Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay but the next chapter should be coming up real soon! Please review and tell me what you think!
As always, I own nothing!
~Mel
The war outside had continued on.
Lennox, Epps, and the rest of their soldiers had already traveled further into the city. They currently were paused at a street in the middle of a city, waiting for word from their men. They had sent out four men to scout the area a couple of blocks ahead to look for any signs of immediate Decepticon danger. They had only been gone for a few minutes.
The soldiers in the street were not alone. With them were Bee and Mikaela. Bee was on the back of a tow truck Mikaela had hotwired to move him, and his legs lying next to him.
Sam was not with them. He had taken the cube and started to run towards the marble building Lennox had told him to go to, in hopes of getting the All Spark out of there. Apparently there would be military air support there to get the cube out of the city and away from the Decepticons. Ironhide and Ratchet had gone with him for protection.
Since then, the remaining soldiers had faced the battlefield. With the help of Bee, they were able to kill one of the Decepticons, the one that had disguised itself as a tank. It was a large victory for them, and yet there was still so many to fight off. However, at the moment, there was a lull in the action, and it was calm around them.
Even though he was present with the group, waiting with the rest of them, Bee was a million miles away. The pain in his Spark he was feeling was incomprehensible. He felt as though he had been stabbed in the chest. They couldn't find his Alise.
He didn't want to leave the area where the blast happened. He was convinced that she would reappear at any moment, come back to him, racing into his awaiting hands where he could hold her and she would be safe. He wouldn't have let anything touch her. He would have protected her if it put his own life in danger.
But she wasn't there with him. She was somewhere in the city, alive or... dead. He shook at the thought. He couldn't lose her. She had showed him so much compassion and friendship and he felt whole with her. It was as if she was a missing piece he was trying to find, and she fit perfectly.
Every time Bee heard a female scream he would frantically look for the source. When he would see it was just another panicked bystander, he would catch his breath and shake his head. He had heard those screams so many times and yet, they were never from her. He didn't know whether he wanted them to be hers.
Mikaela, who was standing next to him the entire time, had seen Bee's distress, and she tried to comfort him.
"It's gonna be okay, Bee," she said halfheartedly. He looked down at her. He knew she wanted to help, but she had worries of her own. Sam had just run into a battlefield, himself, and he knew there was something growing between the two of them as well. "We'll find her."
Bee hopefully nodded once. "'I hope so (static) very much," he voiced to her. He paused. "He'll be (static) okay, too.'"
Mikaela gave him a small smile, as if she was trying to believe him.
Suddenly, large footsteps were heard from around one of the corners. All the soldiers, including Bee, raised their weapons in the direction of the noise, only to see that it was Ratchet and Ironhide. Mikaela let out a gasp.
"Where's Sam?" she shouted, panic flooding her voice.
"He kept on running," Ironhide said grimly. "We tried to keep up with him, but we were holding off Decepticons. He kept running to the building." Mikaela gasped let out a squeak, and tears started to run down her cheeks. She walked over to the tow truck and went to sit in the driver's seat. Ironhide sighed and walked over in front of the soldiers. Ratchet walked over to Bee. Seeing his missing limbs placed next to him, Ratchet cringed a little and shook his head.
"Oh Bumblebee," he sighed. "What have you gotten yourself into now?"
Bumblebee chirped defensively at him, and yet it didn't have much conviction. He wasn't up for trying to defend himself. He didn't feel the pain from his missing legs much, anyway. He was too worried about Alise to even think straight, let alone feel anything that didn't involve her.
Ratchet bent over and grabbed the legs. He started to prepare for reattaching the limbs.
"My tools will need a minute to prepare," Ratchet told him. "However, I believe I can quickly fix the last bit of your vocal processor while we are waiting."
Ratchet's right hand turned into a small tool and Bee craned his neck, knowing the procedure. Ratchet began to use the tool to fix Bee's vocal processor. There were a series of sparks and clanging of metal, and Bee cringed a little at the uncomfortable feeling. It wasn't painful, just not pleasant. After a few moments, Ratchet pulled away.
"Okay, I think that will do it," he said. The tool turned back into his hand. "Can you speak?"
For the first time in a long time, Bee tried to talk. Hesitantly, he let the words come out of his mouth.
"I... think so-" Bee started, but he had started to cough violently when he tried to say that last word. Ratchet nodded when he finished.
"It may be difficult or slightly painful to speak for a while," he said. "I do not believe you will ever be able to regain full control over your voice again. It may still give you some trouble if you try and use it too often. It may be better to continue your use of the radio frequencies."
Bee nodded at him, his eyes facing the ground. Lennox and Epps were standing next to the bot when he was given this diagnosis, and they looked at one another sadly. They felt awful about the bot's string of misfortune he was receiving today. Ratchet had started to begin the procedure to reattach his legs when Lennox's radio started to make noise. Everyone looked in his direction.
"Paxton to Lennox, over."
Lennox quickly grabbed the radio on his belt. Paxton was one of the men he had sent out to survey the area.
"This is Lennox."
"Captain, we're about 300 yards away from start point. Seems that an enemy Decepticon landed the city's convention center. The place in ruins."
Lennox and Epps turned to each other.
"Was there anything taking place there today?" Lennox asked hesitatingly.
"Yes. There was an international peace seminar being hosted there today for members of French National Assembly."
Lennox paused. He gritted his teeth and let out a hot breath. Epps shook his head gravely and the rest of the present party hung their heads.
"Dammit," Lennox growled. He then spoke into the radio.
"What's the body count?" he said sadly. There was a short pause.
"None, Captain."
Epps eyes shot up, and so did Lennox's. They looked at each other, confused. Bee and Ratchet also looked over, along with Mikaela who had come out of the truck after hearing the radio.
"What? How is that possible, Paxton?" Lennox asked into the radio.
"I'm with the manager of the center now. He says some girl came in yelling about a war coming towards the center. Said she spoke to all the delegates in excellent French and convinced them all to get out. Everyone was evacuate, the delegates, their drivers, and all the employees in the center. The manager said he stayed in the area to see if anything was in deed going to happen and that about 15 minutes after everyone left, the Decepticon fell on top of the building."
Everyone's breathing had stopped. Both Lennox and Epps's eyes grew wide. They turned towards Bee. He was completely still.
"You don't think it's her do you?" Lennox said cautiously to Epps.
Epps grunted. "What I think is that there's probably not too many people running around here speaking French," he responded. They turned again towards Bee.
His expression was slowly changing in front of them. His mournful eyes were suddenly brightening, and hope was filling his features. He smiled brightly, elated. He felt as though a thousand tons had been lifted from him.
She's alive! Bee was rejoicing to himself. She's coming back! The bot let out a joyous chirp.
Lennox and Epps smiled, and Lennox returned to the radio.
"Is the girl with you now?" he asked hopefully.
"Negative. Manager said the girl went to go get medical attention. He said she was badly injured and kept talking about finding some medic. She left along with the rest of the evacuees."
Everyone's faces dropped. After the man on the other line finished, Bee let out a high-pitched chirp, and started to try and get up from the tow truck. However, Ratchet wasn't even finished reattaching one of his legs, so his efforts were in vain.
"We need to go look for her," Epps said immediately. "The area is close enough for us to get to. She couldn't have gotten very far, especially if she was injured."
"Right," Lennox said. "You and I can make the trip. Everyone else can stay here. Paxton's one of our medics. If we find her, he could patch her up."
Epps nodded and turned around. He started to shout orders and radio channels to the remaining soldiers while Lennox turned to face Bee. He looked visibly distressed, all of the evidence of his hopeful demeanor gone. He was panicking.
What does he mean by BADLY INJURIED? Bee was screaming in his head. WHERE IS SHE?
"Bumblebee," Lennox started calmly, but Bee cut him off.
"I'm co-coming wi-with you," he said sternly, his voice cracking from its repair. Lennox shook his head quickly.
"No, you need to stay here and get fixed up," he said. "We will find her. I'm going to bring her back to you, okay? I promise."
Bee looked at him pleadingly.
"Please," Bee said desperately. Lennox nodded at him, and without looking away got the radio out once more.
"Paxton, begin to search the area. Finding the girl is a priority matter. Major Epps and I will be arriving in the area in five. If you locate the girl, initiate medical action and radio me."
"Yes, sir!" Paxson responded, and the radio line went dead.
Epps, having finished his speech to the troops, ran up beside Lennox. "They've been briefed. Let's go."
Lennox nodded, and he took one last look at Bee before they ran towards the rubble of the convention center.
Please, Bee thought after them. He hung his head low, his thoughts flooded with images of his injured Alise. He hoped to Primius they would find her, before it was too late.