The Prime And His Little Bug

Among Ruins

During a search of a recently destroyed city, Optimus finds something among the rubble that changes his life forever.

Optimus' spark sank as he received the news of a recently destroyed city near the well of Allsparks, most of which was filled with refugees and neutral bots. He decided he wanted to join the search parties to see if he could find anyone who may have survived the brutal attack, he felt as if he owed it to them.

As soon as he steps through the groundbridge he gets a good look at the destruction that took place. Smoke, fire, and rubble were everywhere and to Optimus' dismay, he could have sworn he'd seen a cyan liquid's glow pooling from under a collapsed building nearby. He prayed to Primus and the Primes before him that he'd be able to find survivors as he began his search alone.

A cycle goes by and Optimus is still determined to find something but so far, the only things he's found were ruined buildings and the bodies of the bots who once lived there. He hoped that his fellow Autobots had had better luck in their search and were well on their way to getting the people the help they needed. Snapping back to the task at hand, Optimus slowly made his way into the outskirts of his radius of the city.

He wanders around for a while, lifting and moving rubble, hoping to find someone beneath and only finding himself disappointed when he didn't. He was about to turn back when he saw something bright in the distance, moving, alive. He slowly made his way towards the bright object, worried that they'd flee, or even worse it was a Decepticon looking for another kill.

"Hello?" A tiny voice called out to him once he got closer. The bot calling out to him was small, too small to be a fully grown bot.

"Hello, little one. I am Optimus Prime." Optimus calmly said, moving a bit closer to the tiny bot, who titled their head in response. His spark sank as he got a better look at them. They were a tiny, yellow and black bot, with small wing-like nubs on their back and wheel wells on their peds and shoulders, a grounder, Optimus noted. They walked toward him with a limp, an injured leg being dragged behind them. Optimus frowned as he noticed how scrawny the poor Sparkling had been, his eyes looking dull from the lack of Energon in his system. As the sparkling made their way toward him, he noticed something being dragged beside them, a piece of metal larger than their own body. "What do you have there?" He inquired, pointing at the metal bar as he kneeled to get closer to the sparkling's level.

"I dunno." The sparkling admitted. "I saw a big bot have one before, so now I have one!" They giggled.

"Oh really now?" Optimus chuckled. "Now why did the big bot have one?" He asked.

"The big bot was playing with a huge bot and they kept hitting each other. The big bot kept getting lots of owies and I saw he used one of these, so I grabbed one to help him! Then the huge bot hit them again, and they went into recharge. They must've been really tired, cause they didn't get up!" He smiled, looking up at Optimus with big eyes.

Optimus felt as if his spark had broken into a thousand pieces. ' This sparkling and so many others have had to witness something so brutal because of this war. I wish I could apologize to each and every one of them. ' "That must have been very scary for you. To see those big bots... playing like that." He remarked, making the sparkling giggle and nod. "You must be so brave."

" Well, I was kinda scared. But if you think I was brave, then I was!" He laughed, putting a small servo into his mouth, lightly biting down on it.

"Well little one, this place isn't safe for someone as brave as you," Optimus explained, putting a large servo onto the small sparkling's shoulder. "How would you like to come with me? You will have a place to recharge, rations of Energon to consume and you won't have to feel scared again." He asked softly. The sparkling looked up at him with a shocked expression.

"Really? Yeah!" He laughed, jumping up and down in place, dropping the metal bar. Optimus laughed as he picked the sparkling up, standing up again. " Woah... I feel so high up!" He giggled.

"Rachet?" Optimus began, speaking into his comm. "I'm requesting a groundbridge. I found a survivor who needs medical care." He explained as the sparkling giggled and fidgeted in his arms.

"Right away Optimus, tracking your location now." Ratchet responds. He waits a few moments before the bright blue-green portal opens up nearby, scaring the sparkling.

"It's alright little one. It will not hurt you, I promise." Optimus stated before he began to make his way toward it. "I forgot to ask you little one, what is your designation?"

The sparkling is silent for a moment. "I dunno, I don't have one. But I remember someone calling me... B." They explain, fidgeting with their hands. Optimus thinks over designations he could give to the sparkling.

"Hmm..." He mumbles, lost in thought. "How about... Bumblebee, after an organic creature from a planet I've heard of. They look quite similar to you, little one." He smiled. 'Bumblebee' squealed with a big grin on their face.

"Bumblebee," They repeat, trying to get used to it. "I love it, thank you Optimus!"

Bumblebee held tightly onto Optimus' servos as they made their way through the portal. Optimus smiled, looking down at the small bot.

'I promise to continue to fight for a future where you will never have to see such horrors again young one. No one will lay a finger on you, I promise you, Bumblebee.'