How To Catch A Bumblebee

Chapter Four

A/N: There isn't much to say about this chapter, except that we are finally getting into the good stuff! Also, I updated the cover and the title (again) because it needed an upgrade. This will be the last time I change it, I think. And... these chapters seem to be getting longer every time. Whoops...

...

They had been fighting at Iacon for around a Deca-cycle before they moved to another destroyed city, and then another. No Decepticons had recognised Bumblebee yet, and for that he was grateful. Granted, he hadn't seen Shockwave or Megatron on the field at all, but still. Much to his (weak) internal protest, the Autobots had grown on him. He soon found himself joking around with them and genuinely enjoying himself whenever they weren't fighting the Decepticons. 

Each of the Autobots were different in their own way. While there were other Autobots in their camp, he mostly stayed with the bots he had met on that first day. Once each of them had warmed up to him, they all seemed happy for him to hang out with them. 

It was like having one massive group of friends. Bumblebee had never had friends before. He thinks he likes it. 

The renown silver saboteur, Jazz, was lots of fun to be around. When he wasn't busy, of course. His spying and sabotage abilities were rival to Bumblebee's own, and Jazz, along with Cliffjumper, were the ones to introduce Bumblebee to pranking. With the three of them combined, not a single bot in the Autobot base would ever be completely safe again. 

Cliffjumper was a great friend who could always make him smile, and Bumblebee was forever grateful to him for showing him the ropes around the Autobot base. Cliff was very chatty, and Bumblebee thinks that habit might have rubbed off on him, because he sometimes would find himself talking some poor bots' audio off about nothing in particular. Thanks, Cliffjumper.

The Autobot medic, Ratchet, could be grumpy and cranky old bot, but he had a soft spot for Bumblebee. The other Autobots all thought it was hilarious. Bumblebee had a soft spot for him too, though he would never tell anybot. 

Don't even get him started on Optimus Prime. He did everything with compassion, and kept a tight rein on his emotions, enabling him to help others without his own personal bias or feelings getting in the way. Bumblebee aspired one day to have that kind of control, and looked up to the guy (literally and figuratively. He was so tall!). Only problem? He was the Autobot leader and was incredibly difficult to read, meaning Bumblebee had no idea if he knew whether or not the yellow scout was lying to his face. That made him incredibly intimidating, and Bumblebee avoided him most of the time.

Next up: Bulkhead. The newly ex-Wrecker was tough on the outside, but soft on the inside, and let Bumblebee sit next to him whenever they had a break together. He was strong but sweet, and was very protective of those he cared about. Whenever he wasn't busy, he would sometimes take Bumblebee down to the sparring room, and the young yellow bot was forced to tone down his strength and speed to that of a normal bot (which took quite a few accidental injuries to other bots before he completely learned how to do that).

The blue and pink femme, Arcee, was like the overprotective friend Bumblebee never had. She often invited Bumblebee on patrols, and they would race each other or just drive in comfortable silence. She was lots of fun to be around, but it took awhile for her to trust him. When she did, though, she was kind, and funny, and loved flavoured energon a little too much for her own good. 

While he didn't know Tailgate very well (he was on patrol when Bumblebee first arrived), he was always kind and gave great advice. Plus, Bumblebee had seen the way Tailgate looked at Arcee and knew how special he was to her, so he gave Tailgate the benefit of the doubt. But there was one thing he couldn't understand. Why couldn't either of them just ask the other bot out already?! Maybe Bumblebee's social skills weren't exactly up to par (being locked away in an underground lab would do that to you) but both bots clearly liked each other! How hard was it to take a hint?

Bumblebee didn't regret joining the Autobots. Not one bit. But he wasn't looking forward to the day he had to face someone who knew him from the Before, namely Shockwave.

Overall, everything was going great.

And then Tyger Pax happened.

...

Bumblebee had known it could be a one-way ticket. When an officer named Ultra Magnus had approached him about it, he had known.

There was always risk in war, but there was also hope you might make it out alive. This mission, though. 

This was almost surely a death sentence.

He knew that scouts and spies had the highest death rate in the army. It just came with the territory. That was also why there were so little of them. But standing in Ultra Magnus' office as the general told him the stakes --what was probably going to happen-- he had agreed anyway. What was one life, to protect thousands of others?

Bumblebee was chosen for the role because of his skill set and because, despite how relatively new he was, he was incredibly quick and efficient at his job. The young scout was a part of a group of five agents, all highly trained scouts and spies, Ultra Magnus explained. They were to be accompanied by an additional fighting force to distract and hold off the Decepticons until they could complete their mission. They were sent into enemy territory the next day with one goal- launch the Allspark off of Cybertron.

Only Ratchet, Optimus and Ultra Magnus knew what he was doing. Ratchet had tried to talk him out of it, but eventually gave up when he realized Bumblebee's processor was already set. Optimus had just looked at him sadly, and said "If it is what you feel is right."

Bumblebee regretted it now. He didn't regret taking up the mission --it need to be done-- but he did regret not saying goodbye to the rest of the Autobots. He had only known them for around a stellar-cycle (A/N: a little over a year), but they had quickly become like the family he never had. 

Now he's lying in a pool of his own energon, voicebox crushed, amongst the rubble and bodies of his comrades. The mission was completed, but at what cost?

...

Gasping for breath, Bumblebee held his side with one servo, trying to stop the bleeding. A blaster shot had hit him as he was running to grab the Allspark from its place on the ground next to an offline Autobot. 

Adjusting his grip on the Allspark container, he took a deep breath and sprinted out of his hiding place to the space bridge control panel, avoiding blaster fire from both sides. Seeing that the coordinates on the panel were already locked in, he tried to power up the space bridge. 

It didn't work. He pressed it again and again.

Nonononono, c'mon, this has to work...!

It finally spluttered to life. Bumblebee sighed with relief and ran up to the swirling green portal. 

He didn't hesitate. 

With all of his might, he threw the Allspark through the portal. A few micro-seconds later, the space bridge flickered and died. But the job was done. 

Bumblebee fired a single shot at the control panel, and it exploded with a loud boom. There was no hope of the Decepticons ever getting the Allspark back.

Bumblebee found that he didn't regret it.

"Noooooo!" a voice roared, and Bumblebee's eyes widened as he turned toward the sound. Megatron was barreling towards him, red optics glowing, faceplate contorted into a snarl.

"Oh, frag..." Bumblebee swore, dodging out of the way. As they engaged in battle, he winced as each movement tore open the injury in his side even more. Bumblebee didn't last long, as he was exhausted and hurt, and no amount of training could prepare him for battling an angry Megatron.

Soon, Bumblebee found himself being choked by Megatron's hand as the warlord glared at him.

"You... ruined... everything!" the warlord roared. "But no matter. I shall kill you... but not before I get some information out of you first."