You get and update! And you get an update! and you, yes you, get an update too! This one is on the longer side, so I hope you enjoy!
Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields and Chase Sanders. Electra belongs to my sister.
Flightless
This chapter cooresponds to the episode "Operation Bumblebee Part 1"
Life at the base had pretty much gone back to normal since the whole Cybertron escapade. Decepticon activity had died down a little, meaning that the bots were able to spend much more time with their human companions.
Reese's hands were healing nicely. Despite Ratchet's doubts about his ability to repair the damage, he had actually done an impressive job. Now, a couple weeks later, a dull ache and some scarred plating was all that was left to even suggest there had been an injury.
Reese sat on the sofa beside Raf, watching a movie. Jack and Arcee had gone racing, and Miko and Bulk were doing what Miko called "Dune Bashing", whatever that meant. Probably something stupid and reckless.
While Arcee and Bulk were out spending quality time with their charges, Ratchet had picked up some kind of Cybertronian beacon, so he, Optimus, and Bumblebee had gone to investigate it. This left Raf and Reese with full run of the base.
"Hey Raf, pause the movie a sec, I'm gonna go get us some more popcorn," Reese said, picking up the now empty popcorn bowl.
"Alrighty," Raf stretched as he too got up from the sofa.
Reese started towards the kitchen, but a call from Ratchet stopped her.
"Reese, we are done. Could you send us a bridge?" He asked.
Reese set the bowl down on the coffee table and made her way to the ground bridge controls. "Sure thing, Ratch."
She typed in their coordinates and fired up the bridge, watching expectantly as they came through. She was curious to see what they had found.
Just as Optimus, Ratchet, and Bee came through the bridge, Arcee and Bulkhead pulled into the base. Talk about impeccable timing. Reese wondered if maybe Optimus had told them they were on their way back.
"So? What was that beacon about?" Reese asked curiously.
"Apparently, it was a locator beacon for a Cybertronian relic. It's a relic of decepticon make, an awful device known as the "Spark Extractor." Ratchet explained, setting said relic down atop a pile of supply crates.
"that sounds… painful. I'm assuming the name is self-explanatory?"
"Unfortunately, yes. It's a diabolical weapon that was created to extract the sparks from large groups of Cybertronians at one time. We are lucky that it didn't fall into Decepticon servos." Ratchet shuddered a little as he explained the use of the relic.
"Raf, Reese, you should have seen me! I chased Megatron right into his ground bridge and grabbed the extractor right out of his servos! Then, I made a loopdey-loop on the wall of the bridge and sped out, escaping with the prize!" Bee whirred excitedly, clearly very proud of himself.
"A loopdey-loop, huh?" Reese chuckled. "Careful there, Hot Shot, you might dislocate something patting yourself on the back!" She teased light-heartedly. Bee was absolutely giddy, and Reese could tell he was enjoying the praise of saving the extractor from decepticon hands.
The other bots continued to carry on with Bumblebee, but Ratchet and Optimus excused themselves from the conversation. Instead, they further investigated the relic, namely, why they had been able to track it in the first place.
Ratchet placed the spark extractor on a scanner, allowing it to scan the relic. "Aha, here is the source of the ancient frequency we detected," he mused, pointing at a glowing spot on the scan.
"That's an Iacon homing beacon," Optimus affirmed, taking a closer look at the scan's results.
"What's an autobot locator doing on that?" Arcee wondered aloud. Apparently, the others had stopped talking and crowded around to listen.
Reese had to agree with Arcee. Why would a decepticon device of mass destruction have an autobot locator beacon on it? It didn't make sense.
"The Class-A decepticon weapons, confiscated during the war, were sealed within the vaults below Iacon."
"But Optimus, wasn't that where you once worked as an archivist?"
"Bulkhead, Iacon was both a cultural center and a stronghold, which Megatron looted when the autobot troops were at their weakest. It stands to reason that in anticipation of an attack by decepticon forces, these weapons were sent off world in order to keep them out of decepticon servos," Optimus explained.
"Clearly, the beacon was added as a safety measure so that autobots could track and retrieve the weapons at a later time," Ratchet added.
"Well, thanks to our hot shot stunt driver here, this one is goin' in our vault," Bulkhead beamed, proudly giving Bee a pat on the back. Bee merely rubbed the back of his helm, enjoying the praise.
"I hate to rain on our parade but, do you think this was the only information you supplied to Megatron while you were… not yourself?" Arcee's voice held a hint of concern.
"Arcee, you are right to ask, but I'm afraid that I… do not remember," Optimus shook his helm sadly. "Based on the fact that he knew the location of this relic, it would stand to reason that I decoded some of Iacon's encrypted coordinates, but I do not know how many."
"Optimus, Megatron clearly took advantage of your amnesia, but for all we know, the spark extractor was the extent of the knowledge you provided to him. Have you stopped to consider that he might have suggested otherwise merely to plague your thoughts?" Ratchet asked, trying to comfort his friend.
"Ratchet's right. Megatron likes to play mind games," Reese piped up. She wasn't exactly sure what all the team was talking about, but she did know that Megatron would do anything to plant seeds of doubt in the Autobot leader's head. "By the way, what exactly are these encrypted coordinates you're talking about? I think I'm a little out of the loop here."
"I thought I gave you a datapad about the Iacon relics!" Ratchet scoffed.
"Sorry, I haven't read it yet. I got a little… distracted," Reese rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"Once the relics were jettisoned off world, the coordinates of where they landed were recorded at Iacon. Those recordings were then encrypted so that only someone with knowledge of the Iacon encryption code could decipher them. Someone like an archivist… Like Orion Pax," Optimus vented, obviously still blaming himself.
"I see… How did Megatron get his hands on the encrypted codes?" Reese tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"He probably came across them when he raided Iacon. He had no way of deciphering them, though, so they were likely pushed aside for more pressing matters," Ratchet speculated.
"That is, until I showed up and decoded it for them," Optimus added unnecessarily. He had been brooding since his return, and it was beginning to wear on the others' morale.
"Optimus, that's enough. There is no use blaming yourself. Please, for the sake of the team, you need to accept what happened and then move on. Its in the past, and you aren't at fault." Reese sighed. She hoped she hadn't sounded too exasperated with the leader. He was clearly in a fragile state of mind, but it wasn't going to do the team any good if he kept moping around.
"Perhaps you are right," Optimus looked away defeatedly, not sounding very convinced, but at least it was a step in the right direction. Mending would take time, but the team would be there to support Optimus through every step of the journey.
Evening came and the kids had all gone home for the night, leaving Reese to occupy herself around the base. She walked into the main room just as Bulkhead and Bumblebee were preparing to head out on their evening patrol.
"Hey guys, can I come with?"
"Sure. I mean, it's only patrol. Nothing exciting ever happens, but sure, you can come. It might make it a little less boring," Bee whirred chipperly.
"Hey! Are you saying I'm a boring patrol partner?" Bulkhead feigned offense.
"So what if I am?" Bee made a sound that mimicked a chuckle, teasing the green bot.
"How rude," Bulkhead scoffed, but he still smiled, a playful glint in his optic.
"Well, lets get this show on the road," Bee transformed, opening the passenger door for Reese to climb in. "This is gonna be great!"
Reese hopped in, buckling up and settling into the seat. Bee closed the door behind her and activated his holoform as he revved up his engine. "Bulk and I usually split up to cover more ground. This way I can at least have someone to keep me company." Bee's holoform flashed Reese a beaming smile. "Besides, we haven't had a chance to hang out much since you got back from Cybertron. So, this is perfect."
"You're awfully happy about this," Reese chuckled, a little surprised by Bee's excitement about a task as mundane as patrol. Bee shrugged his shoulders as he pulled out of the base.
"What can I say? I normally scout alone, which gets pretty boring, so having someone along is going to make it a lot more fun. Besides, I figured we might do a little racing while we were out," He turned to look at Reese, giving her a mischievous grin.
"Aaaah, so that's what this is about. You're just excited to show off how fast you can go," Reese laughed outright. 'Racing', as she, Raf, and Bee called it, was pretty much just Bee driving as fast as he could, trying to break his last speed record. They never actually raced anybody, but they didn't know what else to call it, so the name just kind of stuck.
"What can I say? I was made for speed."
"Alright, then show me what ya got!" Reese laughed again as she made sure her seatbelt was good and secure.
"you got it!" With that, Bee floored it, easily hitting well over 100 mph in just a few seconds. Reese felt herself being pressed against her seat by the G-forces, grinning wildly from the adrenaline rush it gave.
"WHOOOOOOO! I think my stomach got left behind back at the base, you went so fast!" Reese breathed out a laugh, holding her stomach a little as Bee slowed back to the speed limit. She knew he could go fast, but he had never gone that fast with her in the car before.
"That was fun. Let's do it agai-" Bee was interrupted by an Iacon beacon coming up on his scanner. "Well lookie here. It's another Iacon beacon! Hey Bulk, you picking up the same reading I am?"
"Yep, I have already changed course to go investigate. I will meet you at the source of the signal," Bulk replied over the comm link.
Bee veered off the main road, making his way to the rendezvous coordinates. He got there first.
"What do you think it will be this time?" Reese asked curiously.
"No clue, but I'm gonna go take a closer look. You stay here, behind these rocks. I doubt the decepticons would have had a chance to get here before us, but I'd rather play it safe." Bee transformed, placing Reese down behind some large boulders.
"Got it," Reese gave Bee a thumbs up and crouched low behind the rocks. She shimmied over to the edge, peeking around it as Bumblebee cautiously walked forward.
There, in the center of a clearing, was a pile of rocks with a weird device jutting out of it. A faint beeping sound came from the device.
Bee inched closer to the device, blasters summoned. He had just knelt down to take a closer look, when a bright flash of electricity shot out of the darkness, hitting him in the flank. He fell over, his frame shuddering a few times as his optics flickered out.
"BEE!" Reese screamed, taking a step forward, exposing herself from her hiding place, an action she immediately regretted. She watched in horror as several MECH soldiers, followed by Silas, came out from behind some other boulders, opposite of Bee. Crap.
"Well well, I hadn't expected to see you here, Reese," Silas sneered, taking a step closer to Reese. She instinctively took a step back, but she couldn't just take off running and leave Bumblebee in MECH's hands.
"What did you do to him?" She sputtered, trying and failing to sound unafraid.
"You should be more concerned about what we have yet to do," Silas scoffed.
Reese sweat-dropped. "Don't you dare hurt him!" She yelled, falling into a battle stance, though she was painfully aware that she didn't exactly have a weapon to fight back with.
"I don't think you could stop us even if you tried," Silas laughed, continuing to close the distance between them. He made a quick hand motion, and instantly, two MECH soldiers were by her side, gripping each of her arms tightly.
"Let go of me!" Reese struggled, though she was only able to pry her arm loose from one of the soldiers. With her now free hand, she punched the other in the gut, causing him to double over.
The first soldier made a dive at Reese, wrapping his arms tightly around her shoulders, trying to hold her still, but she reached up, grabbing his fingers and twisting them backwards. She grimaced as she heard the bones break and the soldier elicit a sharp scream. He immediately let go, cradling his broken fingers tenderly.
That gave Reese the opening she needed to take off, bolting in the opposite direction of Silas and his soldiers. She needed to get away from them, then meet up with Bulkhead so they could save Bee. She knew there was no use trying to play the hero on her own. She was dangerously outnumbered, and out skilled.
Unfortunately, she didn't make it very far. She was cut off by several other soldiers, all of them pointing guns at her. Then, she felt two sharp prongs press against her back. She didn't even have to turn her head to know that Silas was right behind her, just waiting for her to make the wrong move.
"I see you have been training. You put up a lot more of a fight this time. That's good. Tactical training is important in any soldier," Silas sneered in Reese's ear. "You will make a fine soldier one day. You will be unstoppable, of course, you won't even be able to stop yourself, seeing as you will be under my control. Oh, by the way, I wouldn't try to run. If you do, well, let's just say, 50,000 volts of electricity coursing through your body is not a nice feeling."
"We have reinforcements on the way. They will be here any minute. You might as well give it up," Reese spat, trying to sound as intimidating as possible.
"Oh, we figured others would be coming, but don't worry, my men have been busy this whole time, dissecting your alien friend."
Reese's eyes widened in horror at Silas' words. She whipped around, quickly trying to locate Bumblebee, but a painful shock in her side sent her to her knees, eliciting a sharp cry.
She fell face down in the dirt, unable to move. Her whole body shuddered as the electricity from Silas' taser continued to course through her body. It felt like her lungs had stopped working, like everything had stopped working. She couldn't breathe, or move, or talk, only tremble as her muscles spasmed from the electricity.
"I told you not to move," Silas drawled nonchalantly, staring down at Reese with a sadistic grin. He was getting way too much pleasure out of this. "I guess you still have a lot to learn when it comes to following orders."
Reese's vision tunneled as she struggled to remain conscious. Her lungs were burning from lack of oxygen. Silas pushed her with his foot so that she was staring up, unfortunately, right at his smug face.
She watched as a soldier came up beside him and whispered something in his ear. A frown spread across his face, and he turned to look in the direction his soldier was pointing. He grunted and pinched the bridge of his nose, then he planted his foot right on Reese's chest, leaning in inches from her face. "Well, looks like your backup arrived earlier than expected. Guess you get a free pass, this time, but know, next time, you will be ours." He spat in her face and stood up, walking out of Reese's view. That was the last thing she saw or heard before everything fully flickered out.
She couldn't have been out for very long because when she opened her eyes again, she found Bumblebee and Bulkhead staring down at her worriedly. They were both kneeling beside her, looking very distraught.
She bolted up right, immediately regretting her decision, as it sent her into a coughing fit. Her muscles were finally responding to her again, but they ached and burned.
"Whoa there, kid. Take it easy," Bulkhead chided, activating his holoform and kneeling beside her, patting her softly on the back. His holoform was a burly black man with a crewcut. He was extremely well built, like a body builder, or a navy SEAL. He wore a green camo jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Under his jacket was a black muscle shirt, tucked into a pair of army green pants. His pants tucked neatly into his lace up combat boots. He looked like the epitome of a military soldier. "That's it, just breathe."
"What… What happened?"
"I was gonna ask you the same thing. Bee doesn't remember what happened either."
"Is he alright? Silas said they were dissecting him! I tried to get back to him, but I guess Silas tased me when I tried to run," Reese held her head in her hands, trembling a little.
"That son of a- …Silas always plays dirty," Bulkhead slammed his fist into the ground, stirring up dust.
"Bumblebee… Are you, okay?" Reese looked up at Bumblebee worriedly.
"I don't know. I feel okay, I think, but I can't seem to transform." Bee whirred shakily.
"You can't transform?" Reese jumped up, stumbling a little in the process. Bulkhead held her arm, steadying her.
"Hey now, nobody panic just yet. It might just be that those MECH guys dislocated a wire or shorted something out. I'm sure whatever is wrong, Ratchet can fix it," Bulkhead assured.
"I hope you're right," Bee whirred dubiously.
Back at base, Bumblebee explained the situation to Ratchet.
"Alright, Bee, try not to panic. I will just run some scans and see if I can't figure out what's wrong," Ratchet tried to calm the frantic scout. He led Bee over to the medical berth, instructing him to lay down.
"Do you think you can fix it?"
"I don't even know what's wrong yet! You're gonna have to be patient," Ratchet chided sternly. Reese knew that the medic was worried. He always got snappy when he was worried.
Ratchet ran his scanner over Bumblebee's abdominal plating a few times, studying the scanner's display carefully. After a few moments, he breathed out a curse.
"By the Allspark. I was worried that MECH might have damaged your T-Cog, but from what my scanners are saying, your T-Cog is actually missing!"
"MISSING!?" Bee's voice modulator screeched with panic. He gripped his helm in terror.
"What's a T-Cog?" Reese asked curiously, grasping from Bee's reaction that it was something extremely important.
"A T-cog is the biomechanism that allows us to scan for a vehicle form and transform."
"I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO DRIVE AGAIN!" Bee wailed, coolant dripping from his optics.
"Don't say that, Bee! We'll get your T-Cog back! Don't worry!" Reese rushed over to Bee's side, placing a comforting hand on his knee.
"How? MECH has it and is doing Primus knows what with it. What's to say that there will even be a T-cog to find?" Bee whirred hopelessly.
"Bee… I'm so sorry… This is my fault. I… I should have found a way to stop MECH. I…" Reese felt tears welling up in her own eyes, her heart breaking for her friend.
"No, Reese, you are not to blame. Nobody is to blame, except for MECH. MECH is ruthless and powerful. I doubt there is anything anyone could have done in that moment." Bulkhead vented. "When I see that Glitchhelm, Silas, again, I'll kill him."
"Bulkhead, watch your language around the kids!" Ratchet snapped.
"Reese, are you okay? Did Silas hurt you?" Optimus ignored Bulkhead's profanity and turned to Reese, eyeing her carefully.
"I'm fine, just a little sore and shaken up. Bumblebee is my main worry," Reese waved away Optimus' concern. She didn't want them worrying about her. Not when Bumblebee was in such bad shape. Sure, MECH scared the crap out of her, but scaring and tasing her is nowhere near as bad as having an organ stolen!
Optimus didn't seem fully convinced by Reese's statement, but vented and chose not to pressure her any further. "This is all very troubling news, but for now, we must try not to panic. Bumblebee, we will get your T-Cog back, but for now, you must remain at the base. It is too dangerous for you to go out without your ability to transform."
"I have already lost my voice box… Now I have lost my T-Cog. I'm useless… If I can't drive, then what's the point in living anymore?" Bumblebee whirred dejectedly, his doorwings drooping.
"Bumblebee, you mustn't talk like that."
"But Optimus, you don't understand! You don't know what its like to lose the very thing that makes you what you are!" Bumblebee instantly regretted his words as pain flashed behind Optimus' optics.
"You are mistaken, my friend; I do know what it is like to lose a vital part of oneself. All of you worked so hard to help me regain what I lost, and we are going to do the same thing for you," Optimus placed his servo on the Scout's shoulder plating.
"I'm sorry, Optimus… I… I think I need some space," Bumblebee stood up quickly, making a beeline (no pun intended) for the door to his quarters.
Once Bee's door had slammed shut behind him, Miko piped up, "Why can't you just build Bumblebee a new cog thingy?"
"Miko, a T-cog is a biomechanism not a scrapyard find! If it was that simple, I would have rebuilt Bumblebee's voice box a long time ago." Ratchet retorted
"Then we will just hurry up and find MECH's base so we can get his back. I don't care what it takes!" Reese crossed her arms angrily over her chest. She would even stand up to Silas if she had to, even though the thought sent chills down her spine. She couldn't just stand around and do nothing.
The hours ticked by painstakingly slowly. The whole team, save Ratchet and Bumblebee, were out scouting around for MECH's base. Since MECH didn't have groundbridge technology, their new base would have to be relatively close by. Sure, Silas had arrived in a chopper, but there had been trucks too. Wherever their base was, it was within driving distance.
The longer the others were gone, the more antsy Bumblebee became. He was fidgeting around the base, unable to stay focused on anything for any substantial amount of time. Finally, he vented sadly and sat down on a stack of Cybertronian storage crates, holding his helm defeatedly in his servos. "Ratchet? Have you heard anything?"
"Not since you asked me five minutes ago!" Ratchet snapped. Bumblebee had been questioning him incessantly since the team had left. It was like being on a road trip with an annoying kid in the backseat going, "Are we there yet?" over and over again. "I will let you know if I find anything. In the meantime, go find something to entertain yourself. I can't work with you standing over my shoulder, breathing down my neck."
Bumblebee's doorwings drooped sadly.
"Hey Bee, why don't you come play some video games with us. Maybe it will get your mind off of things for a bit." Raf called over. He was sitting on the sofa, playing a game with Miko. Reese was lounging in a beanbag on the floor, watching them play.
"That sounds great!" Bee whirred happily, grabbing the Cybertronian sized game controller that Ratchet had built for him. He came up behind Raf, but his doorwings drooped again when he saw what they were playing. It was a racing game. "Thanks for the offer… But I'm suddenly not feeling it anymore…"
"Uh, that's okay, we can just watch some TV instead," Miko offered, grabbing the remote and flipping the TV back to cable. A commercial appeared on the screen. It was for a sleek sports car, the same model as Bumblebee's vehicle mode. "The Urbana 500. It won't just rock your world. it will transform it."
Bumblebee looked like he was about to blow a fuse. "That's it! I can't take it anymore! Everywhere I turn there is stuff reminding me that I've lost my wheels!" Bee whined angrily, clutching his helm.
"C'mon Bee, don't let it get to you! You are just as awesome right now without wheels. Besides, speed isn't everything," Raf tried to encourage his guardian. Unfortunately, at that exact second, Jack and Arcee came speeding into the base, leaving tire treads on the floor as they skidded to a stop. Jack jumped off excitedly.
"Arcee, you were great! You hit 120 easy!"
That was all it took to shatter any spark of hope left in Bumblebee.
"DO YOU THINK I CAN'T HEAR YOU? Yes, rub it in why don't you. At least you can still go racing!" Bumblebee's voice modulator screeched with anger, causing the kids to wince a little and cover their ears.
Bumblebee stalked towards the exit, irate.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?" Ratchet stepped in front of Bumblebee, blocking his path.
"For a WALK, since I obviously can't drive," Bee spat.
"You know you can't go out right now, not without your vehicle mode. We are robots in disguise. What if somebody sees you? What if they find out about us? You will just have to wait until-"
"Until what? Until you can fix me? Because it doesn't look like that's happening any time soon. At this rate, I'm going to be stuck inside these walls for the rest of my life!" Bumblebee turned angrily and stalked back to his quarters, slamming the door shut behind him.
Reese got up from the beanbag where she had been sitting and walked over to Bumblebee's door. She raised her hand to knock but changed her mind. She knew that Bumblebee was too upset to deal with company at the moment. Instead, she walked over to where Ratchet was standing. He seemed just as frustrated as Bumblebee.
"He didn't mean that. You know that, right?" She placed a hand against Ratchet's ped.
"Yea… I know… I just, well, I just kind of feel like a failure. I wasn't able to rebuild a new voice box for Bumblebee, and now I can't fix this. Maybe, if I was better, I could figure out how to build an artificial T-Cog of some sort, but I'm just not good enough." Ratchet vented, wallowing in his own pity. He sat down on the medical berth, resting his chin in his servos.
"Don't lie to yourself. You're a great medic! Heck, you repaired my hands so that they are almost like new. You don't give yourself enough credit!" Reese insisted.
Ratchet vented. "Just… give me some space, okay?"
"Oh… Okay," Reese mumbled, taking a step back. Ratchet obviously wanted to feel pitiful, and nothing Reese could do would change that. She sighed and walked away, feeling a lot like a failure herself. They had just gotten Optimus back, but now Bumblebee had lost his wheels, and Ratchet had lost his confidence, and Reese could do nothing to help either of them.
The next day, Bumblebee was as gloomy as ever. He hadn't left his quarters since he had stalked off the day before. He hadn't even come out to eat. Reese was beginning to worry about him. He was probably running low on energon reserves.
She walked over to where the energon rations were kept, finding the smallest cube there, which was still much bigger than she was. She pushed against it, using her full weight to push the cube down the hall to Bumblebee's quarters. She was out of breath by the time she reached his door, but she didn't care. He needed to consume something.
She took a moment to catch her breath, then knocked on the door, straining her ear for any kind of confirmation that she could come in. None came.
She knocked again, but still didn't get a response. After her third knock, she opened the door a crack, peeking inside. What she saw made her heart break.
Bumblebee was sitting on his berth, in the dark, his helm resting in his servos. Below him was a puddle of fresh coolant. He had been crying.
Reese scurried over to him, climbing up onto the berth beside him. she leaned into him, pressing her forehead against his arm. Even that didn't get a response from him. It was like he had gone catatonic.
"Bumblebee?"
No response.
"Bumblebee… I know you probably don't feel like talking. I understand. But you still need to eat. I assume you're probably running low on energon, so I brought you some. You need to take care of yourself. Please. For me."
Again, no response.
"Well, um… I'm going with Ratchet to pick up Raf from school. Bulkhead will be here at the base if you need anything. I will check on you when I get back…" Reese sighed softly, sliding off the berth. She gave one last glance back at Bumblebee before leaving the room. The only thing that had changed was that the puddle of coolant beneath him had grown a little larger.
Reese sat in the driver's seat of Ratchet's vehicle mode. She rested her forehead on her hands, which were rested on the steering wheel. "I'm getting worried about Bumblebee. He hasn't eaten anything. He won't even respond when I talk to him. I feel so helpless."
"You and me both," Ratchet vented in reply.
"I don't want to be pessimistic, but I'm worried that we won't get his T-cog back. What will we do if we can't?"
"We will cross that bridge when we get there, I suppose. In the meantime, let's at least pretend to look at least somewhat cheerful, for Rafael's sake," Ratchet said as he pulled up to the curb of the school. He briefly sounded his sirens to get Raf's attention.
Reese looked out the window to see that Raf was a little preoccupied. He was in the middle of being lifted by his shirt by some kid with carrot orange hair.
"Oh heck to the no! Nobody lays a finger on Rafael! Not without feeling my wrath! Keep the engine idling, Ratchet. I'm about to give this kid a piece of my mind." Reese fumed, jumping out of the cab of the ambulance before Ratchet could stop her.
"Vince, please. I can't do that. We will both get in trouble!" Reese heard Raf squeak, sounding a little panicked.
"Alright, pipsqueak, have it your way," Vince snarled, raising his fist threateningly.
"Oh no you don't," Reese stepped in between the two boys, grabbing Vince's fist before it could connect with Raf's nose.
"What the!" Vince sputtered, dropping Raf in surprise. "Who the heck are you?" His eyes widened as he got a closer look at Reese. Her cybernetic implants glinted in the sunlight.
"Vince, was it?" Reese asked icily, pushing Vince so that his back was up against the wall of the school. She was shorter than him, but that didn't make her any less intimidating. She stared him in the eye, poking him hard in the chest with one of her metal fingers.
"Who's asking?" Vince asked, trying to sound intimidating. He wasn't about to let himself look scared in front of a girl.
"Let's just say that I'm a friend of Raf, and I don't take too kindly to seeing you beat up on him. So help me, if I ever see you lay a finger on him again, you will end up in the back of an ambulance, just like that one," Reese pointed to Ratchet's vehicle form. "Do you understand me?"
Vince's eyes widened and he paled, nodding his head vigorously, no longer bothering to hide his fear.
At this, Reese's whole demeanor made a 180. She pulled away from Vince, smiling sweetly, though the smile plastered on her face didn't reach her eyes. "Good, I'm glad we could come to an understanding." She then turned to Rafael and ushered him towards Ratchet. "Come on Raf, let's get you home."
She climbed back into the driver's seat of Ratchet's vehicle mode, taking one last glance at Vince through the rearview mirror. He was pale as a ghost, still standing awkwardly against the wall. Reese gave a satisfied smirk.
"Thanks for the save, Reese," Raf sighed, adjusting his glasses. He looked quite relieved.
"Anytime! Nobody lays a finger on my friends without having to deal with me," Reese pointed a thumb at herself proudly.
"Reese, as awful as bullies are, beating them up makes you just as bad as them," Ratchet reprimanded.
Reese ducked a little sheepishly. "I didn't beat him up. I only threatened to. I just want to make sure nobody hurts my friends," She said defensively.
"Threatening to beat someone up isn't any better," Ratchet vented exasperatedly.
"Fine, Whatever, I won't beat up the kid, or threaten to anymore. But he better not ever mess with Raf again," Reese huffed, rolling her eyes as she folded her arms over her chest, glaring out the window.
"I don't think you need to worry about that," Raf chuckled softly. "I'm pretty sure you scared him so bad that he won't dare try and bully me ever again."
"See Ratchet?" Reese defended herself, like what Raf had just said excused her behavior.
"I never said your tactics weren't effective, just that they were not any better than the bully's."
"Whatever," Reese pouted a little. Ratchet acted like such a dad sometimes.
After that, everyone fell into an awkward silence for a few minutes. Raf sat with his hands in his lap, staring listlessly at the road ahead. Both Reese and Ratchet knew what he was thinking about, but they didn't know how to help.
Finally, Raf spoke, almost in a whisper. "So… How's Bee?"
"He is still pretty frustrated and upset, but he will be okay. As soon as we find his T-Cog, he will be back to his usual chipper self. Bulkhead is currently looking after him while we came to pick you up." Reese said encouragingly, giving Raf a tight smile and patting him on the shoulder. She thought about warning Raf about Bumblebee's depressive behavior, but she opted not to, seeing as Raf was already worried enough. "Maybe you can play a non-vehicular game with him when you get back. I bet that would cheer him up!"
"Maybe…" Raf didn't seem very enthusiastic. He sat quietly for a few minutes before finally speaking up again. "Ratchet, what exactly happened to Bumblebee's voice box? I know the question is a bit off topic, but Bumblebee refuses to talk about it, and I was just curious."
"That was a traumatic experience for Bumblebee. I can't blame him for not wanting to talk about it," Ratchet vented.
"I understand, but I want to know what happened so I can better understand him."
"Very well… Back during the war, Bumblebee was scouting out enemy territory. He was captured by the decepticons during the battle for Tyger Pax and interrogated by none other than Megatron himself. Bumblebee, being the brave scout that he was, refused to divulge any information about the Autobot's whereabouts. As a result of his uncooperative behavior, Megatron ripped out his voice box and left him for scrap.
After the fight, field medics scoured the wreckage and debris for survivors. One field medic stumbled across Bumblebee and took him to a triage facility, where he was able to stabilize Bee's condition. Unfortunately, Bumblebee's voice box was unsalvageable."
Rafael, who had been silently taking in the sad tale, sighed, but a sad smile tugged at his lips. "I guess we owe Bumblebee's life to that medic. Without him, Bee would be dead, and I wouldn't have met one of my best friends in the whole universe."
"I suppose you could look at it that way, though, I firmly believe that that medic could have done better," Ratchet vented, frustration evident in his voice.
Reese sat and listened in silence. She knew that Ratchet was referring to himself, and she hated to see him wallowing in his own pity, but she also knew that he didn't want Rafael to know that he had been the medic who had failed to save Bee's voice box, so she remained silent. Her quiet thoughts were interrupted, however, by a transmission coming over the comm link.
"Ratchet we have a problem! We need you back at base right now!" It was Bulkhead, and he sounded frantic.
"Send me a groundbridge immediately!" Ratchet ordered, going into medic mode.
"That could be difficult. I'm not exactly at the base." Bulkhead sounded strained, and perhaps, a little shameful.
"Then have Bumblebee send me a bridge!"
"That could also be a problem, considering that he isn't at base either," Bulkhead said very hesitantly.
"What do you mean he's not at base?! Bulkhead, you had one job!" Ratchet sputtered. "Of all the moronic things… Give me a few minutes, I will hurry back to base as quickly as possible, but believe me, when I get there, you will have a lot of explaining to do!" Ratchet terminated the comm link and put pedal to the metal.
"Do you think we should contact Optimus and Arcee? If the problem is serious, we might need their help." Reese suggested.
"That is probably wise." Ratchet huffed, opening a comm link to Arcee and Optimus. "Optimus, Arcee, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear," Arcee confirmed.
"What is the matter, Ratchet?" Optimus queried.
"I just got a call from Bulkhead. Something is wrong, and neither he nor Bumblebee are at base to bridge me back. I would recommend heading back as quickly as possible. We might need your help."
"Understood, over and out," Optimus agreed and cut the link.
Reese couldn't help but fear the worst. Just the fact that Bumblebee wasn't at the base spelled disaster. How could Bulkhead have let him leave? If she lost Bumblebee, she didn't know what she would do. She had already lost her parents, and almost lost Optimus. All she could do was hope and pray that he was okay.
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN! Bumblebee is like a rebellious teenager, sometimes.
Well, I hope you liked the chapter! I had fun writing it, though, not gonna lie, it did make me cry a couple times. I can't wait to get started on Operation Bumblebee Part 2. Writing scenes with Reese and MECH is always fun, if not a little traumatic XP
Please be sure to review and let me know what you think! I love getting reviews from you guys, and they really motivate me to keep writing. I will see you next time, and as always, have a lovely and blessed day! - Lucy