Secrets - TF Fanfic

Skyfire wasn’t sure he saw correctly when he flew back in to the Autobot base.

Yeah… he must have seen incorrectly.  His sensors must have picked up some dust or something.  Or maybe it was just that he’s been on a long flight.  That had to be it.  Away from the base for too long with not enough recharge before he started back to the Ark which was halfway around the world.

He didn’t think much about it after that but he must have had a strange expression on his face when he transformed, landing lightly on his feet, because Jazz, who was stationed at the entrance, asked, “Somethin’ on yer mind?”

“Huh?  Oh.  Nothing.  Just reflecting on something I saw…”  Skyfire briefly considered asking the saboteur about what he saw but dismissed the idea just as quickly as it came.

“Either way, welcome back,” Jazz said as Skyfire headed inside.

“Thank you,” the flyer said, deciding to stop by the medbay and see if Ratchet would be willing to check his optics anyway.  It wouldn’t hurt.

oOo

The next one to see it was Sideswipe.  At first, he thought his CPU was just playing with his mind.  Nothing seemed unusual, but it wasn’t until he noticed the lingering touches and the glances that lasted longer than just acknowledgement between the two mechs.  There was a certain warmth in their voice when they spoke to each other and when one was injured, the other’s voice would be laced with worry, no matter how stoic their face would be.

So Sideswipe was neither surprised nor expecting it when he walked into the control room one day, early for his duty, and saw the two of them, the smaller mech leaning against the larger one, pressing one large hand against the sensitive metal of his face, optics dimmed with contentment.

The red twin must have made some sort of noise because in the next instant, the smaller mech jerked up, looking at Sideswipe with a mixture of surprise and embarrassment before hastily apologizing and leaving the command center.

The two remaining ‘Bots studied each other for a moment before the somewhat tense atmosphere was broken by the arrival of Hound, also reporting for duty.  The Jeep looked between them and asked, “Did I miss something?”

“No.  Nothing,” Sideswipe answered immediately.  The mech turned away from them and the warrior relaxed faintly, deciding that now was a good time to go to his duty and try to forget the entire thing.

oOo

Wheeljack didn’t really think anything of it when he passed by the scene.  He was tinkering with something fairly harmless, but because it could potentially leave a rather large mess if it went off, Ratchet told him to work with it outside where no one really had to worry about cleaning up if it did go off.

He was walking towards the desert, the device in one hand and a small tool in the other when he walked by.  Wheeljack just waved at the two mechs cheerfully before continuing, not even bothering to stop, and he had gotten around a curve in the terrain when what he saw registered with his CPU.

His hand slipped and the next thing he knew, the device went off, covering him in blue-black smoke and ash.  He didn’t think anything else of what he saw, though he was a bit annoyed that now he had to go back to the base to clean off the residue and start up new device.

oOo

“Ratchet!  We need you over here quick!  Bumblebee’s hit and he’s leaking badly!”

The medic looked up from repairing a wound in Ironhide’s side to where the yellow minibot was, his optics picking on the outflow of energon and coolant in the chest armor.  He was protected by a shelter of rocks and Optimus Prime and Bluestreak stood close by, taking out any Decepticons that dared to get too close to them.

After Ironhide yelled at him to go, convincing the medic that he’ll survive until the more seriously injured Bumblebee was repaired, Ratchet ran across the battlefield, grateful as Bluestreak provided cover fire for him.

He slid on the rocks as he stopped quickly and immediately began to close off the leaking fluid lines and checking the minibot’s vitals.  Bluestreak peered at them worriedly every few minutes when he thought he could pull his attention from shooting.

“He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”

“Don’t worry,” Optimus said, not bothering to look.  “Bumblebee’s stabilizing and Ratchet’s the best medic in the army.”  At this, he paused to meet Ratchet’s optics.  “Get the wounded loaded up and head back to the Ark.  The battle’s not going to last longer than this.”

Ratchet nodded, pausing long enough to pick Bumblebee up and heading towards the landed jet, a few of the wounded already loaded up.  It won’t take long to head back to the base.  Bumblebee was the worse of the wound and like Optimus said, he was already stabilizing.

Best get the minibot repaired before his lover began to fret…

oOo

Jazz couldn’t help it.  He was grinning like mad and even though he has to practically drag his bondmate down the hall to the medbay from fritzing in the middle of the hall.  What was even better is that he saw the reason why Prowl fritz!

The medbay doors slid open and the grin didn’t falter when Ratchet turned to glare at him, still in the middle of repairing a gash in Sideswipe’s side from the recent battle.  Most of the injured were already released, Bumblebee and Ironhide left to report for duty and Wheeljack’s busted arm was fixed and now the inventor working on buffing out scorch marks on Skyfire’s armor.

“Just put him on an available berth,” Ratchet said with a sigh, going back to the repair, ignoring the snickering coming from Sideswipe.

“What set him off this time?” Skyfire asked curiously, holding his arm steady for Wheeljack.

Jazz straightened, his grin getting wider if it was even possible.  With the air of someone about to bestow the Holy Grail of all information, the saboteur said, “He saw the Bee and Prime kissing!”

And was proceeded to be disappointed when Ratchet said, “Was that it?”

“C’mon!” Jazz said, looking between the others for some sort of reaction.  “It’s Bumblebee and Optimus Prime!  Even Smokey probably couldn’t see this coming!”

“I saw them a few days ago when I got back from my observation mission,” Skyfire said.

“Walked in on them in the control room,” Sideswipe offered, wincing when Ratchet forced him to be still.

“Saw them the other day when I was outside,” Wheeljack put in next, putting away a solution and tossing the used rag into a growing pile that would be disposed of later.

“I figured as much when Optimus contacted me in the middle of the battle sounding a bit frantic.  It was confirmed when he said that Bumblebee was stabilizing without looking at him, much less scanning him.”

Jazz deflated.  “You just had t’take the fun outta it, didn’cha?”

There wasn’t a chance for anyone to reply when Bluestreak rushed into the room, looking at the other mechs frantically.  “You won’t believe what I just saw!”

“If it deals with Bee and Optimus, we already know,” Sideswipe said, giving the Datsun a sheepish smile when Bluestreak’s doorwings drooped unhappily.

“How did you know?”

“Let’s just say that they don’t keep their secrets very well.”