Chapter Forty-One – A Bond to Protect You
The Adonis III Mess Hall
The Next Morning
Bumblebee cradled Zaidian in the crook of his arm, letting the mechbot lean back against his spark chamber. He smiled, lifting a small cube of energon to the bot's mouth, gently tilting it back to feed the mechling. Zaidian whirred, lifting his own little hands to hold the cube, gulping down the liquid happily. Bumblebee rubbed little circles into the baby's stomach, patting his tanks.
"Getting full?" whispered Bumblebee, softly kissing the mechling's receptor.
Zaidian nodded, letting his father lower the half-empty cube as he swallowed. Bumblebee watched Xylastar on the metal table, lying on her back, holding a cube to her mouth. She turned her head to her father, giggling as he tickled her little tummy. His hand slipped under her back, sitting her upright.
"Sit up, baby," he said, grinning. "I don't want you to choke."
Xylastar giggled again, leaning her head back to finish the energon. Zaidian tucked his head against his father's neck, putting his drink in Bumblebee's hand. The mech smiled, setting it down before he tenderly stroked the baby's back.
"Good, good," he said softly. "That's it. Just - "
A hand landed on his shoulder and Bumblebee turned around, meeting the blue optics of a familiar mech, Ratchet. The medical officer stared at him for only a few astroseconds, soon starting to turn and walk away. He waved a hand.
"Son, come with me," he whispered. "Bring the sparklings."
Bumblebee blinked. "Is something wrong, Sir?"
The officer shook his head. "Just follow."
The seriousness in his voice made Bumblebee worried. But, he didn't ask another question, rising to his feet once the sparklings were cradled into his arms.
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Bumblebee met Ratchet's optics, struggling to keep up with the older mech's lengthy strides in the hallway. He nestled the sparklings against his burly chest, cradling them.
"What's the emergency?"
Ratchet continued walking for several astroseconds more before responding.
"Son, I received the…unfortunate news about you and you sparkmate," he sighed.
Bumblebee looked away suddenly, blue optics drooping. He dropped his gaze. "D-Do we really have to talk about that right now? I-I really - "
"I only want to bring up one event from it, Bumblebee," Ratchet said calmly in return.
Bumblebee blinked. "Wh-What one?"
"The bond between you and your sparkmate that Hot Rod overrode," the officer told him.
"Yeah? What about it, Sir?"
"I know how Hot Rod can be over his femme, and I'm afraid that his jealousy will send him after your sparklings."
Bumblebee grimaced, instinctively holding the bots tighter against his chest. "He would come after them?" he said, almost shyly. "Stealing them…what good would that be?"
"He could easily override the bond you have with them and do the same as he did to Arcee," Ratchet replied. "He corrupts the bond, making the one he establishes with them stronger. So, even if you were to try to reverse the bond again, Bumblebee, you couldn't."
The younger mech tilted his head.
Ratchet smiled only slightly. He gave Bumblebee's chest a small tap. "Your spark is still young, Bumblebee, as are you," he said, smiling a little wider. "Hot Rod is several years older than you are, not to mention stronger. Strength coincides with not only your body, but your spark as well."
Bumblebee made a face, arching an optic ridge. Ratchet laughed at him.
"In easier terms, the stronger you are, the stronger your spark."
Bumblebee nodded. "Then, how should I protect my sparklings from him?"
"Establish a stronger bond," the officer said, opening the door of his quarters as they arrived. "…Avoid giving them the same fate Arcee got."
"…Is it possible for her to ever return to me?" Droopy blue optics shifted from the floor.
Ratchet shook his head with a weak shrug. "I-I've never seen anything like this before, really, Son," he sighed. "I guess it's possible. You'd have to wait 'till your spark grew."
Bumblebee winced. "B-But, by the time it became strong enough…Hot Rod's would too, right?"
The officer shook his head again, entering his quarters. "Bumblebee, I don't have the answers," he said regretfully. "I wish I did. My guess is when your spark gained the strength it needs, and Arcee became out of Hot Rod's hands, the bond could be restored."
Bumblebee shook his head, aimlessly looking down at his sparklings. Their blue optics were wide, audio receptors willingly open and taking every word into their little processors. They whirred and chirped, tiny hands clawing into their father's chest, little fingers tracing open space between plates of his armor. He smiled at them, kissing the tops of their heads.
"I just don't want them to be like me, Ratchet," he murmured.
The officer raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"My younglinghood, I didn't have two creators by my side. They each abandoned me." He looked to the officer. "I want them to have both of us, both original, biological parents. Not just one, or one and some other femme, no. Both."
Ratchet smiled, optics upturning.
"That's why I'm not replacing Arcee…"
Ratchet nodded slowly. "You've got one big spark don't you, Bee?"
Bumblebee whirred, grinning as the sparklings smiled back at him. "I suppose I do," he said, nuzzling his head with the babies'. They chirped, squealing happily. He purred at them, his spark fluttering. "But, Sir, I have to…For this next generation."
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Meanwhile at the Cliantha I
Arcee's Quarters
Arcee sat at the edge of her berth, pale blue optics gazing expressionlessly ahead of her at the monotonous gray wall. In her processor, pictures of Bumblebee kept flashing at her, those warm blue optics, that faceplate with the loving smile. She saw sparkling twins, chirping at her, but where was the bond?
She couldn't feel it.
Arcee knew who they were, her sparkmate, her creations, but the connection wasn't there.
Her spark only felt for Hot Rod, as if it had been brainwashed, the other bonds completely erased from its "memory." It didn't even wrench at the thought of her sparklings, how frightened they must be to have their mother suddenly gone. And, not feeling her own spark in the connection…
The four-way bond suddenly becoming a three-way?
Her spark was erased.
And it hurt her to know that the one who erased it was Hot Rod. The one who loved her?
But, why didn't she hate him?
Arcee buried her head in her hands. She could only cry.
"Oh, Primus," she sobbed in a breath.
She knew she loved Bumblebee, knew they were truly meant to be, but she couldn't feel it. Her spark didn't care for him or the sparklings, the bond was overridden for them all. Only her processor reminded her of the love she used to feel, and the love that was returning.
She sighed heavily, looking up through tears at the wall again.
Arcee wouldn't leave her babies. She couldn't treat such a mech that way either. She only hoped Bumblebee wasn't angry with her, and that he'd forgive her.
But, two things were essential.
Restore the bonds with Bumblebee and the sparklings.
Get her spark from its pitiless condition, from the jail that constricted it.
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Back at the Adonis III
Ratchet's Quarters
Bumblebee sat on the medical berth, watching the sparklings roll around and chirp in front of him. Smiling, he flared his optics warmly, shifting his gaze to Ratchet.
"So, establishing a stronger bond with them," he said, looking back to the bots. "How exactly do I do that?"
"Just as Hot Rod probably did," Ratchet replied. "Feed energy from your spark into theirs."
"How do I know when to stop?" the younger mech asked, taking Xylastar into his hands.
"You'll feel it, Son."
Without another word, Bumblebee raised Xylastar to his chest, lifting away one hand to flip open his spark compartment, then her tinier one. Blue hearts pulsed happily as they neared the other and, in a warm flash of light, merged, Xylastar's willingly taking the energy her father supplied hers with. Her little frame shivered and she whimpered. Bumblebee shook his head.
"You're okay, baby," he murmured, smiling. "You're okay."
Xylastar gurgled, kicking her little feet. Ratchet nodded.
"That's good, Bumblebee."
The younger mech stopped, lowering the whirring sparkling to the berth. He shut her chest compartment with a single finger, patting her little head twice.
"Good, girl," he cooed, rubbing a little circle into her cheekplate before he took Zaidian. The mechling grinned at his father as he opened his spark chamber. Wide blue eyes fixed on the mightier spark before the little bot, and Bumblebee laughed.
"You ready, Zaidian?" he whispered.
The mechling nodded.
Again, brilliant flashes of light flared as the two hearts merged, one transferring energy, creating a bond. Zaidian shut his optics and giggled, feeling Bumblebee's spark beat into his own. Bumblebee nodded with a satisfied sigh, closing the bot's chest before he closed his own.
"Seemed good, Sir?" he said, almost breathlessly, looking to the officer.
Ratchet nodded with a smile. "Hot Rod can't work through that."
"Not even with his stronger spark?"
"He doesn't have that Creator-Creation bond," the officer informed. "You have that with the sparklings, and the stronger bond that you just established."
Bumblebee smiled and took the bots into his arms. "So, I don't have to worry, do I?"
Ratchet shook his head. "They're protected. Yours 'till all are one."
Will Arcee restore her bonds? (gasp!) Stay tunedddd. x3