Watching You - 04 - TF Fanfic

It was dark when he came online again and for a moment he didn’t know where he was.  Nothing around him was familiar and while the gentle, rhythmic sound of breathing eased some worry, it wasn’t enough to keep him in one spot.  Carefully, silently, he got off the berth, trying not to disturb the one that was with him and walked out of the room.

Everything looked different from what he was use to so he must have been transferred to a new base or ship from the battlefield.  But he couldn’t remember where the battle took place or what could have been the closest base could be.  And if he was injured in the battle, he wouldn’t be allowed to leave the berth, let alone leave the room.  The medic on duty would have made sure of that.

He wandered down the further down the hall, continuing to search for something familiar after turning many corners, the dark shadows hiding alcoves and doorways.  He pushed further in his memory for how he could have gotten in the strange place and then something clicked in his processors.

Optimus’s bright blue optics flickered rapidly and what tentative connection to his old former self broke as it faded back to nothingness.  Once again, the powerful Autobot leader was left as a Sparkling.

Lost in the dark halls of the Autobot base without the comforting presence of his yellow scout.

“Bee?” he whispered fearfully.  He looked behind him as something hummed to life and he quickly ran down the hall, only paying half attention to the turns he was taking.  A hissing sound started behind a door to his right and he immediately went the opposite direction.  Absolutely nothing was recognizable in the darkness and even if the lights were bright enough for him he still wouldn’t know where he was.  A soft whimper left his vocalizer as terrifying noises chased him down the halls and ran as fast as he could.  He took a wrong turn and stared in horror at the silver door that blocked his way and Optimus’s small body collapsed to the ground, what was left of his energy leaving him.  Optimus did the only thing he could do.

He curled up and cried for Bumblebee.

oOo

Bumblebee jerked online as something pulled at his Spark and thought at first that it was just Optimus having a bad dream.  But the moment he noticed that Optimus was no where to be seen his systems went into high battle alert and he scrambled from the berth and ran straight through the open doors and into the hall.  He had no sense of direction.  He could be running on the ceiling and not know it.  But Bumblebee knew only two things: to reach Optimus as soon as he could and to follow in the direction that his Spark was pulling him.

After what felt like hours but was just mere minutes, Bumblebee rounded one corner and nearly removed the hand that grabbed a hold of his shoulder from the owner’s arm but was stopped by the tiny Sparkling who launched himself at Bumblebee, his crying renewed as he clung to the yellow scout.

Bumblebee shielded Optimus from the outside world with his arms, relief making him weak as he murmured softly in Cybertronian, and now he was grateful to the mech that held him up.  He stood in the middle hall like that for at least fifteen minutes doing everything he could to soothe the distraught Sparkling.  Optimus’s sobs soon tapered off and Bumblebee looked to the mech who stood by him.

Or rather, the two mechs.  Sideswipe was the one who caught him and supported him while Sunstreaker stood off to the side, looking as if he would rather be somewhere else.  Sideswipe slowly removed his hand and Bumblebee gave him a grateful nod.

“How did you find him?” Bumblebee asked softly.

“He found us, actually,” Sideswipe said just as softly.  “He started crying right outside our door and the moment he saw Sunny he latched on to him.  I think it was the yellow paint job.”  The red warrior grinned at the glare his brother gave him.  “Even after he saw that it was us, he was practically welded to him.”

Sideswipe reached forward to give the Sparkling a comforting stroke, but Optimus flinched away, pressing himself tighter against Bumblebee and whimpered, and in turn the scout turned slightly to take Optimus out of reach.  Bumblebee’s optics flickered in surprise and he looked back to Sideswipe, horrified.

“I’m sorry!  I didn’t…  I don’t…”

“Don’t think about it.  It’s the middle of the night the two of you are probably stressed out beyond belief.  Go back and get some recharge.”  Sideswipe physically turned Bumblebee around and gave him a gentle shove in the direction of Optimus’s office and quarters.

Bumblebee turned to give his thanks to the twin brothers but the two warriors had already turned the corner and disappeared from sight.  With nothing else to do, Bumblebee made his way to the quarters.  Optimus didn’t look anywhere but up at Bumblebee’ face and his expression became relaxed as one large finger stroked his metal cheek.

By the time they reached the room, Optimus was back into recharge but his grip on Bumblebee’s chassis was still as strong as before.  The scout laid down on the recharge berth and couldn’t help but smile as Optimus woke up enough to crawl up and curl up close to Bumblebee’s head, their noses barely touching.  Curling an arm protectively around the Sparkling, Bumblebee went into recharge.

oOo

The next few days that followed seemed as normal as it would get for the time being.  Though Bumblebee had to hide his smile when Prowl walked into the command center a few times and saw Optimus literally crawling on Bumblebee’s back, asking the scout what things were by a simple point and “What!” followed by happy clicks and chirps.  The Sparkling’s feet were braced against the joints of Bumblebee’s doorwings but it didn’t bother Bumblebee.  Every once in a while the yellow appendages would twitch slightly, a reaction to the scout’s emotions, but this did nothing to deter Optimus.

At one point Prowl came in and actually saw Optimus in recharge, his tiny body draped over Bumblebee’s shoulder.  The posture didn’t look comfortable and it appeared that Optimus would topple forward at any moment but Bumblebee continued his duties, holding a hand over Optimus to steady him any time he had to move.

But during the entire time, ever since the night that Optimus accidentally wandered out of the room and got lost in the Ark, he never left Bumblebee’s side, at least one hand always clasped on to the armor of Bumblebee’s leg or arm.  He didn’t even leave to play with Bluestreak or Sideswipe.  Prowl saw no problem with this since he was able to arrange schedules for Bumblebee to work in the Ark and Bumblebee never once slacked off on his duties.

The first time that Optimus had to be separated from the scout was when Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had called for backup from the city, having spotted Barricade and were in a high speed chase down the highway.  Prowl and Bluestreak were to meet up with the two warriors but Prowl requested one more from the direction of the Ark to block off the Decepticon.

Bumblebee had stood from his seat, the Sparkling in his arms and looking at him with wide optics as the scout walked over to Jazz and carefully handed him to the saboteur.  Optimus wouldn’t let go of Bumblebee’s hands and Bumblebee kneeled down so that his optics were level with the teary ones of Optimus.

“I have to help the others, loverling,” Bumblebee murmured as he touched their foreheads together.  There was nearly a minute of silence before Optimus finally nodded, his grip on Bumblebee’s hands loosening.  Bumblebee smiled and pressed a quick kiss to Optimus’s helm before racing out of the command center.

The Sparkling looked between the console in front of him and the Pontiac Solstice behind him before he reached forward and hit a button on the console and pressing back against Jazz.  There was a brief burst of static before the speakers settled down and Jazz knew instantly that the Sparkling activated the channel that’ll pick up on any conversation that would come over the Autobot frequencies.

Behind them, the door slid open again and Jazz turned to look at the mech as Optimus turned his head to watch the console as if it would bring Bumblebee back.  Jazz easily knew who it was.  There was only one mech left at the base since Ironhide was with the Lennoxs.  Ratchet walked in and looked between the two ‘Bots in vague surprise.

“I didn’t think Bumblebee would be able to leave with the way Optimus was clinging to him.”

The Sparkling actually turned and gave the medic an angry click before reaching forward and turning up the volume on the speakers even though nothing was coming through yet.  Jazz chuckled and gave Optimus’s back a gentle pat as he spoke to Ratchet.

“Well ya have yet to lemme off of the light duty list.”  Jazz lowered his voice slightly.  “How has the repairs been goin’ on…”  He looked briefly to Optimus, not surprised that the Sparkling was watching the speaker on the console in front of him with an intense stare.

“As best as it could be expected.  I’ve done all I’ve can with the materials I have and will have to wait until Wheeljack gets here.  Last estimate was by the end of this week.  His memory chips, though, can be anywhere between tomorrow and a month.  But from his current level of awareness and intelligence, it’ll probably be sooner than later.”

Anything Jazz was about to say was lost when the Sparkling launched himself at the console and sat in front of the speaker as voices began to crackle from it.

“Prowl to Bumblebee.  What is your position?”

“I’m about seven miles out of the Ark heading in you direction.  Barricade just came into my range…  He’s heading off road, east north-east.”

The intercom fell silent as the speaking stopped.  Jazz and Ratchet looked at each other as Optimus grew fidgety.  Nothing of the battle would be heard over the speakers unless the mechs in battle talked to each other.  The silence went on to the point where Optimus was poking at the speaker grill with his tiny fingers, twittering impatiently.

Jazz had to lunge to catch Optimus as the Sparkling startled back, noise blaring over the speakers, orders and confirmations being spoken in rapid fire speech.

“Sunny watch your back!  He’s rigged this area with missles!”

“I’ve noticed that Side.  Thanks for pointing out the obvious!”

“Primus slaggit!  The fragger caught my wing and shoulder!”

“Bee!  Bee hurt!  Fix Bee!”  Optimus didn’t wait for Ratchet to reply before he was glued back to the speaker again.

“Bluestreak, aim for the shoulder joints.  I want to take him back for interrogations.”

“Those are kind of difficult shots Prowl.  I’m going to have to move to achieve that but Barricade’s going to slip away before I can get close enough!”

“Sunstreaker!  Bumblebee!  Pull back now!”

The only things that came over the intercom were snarls and the hiss of static for a minute before the mechs heard Prowl’s soft sigh.

“Prowl to Ark.”

“Ark here.”

“ Heading back, ETA twenty minutes.  Decepticon got away.  Bumblebee has injuries to his right doorwing and the armor of his upper right arm.  Sideswipe and Bluestreak got damage to their paint but nothing threatening…  Please tell me that Optimus isn’t listening to this…”

Jazz answered the question.  “He’s the one to turn on the comm. when Bee left.”

There was a soft murmured curse before the comm. shut off and Ratchet left the room to prepare the medbay.  The medic was surprised when small hands caught his leg and he paused long enough to pluck up the Sparkling who was currently climbing his leg.

“I’m not sure if you should be in there with me.”

Optimus scowled at him.  “Bub-bee hurt!  You fix. Opti stay quiet.”

The Sparkling had a good grasp on what was going on around him but just a bit of trouble on pronunciation.  Knowing that Optimus would just sneak in to the medbay the first chance he had, Ratchet allowed the Sparkling into the area that he would kick most mechs out of.  He sat Optimus on the edge of the berth and Optimus watched Ratchet’s moves while his tiny legs were kicking in the air

Every once in a while, when Optimus would feel that it was safe, he would ask the medic what some of the tools were.  Ratchet was saved from having to explain why he shared a name with one of them when the arrival of Bumblebee distracted him.

“Right on time!” he said cheerfully and Bumblebee paused, a faint look of horror crossing his face but that was replaced by a smile when Optimus clicked happily, staying seated on the berth.

Bluestreak and Sideswipe followed the yellow scout and stood as Ratchet inspected their wounds.  It was nothing worse than some scratches, for once, and he sent the two ‘Bots on their way before focusing on Bumblebee.  When he turned around, Bumblebee was sitting on the berth and Optimus was pressed up against his left side, watching Bumblebee and Ratchet.

Ratchet picked up a welder, eying the nasty gash in the doorwing.  “Between today and the night he got lost, he’s not going to let you leave his sight until he gets his memory back.”

Bumblebee gave him a tired smile.  “It’ll make it a bit easier to watch him, if anything.”