::Chapter Four::
Optimus sighed and looked at his second-in-command with worry."Those two are still not here. Perhaps I should go look for them?", he said. Prowl nodded his head."Prime, you know it will take longer for the mechling to get here, cosidering his size dramatically changed during the...er, transformation...", he replied, crossing his arms against his chest plates. Optimus sighed."I can't help but worry, old friend. Ironhide is here, even though I specifically told him he was in charge of Bumblebee. Though I guess Wheeljack could do a good job...", he mused thoughtfully.
Prowl snorted, his optics narrowing ever so slightly."Would you risk the possibility of recreating the scout? No, Optimus. I think Ironhide will do well as his guardian instead. That scientist may be kind-sparked, but he is not really good at the aspects crucial for Bumblebee's redevelopment.", he replied. Optimus nodded his head."I guess you're right. Maybe I'll just let Ironhide take care of the mech. But I truly hope Ratchet finds a reversing program of some sort. With Megatron and his loyal follower Starscream roaming around Primus know where, we can't take any chances.", he said, before the door to the conference room burst open, and both mech and sparkling walked in, their optics set on the Autobot leader. The other mechs and femmes stood silent, realizing they were, at last, ready to begin the mini-conference.
The blue femme besides Ironhide widened her optics, and grabbed her sparkmate's arm, her optics landing on the sparkling." Is that a sparkling?", she asked, awe apparent in her voice. Ironhide grumbled."You like him or something, Chromia? Because you might be okay with what Optimus said...", he whispered, muttering the last part to himself. Chromia's optics leaked slightly."He's so adorable. Reminds me of 'Bee when he was a sparkling himself, doesn't he?", she said. Ironhide grumbled."If you only knew...". Besides the couple, Skids elbowed his twin."Hey, look at the lil' sparkling. Kinda looks like 'Bee...", he asked. Mudflap rolled his optics."Dudhead! It only look like 'Bee. Its probably some 'bandoned sparkling someone forgot.", he replied. The other twin narrowed his optics in annoyment."Dumbaft. Who 'bandons a sparkling? No femme! ", he hissed. Both of them began to argue, before they stopped, courtesy of a glare from Ironhide. The blue and red mech beside them coughed, and everyone turned to look at him. From across the room, Wheeljack nudged Bumblebee, patting the mech-turned-sparkling towards Optimus."That's your cue, buddy.", he whispered. Bee played a clip of someone gulping before he walked towards the blue and red Prime, his optics never leaving the floor.
From behind him, he heards cooing and 'awws' of delight, which only embarrased the young scout more. Finally, what had seemed like vorns, did he finally arrive towards Optimus, being sure to hide behind the large mech's leg. A few burst of laughter ensued, with more cooing, before the Autobot leader called them for attention."Mechs and femmes. The reason I called you here is because we have a few matters to discuss, ones that cannot be told to our human allies at the moment. First, I shall deal with a problem that has occured, an accident if you will.", he intoned. Bumblebee felt like he might offline at any minute, his procecessors aching from the pressure."First, I think many of you have noticed that one of our own is not present, and that we have a new addition to our family. Well, your optics decieve you. What only looks like a sparkling is actually somebot more. The sparkling here is actually the Bumblebee you all know. An invention gone wrong caused the accident, and radically changed his body to that of a sparkling's. He can still process like a youngling, though, so don't treat him too childishly. His circumstances are rather strange at the moment, but we are looking for a way to cure him. For now, he will have a guardian. One who already has the experience and the wisdom to raise him again. Ironhide?", he said, landing his gaze on the ancient black warrior.
Ironhide grumbled."Yes, Optimus. I'll take over the responsiblity.". Chromia gasped." Wait. Optimus, are you saying this sparkling is actually Bumble-", she began, but was cut off by a stern glance from her sparkmate."Yes. Like you heard earlier, an accident radically changed his body size and develpoment. We are currently looking for a way to fix that. The other mechs are going to be busy, and I must contribute in some way, so this is it.", he said, barely containing the exasperation in his voice. Many of them gasped, and Bumblebee shivered, his cooling systems going on as high as they could. Why was this whole situation annoying? Right. Because he was the center of attention. He wished Primus could offline him now. Optimus gave them all a stern glance before continuing."Thank you, Ironhide. We appreciate the sacrifice you aremaking to help us out in this hrad moment. Now, please be considerate with him. He is not used to this, and frankly, neither are we. So no pranks, anger fits, or anything else that could make me, Ironhide, or anybot go in to stasis lock, anger fit, or glitch. Is that understood?", he said, his baritone voice rumbling and reverebratring against the wall. A few Autobots suddenly found the floor and ceiling to be very interesting. Optimus sighed and vented softly, so no one could hear."I hope I made myself clear. Because if I hear about anything, you will suffer the consequences. Prowl. my second-in-command has permission to punish anyone on almost any basis, so this goes for everyone.", he warned. Prowl sniffed."Prime has made himself clear: I will punish anyone who disobeys the rules or laws set on this base.", he added.
A few affirmative could be heard, which made the Prime vent air in slight contempt."Good. I'm glad that's settled. Now, about the other issue...I'll let Prowl explain.", he said, motioning for the black and white mech beside him to take over. Prowl nodded, and began speaking."We have had...", he began his speech, but Bumblebee did not listen. Quickly, he connected himself to Optimus via comm link, exasperation flooding toward the old mech.
Bumblebee:: Not fair. You should have told me you were going to tell the others. Then I might have been prepared.::
Optimus:: Life has its surprise. I simply did what was neccesary, youngling.::
Bumblebee:: What about Sam? Does he know?::
Optimus:: Unfortunately, yes. I had to give him a reason as to why the sudden temporary change in guardians. I could not lie to him.::
Bumblebee:: I was kinda expecting that. Well, I'm tired. I think I'm going to recharge.::
Optimus:: I'll tell Ironhide to escort you.::
Bumblebee:: Actually, I'd rather have Wheeljack escort me, Optimus.::
Optimus widened his optics."Are you sure?", he whispered. Bumblebee nodded his head. The Autobot leader hesitated, then nodded ever so slightly."Fine. Now, go.", he rumbled softly. Bumblebee chirped and clicked in relief and gratitude, before sneaking back to Wheeljack. The civilian scientist smiled at him, his optics brightening in intensity."You did good, scout. I'd been scared if that had been me...", he said softly. Bumblebee pantomined a relief gesture, which made the older mech laugh."Well, I have to go. Gotta fix the machine and check for its problem spots.", he finally said. Bumblebee whirred his gears."Take me with you!", he replied softly, so no bot could hear. Wheeljack raised an optic ridge."I thought Ironhide was supposed to look after you...", he said. Bumblebee shook his head."Boss said it was okay to take leave.", he returned. The scientist shrugged."Fine. Let's go...", he said. Bumblebee whirred his gears in contentment.
Meh...The next chapter will focus on Decepticons. Yes, Megatron knows Bumblebee has been turned into a sparkling. How he will react, you will know in the next chapter...Sam will visit his poor afflicted friend in a later chapter...I still don't know if Mikaela should visit too. Well, whatever...Read and Review!