Disclaimer: Transformers: Prime and everything related belongs to the rightful company Hasbro. I am in no way shape or form making money off this.

Author's Notes: Bumblebee continues to blame himself for reviving Megatron, and he refuses to believe it when everyone tried to reassure him. Bulkhead is determined to prove the scout wrong.

Title: Not Your Fault

Pairing: BulkheadxBumblebee (Prime)

Request: 01bumblebeefan (AO3)

Nothing was ever easy, the former Wrecker knew that, but it also seemed like they could never catch a break. The team had not only blown up the Decepticon's space bridge, stopping the army of dark energon infused Terrorcons from passing through, but they managed to slag the slagmaker himself in the process!

"Knew things were too quiet," Bulkhead mumbled to himself, continuing into the main room of the mission silo. Just thinking about the latest chain of events, made him realize how lucky they had all truly been. Afterall, if Megatron had truly been slagged, then they never would have gotten the cure for the cybonic plague and they would have lost Optimus.

Stopping in the hall, the green mech shuddered his optics close. 'Stop thinking about it. Optimus is still here, and even if we have to deal with Megatron we can still kick his aft and anything he wants to throw at us.' It didn't seem like a lot, but the Autobot needed a pep talk once in a while and it helped him focus on what was really important. He stepped into the main room, taking in what everyone was doing.

Ratchet was at the console, going over various data as well as manning the ground bridge. Optimus was nowhere to be seen but neither was Arcee or Bumblebee. No doubt they were off patrolling so the former Wrecker made his way over to the platform where the humans were sitting around. The youngest of the trio, Raf, was typing away on his laptop. The older two, Jack and Miko, were playing a fighting game on the television set.

"So, who's winning?" he asked, leaning in and allowing his optics to focus on the small screen. He didn't have to wait long as one of the game's avatars was knocked to the ground, the words 'GAME OVER' flashing across the screen.

"Woohoo! Told you I'd beat you!" the petite Japanese girl said excitedly as she jumped to her feet.

"How did you learn that move?" the tall teenager demanded, frowning as the game declared player 2 as the winner.

"I did what any good gamer does, I looked up the finishing moves online."

"What? That's cheating!"

"Is not! You're just mad I thought of it first!"

"That's my girl," Bulkhead chuckled, watching the teens argue for a bit before turning his attention to the medic. "Where'd everybot go?"

"Optimus is going over some data pads in his room, Arcee and Bumblebee are out on patrol but they should be coming back-" He paused when he received a comm and nodded even as she typed in the coordinates into the console. "-now."

The ground bridge hummed to life as it lit up and everyone watched as a motorcycle drove through. There was no rider but that didn't matter as the vehicle transformed into that of a bot with feminine physique. But she was alone.

"Where is Bumblebee? You two were suppose to be on a scouting mission," the medic said with narrowed optics.

"We were, but things were quiet so we decided to split up," she said, rotating one of her upper stabilizers. "He said he would comm when he was done."

Ratchet said nothing, muttering under his vents as he went to the console to send out a comm. Bulkhead said nothing but nodded to the femme as she came up to him. "Hey Arcee, so things are quiet out there?"

"Yeah, a little too quiet. I don't like it, it feels like something is getting ready to fall right on top of us," she said with a frown. "I don't like it."

"Hey don't worry, we can handle anything those glitches can throw at us!" He grinned, already getting himself pumped up. "I'm already itching for a fight!" Arcee smiled, feeling some of the tension ebb away but it didn't last as she heard Ratchet grumbling louder than before. "What's wrong?" she called out to him.

"Its Bumblebee, he's not responding to any of my comms." That got everyone's attention as he tried once more but was meet with the same response. A fist came down on the console, causing the screens to flicker. "He must have turned off his locator because now I can't get a fix on him. Doesn't he realize how dangerous it is out there!?"

"Relax Ratchet, Bumblebee is tough, he's probably on his way back even now."

"That's not the point! Megatron is out there, planning Primus knows what and the last thing we need is for him to go and get himself into some kind of trouble, leaving us unable to help him should the need arise!"

"Wait, Bumblebee's in trouble?" Raf asked, looking concerned just as everyone else did. That nearly set the fox loose in the hen house, as the saying went, had the leader of the Autobots didn't make himself known. While he didn't instill fear in the bots like a certain warlord did, his very presence was to be respected.

"Has something happened?" he asked calmly. Of course, everyone had to voice their theory, Miko loudly claiming that Bumblebee had been captured but after getting the facts he frowned. "That is not like him."

"So, what now? Do we go looking for him?" Jack offered.

"No." That surprised everyone but Optimus continued speaking before anyone could question him. "Bumblebee would not ignore a comm like this, I believe he is dealing with what happened recently in his own way and merely needs the time to himself. However, I agree that now is not the time that we should be alone least we find ourselves in a situation where we require back-up."

"… meaning…?"

"One of us should find him, and make certain he is alright. I will go."

"I'll go." Bulkhead didn't flinch even as he stepped forward. "No disrespect, but Bee is a Pitt of a scout, and if he doesn't want to be found its next to impossible to find him."

"Ad you believe you are able to locate him?"

"More or less. I'll look for him, make sure he's alright, then come right back. If we all go, we'll just be attracting attention, and splitting up isn't the best idea right now." The large green mech tried not to fidget as the Prime thought over his words but he smiled when he nodded to him. "I'm sure Bee's fine. We'll be back before you know it!" Before anyone could stop him, Bulkhead had transformed and took off through the entrance of their base.

It wasn't like Bumblebee to not report in, he always made sure to let someone know where he was going even as simple as patrol, but even so Bulkhead tried sending out comms to the scout. Each one came back as unread. He tried not to let himself worry but there was the worrying feeling that something was wrong. Had Miko been right? Was there an ambush and he was unable to comm for help? With Megatron back the last thing anyone wanted was for one of their own to get ambushed, but Bulkhead suddenly had a feeling he knew where the scout was.

The gravel crunched under his tires as he drove up to the abandoned warehouse. It used to be part of a factory a long time ago, but with the factory itself shut down the building was abandoned. It was well outside the city limits of Jasper, nothing for miles around, and it was also the hiding spot a scout liked to use when he wanted to be alone. The only reason Bulkhead knew of it was because he had followed the scout here one time just to make sure he was okay.

'I just hope he's here,' he thought to himself. Scanning the area there was so sign of humans nearby, so he transformed and made his way up to the old building. The double doors were closed, but the former Wrecker could see that there were tracks here, different from his own peds. Hope swelled in his spark even as he slowly lifted a servo, and tapped on the door as gently as he could. He froze when the entire building seemed to shudder but it was still standing. "Bee? It's me, Bulkhead." Silence though he felt like groaning. Who else would know about this place? "You in there?" No answer but as he adjusted his audio sensors, he could hear movement inside. "I'm coming in." Probably not a smart thing to do, announcing himself, but it was too late to take it back. The door creaked loudly, in desperate need of a good greasing but it didn't stop him from entering, and closing the door behind him.

The warehouse was small by their standards, just enough room for a few bots, though he couldn't see the Prime standing at his full height inside. Well, he could, but the big bot didn't think he'd like to be hitting his helm against the support beams that kept the roof up. There were some empty crates and what appeared to be pieces of machinery pushed into corners, as well as a tarp hanging from the support beams above to block off the back of the building. It was there that he could hear the sounds of another engine, fans whirling silently; the closer he moved the more he could feel an EM field brushing against his own. It was pulled in so tightly, he would have easily overlooked it. "Bumblebee?" he called out, wondering if he should just go in but soon, he could hear soft beeps and clicks. He carefully opened the tarp and stepped past it, letting it fall close behind him.

Although there was no longer any electricity running through the building, the windows allowed enough of the Nevada sunlight in so everything could be seen. The yellow Camaro was sitting on a make-shift berth, covered in a cleaner looking tarp. His backstruts were facing where the other mech had come in, doorwings hanging as low as possible. He didn't acknowledge the other mech, didn't so much as twitch, just continued to sit there, staring down at the ground. Je just wanted to be alone, was that too much to ask?

Bulkhead suddenly wished he was anywhere else but here. But he knew that everyone was worried about him, including him. "Bee… you-you doing okay?" he asked only to wince. How could he be so dumb? Of course he wasn't doing okay! Why else would he be here in his secret place, a place where not even Raf knew about? "I mean-everyone is worried about ya. You weren't answering your comm links, and Ratchet can't get a fix on your signal."

"… [did you tell them about here?]" he asked in a series of beeps, one of his doorwings twitching slightly.

"No. I even turned off my locator, too." He watched the wing dropped back down but the scout didn't say anything else. "… Look Bee, I'm not good at this talking stuff. I break stuff, sometimes on accident, mostly on purpose! But I get it, you're going through a lot right now and you just need some space. But, I'm here if you want to someone to talk to. I mean, I may not have good advice, but if you need someone to just listen, I'm here."

The scout didn't answer, didn't even make a move that said he had been listening. It was an awkward, and very tense moment, but the larger bot didn't move. He waited, hopefully the other mech would say something, even if it was just to tell him to frag off, but the only sounds he could hear was the quiet rumble of their engines. Even though it had only been a breem or two, it felt like joors. More than once Bulkhead opened his lip plates, hoping something would just come out but there was no sound. 'Why did I think I could help him?' he asked himself. Inhaling deeply, he let it out slowly and nodded even though the scout couldn't see it. "I'll… just go. I'll let the others know you're okay." He turned, ready to leave but just as he took a hold of the trap a vocalizer beeped out to him.

"[Bulkhead]."

"Yeah?"

"… [Is it my fault…]" The sound of gears turning was heard and doorwings that had once been hanging limply, were now lifted slightly but were tensed, betraying the scout's true emotions. "[Is it my fault, that Megatron is still alive]?"

"What?! Of course not!" Luckily, the Autobot didn't pull the tarp down as he whirled to face the other Autobot. "Why, did someone blame you? Tell me who said it so I can introduce them to my fists!"

"[It was me because it's true]!" Bumblebee stood from the berth and whirled on his friend; it took him by surprise but now that the flood gates were open there was no way to stop the torrent of emotions he had building up inside. "[Don't you see? Megatron took over my frame, he made me hurt Ratchet and Raf, he had me find dark energon and use it to bring him back from the brink. It's my fault that he's still around and we're no closer to winning this war! I…]!" He froze and his fists silently dropped to his sides, looking away as his doorwings continued to tremble slightly. "[I'm not fit to be an Autobot…]"

"… … … are you glitching?" Okay, not the nicest way to begin a pep talk but Bulkhead found that once he started going, he couldn't stop as he turned to fully fac the other Autobot. "First off, no one blames you for what happened. None of us knew that was gonna happen, not even Ratchet! That slagmaker took over your frame, and I know he would've done a lot worse but you managed to stop him from doing so. And if it hadn't been for you and Arcee, we never woulda found the cure for that plague and we would have lost Optimus. Look, I know the war had been going on for a really long time, way longer than any of us wants to admit, but as long as we keep fighting that means we still have a chance at one day winning this. Not only for us, but for all the other Autobots still out there."

That seemed to bring some confidence back to the scout, his optics brightening slightly but they dimmed as he looked down at his peds, doorwings slowly falling lifelessly. "[But… I still helped out the Decepticons. How can anyone still trust me? What's to stop Megatron from trying to take over again]?"

"Bee, listen to me. That will never happen; Ratchet gave you a full system scan, there is no way any part of Megatron is still lurking around. You are a true Autobot, and you have sacrificed so much to help end the war. Pitt, you sacrificed more than others." This close he could just barely make out the scar on the scout's neck cables, the spot where the leader of the Decepticons ripped out his voice box and where their medic tried his hardest to repair him. He didn't know why, but Bulkhead slowly moved his servo to where he had grabbed the scout by his pauldrons and gently traced the light silver scars with a digit.

Bumblebee just barely suppressed the shudders from racking his frame but his doorwings trembled slightly in response. Slowly, he raised his servo and grabbed the green one but didn't pull it away. "[Bulkhead… thank you]," he said softly, smiling behind his mouthguard.

"What are you thanking me for? I didn't do anything."

"[You listened, for one thing. And you knew what to say to make me feel better]."

"Yeah well, you're stronger than you give yourself credit for," Bulkhead said quietly, alternating his touch from tracing the raised mark to tracing the cables and wires around it. "We've all walked away with battle scars, but yours came from Megatron himself. You stood up to him, and you survived. Not everyone can say that."

"[Kinda hard to say anything nowadays,]" Bumblebee said with a soft purr, leaning into his touch He paused, wanting to really thank the big bot for his kind words, but somehow, he knew that mere words weren't enough. Instead, he leaned up, pausing for a klik to allow his battle mask to slid back, and pressed a quick kiss to the larger bot's jaw plating.

That—was unexpected. But not unheard of, Miko tried to hug whatever part she could wrap her arms around her guardian when she could, but that was different. There was something akin to a slight shock but he resisted the urge to rub at his plating. "Bee-" Whatever he was going to say was lost, his processor going completely offline. Of all the times to suddenly finds the words to say, he had nothing! But the way Bumblebee was looking at him he vented softly and once more found his digits stroking the scars.

The scout was still holding the former Wrecker's servo, even as he began slowly moving back he didn't let go, pulling him along. Before they knew it, they were laying on the make-shift berth. Neither of the bots said anything, but no words were needed. Soon, his own nimble digits came up and trailed over the forest green plating. Bee could make out multiple digits and dings, as well the occasional weld, everything that spoke of the Autobot's own survival during the war. Bulkhead was right, they each had their own scars, proof they were still online, still fighting the war. But right now, he didn't want to think about the vorns of fighting, all they had lost, or what the future would hold for them. He just wanted to be selfish for once.

Bumblebee was different from the other bots the Wrecker had known, his armor plating wasn't as thick his own, and he wasn't as heavy, yet the scout was strong, fast, agile, and an incredible fighter. More than once Bulkhead found himself watching the way he moved during a fight, holding his own against Breakdown the few times they fought. He found he couldn't stop from touching the slightly smaller frame before him, thick digits tracing along seams, listening to the soft whirls of pleasure. Part of him argued that he shouldn't be doing this, that Bee was not only his teammate but his friend. Yet the scout was arching into his touches, vents pumping out air faster than before; it was his turn to groan low in pleasure as nimble digits continued their own exploration of his own frame, managing to slip into his seams to stroke the hidden cables and wires. A charge was quickly building between them, energon surging through their cables, circuits heating up due to so much stimulation, but neither of them wanted to stop.

The charge was a slow build, the static growing with each caress, every stroke. There was no need to rush so the two were content to continue the exploration of one another. Different yet alike, plating shifted in response the pleasure and allowed for more intimate touches, exposing more sensitive wiring and circuitry that never would have been bared during battle. Protoflesh trembled as it was exposed to the simulation, and while the scout couldn't vocalize how he was feeling his frame did, allowing the protective panel between his stabilizers to fold back…

The overloads finally tapered off, but Bulkhead could feel his systems threatening to send him offline in order to recover from such a high charge. He wasn't surprised, considering how strong the charge had been, but looking down at the other mech he was mildly surprised to see he was completely and totally out. He couldn't even remove him, his digits seemed almost wielded to his own plating so he slowly and carefully laid back on the berth, wrapping his servos around the frame to hold him close. Before he offlined himself, he sent a quick comm to Optimus, simply saying he had found Bumblebee and he was with him, and they would return to the base later. He was out before he received a response.

Joors later blue optics slowly onlined, lenses refocusing as his system readouts filled his HUD. Bumblebee was confused but he waited, reading over every line as it came up. Soon he was completely online and fully aware of his surroundings. He froze when he realized he was laying atop another frame, panicking seeking his spark before he realized the chassis was green. Memory files opened and he reviewed them quietly but his whirls gave a low whirl. Giving himself a once over, he realized his spike had depressurized back into its housing, and his interface panel had closed (as well as Bulkhead's), but his plating felt itchy. Slowly, he raised himself up, trying not to disturb the Wrecker but the servos wrapped around him tighten. Less than a klik later, systems were humming to life and optics slowly opened, dim and slow to focus but a smile came to the derma plating when they registered the scout.

"Hey Bee, you doing alright?" he asked softly, feeling his systems online one line at a time.

Bee nodded and found that his battle mask had yet to snap into place, but he didn't mind. ::A lot better, thanks.:: Slowly he sat up and slid off the larger frame, shivering slightly as the servos slid from his plating but if Bulkhead noticed he didn't ay anything. Getting up from the berth he walked over to the side and retrieve some cleaning clothes. ::Here.::

"Thanks." It was enough, at least until they could get back to the base for a proper cleaning, but as Bulkhead wiped away the dried flecks of dried fluids, he found paint transfers and deep scratches. Nothing a buffing couldn't get rid of but looking at the scout he could see the same on him. Part of him was wondering, did he regret asking him for help? For giving up his seals, to him? He wanted to ask… but instead he kept his trap shut. He shuddered his optics when he saw he had a missed comm from Optimus and read it before letting out a quick ex-vent. "Optimus wants us back to base," he said as he threw the soiled cleaning cloth into his subspace.

Bumblebee felt his doorwings tense, twitching slightly but he finished cleaning up the dried fluids and tucked the soiled cloth into his own subspace. ::Did, he say anything about me?:: He knew he should answer his comm, but he was a bit afraid too.

"No, but I'm sure Optimus will understand if you talk with him." He paused but crossing the small distance between them and once more, rested his large servo on his pauldron. "Bee, I meant what I said earlier. None of this was your fault, and you are onna the best Autobots out there. And if anybot says otherwise, then… they're nothing but worthless scrap themselves!"

Bumblebee stared up at the former Wrecker, processing his words as he slowly turned to face him. Still saying nothing, he leaned up and kissed him, pressing his lip plates against his then just as slowly, pulled back. He was still smiling as the battle mask slid back into place, the locks clicking into place.

"[Thanks, Bulkhead],"

"Thanks… for what?"

"[Everything]."

Author's Notes: Happy holidays one and all! Feels like its been forever since I last updated this story and I am so sorry about that. Same ole deal, real life getting in the way, losing any creative drive I have, and trying very hard not to tell co-workers where they can shove their supposed "work ethics".

01bumblebeefan, you requested Bulkhead and Bumblebee. The idea seemed simple enough but the smut, that was harder to get into. Funny how angst seems to flow faster from my fingertips than sap but in the end, I think I did a good job. I hope you like it as I try to work on the rest of your requests :)

Just to let you know, I'm not taking any more new requests for the time being. I have a lot of previous requests I need to work through so I would like to catch up with those before even thinking of tackling anything new. But don't worry, I have not forgotten about this story and will try to pump out as many worthy chapters as I am able to.

I would also like to thank those of you that jumped to my defense when I was left a very rude review on my other fanfic 'Nightmare'. I have no idea what that brought that on, but to read you wonderful reviewers coming to my defense, saying that you actually enjoy it, I felt really touched. I will continue to write not only for myself, but for those of you that enjoy reading my works. I'm not the best writer, but I just want to share my creative love with those who enjoy it as well.

Next chapter: Ultra MagnusxBumblebee