𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑-𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 | 𝙖𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙡

xii. little quid pro quo

𝐂 𝐇 𝐀 𝐏 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑 𝐓 𝐖 𝐄 𝐋 𝐕 𝐄

𝖻𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖻𝗒:
𝖿𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝗋𝗀𝗋𝖾𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗂𝗇𝗌𝗉𝗈

𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐨

𝐍𝐎 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 about the aftermath, the whole cleaning up ordeal, when the battle was done. Bumblebee, however, was living it at the crack of dawn. He had no clue why his systems powered back up at such an early hour, but he figured to get rid of the... mess downstairs so the girls wouldn't have to wake up to it.

Surprise, surprise, dragging dead bodies was really hard. Getting blood off of wooden floors was even harder.

At some point, he was going to thank whoever did these jobs back on Cybertron.

His tired steps slugged up the stairs, peeking past the doorway where the girls slept. Bee was relieved of the couch and got to sleep in Eclipse's room. She, on the other hand, fled to the twin's room where Maria had passed out on her sister's bed.

So, when he peeked in to see both girls sprawled out on each other, the blanket thrown over Maria's form to the point she was completely shielded by it, he smiled slightly. The shades were cracked just slightly as the drape covered it to seal out most of the light. All that illuminated the room was the small space between the drape and window and the open doorway, just enough to see her sleeping face. It wasn't her, just her holoform, which made him wonder where she kept her alt.

He missed seeing the real her. He hadn't seen her in what felt like an eternity. It was great being reunited with her in these forms, and it did serve as protection, but they couldn't stay... forever, right?

That thought plagued him. The idea of even suggesting they leave Maria and Ellie with the reasoning that they'd technically outlive them would probably end with her smacking him upside the head and an earful of yelling.

Bumblebee walked back down the stairs, entering the main room as he dragged his hand through his hair, stressed. He was tired but finally finished cleaning.

His eyes scanned the place, observing his work. It was very clean, and he didn't know he had that in him. Back on base, it was never not a mess. There were too many mechs in one place for it to ever be clean.

There was a small similarity that he could compare to the bunks, that being the younger male sprawled out in an uncomfortable position on the couch, snoring up a storm. Bee didn't know how he stayed asleep with all the noise he made while cleaning. This kid would get along well with Smokescreen the more he thought about it.

Bumblebee's vision was suddenly blocked by a pop-up message, his holoform flickering as he yelped in surprise. He covered his mouth immediately afterward, slightly embarrassed that the high-pitched noise came out of his mouth.

His attention focused back on the message from Prime, and Bumblebee felt his spark sink.

'Assistance needed, soldier. Give confirmation and we will send a ship your way.'

He couldn't do anything but stare at it, frozen in place.

They needed his help. Bots could be offlining or Decepticons were closing in, he could help them. But then he was also tugged another way, conflicted when Eclipse came stomping down the stairs, the femme he was sent to just check in on to confirm life. This also caused the sleeping boy on the couch to jolt awake. Oh, now you wake up.