To Bee with You: To Darkness and Back (Bumblebee x Reader)

The Gentle Warrior

The night at the garage was calm, and with a soft hum of the engine, Bumblebee parked himself in as smoothly as possible as to not awaken you. Being a light sleeper, however, your eyes pried open.

"Bee?" You looked around and out the car windows. Home. You stepped out of Bumblebee's alt mode, allowing him to transform to his bipedal form.

"Did you -- rest -- well?" Bee asked, lowering himself to your level.

You nodded, and put a hand on Bee's metallic frame.

"Thank you for always being here for me." You smiled as your eyes and his optics locked, to which Bumbleebee nodded with a calm buzz. "How was your mission? Did I... interrupt your mission?"

The mission. Bee's metallic shoulders slumped in defeat, grief etched in his face. "We lost -- a friend -- Cliff -- Jumper!" He showed Cliffjumper on his hologram projector, how he defended Arcee, how Blitzwing flew a rocket to his spark, and stopped the projection mili-seconds before Cliffjumper was blown to pieces. There was no need for you to see such traumatic scene, Bee thought.

"Oh God, no... Bee, I'm so sorry," You searched for his optics, your hands gently held his giant one. "Bee.. I can't even begin to imagine the pain you must be feeling right now," your eyes started to glisten with tears, your heart aching to see him in agony. Bee caressed your hand gently.  "I'm here for you, Bee. Tell me how I can help."

"Stay -- with me--" Bee inched closer, his optics narrowed in melancholy. The grief of losing Cliffjumper was painful, but imagining the loss of loved one, like what Arcee must be feeling right then, was even more debilitating for him.

There was a lot more than "Stay with me" that he wanted to tell you, but he was not able to. For this moment, he just wanted everything to halt.

"Not going anywhere." you returned assuring, and circled your hands around Bee's neck for a tight embrace.

---

You pried her eyes open with a little struggle, and when you successfully did following a yawn, you saw sunlight reflected on... yellow. Your back ached, what was I sleeping on? And as consciousness fully came, you realized Bumblebee was already staring at you lovingly. Oh. You knew why your back ached. You slept on Bumblebee's lap all night, in the garage.

"Good morning -- beautiful--" he greeted with a rub on your head.

"Good morning, Bee." You smiled and sighed. Isn't he a heartthrob? It's only the morning but he has to charm me like this. It was a happy complain.

"You fell -- asleep -- so soundly --" Bee continued, "Did not want -- to wake you up--"

"It's fine, Bee." you stretched and reached for his frame and planted a kiss. Bee's face plate heated up. "How are you feeling?" You asked.

"Better--" Bumblebee answered with a slight nod, his blue optics brightened. Not the usual chirping, lighthearted Bumblebee, but at least he seemed better. Or maybe he did not want you to worry? In any case, Cliffjumper's death seemed to hit pretty hard. Oh, how you would do anything to see him feeling better. Then an idea came across. Something that you had thought about for some time, but was not brave enough to do.

"H-honey," You stuttered, not accustomed to, or more likely shy at the use of the word, even though Bumblebee had called you a lot of endearing names (unreturned), "You mentioned before that your voice synthesizer was taken out by a Decepticon at a cliff in California, right?"

Bumblebee's optics widened in surprise. Is she planning to... He nodded. You grinned.

"Alright. Wait here. I'm going to get ready and grab something to eat, then we're going for a drive." You hopped off Bumblebee's lap, and joyfully stepped out of the garage before Bumblebee could even protest.

Then it's time to put my mechanical engineering lessons to good use.

Little did you know, your calling Bee 'honey' had already made him feeling a lot better.

--

The drive to the cliff in California was uneventful, both of you chatted and sometimes flirted and blushed like stupid kids in love, occasionally having to stop by at a gas station so that you could get some business done.

That was, until a black and white cop car appeared out of nowhere and started tailgating you.

"Uh.. Bee? I think we need to pull ov-- AAAHHH!!!!"

The cop car, which was none other than Barricade, fired a shot and in a nanosecond Bumblebee tightened your seatbelt, swerved in way that would've thrown the passenger from one side to another had it not been for the seatbelt, and dodged the shot.

"Hang on--" Bumblebee ordered, as he made another swerve, his canon forming underneath and fired twice at Barricade.

"Oh no, no, this is bad," You whimpered, holding on tightly to the steering. 

Bumblebee's shot hit the Decepticon, buying himself a little time. Finding a safe spot behind a big rock, Bumblebee transformed to his bipedal form and moved you safely behind the rock. "Wait -- here -"

You did not have a chance to say anything, frankly you couldn't even if you did. Charging towards Barricade who now had transformed and moved towards you, Bumblebee fired another shot and lunged forward, his arms twisting Barricade's head as he did. Barricade rid himself of Bee's headlock and pounded on him. With a quick move, Bumblebee got up and behind Barricade, kicking the back of his knee joint hard, incapacitating him momentarily. His other hand transformed into a blade, and with a swift motion pierced into Barricade's spark from behind.

Knowing he would die soon, Barricade aimed a shot at the big rock you were hiding in, hoping to distract Bee and probably buy himself some time to call for reinforcement. Fortunately, Bumblebee was known as one of the fastest Autobots, and with reflex he punched Barricade's arm hard, making him miss the shot.

Bee's sturdy metallic shoulders dropped and his head tilted ever so slightly in relief when you peeked out from the back of the rock unharmed. Meanwhile, Barricade's spark died.

Everything happened so fast, you watched in terror and in awe. You were terrified for her life, that's for sure, but watching Bumblebee fought fiercely in combat evoked fascination and a good amount of fear. Not in a bad way, of course. The thing was, Bee mostly appeared as a gentle hug-able Teddy Bear Autobot, sometimes acting cute and silly, sometimes charming and romantic, that people (like you) often forgot that Bumblebee was not all those at all. That Bee was a skilled combatant, a Cybertronian soldier, a warrior whose ability and power could rip his enemies in two or blow them to pieces.

You were so lost in thoughts and didn't realize that Bumblebee had approached you, kneeling on one knee in front of you, a finger touching her cheek. "Are you alright -- my love?" And, the gentle warrior was back. My gentle warrior.

--- to be continued ---

Disclaimer: I do not own Bumblebee, Transformers, or any of the related characters. The Transformers franchise is owned by Hasbro. This fanfiction is intended for entertainment only. I am not making any profit from this story.