It was a good first chapter. Lots of hits and even a few reviews. I have to say that I wasn't expecting that. It does me good to see that people are enjoying the story so far. Any though there's only been one chapter. You know it's only going to get better. Anyway, I would like to thank Guest and Ise for their kind words. I would also thank all those that took their time to read. Hope to see you all next chapter. And please enjoy this one.

Chapter Two

It took some time and thank goodness they had plenty of it. Optimus had yet to return with Ratchet and Prowl hadn't emerged his room. The area around the couch and TV was cleared of all debris. There were still a few piles of trash, but they were easily swept under the couch. Out of sight, out of mind… especially Optimus'. Bulkhead was finishing up with the heavier items while Bumblebee and Sari were searching through the internet for answers. He didn't mind though. It kept him away from the pair that seemed determined to fighting that day. He just let them work it out of their systems. Whatever it was that they needed to work out. He just looked over and sighed whenever he passed by.

"This one was written by someone that actually designed the console and controller," Sari wanted to click on the link.

"But this one has full blueprints and step by step instructions," Bumblebee liked another, "It shouldn't be too hard to put it back together…," he wasn't exactly confident in his skills.

"I don't know…," she didn't like the look of the site, "Maybe I should try the Key again?" she held it up to the controller.

It still just hung there without showing any interest in what was going on.

"Stupid Key," she shook it once more, "Why won't you work when I want you to?"

"Guys?" Bulkhead finished taking out the last of the oil drums, "Maybe we should just tell Optimus. It has to be better than trying to hide it…"

Sari and Bumblebee looked to each other and then to him.

"Do you have a gasket lose?" Bumblebee asked, "If he finds out…"

"If I find out what?" Optimus pulled in and transformed.

"Nothing," Bee quickly swept away the broken remains of the controller.

He didn't believe him, "What are you three hiding?"

They looked to each other; not sure what to say. Bumblebee wouldn't dare say a word. Bulkhead just wished that some bot would admit his mistake. Sari was conflicted on what they should do. They all agreed that the last thing they wanted was to be reprimanded again.

"I'm waiting," Optimus folded his arms.

"Ah… well… we were… if you found out...," Bumblebee bumbled through his words.

"How good of a job you did," Prowl seemed to materialize out of thin air.

Optimus stepped over to the TV area. He inspected every inch that he could. Turning back to them, he gave a small smile.

"I'm impressed," he applauded them, "You guys really worked hard. I thought I would come back and there were still be a giant mess and you three would be playing video games or watching TV. I am very proud of you."

There was a sigh of relief, though it was released mentally.

"Thanks boss bot," Bumblebee quickly thanked him.

"I think you all deserve a break," Optimus smiled, "Why not play some of your games?"

"NO!" Bumblebee yelled, "I mean…," he composed himself, "We've been inside all day and we promised Sari that we would… we would…"

"Take Sari to the park," Bulkhead inserted for him.

"Yeah! Get some fresh air," Sari laughed nervously.

"That's a nice change of pace," Optimus was surprised by their response.

"Yup," Bumblebee quickly changed, "Come on Sari," he opened his driver side door.

"You got it Bumblebee," she jerkily got in, "You coming Bulkhead?" she indicated for him to follow.

"… oh…," he understood and transformed.

Together they slowly headed out of the open garage door. But once they hit the empty road, both Bumblebee and Bulkhead sped off. They nearly hit Ratchet on their way. He yelled at some words of anger, but they were long gone and didn't hear a word of it. He grumbled as he pulled in.

"Dang Young Bots speeding off! Not even looking where they're going!" Ratchet complained as he transformed.

"Something is definitely going on with those three," Optimus was growing suspicious of them, "Do you know what' going on with them?" he looked to Prowl.

Prowl stayed quiet for a moment, but answered calmly, "I know nothing…," and he walked away.

Optimus looked to Ratchet, but he only shrugged his shoulders. Looking out to where the three sped off, he thought it was best not to think about it. They did what they were asked and cleaned up the place. Whatever else they had going on would come to the light soon enough. When it did… he would deal with it then. There was still a lot of daylight left and he wasn't about to waste it wondering about things that did and didn't happen. Instead, he would spend his time running system checks and making sure that routine maintenance was done. Not the best way to spend a day, but it would do… considering all he had already been through this morning… a little bit of tedious work wouldn't be so bad.

It was a shame that a little bit of tedious work wouldn't have calmed the nerves of Sari, Bumblebee and Bulkhead. The only thing that would do that was if they could undo the mistake that hung over their head… what hung over Bumblebee's head. He was the one that would be trouble, but Sari and Bulkhead wouldn't have escaped Optimus' wraith. They were aiding and abetting after all.

They just drove around town. Turned down random roads or just hopped on and off the highway. Even sitting in traffic was preferable than heading back to base; anything than to be reminded of the task they had to perform. They were going to have to face facts. Eventually they would have to return and do what they could. Of course… they still had to decide on what they were going to do… and what Plan B was and maybe Plan C.

It was getting late though. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. Optimus would be calling soon to see when they would be coming back. Didn't want to arouse his suspicions. He was already keeping his optics on them. They didn't want to give him another reason to. Slowly but surely they made their way back to the base. It was pretty quiet when they got back.

Prowl was standing there…. waiting. But he didn't say a word as they entered. His silence said it all. They knew what they should do, but it wasn't up to him… He merely turned away from them and headed for his room. They looked to one another, not quite sure if they should do something. Of course the only thing do was to set a plan to fix what had been done before any other bot found out.

It was set. They would meet once every bot had gone to their respective rooms. They wouldn't have to worry about any spying optics. They could research and rebuild in peace. The weight wouldn't be long though. Ratchet had already retired to the Med Bay for another stasis nap. Optimus had powered down after running a lot of routine system checks. That just left them with the internet and a broken controller to fix.

As the sun slipped away and gave way to the moon, the hunt for a way to fix their problem heated up. They had found several sites that claimed they could help, but many of them didn't have all of the answers. In fact, there wasn't even a guide on how to repair most of the problems. The whole thing just ended up in hissing arguments and hushing one another to keep quiet.

Bulkhead had taken all he could and said he didn't want any part of it. They made him promise that he wouldn't breathe a word of what happened. He, of course, agreed. They were his friends after all; even though they weren't acting like friends to one another. He headed to his room and tried to forget about the day. This left Sari and Bumblebee to fend for themselves.

"I still think the site I found earlier was the best one," she went to go click on it.

Bumblebee stopped her, "Now hold up. Why can't we use the one I found? It looks like it has way more information than yours."

Sari sighed, "But Bee, your site is flagged. It probably isn't safe."

"Since when do you care about safety?" he was surprised by her response.

She folded her arms, "Ever since Optimus yelled at us for downloading that Japanese Exclusive game that crashed the systems."

"Oh yeah…," Bumblebee had pushed that stern reprimand out of his memory banks, "But that won't happen this time… I hope so…," he whispered the last part.

"Look," Sari looked down at her feet, "I think we just need to admit defeat on this one. We should tell Optimus and accept our punishment. It would be better than sneaking around and lying to everyone," the guilt was starting to eat at her.

"NO WAY!" Bumblebee yelled in a hushed tone, "We've come this far and can't turn back now. Either you're with me or not," he held out his hand.

She looked to his outreached hand, but she couldn't agree, "I'm sorry Bee," she started to walk away, "I just can't… I won't say anything," she promised him, "I'm going to bed," she headed for her room.

Bumblebee couldn't believe that she was bailing on him. They had come so far and were on the precipice of completely covering up his mistake. How could she leave now? He shook his head. He still had work to do. Looking back at the screen, he knew what he had to do.

Clicking on the link, he started to read though the instructions and blueprints. They seemed legitimate enough. It shouldn't be a problem for him to follow… he use to fix Space Bridges. Those were way more advance than some silly Earth toy. Surely he could fix it… in no time. He looked from the screen to the busted controller and back again.

"ARRGGG! This doesn't make sense!" he yelled, then quieted himself down.

Looking around, he watched to see if any bot had woken up. Luckily it seemed that no bot heard him. Going back to the instructions, he had to find a way to figure them out. But the more he stared the more complicated the directions became. It wouldn't have been so hard if he didn't have to keep looking from the screen to the controller.

"I could do this better if I just knew how to do it," he thought for a moment.

An idea came to him.

"I'll just download it directly to my processor… I mean Intel bots do it all the time," he reasoned with himself, "Yeah… I'll just download the instructions and I'll be able to fix this mess in no time. Just need a… gotta!" he found a USB cable, "this should do."

Plugging one end into his head and the other into the computer port. Right clicking on the instructions, he readied them for download into his processor. There was a slight tingle as the instructions filled his processor.

"This isn't so bad," he smirked as he started to understand how to fix the controller, "Yeah… I think I've got it. Huh?" the tingle was starting to burn.

He wanted to pull the wire out, but he was slowly losing his strength. Falling to his knees, he tried to maintain consciousness. The world was starting to spin and fade as every part of his body began to ache. He managed to look back up at the screen. It was fuzzy and glitching out. He reached up for the console, but his body was no longer listening. The burning in his processor grew worse and worse. He felt like his circuits would fire. Streaks of blue light crossed through his line of vision. It appeared to be discharges of electricity.

"Huh?" he weakly uttered.

Crackle… crackle… WHOOSH!

He hit the wall with a sickening thud. He didn't fell it though. His body had already gone numb. Sliding to the floor, he landed in a heap. The world was growing darker as he began to lose the fight against nothingness.

"BEE! BUMBLEBEE!" he could hear some bot shouting his name.

"Sari…," he recognized her voice, "I should have just told Optimus…"

Everything went dark.