Mixed-Up

Chapter 4: Prison Words

Optimus was quiet as he and the others were herded back onto the elevator. Thoughts swam through his processor, weighing it down and forcing him to consider things that he would have preferred not to. What if Bumblebee really had turned evil like Sentinel said? Of course he knew better than to believe Sentinel but the facts didn't lie. Bumblebee was in league with the Decepticons and while Sentinel seemed like the bad guy Optimus found it difficult to believe that a group of bots who had tried to rule the world on several different occasions would be interested in stopping Sentinel from doing the same thing. On the other servo there was that little matter of having been gone for twelve millions years.

Being shoved out of the elevator again brought him back to reality so he blinked and realized that they were being led down yet another hallway with a door at the end of it. On the other side of that was their third hallway of the day but this one didn't have a door but several cells, the energon bars glowing brightly. Starscream and Skywarp looked up from their shared cell then went back to patching each other up. Blitzwing didn't bother to look up neither did his neighbor, Black Arachnia. Bumblebee did look at them and was the only bot to acknowledge their presence. "I wondered when you guys would get here," he said then returned to trying to stem the cut on his chassis which was still flowing freely.

"In you go," the guard said, opening Bumblebee's cell and waited until the four Autobots entered then reactivated the bars. After checking the rest of the cells he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Once the guard was gone Ratchet turned to Bumblebee and said, "All right let's have a look at you."

"It's okay," Bumblebee said quickly. "I can fix it."

Ratchet leveled his dirtiest look at the now multi-colored minibot and turned his right servo into some medical tool while his left grabbed Bumblebee's shoulder strut in an effort to keep him still. Bumblebee opened his mouth to protest but another look from Ratchet quickly closed it again. Ratchet frowned as he gently prodded the cut. "I don't understand why you're losing so much energon. This cut's not that deep but at this rate you'll bleed to death in a day or two."

"That's no problem," Black Arachnia said. "We're getting executed in a day or two anyway."

"Tomorrow," Starscream corrected.

"If you knew that you were going to be executed why did you surrender?" Prowl asked.

"So we could get some rest," Bumblebee explained. "Beside I like to play with Sentinel's processor like that. If he thinks that he defeated us then he gets cocky and rather sloppy which means that we'll have a better opportunity to escape."

"Just how many times have you done this?" Optimus asked suspiciously.

"A few," Bumblebee said with a grin.

"Sir," Cliffjumper said hesitantly.

"What is it?" Sentinel asked.

"Are you sure that it's wise not to post extra guards to watch the brig?" seeing the look on his superior's faceplate Cliffjumper hastened to explain. "It's just that…well, sir, Bumblebee has escaped every time that we capture him, usually damaging the brig in the process."

"He won't escape this time," Sentinel said confidently.

"Forgive me for questioning you, sir, but how can you be so sure?" the red minibot persisted.

Sentinel was quiet as he rose from his desk and walked over to the window. He gazed out of it for a minute then said, "Because he's waited twelve million years for them to come back. The only reason he keeps fighting me is because he was waiting…for them. They're back now and he won't risk their lives. He won't do anything that brings harm to them."

"But because they're back doesn't that mean he's more likely to break out?" Cliffjumper argued. "He's been saying that when they come back they would take you down."

Sentinel allowed himself to smile ever so slightly. "He's an insane minibot and they are die-hard Autobots. I know Optimus; there's no way that he'll ever consent to have anything to do with the Decepticons let alone fight side-by-side with them."

Cliffjumper nodded and exited the room, leaving Sentinel staring out the window.

"How did Sentinel know where to find you guys anyway?" Bulkhead asked; his voice full of curiosity.

"The plant has alvays been our base," Blitzwing answered. "After he figured that out ve vere still using it, he alvays checks it first."

"Why do you still use it then?" Prowl inquired from his cross-legged position on the floor.

"Why not?" Bumblebee said. "It's one of the few places that's big enough to hold all of us with room to spare, besides it held to many memories," he whispered.

They all fell silent, the only sounds coming from Skywarp who was still patching up Starscream and Ratchet who was doing the same to Bumblebee. "I just don't understand," the medic said, scowling at the black chassis in front of him. "I know I already said it, but I still don't know why you're losing this much energon."

"One of his major energon lines got nicked not that long ago," Skywarp offered as he paused mid-repair. "I patched it up but more than likely it sprang another leak."

"Thanks," Bumblebee said sarcastically. "I really appreciate it."

"Oh you're welcome," Skywarp replied cheerfully then returned to what he had been doing.

"Energon lines?" Ratchet raised an optic ridge at Bumblebee who shifted uncomfortably. "Need to have a look at that too." Bumblebee just sighed and scowled at Skywarp who remained oblivious to its searing power. "Lie back," Ratchet ordered and smiled in satisfaction when Bumblebee obliged him by lying flat on his back on the berth.

While Ratchet drooled over Bumblebee's energon lines, Prowl meditated and Bulkhead caught a quick stasis nap Optimus decided to amuse himself by watching their fellow captives and see just what else had changed in the…twelve million years that they had been gone. Well for starters there were the violet optics they all sported along with the black paint on their chassis' that effectively covered up their former faction symbols. Their frames were liberally decorated with scars, both old and new. The majority of their limbs had been replaced, some of the replacements looked rather familiar to Optimus; in fact Starscream's left arm looked just like Megatron's…

The door opened and a guard entered. He wasn't one of the guards who had escorted them all over the building but held himself straighter, walked with a slightly haughty air, suggesting that he was a higher-up, possibly even the head guard himself. He stopped directly in front of Skywarp and Starscream's cell. "How are you doing today? I trust the cell is to your liking," he smirked. Starscream said nothing but his right optic began to twitch. "Still have a clone left I see. Well I wouldn't get too attached seeing as what happened to the other three." Both of Starscream's optics were now twitching and showing flecks of red. "Although I really liked that femme clone. What was her name again? Ah yes, Slipstream, I believe it was. It was extremely fun to hear her scream."

"Enough!" Starscream yelled, leaping to his pedes. "You will pay for what you did to them, Barricade. I swear you will pay."

"Good luck with that," Barricade laughed as he turned and walked out of the room.

Once Starscream had stopped growling underneath his breath Bumblebee announced, "We're going to escape tomorrow."

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