Smugglers 3: The Beginning Is The End

Chapter 12: Flashbacks: Finding Bumblebee

Bulkhead awoke slowly, feeling slightly disorientated he began to stretch only to freeze when his servos didn't bump the wall like they normally did but instead hit the air. Feeling a sense of dread beginning to grow in the bottom of his tanks he carefully opened both optics and felt relief wash over him when he realized that he must have fallen into recharge o the couch the night before. Frowning, he tried to recall the events that had led to his current position. There had been the race followed by the police chase then he had received an anonymous letter; Bumblebee had tried to talk him out of going then got them some energon…wait an astrosecond. The energon; that was it! Knowing Bumblebee he had probably put something in it to make Bulkhead go to sleep…which meant he was probably on his way to the planet now. Immediately Bulkhead sprang to his pedes and rushed out the door, not bothering to lock it behind him.

Wasp chuckled gleefully as his ship began to lift off from the planet. "You know," he said to himself thoughtfully. I'm going to become famous. Who would've ever thought that I, Wasp, would kill the mighty Bumblebee? Who would believe…" his voice trailed off and he scowled at the console. "Who would ever believe me? No one would. Unless they had proof," he turned the ship around and was soon back at the planet. It took only a few minutes then The Smuggler was securely attached to The Waspinator. Evil grin firmly in place and precious cargo coming behind Wasp took off once again, not even noticing that the earlier fight with Bumblebee had damaged his EMP beyond repair…

Due to traffic and two riots it took Bulkhead close to three hours before he finally reached the docks. He came to a stop and just stared at the empty spot where The Smuggler had been just the day before. As he stood there staring the rest of the world began to fade away until all that remained was the empty space. Somewhere in the background he could hear the sound of bots talking and laughing, generally having a good time. He paid them no attention but continued to stare, one thought running through his processor, If something happened to Bee I'm to blame.

Eventually however he snapped out of his daze and began searching for a way to the planet. His optics landed on a ship not far away, its pilot facing in the opposite direction. Not finding it in himself to care that what he was about to do was not only dangerous but highly illegal Bulkhead took a deep breath then started to run, making it onto the other ship in record time. Once onboard he quickly shut the landing dock doors then made his way into the control room. When he entered the room he immediately entered the correct coordinates and, giving the engines full power, sat back in the captain's chair and continued to worry.

Wasp was officially no longer the happiest bot in the world; his ship was now malfunctioning. It was painfully obvious that those bumbling idiots at the impound hadn't even tried to fix the damage his ship had sustained the day he was captured. It wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that the most heavily damaged section of the ship was the area that controlled The Waspinator's towing function. Basically it meant that he had to let The Smuggler go. He sighed heavily and with a mournful look released The Smuggler then continued until he could no longer see it.

The closer Bulkhead drew to the planet the more nervous and scared that he felt. He tried to tell himself that he was getting all worked up over nothing but he didn't quite believe himself. When he finally arrived only to find that The Smuggler wasn't there he nearly talked himself into turning around and going back. Nearly that is. But something just wouldn't let him. Something was telling him to stay and look around the planet. He could hear Bumblebee's voice in his audio sensors saying, "When in doubt, Bulkhead, go with your gut. You can always trust your gut. Well maybe not your guy but you can always trust mine; it's never led me wrong yet. Except for that one time but otherwise…"

The voice died and Bulkhead sighed, reluctantly climbing out of the ship. He went straight to the rock wall that he had hidden behind on his last visit and cautiously peered around it, fearful of what he would find. What he saw almost caused his spark to stop completely and his optics to widen. There, in the center of the rocks, lay a small, yellow bot.

For a second he couldn't move then broke into a run, moving faster than he ever had in his entire life. He skidded to a stop alongside the bot then fell to his knees, turning the figure over. It was Bumblebee, his optics completely dark and his armor was rapidly turning gray.

"Oh, Bee," Bulkhead said mournfully as he gathered the little bot in his arms and ran back to the ship, praying all the while that wasn't too late for his little buddy.

A/N: Sorry this chapter's so short but I couldn't stretch it out any more.

A/N/N: 15 reviews, will be satisfied with 10.

A/N/N/N: The next chapter will have MAJOR character death. (That doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to kill off two or more characters it just means that someone who has been in all three Smugglers stories will die.)

A/N/N/N/N: The next chapter will be very late tomorrow night and I'm sorry that this one was so late but my internet stopped working and just now came back on.