TRANSFORMERS: Bumblebee's Boy

FEARS AND LESSONS

CHAPTER 19
Fears and Lessons

"You scared me, you know."

Bumblebee frowned at his son's words little more than an hour later. He and Trevor were now in the rec room, with the boy resting on his knee. Bumblebee yet again felt his optics sadden, after all he still felt bad. He could see where he'd have scared him, seeing as he'd been in the med bay so long. "I know," Bumblebee finally muttered. "Barricade got under my armor is all. When he threatened you, I couldn't control myself, the thought of him ever getting his hands on you..." He tensed. "It scares me."

Trevor ran a hand through his tuft of blond hair thoughtfully. "I'm a tough guy, Bee," Trevor told him. "Just because I'm a one-legged mess-."

"Don't call yourself that," Bumblebee told him bluntly. "I hate it when you put yourself down like that."

Trevor sighed, trying to find a different way to word what he had to say. "The point is, Bee, I'm tough," Trevor explained. "I might not be that strong or anything. But I do have one thing that physical strength doesn't give you. Guts." He added, patting his chest as if for emphasis. "I might be a little scared of Barricade, but I can fake it. I always did around Trent after all."

Bumblebee revved his engine at the mere mention of the bully. He still remembered that first night, in the garage when he had tried to hurt Trevor. And to say the least, it made him angry whenever he remembered it. "And that's why you're my little mech wrecher," He offered gently, rubbing the top of his head. "You don't have to worry about me, though, Trev," He noted, very firmly. "No matter what happens I promise I'll always be here for you."

"That's a pretty big promise," Trevor muttered.

"Maybe, but it's true," Bumblebee replied, looking down upon his son fondly. "Even if I ever did offline, they say love lasts beyond the measure of time. Or even the measure of our lives," He explained, his voice trailing off. "And in case you didn't notice, I tend to have a great deal of love for you," He poked his son gingerly in the stomach, causing Trevor to smile.

Trevor chewed his lip, unsure of how to return the comment. He did love Bumblebee like he dad, no, scratch that. He loved him because he was his dad as of a week ago, and had been showing him love and care long before that. But could he say that? He'd never said that to anyone other than his biological parents, and it was a little hard. And yet, a small part of him could hear his parents whispering into his ear, telling him to move on, to let the Autobot know that he did love him back. They wouldn't want him to live in fear of "hurting" them for the rest of his life, and he knew it. "I love you too, Bee," Trevor leaned his head against his armored leg. "So if the saying's true then that works out pretty great."

Bumblebee smiled, his spark skipping a beat as he realized it was the first time Trevor had said those words. The first time his son had said he loved him, and it felt oh so good. Carefully, he reached down, scooping him up and bringing him close to his spark chamber. "Yeah, sure does," Bumblebee chuckled a little. "But I promise to tone down the hard-headedness in the field a bit. Just so you don't have to worry like that again."

"I'll always worry," Trevor admitted calmly.

"Well then, I'll try and help give you LESS reason to worry," Bumblebee smiled.

Trevor nodded his head, sighing lightly as he let Bumblebee stroke his back. He supposed that made sense, and at least for now, Bumblebee was safe. And though he would still be scared that there might be a day where his adoptive father left the base and never returned... At the very least today, he could say that he was okay. "When were you going to tell me about those fears anyway?" Bumblebee asked, his optics filled with concern.