Chapter Five – The Painful Reality
About an hour later…
Bumblebee paused before the Adonis III's entrance doors, turning his optics a keypad attached to the metal beside one. He lifted a hand, his yellow fingers dancing about the controls and buttons to enter the proper code. With an accepting collection of beeps, the doors hissed and parted in both directions, giving the young mech the access to enter. Bumblebee passed the threshold and the doors shut automatically behind him with a firm click.
The young mech started deeper into the base in a slow amble, his footsteps lonely, the only sound pinging off the metal walls. It was awfully quiet. Bumblebee assumed everyone was working.
Still walking, Bumblebee tilted his head downward, drooping his optics as he saw Darren resting in a nook between plates of armor on his upper chassis. He smiled and pet the human's head with a tender finger. The boy did sure sleep a lot. No matter. He didn't mind being used as a place to sleep.
The mech sighed pleasantly and lifted his head. Suddenly, he widened his optics and stumbled back a few steps, noticing his might commander blocking his path. The transformer towered above him, his optics an unfamiliar heated blue. Leaning down, Optimus positioned his faceplate merely inches away from Bumblebee's, each facet angled at degrees that made Optimus look very unhappy.
"We need to talk," Optimus droned in his deep voice. "I'm sure you have a moment…"
The way he said that, he didn't like it. It made Bumblebee's frame twitch and shudder. He gulped down a lump that choked his throat.
"Uh-Uhmm, of course, Sir," Bumblebee trembled. "What is it?"
Leaning back, Optimus made a low noise in his throat that surely sounded like a growl to Bumblebee. The younger mech's large optics were frozen on Optimus'. Possibilities darted through his mind. He knew he was in for a bad ride.
"Where have you been in the last two hours?" Optimus asked lowly. "You haven't been in your quarters since we last left you. Nor have you been here."
Bumblebee clenched his hands into fists. "I-I was – "
"Darren's not here, is he?" The commander questioned, cutting off the youngling on purpose. He shot Bumblebee a sharp glare that died within a second.
"H-He's right here," Bumblebee stated, pointing to the part of his chest where Darren lay. "He's resting…Asleep." He dropped his hand to a hip compartment, gripping it nervously as Optimus peeked into the little nook, his optics scanning. They narrowed.
"Very well," Optimus said with a nod. He crossed his arms across his burly chest. "I'm listening." His optics flashed. "Go."
"I-I was outside with Darren…"
Optimus' optics flared. "Outside?! Alone?!" He bellowed, cutting him off yet again. "How could you be so dim? Are you circuits fried?!"
Bumblebee slumped down, his shoulders sagging as his antennae fell against his head. His wings shuddered as they pressed against his upper back, his faceplate shifting into a look of unease.
"Wh-What…? N-No, Sir. My processor's fine…" muttered Bumblebee under Optimus' fit.
"You went outside in the bright of the day?!" Optimus threw at him. "Do you know what could have happened, Bumblebee?!"
The mech swallowed, adverting his optics. He nodded his head.
"Y-Yes, Sir…I do." He shut his eyes, expecting Optimus to yell at him.
"You could've been spotted, Bumblebee," Optimus chastised softly, glowering down disappointedly, yet agitatedly. "If a Decepticon had found you…" He sighed heavily, covering his faceplate with a hand. He massaged his temples, then peeked one blue optic out by parting away his fingers. "Just don't do this again, you understand me?"
Bumblebee nodded sheepishly, his optics opening to focus on the floor.
"Look at me, solider," ordered Optimus. He set a gentle hand against Bumblebee's cheekplate, and the young mech gazed up.
"H-Hmm?"
"You won't do this again, will you?" Optimus couldn't help, but let a smile play with his metal lips, and they curved slightly.
Bumblebee's mouth lifted into a shy smile, and he shrugged his shoulders with a sigh.
"No, I won't," he assured his commander. "I'm sorry."
"You promise?"
"Yes, I do…Sir," the mech said through a chuckle. Optimus' hand patted his cheekplate twice before lifting it away.
"Where are you off to now?" He questioned.
Bumblebee shrugged. "I came in to check on all of you. See if you needed any help with anything."
Optimus shook his head.
"Jazz is working with me on a few blueprints for future plans to combat the Decepticons, and drafts for when they do attack," he told Bumblebee as-a-matter-of-factly. "Ironhide and Ratchet are together in the recreation room, I believe. Did you need to talk to anyone?"
"No, no one," Bumblebee stated coolly with a grin, dropping his gaze. "I wanted to take Darren on a drive, maybe to Tranquility Lake." A hand to Optimus bowed gingerly in a gesture. "If that's approved by you, of course, Sir."
Optimus raised an optic ridge. "Of course. You would be using your human form once you reached the lake, yes?" He gave the young mech a skeptical look. "Please, do take on your holographic figure."
Bumblebee nodded quickly. "Of course, Sir. I know." He smiled.
Optimus nodded once, smiling in return. "Alright, then. Don't return here too late, for safety purposes."
"Yes, Sir."
Optimus saw Bumblebee start to turn and leave, but he reached out and squeezed the mech's shoulder, making him turn and angle his big optics at his.
"You know I'm not angry with you, youngling," cooed Optimus gently. "I'm only looking out for you. It'd wreck my spark if you got hurt, Bumblebee."
The yellow mech blinked twice, then nodded his head twice. "Oh, I know," he said simply. "You don't have to worry about me, Sir." He gave Optimus a playful smile. "I'll be fine." The mech started to leave again, but Optimus squeezed his shoulder even firmer, shaking his head.
"No, no, not yet, Bumblebee," he spoke in a firm tone, staring the mech right in the optics. "Wait. I'll tell you when you may leave." He released Bumblebee's shoulder and the younger mech turned to face his commanding officer, his optics seeming widened in worry.
"I-Is something wrong?" His voice asked politely.
Optimus' arms returned, crossed, against his chest.
"…You understand that Darren will have to return to his parents sooner or later, don't you?"
Bumblebee grimaced at his commander's words as if they were stones being thrown at him, and he bowed his head. Ohh, he hated this topic. It made even his spark tremble.
"Y-Yes," he mumbled quietly. The energon tears began to rise and he twitched. He didn't want to cry. Not in front of Optimus. "Y-Yes, Sir. I am aware of that."
"Look at me," directed Optimus in gentle demand. "C'mon…"
Bumblebee lifted his head, glistening blue optics staring through blurred vision at Optimus.
The commander nodded with a sigh, lifting a hand to thumb away tears that collected at the bases of the young mech's optic ducts. His audio receptors perceived the choking whirrs the youngling created, his optics noting how he refused to keep eye contact with him. He shook his head slowly from side to side.
"This upsets you, Bumblebee, doesn't it?"
The mech whirred a sorrowful reply, nodding his head quickly.
"Talk to me," Optimus said, tilting his faceplate. The youngling turned his down sharply, causing Optimus' thumb to withdraw from his cheekplate.
"I just don't want to give Darren away. I felt like we've just met," whined the young mech.
The commander nodded slowly.
"You've grown attached. Your spark longs to be around him."
Bumblebee nodded. "I love him…"
Optimus felt his own spark drop inside its casing. To see Bumblebee upset, it was a wrenching sight.
"But, you do understand why it's right to give him back to his family, correct?"
"I do, Sir. For keeping him from them would be inappropriate."
Optimus patted Bumblebee's shoulder. "Yes, that's right." He looked to the young mech's optics, but Bumblebee's were turned to a wall. Energon tears trickled down his cheekplates, onto the cold metallic floor. The commander moved an arm around the youngling's neck, then eased him into a hug. Bumblebee whimpered in protest and tried to squirm away, shutting his optics. His smaller frame shuddered, and he let himself conform to Optimus' arms.
"Optimus, I don't wanna let him go," groaned the youngling, his words muffled into Optimus' chest. "I-I don't want him t-to leave. B-But, I know he has to…I don't know how to accept it."
Optimus swayed the bot to and fro in a gentle swing, stroking the back of his head with tender touches of his fingers. They played with the ultrasensitive antennae that rested on top of his head, and as they twitched, Bumblebee shivered.
"Some things have to be the way they are, young one," cooed Optimus into one of Bumblebee's receptors. He pressed his cheekplate against Bumblebee's head. "You have to accept them the way they are. This… is one of those times."
Bumblebee groaned and coughed roughly in many lengthy sobs, his hands clawing into the framework of his commander's upper chassis. He whirred lowly against Optimus, melting even deeper into the loving embrace. Tears spilt onto his cheeks.
Optimus pat Bumblebee's back. He understood the youngling's pain. It was hard giving up someone you just met, someone that had your spark completely. The commander stroked Bumblebee's back quicker, nodding his head .Bumblebee had never loved anyone as much as Darren.
"Alright, Bumblebee, shhh, that's enough," he whispered.
Bumblebee sniffled and swallowed as Optimus' moved his arms from around his shoulders. Wiping away his tears, his optics fixed on the commander's. Hiccupped whirrs emitted from his vocal processors, and his frame shook with each one that was choked out.
Optimus sat a hand on top of Bumblebee's head, sliding his hand to the mech's cheekplate.
"I understand, Bumblebee," he soothed gently. "I wish it didn't have to be this way, too."
The youngling whimpered, dropping his optics to the floor.
"H-He's like a sp-sparkling I'll never have, Prime…"
"I know, I know," he replied in a sigh. "You'll still be able to visit him, little one. Don't worry." He took Bumblebee's shoulder and gave it a firm shake. "It won't be the end of you two."
Bumblebee nodded slowly, giving Optimus a shaky whirr in reply.
"Now, go on," Optimus insisted, turning Bumblebee and giving him a gentle push in the center of his back. "You have permission to leave." He sighed. "You stay with Darren until I contact you via your com link."
Bumblebee looked over his shoulder to give his commander a final glance before departing obediently. His footsteps faded off as the mech grew further and further away from Optimus, soon faint thuds against the metal. Before long, his yellow and black accented frame disappeared behind the entrance's double doors that automatically sealed with a hiss once the youngling was gone.
"H-He's like a sp-sparkling I'll never have, Prime…"
Optimus released a sigh through his vents as Bumblebee's words echoed through his head, and he shook it, turning toward his quarters. Bumblebee saw himself as Darren's father figure? The human, as his own son? No wonder the youngling's sobs had come so unexpectedly to him. Their attachment wasn't any ordinary love relationship.
Frowning, Optimus set a hand on the handle of his quarters. "They're like father, like son," he whispered under his breath. "Like Creator, like sparkling…"