the mighty commander's faceplate. Warm blue optics stared at him, scanning, and Darren's blue eyes stared back, pale with a tinge of fear. The transformer appeared so heroic, and most definitely was. Being this close to him – It was quite a sight, practically frightening to such a simple human like he.
Optimus smiled at Darren, moving his faceplate even closer to Darren to get a better look. Darren slumped down and gulped loudly. Nervousness was taking over, making his heart rush.
"H-Hi," the human uttered with a shy wave.
Optimus chuckled. "Hello, Darren." He pet the human's hair twice with a finger, then nuzzled it into his scalp. Darren laughed as wisps of his blonde hair fell in his eyes, and when Optimus was done, his hair was a mess. Bumblebee smiled at the sight, raising his own finger to smooth Darren's hair back down.
"S-So…you're Optimus Prime?" Darren asked with a smile. "The Optimus Prime?"
The commander nodded, lowering Darren back to his guardian's lap. "Yes, I am," he answered simply. Though his words were straight forward, they made Darren shiver. The mech's booming voice was extremely deep and gallant…and he knew he'd remember it for a longgg time.
Nuzzling into Bumblebee's stomach, Darren tapped its metal twice, looking up impatiently.
"Bee, I'm hungry," he whispered as the mech looked down. "Can I eat now?"
Bumblebee blinked and shook his head once, suddenly remembering. "Oh! That's right. Yes, one moment." Bumblebee looked up to the two other mechs, and conversed in Cybertronian for only a brief minute. There was a moment of silence, then Jazz and Optimus' gave Bumblebee a few pats on his shoulders before standing.
"Nice meetin' ya, kid," said Jazz as he strolled out the door, throwing a sharp wave.
"Likewise for me," Optimus spoke with a smile. "We'll see you two later."
Darren nodded, returning their waves and goodbyes. Bumblebee gave each of them a respectful nod.
With a vented sigh, Bumblebee took Darren in his palms gingerly before sitting him on his shoulder. Darren hugged the side of Bumblebee's faceplate, pressing his cheek against the cool metal. This made the young mech smile with a chuckle, lifting his hand to sit it around the human boy's body. His finger eased into the skin of the boy's side, stroking with tender care. He turned his head, his optics turning a deep blue as they stared into Darren's eyes with a fatherly devotion.
"Now, how about some food?" Darren said through a laugh.
Bumblebee smiled wider. "Of course," he said softly, patting the human's back. "Anything for you, Darren."