Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End
Chapter 8: Flashbacks: The Note
Bulkhead was exhausted; who knew that taking part in an illegal race could wear a bot out so quickly. He let out a relieved sigh as he sat down at the table and looked happily at the cube of energon in front of him. Bee was going to arrive any minute now; he had said so before disappearing immediately after the race saying something about hiding his half of the winnings. Bulkhead still couldn't believe Bee had given him half of the credits that they had won; he had tried to refuse but Bee insisted which was why he now had over one million and a half credits in his bank account with a few hidden for safekeeping.
He frowned and checked his internal chronometer again. Bee should've been here by now. Bulkhead was just about to get up and start searching for his missing friend when he heard the very familiar sound of tires squealing and turned just in time to see the yellow minibot come zooming around the corner and screech to a stop directly in front of Bulkhead.
"Hello, Bulky," he said cheerfully.
"What's wrong?" Bulkhead asked, not missing the way his friend jumped and glanced behind him worriedly at the sound of sirens.
"Oh, nothing," Bee said airily. "Just a slight…misunderstanding between myself and our friendly police bots."
The sirens were getting closer now; any second they'd be coming around the corner to take away his friend. Bulkhead looked around wildly then his blue optics lit up as something occurred to him. Quickly he grabbed Bee who yelped in surprise then shoved the startled bot in the between his shoulder armor and shoulder struts.
Moments later the police bots appeared and, not seeing a yellow minibot anywhere, went directly to Bulkhead and asked him if he had seen anyone come running by.
Bulkhead shook his head and watched anxiously as they looked around the area and under benches before going back the way they had come from. Bulkhead sighed in relief and said, "You can come out now, Bee."
There was silence then the big green mech winced as he felt something move underneath his armor, inadvertently kicking some rather sensitive wires as well. Seconds later a yellow helm with horns popped out followed by the rest of Bee's body. The minibot lay panting on Bulkhead's shoulder strut then he said, "Bulky."
"Yeah, Bee?"
"If you ever do that again, please adjust your shoulder guard," Bee begged.
"Will do," Bulkhead agreed. "Maybe we should go now," he suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea," Bee sat up and sipped some of the energon Bulkhead had given him before handing it back to his oversized companion who quickly downed the rest of it.
They walked a little further, just reaching the halfway point to Bulkhead's apartment when they heard voices. Bulkhead peered around the corner then quickly jumped back. "Police bots," he whispered in a barely audible voice.
They were about to find another way to go when one of the police bots said, "I don't know about you guys but I'm beat. First we spend all day looking for that bot who escaped earlier and now we have to chase some insane minibot that tried to run over our captain!"
"It was an accident," Bee hissed. Bulkhead gripped his friend's legs, effectively immobilizing him and motioned for him to be quiet. Bee grumbled but shushed, allowing Bulkhead to listen to what was being said.
Another police bot answered and said, "I say we let this bot go. Finding Wasp is infinitely more important, wouldn't you say?"
There were murmurs of agreement then the first police bot that had spoken said, "I agree. Let's go, men!"
The two friends stayed absolutely still until they were certain that all of the police bots were gone then looked at each other and echoed, "Wasp escaped?"
The remainder of the walk to Bulkhead's apartment was quiet as both bots mulled over what they had heard and what it meant for both of them.
Bulkhead wasn't just scared; he was petrified. He was the bot who had testified against Wasp and according to everything that he heard and seen in datanovels and holovideos that meant Wasp was obligated to…kill him in retaliation. Primus, he hoped Wasp didn't come after him but if the green minibot did then he hoped that Bee was far, far away when it happened.
Bumblebee was scared too but not for himself; he was…concerned for Bulkhead. When Wasp came for him, and Wasp would, there was only one outcome and that was Bulkhead: dead. Bee wasn't going to let that happen. In his processor Bumblebee was already accessing the blueprints for Bulkhead's apartment and figuring out where the weak spots were and how to best defend them. As long as Bulkhead stayed out of the way then he should be fine.
When they finally arrived at their destination the first thing Bulkhead did was check the mail but did consent to wait and read it inside much to Bumblebee's relief. The little bot had quickly gone from 'the winner of a race' to 'assassin' in the blink of an optic. Contrary to popular opinion Bulkhead wasn't a complete idiot, he was just…naïve about some things. He knew that Bee was an assassin; had guessed it not long after that initial meeting at the café. He had almost, almost not had anything to do with Bee after that but after doing a lot of thinking he had decided to take a chance and keep keeping out with Bee and now he didn't regret it. Whatever Bee did on his own time he made a conscious effort not to bring it up in front of Bulkhead. Instead he regaled the big mech with outrageous tales of outlaws, smugglers and anything else he could make up. To his eternal surprise bulkhead discovered that he didn't mind being friends with someone that killed other bots for a living. In fact he felt quite safe slipping into recharge when Bee was near. Watching the little bot lock and re-lock his front door Bulkhead decided that he was glad he had helped Bee out that day; otherwise would have missed out on a beautiful friendship.
Bumblebee was tense as Bulkhead went through the mail, waiting for something to blow up. So far nothing had but that didn't mean anything. There could be a time delayed fuse on something…his thoughts were interrupted by Bulkhead who was frowning at the last datapad. "What's wrong?" Bumblebee asked sharply, his sensors on high alert.
"Well it says, 'I have information that could lead to the re-capture of Wasp. Meet me at the planet where you first saw Wasp and come alone.' The really strange thing is that it's not signed. I suppose I should go though," he said thoughtfully.
Bumblebee thought quickly; he was positive the message was from Wasp. He had to stop Bulkhead from going but how? "I wouldn't worry, Bulkhead. It's probably just a prank," he said with a laugh.
Bulkhead didn't look convinced. "A prank?" he repeated. "Who would do something like that?"
Bumblebee shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted honestly. "But like I said; you shouldn't worry about it."
"I should still go though," Bulkhead said.
Bumblebee had to resist the urge to put the other mech in stasis lock then remembered something. "All right," he agreed, suddenly changing tactics. "Why don't we have some energon then recharge," he suggested, rising and going to the kitchen.
"Okay," Bulkhead said with a loud yawn.
Once in the kitchen Bumblebee snuck a peek into the living room to make sure Bulkhead wasn't looking his way then he pulled a small needle out of a subspace compartment and emptied the contents into a cube of energon he had retrieved from the cabinet then put the needle back. Picking up the cube that now had a few special ingredients in it and a regular cube, headed back to the living room where he handed Bulkhead the drugged cube. After he had sat down he raised his cube and said, "To Bulkhead, the finest racing partner a mech could ask for."
Bulkhead raised his and said, "To Bee, the best friend a mech could ask for."
Bee blinked away the sudden moisture he felt gathering in his optics and smiled as they 'clinked' their cubes of energon and drank them. Bumblebee watched out of the corner of his optic as Bulkhead's servo fell limply to his side and soon he was in the land of recharge. Bee smiled gently at the green mech and covered him with a thermal blanket before slipping out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.
A/N: 15 reviews, will accept 10.
A/N/N: If anyone's confused the contents of the needle was a substance that, when given in small doses, will knock a mech out for several hours. Bee happened to have some on him because, in large doses, it kills.