Infection

Escape

Bumblebee's POV

He watched quietly, pretending to be unconscious, as the vehicon chained him to his new spot on the other wall of the lab. His shoulders ached tremendously from being hung by the car doors acting like the beginnings of wings on his back but he managed to adjust himself so he was tenser than normal. When the vehicon finished and walked away he relaxed and found it had worked. The chains were loose enough for him to escape. Now all he had to do was wait.

Since the failed "deal" two days ago, the scout had calmed down from Shockwaves experiment but it would never go away until he saw his friends again. Instead, he had turned his fear into motivation and was ready to get off the Nemesis any way he could.

He decided to wait until the auto bots struck another mine and escape by slipping out of the chains and into a groundbridge to said mine where he would find his team. Now he had to pull it off.

While waiting he had kept himself busy by studying their new forms. Since he was constantly chained he hadn't really explored much of what he could do so he watched the decepticons. He would watch the many vehicons flowing in and out of the med bay for various minor repairs as well as the red medic that moved around repairing them and sometimes went to Shockwave when the scientist needed him for a second opinion.

     At first, Bumblebee had only seen drivers, including the autobots he hadn't payed much attention to them until the first flier came into the mad bay. It happened to be Starscream and seeing the seekers wings and not being distracted by some potentially life threatening situation had made him think about it. Over the next few hours a few more fliers came in. They were mostly vehicons with the exception of Soundwave. After that Bee had been satisfied with the conclusion that all the fliers had wings. He was, however, still intrigued by the drivers. They all had what looked like the beginnings of wings on their back but they were all different.

     While Bumblebee had his vehicle modes car doors, the vehicons had the front tires of their vehicle modes, and Knockout had fins made from his shoulder plates. He also remembered that Smokescreen and Ratchet had smaller ones made from their back plates. He wondered what the others looked like.

     He had figured out that the pulse had infected all the transformers and he wanted to know what they had become. How much they had changed. It was yet another drive to escape and he knew it wouldn't be long.

     The third day started out like any other. He woke from recharge sore as ever and not long after Knockout came in and began his work. After Breakdown died Knockout had been left as the only con on the ship with medical expertise other than basic training and it was no secret that he was the reason most of the crew was alive and fully functional. The medic started his day with the high ranking officers and worked his way down. The repairs were minor and had been caused by the vehicons hitting their helms or falling on top of each other when they passed out and were infected. The repairs didn't take too long but considering the vehicons constant chatter and refusal to sit still it always took longer than necessary. Bumblebee had enjoyed listening to their conversations, especially when it got to the point that Knockout was included, or rather dragged in to answer a single question that quickly multiplied.

     He was currently listening to one of those conversations and watching the medic adjust to another tool he hadn't used since being infected. He was almost done when Starscream's voice spoke over the ships intercom.

     "The autobots have struck an energon mine. Stop them now!" The seeker shouted. All the vehicons ran out of the med bay, except for the one Knockout was working on, and disappeared down the hall. Knockout finished quickly and followed the vehicon out but turned a different direction. He was most likely going to get orders from Megatron.

     Bumblebee didn't wast any time slipping out of the muzzle and chains before leaving the lab and following the vehicons down the hall. He arrived at the lift that carried energon from the mines to the ship and waited for it to come back up. When it did he slipped onboard, relieved that no one was on it, and looked at the battle below. He could see the vehicons engaging team prime and his spark ached as he resisted the urge to run straight to them.

    The vehicons were all busy fighting and not one of them saw him. The lift reached the bottom and he slipped out before joining the fight. Despite how much his shoulders hurt he kept going and felt a sort of freedom in being on four legs. He could move easier, strike faster, and hit with more force. He quickly made his way over to his team and Arcee saw him first.

     "Bee!" She yelled excitedly. She was still shorter than him and had a small and slender build that he could tell would be just as useful for stealth.

     "Bee!" Bulkhead crushed a few cons to awkwardly hug the scout before continuing. The wrecker was still heavily built and easily able to 'kick con tail pipe' just as good as he used to.

     "What?" Ratchet asked over a comm link Bee was glade to have functional again.

     "Bumblebee's back!" Arcee said excited and Bee could hear Ratchet sigh in relief and the kids cheer in the back ground. The scout caught Optimus' optic across the battle felid and the prime smiled briefly, happy to have him back. Optimus was still the tallest and had a certain strength to him as he easily ripped through the cons.

     Bee noticed that they all seemed to be enjoying the freedom of four legs, claws, and teeth, and were quickly reteaching themselves to fight while the vehicons weren't as open minded and struggled to keep up.

     They managed to grab a sufficient amount of energon before escaping. As soon as he stepped back into the base he heard Raf calling his name. The young boy had tears streaming down his face as he ran up and hugged Bee's paw. He smiled up at his guardian as Bee relaxed and turned to his team.

Bumblebee could feel and instinct telling him what to do. He decided to listen to it and went to Optimus first to see the prime was doing the same. Bumblebee wasn't surprised, the instincts were their and could be ignored but the team was so happy and the feeling was so strong. He walked up to the one most like a father to him and brushed up against his side in the predicon version of affection. Optimus leaned into him and he could feel the relief surging through the prime.

Bee went to Ratchet next and touched helms with him instead, knowing the medic was not as affectionate. Arcee and Bulkhead came up to him and both brushed him lightly. Bee hardly noticed or cared that each and every one of them purred when they touched and reinforced their trust in each other.

     The scout let his guard down and told his team about Shockwaves experiment. They were all shocked and horrified to say the least and he ended up in another hug. He was happy to be home and soon laid down with Raf to catch up. He listened to the boy talk for awhile before he fell asleep. Once he made certain Raf was comfortable Bumblebee curled around him and laid his helm down to rest.

Eventually Ratchet walked by on his way to his and Optimus' berth room. When he saw the scout he stoped.

"Are Miko and Bulkhead playing that obnoxious music again?" He asked.

'No, Raf just fell asleep here.' He responded raising his helm to look Ratchet in the optic.

"And your ok with laying on the floor?"

'I don't mind.'

"Mabye you should." Same old Ratch. Bumblebee shrugged and Ratchet rolled his optics but walked over and laid down next to him facing him. Bumblebee gave him a smug expression and the medic returned an annoyed one.

"I clearly won't be able to get you to move so the least I can do is not let you lay here alone." He said before resting his helm next to the scout. Bee laid his helm back down and enjoyed the side of Ratchet few bots got to see. In fact he was certain he was the only one the medic treated this way. He knew Ratchet opened up to Optimus as a friend but to Bumblebee they were both parents and they made growing up in war so much easier.

Bumblebee's last thought was of how much he had missed them before he fell into an unbelievably peaceful recharge relaxing in Ratchets presence and Raf's.