Little Honeybee 🐝

Chapter 1

"Strongarm and Sideswipe. I won't ask you two again. Stop. Fighting." Bumblebee growled slightly, glancing over his shoulder at the duo as he walked through the woods.

"She tried to trip me!" Sideswipe huffed, pushing his palm into Strongarm's face and shoving her away.

"Oh shut up, weenie!" Strongarm retorted, shoving back and kicking Sideswipe forwards.

"The things I have to deal with...." Bumblebee grumbled, shaking his head and glancing down at his scanner for a moment. His bright blue optics studied it for a moment before flicking back up.

They were currently tracking a signal that had originally showed up as Decepticon. That meant that it wasn't a 'Con from Steeljaw's pack since the Wolficon had scratched off their trackers.

"The last thing we need is a new Decepticon to fight..." The yellow mech mumbled to himself, looking over his shoulder again at Strongarm and Sideswipe. "Strongarm. Let go of Sideswipe. Sideswipe, get your aft up here and be useful for once." He grumbled, not in the mood to deal with their shenanigans.

Strongarm snickered, letting go of Sideswipe and stepping back from him. "Kay."

Sideswipe huffed, shooting the femme a glare and brushing himself off. He reluctantly trudged up to Bumblebee, hunching his shoulders forwards as he looked up at the yellow mech. "What do you want me to do now?" He spat in annoyance, his optics narrowed.

Bumblebee stood up straight in an intimidating manner, glaring down at Sideswipe. "First of all, lose the attitude. Now, I want you to take Strongarm and scout off in that direction. Work it out together like real teammates, Okay?" He muttered, rubbing his optics with his knuckles. Being tired wasn't helping him feel any better, that's for sure.

"What?! But she—"

"Do it. Now."

Sideswipe went to shoot an insult at the lieutenant, but kept his mouth shut and stormed off instead. "Come on..." He huffed, gesturing for Strongarm to follow him.

Bumblebee sighed in relief once they were gone, letting his shoulders sag. Maybe staying up late every night was a bad idea after all. But he felt like he needed to keep talking to Knockout, hoping that the red mech would somehow hear him. He felt so.... lonely all the time, even though he was surrounded by his teammates. The only one who understood what he was feeling somewhat was Fixit. Though, he couldn't possibly tell the minicon that this whole mood swing was caused by a former Decepticon medic that he had unfortunately fallen for.

Oh, he could still remember those scarlet red optics.... That sleek paint job... That slim frame—

"Enough of that..." Bumblebee sighed heavily, shaking his head and continuing to walk in the original direction he was going. His arms hung limply by his sides, only rising to allow him a glance at the scanner. He was just so tired. Not just physically, but mentally as well. Is this what Optimus felt like when he became a leader? It seemed like everything was pulling him every which way and he just wanted it to stop.

Now the former scout's mind wandered to the Prime, his depressed mood deepening. He missed Optimus. He missed him so much. He wished that he had him here to help him out. He was doing such a bad job at leading, he could desperately use some guidance right about now. How in the world did Optimus do it? He made it look so easy!

When Optimus was in charge, pretty much everyone listened to him! They loved him! They hardly ever argued with him! He was so good at leading that it almost made Bumblebee jealous. No, he couldn't be jealous. Optimus was obviously destined to be a leader. He, on the other hand, was not.

His team barely followed his orders. They hardly ever listened to him, for that matter. He felt like he was completely on his own. Like he had no one to back him up. That's why he had fallen for Knockout so easily.

The red medic felt the same way.

Knockout was hardly acknowledged by Megatron during his time as a Decepticon medic. He was even abused, both mentally and physically.

But that was in the past. Everything was better now. Cybertron was thriving and everyone could live peacefully. But here on Earth? There wasn't any peace. Not while Steeljaw and his pack still lurked around every corner. Not while Knockout wasn't by his side.

Bumblebee sighed, shaking his head again. Too much thinking. He noticed a change in elevation as the flat ground slowly curved up into a steep hill. He looked at the scanner again, seeing that the signal was last picked up somewhere over this hill. He continued walking, using the trees as leverage to pull himself up when it got slippery and he lost his footing.

He soon made it to the top of the hill, his optics gazing out at the rest of the forest. He sighed, admiring its beauty for a moment.

A flash of red caught the former scout's attention and his bright blue optics flicked up, the sound of his pedes against the soft grass filling his audio receptors as he started to trot down the other side of the hill.

'What could that be?' He wondered as he slid down the hill, eventually reaching the base and looking around. He saw the flash of red again and trotted towards it, weaving between the trees that blocked his path.

Once he got closer, he froze in his tracks. His optics widened and his entire frame went rigid, his sparkbeat quickening within his chest.

The familiar paint job struck home in his spark, a soft blush spreading across his face. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and the heavy weight of his sadness felt like it had been lifted from his shoulders.

The little honeybee had finally found his flower.