Out of My Shadows [Transformers Prime]

The Truth

"Ratchet!" Bumblebee cried out as he burst through the door.
"Bumblebee! Where in the Allspark have you been?" Ratchet demanded as the frantic youngling rushed to his side, hugging his leg.
"I-i got lost, and then there was this scary guy, he was really mean, and he pushed me off the roof, and I ran away but then I got lost even worse than before! And then there was this other guy, he helped me get home, but he still wasn't very nice- Ratchet I'm so scared!" Bee spluttered and he dropped to the ground next to Ratchet's foot. Ratchet smiled sadly and knelt down next to Bee, pulling him into a hug. Bumblebee sniffled quietly, hugging Ratchet tightly, as though he might vanish any second.
"It's okay, Bee," Ratchet reassured him in a soft, quiet voice. "Calm down, you're safe now." Bumblebee took a deep, shaky breath and stepped back, looking at Ratchet.
"What?" Ratchet asked, unsure how to read his expression.
"I dunno, it's just..." Bumblebee sighed. "You've never done that before."
"...is that a bad thing?"
"No, I like it," Bumblebee said with a small smile.
Ratchet didn't really know what to do. Bumblebee was right, he knew; he really had never done something like that with the child, which made Ratchet feel a bit guilty for not having been there for him as much as he probably should have...
"Ratchet?" Bumblebee asked, interrupting his train of thought.
"Yes?" Ratchet blinked, pulling out of his own thoughts and back to the matter at hand.
"Who were those guys?"
"What guys-?"
"The ones that were mean to me."
"Oh," Ratchet frowned, now realizing that he had never actually told Bumblebee about the Decepticons, much less the war they were more or less involved in; nobody had. "Well, they were bad guys to be sure," He started carefully. "They're part of a group that call themselves Decepticons and-"
"And they're mean old bullies!" Bumblebee interrupted, a mad little scowl on his face. "He made fun of me and pushed me around!"
"Well, that is kind of what they do; Decepticons don't like Autobots."
"But why? What did we do?"
"Well...it's complicated, but most of it revolves around something called the Matrix of Leadership, which is what makes Optimus a Prime, and the Allspark-"
"I know what that is," Bumblebee nodded, interrupting him yet again.
"-right. Anyways, Megatron wanted it, both of them really. He wanted to be made a Prime, but the Elder Primes saw he was not worthy of the Matrix, and refused."
"Whoa, so Megatron is a bad guy, too?" Bee asked, eyes wide.
"Yes, the main bad guy, the leader of the Decepticons," Ratchet nodded. "and he and his Cons fight a lot with Optimus and us Autobots, because they want the Allspark, but we can't let them have it."
"Why not?"
Because it could give Megatron ultimate power, which time has proven he would not use well. With the kind of power the Allspark could grant, he could completely wipe out all us Autobots, and take over Cybertron."
"What? The whole planet?!" Bee gasped. "How could he do that? The Allspark is really that powerful?"
"Well, it is what gives life to our whole planet, so logic would say that it would have the power to possibly destroy all life too, but that idea won't be proven unless it should fall into the chaotic hands of the Decepticons." Bumblebee stood up tall.
"Well we can't let that happen," Bumblebee said with a serious expression. "I'll help with that!"
"Oh will you now?" Ratchet asked with a small smile.
"Yeah! I'm gonna be a warrior, like Jazz!"
"No you won't," Ratchet sighed, straightening up.
"Whaddya mean?" Bee frowned, looking a bit hurt. "I want to help!"
"I know you do, Bee, I know. But you can't, at least not yet." Ratchet said as he stepped back to glance at his computer. Optimus had led a few of the others out to investigate a powersurge that Teletraan One had picked up nearly an hour ago, and they hadn't checked in yet. He was beginning to worry a little.
"Not yet?" Bee echoed. "Then when?"
"Maybe when you're a little older, Bumblebee."
"Oh," Bee looked down at himself. He was pretty little right now, so 'older' must be a pretty long ways away. He sighed. "Okay, I guess I can wait until 'older'."