A Small Situation

~>8<~

Optimus' pov

It's been a few days now. Everyone knows and all they ever do is try to comfort me. I don't need that though. What I need is for us to keep looking. I'm surprised that Megatron hasn't sent any message yet about bargaining to get him back or something. It worries me slightly. I sigh, put on a straight face and walk into the main room. Ratchet is typing a bunch of things on the computer, Arcee is nowhere to be seen, probably on patrol and both Bulkhead and Smokescreen are trying to come up with solutions to the situation (which, no offense to them, aren't all that great so far). I walk over to Ratchet.

"Found anything yet?" I ask and he just shakes his helm. I nod and walk off, trying to think of reasons Megatron would even want him. Probably because he knows that Bee is important to us. I sigh again and am about to go for a drive when suddenly we get a video message from Megatron. I walk over to the screen as Ratchet accepts the call. What pops up on the screen is quite surprising though.

"Bumblebee?" Ratchet asks in disbelief.

"Hey Ratch. I really need help." He says. He's approximately 12 vorns old now instead of the 4 vorns old we last saw. In behind him are the sounds of sirens and a bunch of bots running around.

"What did you do?" Ratchet asks and he smirks slightly.

"I tricked the guard into letting me out because I was "claustrophobic". And then I ran for the communications room to contact you guys." He says, amusement clear in his voice.

"How did you know to do that?" I ask. At this point in his life, he hadn't been taught anything yet...

"Look, I remembered everything. I know that I'm supposed to be bigger than this and I remembered all my training. I remember that we're on earth and we've got 3 human allies. And I remember how to send you guys my location." He states and suddenly a signal pops up on one of the other screens. Bumblebee's signal.

"Ratchet." I say as I turn to him. He nods and puts the location into the groundbridge.

"Bulkhead, Smokescreen, with me." I say as they come forward. Ratchet starts the bridge and we run through. We shakily land inside the nemesis and spot Bumblebee. We start towards him when suddenly another door opens and Megatron steps through. He looks pissed. Bumblebee cuts the chat and quickly turns around. He brings out his guns and Megatron just growls. He's about to attack Bee when I step in.

"Megatron." I growl and his helm snaps towards me. His optics widen and he looks back at Bumblebee.

"You little scrap, you sent them your location! How did you know to do that?!" He yells at Bumblebee. The younger bot hardly flinches.

"Oh, I forgot to mention to you, I remember everything now." He says and flips off the larger grey bot before transforming and speeding towards us. Megatron starts shooting at him but I run towards him and attack him. I punch him a few times before I'm able to pin him against the wall.

"You know Optimus, I thought I'd already destroyed your only weakness all those years ago. I'd gotten your pathetic love, Elita. I stupidly assumed that your stupid son had been taken too. I never realized that I was wrong." He scowls and laughs in a very menacing tone. I growl and push him harder against the wall. I notice him slowly raise his arm and transform his cannon. Before I get the chance to stop him, he fires. The blast lands right at the others' pedes which sends them all flying back. As I'm distracted by this, Megatron pushes off of me which knocks me back slightly. He runs towards them all and grabs Bee. He takes out his blade and holds it to Bumblebee's throat.

"Ah, ah, ah Optimus. One more step and I'll cut his helm clean off, just as I did to your precious Elita." He snarls. I immediately stop moving. I look at Bumblebee and see that he shows no fear. Just as Elita did when Megatron had her. I sigh and look back up at Megatron.

"What do you want?" I ask and Megatron smirks slightly.

"Optimus, you never learn do you? This is not a situation where I want anything from you. I just thought that maybe, I'd just... lower your numbers by eradicating this pest." Megatron sneered. I'm at a loss for words. For once I don't know what else to say, so instead I just glare darkly. The air surrounding us grows tenser by the moment but I notice something that Megatron failed to take into consideration. Bulkhead and Smokescreen slowly and quietly sneak up behind Megatron and then move to attack. Bulkhead wraps his arm around Megatron's throat while Smokescreen moves to free Bumblebee before Megatron has the chance to move his blade. As soon as Megatron is out of his state of shock, Bulkhead is launched into the air and lands near Smokescreen, Bumblebee and I. Bumblebee goes to stand up but falls back down. He clutches his stomach and starts yelling in pain.

"What in the allspark?" I ask quietly under my breath. Megatron starts to laugh. I snap my helm up to him.

"What is happening?! What have you done?!" I snarl. I don't remember the last time I've used my voice like this and it startles me a bit.

"He's dying Optimus. It doesn't matter if I was about to kill him at this point, because the next age jump will probably kill him. Me killing him would have been less painful than what he's going through now. You just made it so much worse for him!" He laughs and my optics widen. No, he can't die. Not like this.

"How do we reverse it?" I ask and he looks just a bit taken back, as if he wasn't actually expecting me to ask that.

"Why would I tell you Optimus?" He asks. I think for a moment.

"Maybe we have something that you want?" I suggest, in a tone that will cause him to question if I'm bluffing or not.

"No you don't." He states. I know we don't, but I gotta make him think we do. I rack my brain for something to say when Bumblebee speaks up.

"We do actually. A relic we found a while ago. Autobot origin, designed specifically to kill deceptions. If we set it off in battle, any deception within a 300 klik radius will immediately perish. I'm sure you don't want that brought to the next fight, do you?" He says. All we need is for Megatron to believe him.

"How does it tell deceptions from autobots exactly?" He questions. Bumblebee coughs I notice him grow just ever so slightly. He winces in pain before continuing.

"I don't fragging know, I didn't build it! Look, fix me and I'll bring it to you. Otherwise, I'll die, they'll keep it and the next time they see you, they'll use it because they'll all be pretty pissed that you let me die." He says, almost threateningly. Megatron seems to think about it for a moment before growling.

"Fine. But you better get me that relic. If not, the next time we meet, I'll be coming after you with the very strong intention to kill you." He threatens. Bumblebee nods and Megatron leaves for a moment. He comes back with the gun that caused this problem in the first place and turned one of the nobs on it. Then he aimed it at Bee and fired. A bright white light was seen and when it diminished, Bumblebee was laying on the ground, unconscious. He was his regular size again. I lift him up and call Ratchet for a groundbridge.

"He better hold up his end of this deal Prime, or else." He growls before walking out of the room. Bulkhead, Smokescreen and I walk through the groundbridge and back into the base. I carry Bumblebee over to the med bay and lay him down on one of the berths.

"Optimus?" Ratchet questions and I smile slightly.

"He's okay." I say and Ratchet seems to relax.

"I'll keep an eye on him for now." He says and I nod.

"Thank you, old friend."