I was shocked when he told me I would be taking over as leader of the Rescue Bots.
"Not going to happen, bro. I'm not doing it. I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told Prime and Bee. I don't wanna switch. I like being a warrior."
"I'm tired of being a Rescue Bot."
"I'm done having this conversation with you, Heatwave. I'm not switching with you." Then I walked away. Bee saw me walking towards the command center. He didn't like the look on my face. I also blocked my brother out of my side of the bond.
"Are you ok, Blue? That talk looked nasty."
"I don't care to talk about it. Can we finish our walk, please?"
"Of course. There's something important I wanna ask you when we get further into the woods. Don't need prying audios hearing."
"I understand that. I've already blocked Heatwave from my side of the bond. I'm already frustrated as it is cause he interrupted our talk."
"And Grim interrupted our walk."
"It felt like Boulder and Bulkhead were sitting on me. He's no lightweight, that's for sure."
"I was surprised you could bench press him off of you."
"Did I forget to mention that Boulder and I like to lob the ol' scrap metal ball around?"
"Do you remember when Bulkhead did that to the Wheeljack imposter?"
"I was just coming back from patrol when he lobbed him through the ground bridge. Man, that was a sight."
"I miss the old team. Even Smokescreen."
"I heard he's on the racing circuit on Velocitron. After the war ended, he left. Especially, since you killed Megatron. Damn impressive. Not even Prime had the ball bearings to kill him. Don't tell him I said that. It'll give him a reason to switch my brother and I."
"What do you mean? I thought you told Optimus that you didn't want to switch with Heatwave?"
"I don't."
"Then what's going on?"
I sighed. "That doesn't sound good. What happened?"
"Heatwave told Prime that he's resigning from the Rescue Bots."
"What's that have to do with you?"
"Heatwave expects me to take his place as leader of his team." I turned away from him. I couldn't let Bee see the hurt in my optics. I know it would break his spark to see the sad look I have right now.
Bee turned me around so I had to face him. Just like I had thought. He didn't like the look in my optics.
"Please tell me you're not going to take his place?"
"Of course not! I like being a warrior. You and Prime both know that."
"Yeah, we do. I also know that if he finds out about you and I then,…"
"Yeah, I do too. It'll give him another reason to station me on Griffin Rock permanently. What do we do? He's gonna find out eventually."
Bee had gotten down on one knee, opened a little box that had a ring in it.
"Bluesteel, will you make me the happiest mech alive and bond with me?"
He was asking me to marry him, if the translation is correct. I couldn't believe that he asked me.
"In Human terms, you're asking me to marry you, correct?"
"Yes, I am. I'm trying to keep it as close to Cybertronian customs as possible, but I seem to be failing."
"You had already started with the traditional Human proposal. Up 'til you said 'bond with me.' You should have just stayed with the Human tradition, love."
"What's your answer? Yes or no?"
Bee had been standing by this time. He took the ring out of the box and waited to slide it on my hand 'til I give him an answer.
"Yes, I'll marry you, Bee. I will be your bonded mate 'til the day our sparks quit pulsating."
Bee slid the ring on my hand, then hugged me. "You've made me so happy, Blue. I love you so much."
"I love you more, my buzzing little bee." Then I kissed him. We didn't realize we had looky-loos 'til someone called Bee on his comm.
"Bumblebee, can you and Bluesteel come down to the command center please?"
"Yes Optimus." Then he ended the call.
"I dread this talk with Prime."
"He doesn't always lecture me like he use to. He considers me his equal when it comes to leadership."
"You've done a lot of growing since being a scout. He's proud of you. I know I am."
"Thanks beautiful."
We were at the top of the command center when I backflipped off the top of it and landed on my feet.
"No one likes a show-off, Blue."
"Says the one who likes to show-off."
"Alright, that's enough. Bumblebee, please come down here."
"Yes sir."
Bee made his way down to the front of the command center. I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach. Bee did too.
"Heatwave has informed his team on Griffin Rock that he will no longer be leader of the Rescue Bots. He has resigned from the Rescue Bots team effective immediately. He has chosen his twin sister, Bluesteel to take command of his now former team, effective immediately."
Bee and I looked at each other in shock and in horror. We knew what it meant. Our engagement means nothing now. I'll only be able to see him on video chats or email him when I have time. I had to walk away before I said something I was going to regret.
Bee knew I was mad, but not at him. This wasn't his fault. Bee asked Drift to go calm me down. He knew Drift was the only one who could.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Drift found me 3 aisles over and pissed. I heard him coming and I threw whatever was in my hand, in his direction.
"Your hearing is sharper than ever, my student." I turned around and faced him.
"I'm sorry, Drift. I…I didn't mean to hit you. Are you ok?"
"I am fine. However, you are not."
"No, I'm not. I'm clearly upset."
"Care to explain? I am not just your sensei, Bluesteel. I am also here to listen to your problems. I am here to help you."
I smiled. "I know, sensei. I feel like my words meant nothing to both Optimus and Heatwave."
"You told them that you don't wish to switch with your brother?"
"Correct. Heatwave already told me that he had resigned before even telling the other Rescue Bots or their Human family. I don't wanna be stationed at Griffin Rock permanently."
"May I ask why?"
"Bee just asked me to bond with him before Optimus called him. I said yes."
"I am happy for you, my student. Perhaps you and Bumblebee should tell Optimus."
"Bee and I both know what will happen."
"Since you and Bumblebee are not bonded yet, he can keep you and him separated."
"Yeah. I know Bee has been doing a great job leading his team. I don't wanna take that from him. Sensei, I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. I don't know what to do?"
Before Drift said anything more, his comm. was buzzing. "Yes Optimus?"
"Is Bluesteel with you?"
"Yes, she is."
"Please have her come to the command center. I need to speak with her."
"Of course, Optimus." Then he ended the call.
"Optimus wants to speak with you at the command center."
"I know you're not the hugging type, sensei, but…"
"Just this once I will allow it." Then I hugged him. Not real tight though. He hugged me back.
"Thank you for calming me down and for listening, Drift. If I don't see you again after tonight, then make sure those minicons of yours do their very best and always listen to your instructions. And definitely keep them safe."
"I will, Bluesteel. Thank you for being my best student." Then he bowed. I bowed back as a sign of respect. Then I headed back to the command center. I was not looking forward to this at all.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Command center. Everyone was dismissed except for Bee. Optimus was waiting for me along with Bee.
"Bluesteel, you are to head back to Griffin Rock and relieve Chase of his temporary role as leader. Heatwave's team is now yours."
"So, my words meant absolutely nothing to you, Prime? I told you I wasn't switching with my brother, but you don't seem to care what I say or what I think."
Bee put his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him with sad optics. I looked down at the ring he had recently placed on my hand. I took it off and handed it back to him.
"Guess we don't get to do what we wanted, love. I'm sorry." He pushed my hand back towards me.
"Keep it. Maybe one day we will. Think of it as a promise ring now. A promise that one day we will get bonded." Then he hugged me. I hugged him as long as I could. I didn't want to let go, but when I heard the ground bridge portal open, I knew I had to go.
I let go and stepped back. "Tell Sunny I will email him when I can. In the meantime, tell him to keep his brother out of trouble."
"I will. Good-bye, Blue. I will miss you."
"I'll miss you too, love." Then I gave him one more kiss on the cheek, then turned and walked through the ground bridge portal back to Griffin Rock.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
After the ground bridge closed, Bee looked at Prime. He was pissed and Prime knew it.
"I hope you're happy with the decision you made, Optimus. I will never be happy again." He turned and transformed. He burned rubber out of the scrapyard.
Strongarm saw what had transpired and walked up to Optimus. "What's wrong with the Lieutenant, Optimus?"
"He's upset with my decision, Strongarm. I will give him his space to cool off. Until he gets back, I will help with devising a plan to extract our Autobot friends."
"No offense sir, but the Lieutenant has already come up with a plan."
"Then I will talk to him about it when he gets back. Right now, you need to get your rest. We strike one hour before the sun comes up."
"You should get your rest as well, sir. I'm sure the Lieutenant will be fine."
"Perhaps you are right, Strongarm. Thank you. Have a good night."
"You as well, sir."
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Several hours later Bee came back. He was still feeling the same as he did when he watched his mate leave. He was pissed and sad. Pissed cause Prime knew that Bluesteel didn't want to switch with her brother but was forced to anyway. Sad cause he may never see his mate again. He put his hand over where his spark would be. Bee knew it was a cowards way out, but he didn't want to suffer any more, either.
He was glad no one was around. He opened his chest panel, opened his spark chamber and ripped his spark clean out of his chest. He made sure he didn't suffer so he crushed it before he fell to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Blue. I'll always love you." Then his optics flashed blue one last time before they faded to grey.
Strongarm had heard a noise later that night. She went to see what it was when she saw Bee laying on the ground. She yelled for Fixit, which woke everyone else up.
Optimus was the first one to the front of the Command Center. He couldn't believe what he saw. His former scout was dead. He called Ratchet and had him ground bridge to the scrapyard for a medical emergency.
A few mins. passed and Ratchet showed up via the ground bridge. He, too, was shocked to see Bee like he was.
"Bumblebee. What happened to him?"
"According to the security camera, it looks like the Lieutenant committed suicide. And it looks like he said something before he died, but I can't make out what he said."
"Is there audio on the cameras?"
"Yes. Just give me a min. to bring it up." Fixit brought up the last thing Bee said before he died.
" "I'm sorry, Blue. I'll always love you."' Then Fixit stopped the audio. "Committing suicide is not only a sin in the optics of Primus but it's the cowards way out. I'm saddened by his actions."
"So, who wants to tell Blue the bad news? They were friends."
"No, Sideswipe. They were mates. Bumblebee had asked her to bond with him earlier in the day and she said yes."
"So, Optimus is to blame for the Lieutenant's death?" Everyone was shocked at the question Strongarm posed.
"Looks that way Strongarm." Then Ratchet looked at Optimus and shook his head in disbelief.
"How long have I known you, Optimus? I never thought you would push your former scout to this. This is unbecoming of a Prime. I'm going to have Strongarm arrest you for the time being."
"What about Bee's plan? Blue was the Ace in the hole to get them out."
"Don't worry, Russell. Sunny and I will lead a small group to go free our friends. We are front line warriors, afterall. Drift, do you and your minicons know what you need to do?"
"Yes, we do, Sideswipe. Someone needs to contact my former student and tell her the bad news."
"Why don't you do that, Drift? Like you just said, she's your former student. It would be better if it came from someone she trusts the most."
"You are right, Ratchet. Fixit, connect me to Bluesteel on Griffin Rock."
While Fixit was doing that, Sides noticed that he wasn't tweaking out like he normally does.
"Anyone else notice that Fixit is normal now?"
"Blue fixed my problem, Sideswipe. She knew exactly what it was, isolated it and fixed it. Thank you for noticing."
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Griffin Rock Firehouse. I was being contacted on my comm. "Bluesteel here."
"This is Drift."
"Sensei. Is everything ok? You sound…a bit sad. What happened?"
"Are you sitting down?" I sat down carefully on the Human sized sofa.
"Now I am. I ask again. What happened?"
"Bumblebee has committed suicide tonight."
I fell off the sofa and to my knees. "Are…are you sure, Drift?"
"Yes. I will have Fixit send you the security video. I am very sorry, my student."
"Thank you, sensei. Boulder, put the video up on screen, please."
Boulder put it up and we couldn't believe what we were watching.
"Are you sure this isn't some reality TV?"
"I don't think so, Blades. This is the real thing. He really did do it. Thank you, Drift. Bluesteel out." Then I ended the call.
"Turn the volume up, Boulder. I think Bee was trying to say something." He turned it up and I couldn't believe what I heard. His final message to me. I put my hand over my spark and lowered my head. 'I love you, too, Bee.'
I looked at Blades. "We need to bring Bee here. He loved being here. Last time he was here, all he did was talk about this place. How beautiful it is. We need to find a nice, secluded place away from prying optics. Somewhere no one goes driving or hiking. If you can find me a spot, Blades, I'll go get Bee and bring him here."
Blades nodded and ran to his lift that takes him to his launch pad. He transformed and went looking for a nice, secluded place for Bee to be buried.
"Boulder, set the ground bridge for the scrapyard in Crown City."
"Destination is already set from when you left there earlier. I'll leave it open while you go get Bumblebee and bring him back here. I'm sorry for your loss, Blue."
"Thanks Boulder. I'll be back shortly." I walked through the ground bridge and right up to Bee's dead body. Ratchet was just about to put Bee's body in a stasis chamber for the time being.
"Don't do that, Ratch. He's coming with me." Ratchet turned around and couldn't believe it.
"Bluesteel? I haven't seen you since the war ended. I wish it was under better circumstances."
"Me too, old friend. I've come for Bee. I'm taking his body to Griffin Rock. We're going to bury him there. You're welcome to come. The only one who is not allowed is the one who drove my mate to suicide. Everyone else is welcome."
Everyone nodded, then watched me take Bee through the ground bridge portal and back to the firehouse.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
After the ground bridge closed behind me, I laid Bee's body down carefully on the firehouse floor. I kneeled in front of him and said a silent prayer in Cybertronian, then stood up and left for a while.
I went out driving to get myself acclimated with the island since it was going to be my new home. I decided to keep my fire truck vehicle mode since I'll be working with Kade. Who knows, we might get along better than he did with Heatwave. I don't need a boat vehicle mode to be in the water. I can actually swim.
I contacted Blades to see if he found a spot yet. "I was just on my way back to the firehouse. Looks like you're just driving around."
"Yeah. I need to get acclimated to the streets and sideroads since this is going to be my new home now. I know you and Bee were best friends, Blades. I'm so sorry."
"Its ok."
"Its not ok, Blades. Optimus drove him to suicide. I told him and Heatwave I didn't want to switch, but my words meant nothing. And now my engagement means nothing, too."
"Engagement? Bumblebee asked you to bond with him? When? When was I going to be told?"
"It was earlier today and we were going to wait until after the rescue mission to announce it."
"I didn't even know you 2 were mates. Would have made me the 3rd wheel."
"Not at all, Blades. You would have been welcome at the scrapyard to visit. There were times we wished you had been there to help us. To do what you do best. In air rescues."
"And beat you at video games."
"You wish, rotor breath. What's your best game?"
"Dance, Dance Revolution. I've beaten Frankie twice."
"When you have beaten all the racing games that are out there, then you can brag. Until then, you don't get to do nothin' but hang on my coat tails."
It was nice to laugh even when my spark has broken at the loss of my mate.
"Let's head back to the firehouse. The Chief needs to be updated on everything."
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
The Griffin Rock Firehouse. I just pulled into the firehouse as Blades was coming down from his launch pad on the roof.
Cody was just heading out on his hoverboard. "Hey Blue. Hey Blades."
"Hey Cody. Is your dad around?"
"He's out with Chase patrolling the streets. He said you were out and about."
"Just getting acclimated to my new surroundings. Its my new home, afterall. I have no reason to go back now."
"Are you ok, Bluesteel? And what's with Bumblebee laying on the floor down below?"
"Boulder didn't tell you, Cody?"
"Tell me what, Blades?"
"Can you wait to tell him after I leave the room, Blades?"
Blades nodded then watched me leave. I went down to the Bots' Rec. area.
After the lift came back up, Cody asked what was wrong with me. "Bumblebee is dead, Cody."
"How?"
"Optimus drove him to suicide. Bumblebee and Blue were engaged. When she found out that her new role as leader of the Rescue Bots was effective immediately, they both knew that getting bonded, er, married, wasn't going to happen. If she's up to it, I'll let her show you the footage from the scrapyard in Crown City. She's spark broken now. She needs time to heal."
"I'll call Frankie and tell her I can't make it. Family emergency. Blue is family and she needs us to give her all the support we can."
Cody called Frankie and explained what happened. "I understand, Cody. Family is important. We can hang out another time. Thanks for the call." Then the screen went black.
Cody called his dad on his comm. "Dad, we have a family emergency."
"I know about it, son. Chase and I just got back. He filled me in while on patrol. You and Blades come down and I'll call Kade, Dani and Graham to the bunker."
"Will do, dad." Then he looked up at Blades. "Dad wants us down in the bunker, Blades. He's going to call Kade, Dani and Graham to come home."
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
An hour later, everyone gathered in the bunker where the bots hang out. I was surprised when I walked in from refueling.
"What's everyone doing here?"
"We know what happened to Bumblebee. Chase and Blades told us, Bluesteel. We are so very sorry for your loss."
"Thank you, Chief. You can call me Blue. Everyone else does."
"Then you can call me Charlie. You have no idea how many times I've had to deliver bad news to folks."
"I'm sure it was a lot over the years. I wish I wasn't one of them, though."
"You're among family now. We are a family of heroes."
"I don't feel like a hero. I feel like someone ripped out my spark and stepped on it."
"Talking is a good start to healing."
"I guess. I'm sorry, Cody. I don't handle things like this well."
"That's why we're here. We'll listen and you can do all the talking. Just don't hurt any of us by accident."
"I would never, Cody. I think I might be the next inspiration for Boulder's next painting, though."
"I heard another Autobot showed up yesterday."
"As a matter of fact, he did. You'd like him, Boulder. He loves to paint, too."
"Sunstreaker showed up?"
"You know Sunny? How?"
"Before the war started, him and I did art showings all over Cybertron."
"That's cool. He never told me that. Bee talked about missing the old team. Arcee, Bulkhead, the occasional pop in of Wheeljack. Even the kids when they came by after school or on the weekends. Let's see if I remember what he told me their names were. I think it was Jack, Raf and Miko, I believe. He told me that Raf was the only one of them who could understand him when he didn't have his voice."
"How was that possible?"
"No clue. You'd have to ask Ratchet on that. Arcee can kick tailpipe with the best of them. I wonder what she's up to now?"
Just then, the ground bridge opened up. I looked to Boulder. "We're not expecting anyone, are we?"
"I don't think so."
"Charlie, get your family upstairs. Not sure who will come through that ground bridge. I don't wanna be the one to deliver bad new to the whole island that the whole Burns Family is dead."
"Understood Blue. You bots be careful." I nodded and watched them all go up the elevator. After I knew it was safe, we all stood, waiting for whoever opened the ground bridge to step through. I noticed the silhouette.