I know it's been awhile, but I was inspired to write. I don't have much to say other than thank you to all those that have taken their time to read my story. My thanks also go out to Guest and FernandaAlonso9 for leaving some kind words. Thank you and enjoy the chapter.

Chapter Three

She just couldn't understand why they wouldn't let her in. She should have been in there with him. She had so many times before. So many times before she was able to be with him… with all of them… when they were hurt. So many times she had healed and comforted them. That's when she was needed the most… that's when see seemed the most useful.

Her eyes fell from the Medbay doors down to the Key that hung around her neck. It just hung there as if nothing was happening. It seemed oblivious to the danger that Bumblebee was in. Couldn't it tell that he was hovering be being on and offline? Couldn't it tell the Bumblebee needed it? Couldn't it tell that... she needed him… now more than ever… But all it could do was hang there.

"Come on you stupid Key!" Sari brought the Key up to her face, "Why won't help him? I want to help him. I really, really, REALLY want to him. Isn't that all the matters?"

It didn't respond.

"Stupid Key!" she nearly threw it.

She was only interrupted by Optimus and Ratchet emerging from the Medbay.

"... I don't know Prime… I just don't know," Ratchet sighed, "His Spark is finally stable, but his systems are still all over the place. I've seen a lot of damage in my day, but I haven't seen anything like this before. Any other bot with systems going haywire like his should have a Spark in flux or at least having a more difficult time staying on line."

"But he's stable?" Optimus asked.

"... for now…," Ratchet signed once more, "I've still got some scans to run before I can give a more definitive answer…"

"Is he okay!? Is Bumblebee going to be okay!?" Sari ran up to the two bots, "Please tell me he's gonna be okay."

"Didn't you just hear me," Ratchet growled, "I don't know. I have to run some scans."

"Umm…," Optimus nudged him, "I think that you should…"

"So you don't know what's wrong with him?!" Sari couldn't help but yell out.

"I don't… if we knew more… I have to figure out… I need to know... I don't know! Okay?!" he became very defensive.

"Ratchet," Optimus placed his hand on Ratchet's shoulder, "We'll figure this out. All of us. Prowl. Bulkhead," he called over his comlink, "Do you have anything yet?"

"I'm afraid that the computer Bumblebee was using is wiped clean. There's not even a basic program on here," Prowl reported, "It appears to be blank."

"Blank?" Optimus didn't like the sound of that, "I'm coming to take a look."

"I'm going to check on Bee," Sari ran past Ratchet and Optimus.

"Kid I keep telling you that…," Ratchet started to say, but Optimus stopped him.

"Let her sit with him," he whispered, "I think she needs this more than Bumblebee does."

Ratchet looked from Optimus then to Sari who was trying to get up next to Bumblebee, "All right," he sighed, "I'll get started on those scans. I'll… I'll let you know if anything pops up."

"Thanks Ratchet," Optimus shared his sigh, "I'll let you know if we find anything."

The two parted ways as they each headed for where they were needed. Optimus was trying his best to hide his fears. The unknown was frightening. Especially when it was happening to a friend. He had to keep it together though. For his crew… for Sari. He had to find out what happened to Bumblebee. He only hoped that he would have a bit more luck with the computer.

"How can there be nothing?" Bulkhead scratched his head, "I mean it was working just fine yesterday…"

"Whatever Bumblebee did, he managed to erase everything," Prowl continued to study the empty screen, "Even the security footage…"

"But…," Bulkhead noticed Optimus' approach, "Sorry Boss Bot. We couldn't find anything. Literally…"

Optimus looked at the screen they were looking at. It was just a blank screen with the background pic of Sari, Bumblebee and Bulkhead. All the programs that they had set up, the records they were reviewing and Sari's collection of foreign cartoons that she might have not downloaded legally. It was all gone.

"It just can't be gone… there's always a trace… there's always something," Prowl seemed to think out loud.

"What could have done this?" Optimus asked.

Prowl thought for a moment, "... Nothing I've seen before. I tried to run diagnostic scan, but there is no scan to run. Teletran 1 tried to up re upload the programs, but the processor won't accept them. It says that the programs are corrupted and unsafe to run."

"We checked them on another computer and they ran just fine," Bulkhead explained.

"Is there anything that can tell us what happened to the computer or Bumblebee?" Optimus asked.

"We checked it top to bottom and the only thing that we have found are some scorch marks at one of the ports with a melted wire hanging out of it," Prowl pointed to the evidence.

"You don't think that he tried to download something into his processor? Do you?" Optimus looked to them.

Prowl didn't make a sound or move, but Bulkhead seemed to fidget and refused to make eye contact with the Prime. Optimus took notice.

"Is there something that you're not tell us Bulkhead?" he asked sternly.

"Um… no… not a thing…," Bulkhead looked everywhere but at Optimus.

"You're hiding something," he grew more stern, "Do you know what Bumblebee was doing out here?"

"Umm…," Bulkhead looked as if he were about to blow, "I… ah… ah… ahh…," he just couldn't think of anything to say.

"Bulkhead! This is Bumblebee's life on the line! If you know something you need to tell us," Optimus nearly yelled.

"Sari and Bumblebee were playing games yesterday and were arguing and arguing and wouldn't stop. Bumblebee got so mad that he threw his controller and broke it. We all promised not to say anything because we knew that you would chew our circuits out again. Last night, they started to look for ways to repair and kept arguing and I left because couldn't take it anymore, so I don't know what happened…," he gave a big sigh of relief.

Optimus blinked a few times to give his processor a moment to understand what Bulkhead had just say.

"He broke a controller and you three wouldn't tell me because you were afraid that I would repreman you? And now Bumblebee is in stasis lock and you didn't say something because you didn't want me to yell at you?" Optimus couldn't believe his auditory sensors.

"Well… when you put it that way…," Bulkhead mumbled as he fiddled with his digits and stared at the floor.

"It's not his fault entirely," Prowl spoke up, "I witnessed the incident and thought they would say something before they didn't anything… rash…," he looked to the computer.

"Did you bet on the wrong race car," Bulkhead continued to mumble.

Optimus sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his face plate, "I suppose you didn't see what he did last night then?"

"No," Prowl shook his head, "As I said… I had hoped that they or some bot would admit what was done."

Optimus bent down and looked at the melted wire. There wasn't much left; just a pool of plastic and the wires that ran through it. The wires appeared to have started to melt, but were mostly intact. The port that the cord protruded out of had singe marks surrounding it. There must have been a jolt of electricity. It must have been what cause Bumblebee to slam against the wall. There was an impression of his body still in the wall where he landed.

"Ratchet," Optimus called over the comlink, "Could…?" he was cut short.

"You better get in here Prime," Ratchet shouted over the comm, "Bumblebee just woke up!"

"Bee's awake?!" Bulkhead could hear Ratchet's screams.

"It appears so," Prowl looked up to him.

"Hopefully he can tell us what happened to him," Optimus hurried to the Medbay with Prowl and Bulkhead at his heels.

They entered the Medbay. Bumblebee was sitting up rubbing his head with a bewildered look on his face. Sari couldn't stop expressing how happy she was he was awake. She clung to his arm and was fighting back tears, though they were still coming. Ratchet was grumbling as poured over the scans to see what had changed. Nothing he could find. Nothing that was apparent.

"Little bubby! You're okay!" Bulkhead ran to Bumblebee's side, "I thought we lost you!"

"Lost me?" Bumblebee looked more confused, "Where did I go?"

"Come on now Bee, you know," he nudged Bumblebee.

"Know what?" Bumblebee scratched his head.

"We know about the controller," Optimus crossed his arms, "Bulkhead told us."

Sari snorted, "Bulkhead! You promised not to tell!"

"I know! I know! But this was Bee we were talking about," Bulkhead explained, "I had to say something… for Bumblebee."

"Sari," Optimus looked down at her, "You and Bumblebee should have just told me about the controller."

Sari huffed, "If we would have, you would have just yelled at us."

"Is that so bad in comparison to what happened to Bumblebee?" Prowl pointed out.

Sari looked to her feet. There was truth in Prowl's words. They should have just said something when it happened… or least when Bumblebee was injured. Maybe at least then they could have found out what was wrong earlier.

"I'm sorry Optimus…," she apologized, "You've just been on us so much lately that we couldn't stand another lecture. We just thought it would be better if we fix it ourselves and not tell you. We tried to find a way to fix, but we couldn't agree. I left him alone. I don't know what he did after I left though..."

Optimus sighed as he looked to her and then to Bumblebee, "It doesn't matter now. What done is done. All that matter is what caused Bumblebee to malfunction," he looked to him.

Bumblebee's expression had not changed, "I have no idea what you bots are talking about."

"Come on Bee," Sari was a bit disappointed in him, "Optimus knows. Just tell him what you were doing and let's take our lumps."

"Seriously, what are you guys talking about?" Bumblebee really didn't seem to understand why every bot was staring at him, "Did I do something wrong? And whatever it is I didn't do it."

"It's okay Bumblebee," Optimus assured him, "I'm not mad. I'm more concerned about how you ended up nearly offline…"

"And plastered into a wall," Ratchet added with a huff.

"Mad about what?" Bumblebee was growing more and more confused.

"Don't you remember breaking the controller yesterday?" Sari reminded him.

"Controller?" he scratched his head, "We were watching monster movies yesterday. I didn't even touch the game console yesterday."

"That was two days ago Bee," Sari grew concerned.

Ratchet quickly scanned Bumblebee's processors, "... that's strange… his memory banks seem to be functioning… a little warm… but nothing unusual…"

"I'm fine guys," Bumblebee jumped off the exam table, "See?" he turned around and transformed a few times, "See? Nothing wrong."

"Something is wrong if you can't remember yesterday or what happened last night," Prowl pointed out.

"Nothing happened last night!" Bumblebee was growing paranoid, "What's wrong with all of you?! Why are you all looking at me like that!? Stay away!" he switched out his stingers.

"Calm down kid," Ratchet tried to get Bumblebee to lay back down.

"Stay back med bot!" Bumblebee let forth a burst of electrical energy.

It crackled as it flew through the air towards Ratchet. It hit him with such force that it threw him into his equipment. He moaned as Bumblebee's electrical attack continued to surge through his body.

"Ratchet!" Optimus was surprised by the sudden attack, "Calm down Bumblebee! We just want to help you!" he went to grab Bumblebee.

"No… no you don't," he started to quiver, "You're trying to extinguish my spark… you don't think I'm useful anymore… you've been planning this for awhile… get rid of the little yellow bot… I see it now… it's been your plan the entire time… YOU'VE ALWAYS FOUND ME TOO ANNOYING!" he started to shoot randomly.

Optimus quickly ducked out to the way. Prowl was able to slip past Bumblebee and get Sari out of the line of fire. Bulkhead tried his best to avoid the stinging volts, but he wasn't the most graceful. He knew that he couldn't keep dodging his friend's attacks.

"Sorry about this!" Bulkhead apologised as he launched one of his wrecking balls at Bumblebee.

He saw the incoming attack and quickly turned his strings towards it. His electrical attack charged up and met with heavy blunt object. For a moment the wrecking ball hung in air as if time had stopped, but it was soon being thrown backwards by Bumblebee's powerful attack. It flew back and hit Bulkhead square in the chestplate. He landed with a hard thud in the wall, but it didn't give into his weight.

"BULKHEAD!" Optimus tried once more to get ahold of Bumblebee, "We don't want to hurt you!"

"But.. but… b-b-b-but… maybe I want to hurt you!" Bumblebee stuttered as he once more raised his stingers, "Maybe I want to hurt you… a lot…"

Optimus was frozen in place as Bumblebee's stingers began to glow with an intense light. He couldn't understand why he was behaving this way. None of Ratchet's scans showed anything with Bumblebee. But something had to be wrong. Something had to be making him act this way. Bumblebee would have never attached his friends.

"Bumblebee! You have to stop this!" Sari appeared in front of Optimus, "This isn't you!"

"Sari get out of here!" Optimus order her.

"Bumblebee listen to me!" Sari ignored Optimus, "We're you friends! We just want to help you! Please," she took a step towards Bumblebee, "let us help you…"

Bumblebee blinked his optics a few times as he looked down at Sari, "You… y-y-you want to h-h-h-el-p-p-p? You're… you're… m-m-my friends… Friends ends with ends…," he raised his stingers once more.

"Bumblebee! NOOO!" Optimus went to shield Sari.

He was about to let loose his electric attack, when a shuriken cut deep into his left stinger. He looked up to see Prowl in the rafters with another shuriken read to throw. With his remaining stinger, he sent a bolt of electricity in Prowl's direction. Prowl didn't move. The shot of energy passed right through him. It was only a hologram. Bumblebee looked around in confusion to where Prowl could have gone. He never saw the attack from behind. Bulkhead had managed to launch his other wrecking ball. It landed in Bumblebee's back and sent him across the room. He skidded until he hit the wall with a crash. Sari wanted to run over to him, but Optimus stopped her.

She understood. Things were not right.