Out of My Shadows [Transformers Prime]

The Early Years

Ratchet felt something bump his leg and looked down, unsurprised to find Bumblebee climbing up into the counter to watch him work. That wasn't a problem, he did that all the time. Ratchet paused for a moment to admire the youngling's surprising agility as he quickly scaled the side and landed ninja like on the counter, his face split wide in a grin. He was getting faster everyday.
"Nice," Ratchet smiled as he turned his attention back to his work.
"Thanks!" Bumblebee grinned as he stood up on the counter, suddenly taller than Ratchet, and laughed.
"What?" Ratchet asked, glancing up at him.
"I'm an entire me taller than you, Ratch!" He laughed, clearly pleased with himself. Ratchet felt a small smile break his concentration, and stepped away from the computer for a moment to give Bumblebee the attention he needed, so he would leave him alone so he could get back to work.
"Really, a whole you?"
"Yeah! I'm so tall I could step on your face!" He giggled, raising his foot. Ratchet knew he was teasing, but stepped back anyways, deciding to play along. When Bumblebee put his foot back down, Ratchet took the chance to step forward, grabbing him by the ankles and whipping him off the counter, holding him upside down for a moment.
"Haha! Hey, put me down!" Bumblebee laughed as Ratchet pushed and he cartwheeled away. When he came to a stop seconds later, he could barely stand up straight he was laughing so hard.
"Don't hurt yourself," Ratchet smiled, turning back to the computer. After a moment he heard Bumblebee stop laughing and assumed he'd left. However, he soon realized Bumblebee had actually climbed back onto the counter and was standing over his shoulder, watching him work.
"Whacha doin', Ratch?" Bumblebee asked, leaning forward against his shoulder for a better look at the screen.
"Working."
"But on what?"
"Why do you want to know so badly?" Ratchet asked after a second or two.
"Cuz you're always doin' it. Even when you play with me you still keep 'working'." He complained, using his fingers to make quotation marks in the air. Ratchet sighed.
"Why don't you just go play with Jazz?"
"Cuz I wanna play with you!"
"But I'm too busy right now."
"You could've just left off the 'right now' part," Bumblebee grumbled, climbing back down and walking away.

Ratchet felt a bit bad for hurting Bumblebee's feelings, but in truth he knew he'd just come back again later. It was always the same routine, and honestly Ratchet was impressed by how persistent the kid was. Everyday he would come over, get Ratchet to play with him for a minute, and then feel bad when he had to get back to work. At first, he would come back multiple times a day, but lately it had gone down to just once. It seemed to Ratchet that the young one had finally realized that there was no point anymore- he was just too busy to play with Bumblebee whenever he wanted.
Of course, Bumblebee had plenty of friends to play with; all the other Autobots had instantly taken to him like a little brother, but he seemed exceptionally attached to Ratchet, not just as a friend but almost...something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. Or perhaps he just didn't want to admit thinking of him that way. Iron Hide had commented a while back that Bumblebee looked at him like a son looks to his father, but he'd just brushed that comment away, not wanting to think about things in that kind of perspective. He had enough on his plate already.
With a small sigh, Ratchet pushed those thoughts aside and went back to his work, yet still found the slightest weight of guilt holding back his concentration. But he ignored it.
He had enough on his plate already.