Drabble 2 - Medbay
The air stank of burned out energon and metal filings. He leaned against a wall, watching wearily as medibots hurried around the makeshift sickbay, adjusting drips and checking screens, injecting fluids and welding abrasions shut. His own arm throbbed. Stray shrapnel from a bomb had torn open a gash from shoulder to elbow joint, and bright blue energon dripped sluggishly down his side. His optics wandered, settling on the mech across from him. No legs, no left arm, no hands, and a hole torn right through the left side, exposing wires and tubes and all sorts of things that shouldn't have ever seen air. Bee shifted his gaze towards the ground. He could hear the mech's fans struggling to cool him down, his ventilations sputtering as broken tubes leaked energon where it shouldn't go. He shuttered his optics.
He was lulled into a quiet stupor, the throbbing in his arm and the rasping ventilations of the mech across from him the only thing he found he could focus on. Two hours passed like this,with him leaning against the wall, eyes shut, when he was jolted from his half-sleep by a hand on his shoulder. Thinking it was a medic, he was disappointed to see that it was instead one of his superiors, Monitor or something like that. He blinked at him, before managing a small "Sir," and straightening up.
Monitor looked him over, faceplates set in a small frown, before seeming to collect himself. He was holding a datapad, and he glanced down at it, optics flicking between the bright screen and Bumblebee's tired body. Finally, he sighed, subspaced his datapad, and folded his hands, staring at Bumblebee with a somber gaze. Bumblebee felt his spark sink. He wasn't going to like this.
"Tyger Pax," Monitor began, "is a point of high interest, as you may know. We've had reports of Decepticons scouting the area, landmines going off, the works. No battles yet - thank Primus - but Decepticons are still showing more interest than Prowl's comfortable with." Monitor reached into a subspace pocket and pulled out a data slug, shoving it into Bumblebee's hands. "Read this. Memorize it. Destroy it. It contains your next mission details, who you're going to be reporting to, and who you're going to be in charge of." He flashed Bumblebee a sad smile. "Congratulations. You're a stealth team leader."
Bumblebee stared at him. The data slug was heavy in his hands. "W-what? No no, this is wrong, that . . that can't be right." His head felt cold. A team leader? He couldn't possibly be a team leader, he'd barely just started out as a scout. This had to be a mistake. "Are you sure it's meant for me?"
The smile on Monitor's face grew even sadder. "Scouts have the second highest death rate, kid. They keep getting caught behind enemy lines, and nobody thinks twice about killing a scout. You've got a good track record, and at the moment, one of the only ones healthy enough to lead this mission."
His words made Bumblebee's head even colder. His arm throbbed harder. He couldn't bring himself to care. What if he failed? What if he lead his team straight to the Decepticons? He didn't have enough experience for this, they couldn't possibly be thinking of putting him in charge. No no no, somebody, somewhere, had made a huge mistake, and he needed to rectify this as soon as possible because there was no way in the Pit he was going to accept this mission-
Monitor clapped a gentle hand on his head. It radiated warmth, the metal of his palms running hot. It felt like it was melting through his helm. "It's okay, kid. You're going to be okay. Take it slow, take it careful, and don't rush things. You'll be fine."
Bumblebee's thoughts were still racing when Monitor left. He stared down, the data slug resting innocently in the middle of his hand. There was a silvery script engraved on the side, marking it as high-importance. Prowl, Bumblebee thought. Prowl was in charge of the Tyger Pax territory. Maybe he could fix this . . .?
He had a vague awareness that the labored ventilations in the background had stopped. He glanced up at the berth plaque, where the patient's name was displayed. It blinked dully.
'AUTOBOT HUBCAP: SCOUT'