Chapter Thirty-Eight – Like a Heart Needs a Beat

Inside the Adonis III

Blue optics drooped at their corners, glassing over with layers of tears that's threat grew with every second Bumblebee's spark was without his Arcee's, and with every whimper his mechling chirped out. He set a hand over the baby's back, clawing his fingers gently into the metal plates, tussling his fingertips through delicate wires of the bot's frame.

Not a word was spoken to comfort the frightened youngling. Bumblebee's mainframe was heavy in inquiries unanswered, worries uncomforted. He forced himself to think positively, pushing the horrid possibilities of Arcee's sudden disappearance out of his mind.

But, that only lasted for mere seconds.

Zaidian pushed his head deeper into Bumblebee's warm chest, closing his blue optics, his audio receptors listening to the footsteps below him. His receptor fell over his father's spark chamber and listened to the thrums inside the mech, his little palms setting against the yellow metal. The spark only comforted him a little. Zaidian needed his mother's near, and his sister's, and until then, their four-way bond – Dada, Mommy, Xyla, and himself – would be incomplete.

Zaidian's head perked upright when his antennae perceived the sound of crying. His wide optics shifted over to his father's, and he whirred, wriggling.

"D-Dada…" he said softly.

"I heard it too, Zaidian," Bumblebee replied, holding his son a little tighter. "Shh, let Daddy listen…"

Zaidian obeyed, twisting his little body some to look ahead of them. He chirped and pointed a finger straight before himself the instant his optics fell upon a tiny figure.

"Dada! Xyla, Dada!"

Bumblebee slowed his quick strides to an amble, slowly approaching the figure that sat on the ground, in a dark corner of the hallway.

And sure enough, it was Xylastar…

Without her mother, without his sparkmate…

Alone.

Bumblebee's optics blurred with tears as he kneeled by his femmebot, taking her into one of his large hands. Her little sobs wrenched his spark, and he prayed she hadn't seen anything dreadful happen to her mother.

He prayed that Arcee was safe…Perhaps even nearby.

Xylastar's hands gripped onto Bumblebee's shoulder tightly, her head nuzzling into his armor. Bumblebee lowered himself to sit in the corner, cradling both sparklings in his arms, bringing them to his spark. He closed his optics to hold back the tears, allowing his systems to rev, his spark to thrum strongly by them. Their little receptors eased against his chest, and soon, their cries quieted.

It was silent as he looked around, scanning the dark hallways. He heard absolutely nothing, detected nothing…

Arcee wasn't here.

"Primus, where are you, baby…" he said to no one, closing his optics.

The tears threatened again, but he held them back.

Oh, how his spark hurt so.

His optics shifted to the little bots, his fingers brushing over each of their faceplates, wiping at tear-dampened cheeks.

"Shh, n-no crying," he whispered, shaking his head. "Daddy's here. Daddy's here…"

"D-Dada," sputtered Xylastar, squirming against her brother gently.

"Mmm," Bumblebee agreed lazily. "Dada's right here, Xylastar."

The sparklings hugged each other, forcing Bumblebee to smile at the sight. He easily pressed them deeper against his chest, continuing to stroke their bodies, fondling with their wires. Xylastar's optics shifted up into her father's, her tiny hand rubbing into his spark chamber.

Bumblebee's smile faded. "Where'd mommy go?" he murmured, leaning down to her.

Xylastar blinked. "M-Mommy…"

"Yes, baby, where is she? Where's Mommy?"

The desperation in his voice was apparent.

The femmebot shook her head, then buried it in his chest. Zaidian's cries choked in his throat, his frame twitching. He looked up at his father with droopy blue optics, innocent, looking to the mech as if he held an answer.

"D-Dada, wh-where's M-Mommy?"

Bumblebee's spark sank. He looked away, cradling the babies looser than before.

"…D-Dada?"

"Daddy doesn't know," Bumblebee answered too quickly. "Zaidian, Daddy doesn't know."

//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\

Outside the Adonis III

Hot Rod's mouth curled into a devious smile, his electric blue optics gazing in through a small window, grinning at the sight of Bumblebee cradling his saddened sparklings. Good, the mech was sad, his sparklings crying…

Perfect.

The red mech turned away slowly, no slightest bit of sympathy present in his desirous spark. He treaded slowly back to Arcee and Darren, hidden in a concealed patch of grass, veiled behind trees. He smiled at the femme, kneeling down at her side.

"Everything's going perfectly," he said lowly, looking into her optics.

She scowled at him heatedly, leaning back as his mouth came close to hers.

"You're a traitor, Hot Rod," she managed to say before he kissed her roughly. "Wait 'till I tell Optimus. You'll be in detention forever."

He chuckled, pulling away. "A traitor, I'm not. And you're not telling Optimus. You're mine," he told her, smile fading. "You were to be mine since we first laid optics on each other, Arcee. You were to be mine from the start."

She glared.

Hot Rod turned his optics down to Darren who hid behind the femme's leg, his pale blue eyes staring unblinkingly at the mech. He eased his hand by the human, chuckling as he stumbled in several directions, trying to avoid the mighty palm that chased him. As the boy dashed right, the mech set a hand at his rear left, making Darren collide against his palm once he turned. Hot Rod grinned, curling his fingers around Darren's body as he drew him to his optics.

"I don't understand why Bumblebee favors you so…" he said, looking over the human. "…Why you in particular to so many other humans."

Darren glared. "Why would you care?" he muttered.

Hot Rod laughed. "Oh, so you talk now?"

"I always have," shot the human. "You're just too greedy to realize anything."

Hot Rod's optics flashed and he tightened his grasp around the human until he squirmed, fighting pry free. His wounds were still tender and as pressure was applied to Hot Rod's grasp, he uttered out a strangled cry of pain, shutting his eyes.

"…S-Stop…!" he coughed out, gripping one of Hot Rod's fingers.

The mech grinned.

Ignoring his struggles, Hot Rod leaned down and pressed his mouth against Arcee's yet again, feeling her buck back until she came in contact with a tree, making him smile inwardly. The fingers of his free hand walked themselves up her body, dancing lightly once they reached the candy pink armor of her chestplate. He chuckled.

"I'm not losing you, baby," he whispered, optics flashing. "You're mine."

She groaned, fighting to shake him off. Arcee cried out as she felt her chest compartment flip open, but her cry was muffled in the kiss he kept on her. Hot Rod pulled back, smiling at her.

"I'll make a bond so strong…" he droned, fingering around her naked spark chamber, giving her systems sensational, yet overwhelming twitches. "…A bond so much stronger than the one you have with Bumblebee."

Darren shivered at his words. He wouldn't let Hot Rod do this do his father, to such a great mech that deserved nothing like that. He wouldn't let the bond be ruined.

…But, he couldn't do anything to avoid this.

Arcee gulped a lump in her throat, her faceplate drenched in fear and innocence. "N-No, you can't," she gasped. "Y-You can't. You'll interfere with ours. O-Our sparklings…"

"Those sparklings should have been ours, Arcee," growled Hot Rod. "What happened? One moment you're mine, and the next you're his?" He shook his head. "What's with that…?" he added in a breath.

She trembled, feeling his fingers tug at sensitive wiring around her spark. "H-Hot Rod - "

"Save it. Now, I'll have to settle this all," he whispered, opening his own chest. He eased his spark closer to hers and she shook her head, whimpering, trying to push him away with force she didn't have. Hot Rod chuckled, pressing his mouth against hers.

"I didn't want to have to do this, Arcee," he murmured. "But, baby, I have no choice anymore."

"N-No…!"

His spark hovered just above hers, the power thrumming from his beginning to overwhelm the pale blue aura surrounding hers, giving itself entrance without granted permission. In only a few seconds, the sparks merged to one, and Arcee cried out in their kiss again, subconsciously gripping onto Hot Rod's shoulders, her fingers clawing in. The mech's frame shuddered with hers, temporary overdrive making the femme groan painfully. Her circuitry twitched, thus making their sparks pulse rapidly into each other, their bond strengthening with each second the sparks stood intact with one another.

Within moments, the bond was established in a brilliant flash of light, making Darren turn his eyes away, shutting them. Their chest compartments closed automatically and Arcee's breathing stood above the heavy silence, soon coupled with a chuckle from Hot Rod.

As he took her chin in his hand, he drawled, "So, tell me what I want, Arcee…"

The femme kissed him, opening her optics as they upturned. "I love you, Hot Rod."

Just what he wanted to hear.

He grinned and stroked her faceplate. "That's a good femme…"

//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\

Meanwhile, Inside the Adonis III

Bumblebee jolted suddenly, feeling his spark churn and twist inside him, making alarms ring in his CPU. His wide optics fell over Zaidian and Xylastar as they too, wriggled in their partial recharge, uttering strangled sobs from their tiny throats. Bumblebee winced as his spark, again, fluttered awkwardly, as if alerting him…but for what?

Arcee? Darren?
He grimaced, trying with every molecule of his being to follow his spark and listen to its alert. There was Zaidian's, beating with his own, as was Xylastar's, following her father's rhythm obediently, not missing a single one. He found Darren's, unusually fast, but still there…But Arcee's.

Unavailable.

Not obtainable.

Interfered with.

Intervened.

Bumblebee's optics flared and he hissed heatedly, feeling every drop of coolant within him surge to the boiling point, washing through him like a tidal wave.

Only one mech would do this. The only one who hated to see him happy…

"Hot Rod…"

//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\

A Few Minutes Later

Bumblebee dashed down the hall, skidding to a halt at the Weapon Specialist's door. Ironhide…Could he be trusted in watching his sparklings?

His spark twisted inside him again, churning, making him shudder at the pain it caused to his systems.

There was no time to second guess, no time to waste with overanalyzing stupid situations.

He desperately knocked his fist against Ironhide's quarters' door, fighting back tears that blurred his vision, making the matters even worse. Zaidian nuzzled his head into Bumblebee's warm chest, hugging the spark that thrummed there. His wide blue optics lifted to his father's faceplate and the mechling whimpered, watching tears fall from Bumblebee's optics. A little yellow hand reached up.

"Dada…" he murmured. "D-Dada…okay?"

Bumblebee only turned his head away, letting a hand fall over the back of Zaidian's head. The mechling instinctively turned his head, laying his receptor against his father's heart.

"Hush, Zaidian," came his father's voice in a whisper. "Dada's fine…"

Zaidian whirred.

Xylastar whimpered, feeling Bumblebee's fingertips brush her side.

"Wh-Where's Mommy?" she asked.

Bumblebee shuddered at the question.

"Dada'll find h-her," he quivered, grimacing at the pain that twisted his spark. "...I will."

Zaidian closed his optics. "Wh-When?"

"Soon, baby," cooed Bumblebee. "Until then, stay with Ironhide."

"D-Dada go?" Xylastar asked, shivering.

Bumblebee sighed, shifting his optics aimlessly ahead of him to a wall. His CPU played tricks on him, flashing pictures of Arcee through his mind, playing bytes of her voice in his receptors, and there she was…in his arms.

Bumblebee needed her like a heart needs a beat.

Without her, what was he?

Nothing.