A Small Situation

~>1<~

Optimus' pov

"We've got a problem!" Ratchet calls out from the control room. As I head in that direction, I see Bumblebee run in the same direction. I smile ever so slightly at his energy. I remember the first time he asked me to let him fight. He was only 8 vorns old then so, being the sensible bot that I am, I obviously told him no. He asked again every year after that... finally at 11 vorns old I let him start training. His first real mission when he was 15 vorns old. He lost his voice that day and to be honest, even though Ratchet said he was in the clear to go back out after a month, I did my best to keep him back for a while. Eventually he got back out and, well... I got a bit frustrated with him because I hadn't given him permission to go back out. Fast forward about 3 vorns and now we're here. My thoughts are put on hold as I enter the control room. I'm surprised to find that it's only me, Bumblebee and Ratchet.

"Where are the others?" I ask. Bumblebee speaks up.

::Arcee and Bulkhead went out on patrol, Wheeljack is off somewhere on this planet because apparently exploring is more important than winning this war and Smokescreen was being annoying and apparently not following rules so Ultra Magnus became a bit of a rule freak and started throwing rules in his face... those two could be anywhere at this point...:: I nod my helm.

"Alright then. Bumblebee, you're with me. Ratchet, if any of the others come back before we do, send them to our location." I order. Everyone nods their helms. Ratchet activates the ground bridge and Bumblebee and I walk through, guns pointed ahead of us. When we come out on the other side, we come to an empty canyon. I hear a long droning noise next to me.

::ugh, how are we supposed to find anyone in here? This is going to be impossible!:: Bumblebee groans. I look over at him.

"Bumblebee, be patient. We'll find them. Eventually..." I mutter the last part to myself as we start walking. We look around for a while, cannons ready. We're about to give up and guess that they'd left when we hear a jet fly over head.

We both look up to see Megatron, circling us. He transforms mid air and lands on top of one of the big rock ledges in the canyon.

"Optimus!" He sneers. He glances beside me to see Bumblebee too. "And I see you've brought your pesky little bug along too..." he spits. I look over in Bumblebee's direction and see his fists clenched quite tightly. He looks over and relaxes under my gaze. I look back to Megatron.

"Why are you here Megatron?" I ask, knowing full well it's not to have a little chat. He smirks. He obviously knew I'd ask that question. He chuckles darkly and pulls out some sort of laser like weapon.

::The hell is that?:: I hear Bumblebee mumble. Normally I'd give him a look for his use of language but now isn't really the time.

"What is that Megatron?" I inquire. He smiles, like he was just waiting for me to ask.

"Well Prime, Knockout made me a new toy and I thought you'd be the perfect bot to test it out on." He smirks and fires a blast I'm about to move out of the way when I get shoved. I look up in time to see Bumblebee being shocked by the blast. He collapses to the ground, his bright blue optics now dark. I look up to Megatron to see him smirking.

"Well, I guess either of you can work for this experiment..." he says, obviously wishing I'd been hit instead of Bumblebee. In all honesty, I'm wishing the same thing. Why does he always put others before himself? It's a danger to his life...

"Megatron, what did you do?!" I yell at him. Just as he's about to answer, I hear a noise come from beside me. Megatron smiles wickedly and flies off. I look over to where Bumblebee was hit and my optics widen to their fullest capacity. Instead of seeing my 18 vorn old scout and son, I see a little black and yellow sparkling, about 3 vorns old.

"Scrap..." I mumble to myself. I call Ratchet for a bridge.

~ did you guys stop Megatron?~ he asks from the other side of the line.

"Not really..." I respond as the blue, green and purple portal appears. I pick up the sleeping sparkling and carry him through the ground bridge with me. Ratchet obviously doesn't notice him in my arms at first, so he asks where Bumblebee is. I sigh and hold him out from my chassis.

"What in the Allspark..." he trails off. We stand there in an awkward silence for a moment as he thinks. Then he speaks up again.

"Optimus, how do you plan on taking care of him? Me and Arcee are the only ones who know about Bumblebee being your son... and surely for his safety, at least from the other cons you don't want to tell them, right?" He asks. I sigh forcefully and rub my faceplate tiredly.

"Ratchet, I don't know what to do... first of all, am I supposed to break the news? And secondly, you're right, I'm not just going to tell the others about Bumblebee being my son. It's not that I don't trust them but... I just can't. It's too dangerous and I don't want to see anyone get hurt because of it." I say. Ratchet looks astonished. I guess this is the first time in a while since I've not been sure about what to do. He hesitantly places a servo on my shoulder plate.

"I'll help you out, I promise. And I'll talk to Arcee about it. I'm sure she'll help to. And if not..." he trails off, as he tosses a wrench in the air. I roll my optics at him. Suddenly, the sound of engines blasts down the hallway and Arcee and Bulkhead return from their patrol. They transform and the sound of it wakes up the little bit in my arms. They both look around, slightly confused.

"Where's Bee?" Bulkhead asks. I look down to my arms and see little blue optics staring up at me. He giggles and reaches for my faceplate.

"He's right here." I sigh and show them.

"What?!" The say in unison.