How To Catch A Bumblebee

Chapter Six

A/N: I fixed up the previous few chapters (mostly rewording stuff and editing it to make it flow better, nothing major) so if something seems different than what you remember, that's probably the reason. And if Arcee seems a little OOC, that's mostly because she hasn't lost Tailgate or Cliffjumper yet, so she hasn't completely cut off from her emotions. This chapter was really difficult to write, mostly because I was never satisfied with the way it turned out. I'm so sorry it took so long. But I am now on a break, so more updates! Yay!

These dots are :: Bumblebee speaking ::

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When Bumblebee awoke, it wasn't sudden, nor did it take a long time. It was more like one nanosec he was in stasis, the next he was online. He kept his optics shut out of habit, and instead reached out with his other senses.

He could feel that he was lying on a cool berth, and could hear the whirr of machines around him. Bumblebee determined he was in the medbay due to the sterile smell accompanying a weaker scent of energon. There was a murmur of voices a small distance away. He instinctively tuned into their conversation.

"-he could have been killed, and we wouldn't have known, because no bot told us what was going on!" a feminine voice whisper-yelled. Or, tried to. Even without his enhanced hearing, Bumblebee could hear her loud and clear. Immediately after this observation, Bumblebee realised who the bot was. 

Arcee. 

Suddenly, everything came rushing back. The mission, the Allspark, Megatron, being tortured, his voicebox- wait. 

His voicebox! Megatron... did something to it. But what...?

Megatron had crushed it. 

Bumblebee couldn't speak. 

Wait, maybe... maybe Ratchet had fixed it. Bumblebee opened his optics and pushed himself up to sit upright on the berth, his wounds aching in protest. He could see Arcee, Ratchet, Optimus and Bulkhead standing in the middle of the med-bay with their backs to him. Arcee seemed to be yelling at Optimus and Ratchet, with Bulkhead backing her up. They hadn't noticed him yet, but Bumblebee didn't mind. He was used to going unnoticed- it was part of his job description. 

Opening his mouth, he tried to speak. 

All that came out was a violent burst of static. Every bot whirled around in surprise, staring at him in shock.

When he tried to speak again, somehow hoping that this time would be different, Ratchet seemed to be snapped out of whatever daze he was in. 

He rushed over, saying "Bumblebee! Don't you dare try to talk. What are you doing up? Your injuries-" 

Ratchet was cut off when Arcee and Bulkhead crowded around the berth Bumblebee was on.

"Bee! I'm so glad you're okay! When they brought you in, you looked so weak, we thought you were-" Arcee said, her voice catching on the word "offline". Lubricant welled up in her optics, and she swiped at it in irritation, clearly annoyed about being so emotional.

Bumblebee reached out with a shaking servo, placing on her shoulder joint. He gave her a small smile, his faceplates conveying what his voice no longer could. Arcee smiled back at him for a moment, before her entire demeanor changed, like the flip of a switch. 

"You idiot! We thought you were dead! Why didn't you tell us you were going on a mission! We could have helped you! But we had to find out when you came through the doors on a stretcher, being carried by a frantic Cliffjumper and Jazz, with a trail of energon behind you. Now, because you didn't let us help, you'll never get to-" Arcee cut herself off, optics traveling back to Ratchet, who was looking very irritated. Bulkhead placed his servo on Bumblebee's elbow joint in a comforting gesture, before stepping back, gently pulling Arcee with him.