Little Gladiator

Chapter 17: Relax

The next few cycles passed by quickly. With Orion's help, the rebellion was gaining popularity. Some of Megatron's speeches even made their way onto 'Sola and Luna'. Corrupt nobles and aristocrats tried to put them down through pointless arrests and even secret murders. The lower castes and sympathizing upper castes did what they could to support Megatron. A few extreme bots used violence to revolt against their superiors, giving Megatron and his companions a hard time trying to keep those outliers under control.

Meanwhile, Jazz continued to help Megatron find out as much as possible about Bee's creators, mostly his carrier. From the CNA records Orion was able to dig up, Solstice was Bumblebee's carrier. The only thing they couldn't figure out was how an infertile femme gave birth to a sparkling that didn't share Sentinel's features or CNA. They had checked; Sentinel, somehow, did not contribute his CNA, yet he shared a faint creator-creation bond with Bee. The sparkling was also still half Iaconian. It was certainly a mystery.

Bumblebee, meanwhile, was mostly oblivious to the investigation into his creation. The only thing on his processor was his upcoming sparkorn. Ravage, his appointed "bodyguard" since the shuttle station incident, let the sparkling ride him around for an orn as an early present, but refused to let him call him "Kitty," not that Bee ever listened. Laserbeak even gave him a taste of flying for a few breems, but had to stop before he overtaxed his systems.

The adults were fully aware of the "subtle" hints Bee dropped every once in a while. They argued about what to give him. Scythe and Soundwave thought that Bee would enjoy another field trip; perhaps to the Crystal Gardens in Praxus. Dagger and Shockwave wanted to give the sparkling his own blade to practice with; dulled, of course. Megatron was more inclined to agree with the latter. After all, a semi-sharp blade had to be safer than bringing Bee into an area where his very-deadly sire could access him.

"But," Scythe argued when she and Megatron were alone in his room with Bumblebee deep in recharge, "Bee obviously wouldn't be alone. Ravage always stays with him and one, maybe two, of us would also be with him. He'd be safe."

"What about a bomb?" Megatron asked.

"Ravage can smell bombs from megakliks away."

"What about poison?"

"Ravage can still smell them and Bee knows better than to drink anything we don't give him."

"What about a direct confrontation?"

"Ravage is skilled, Bee has advanced very far with his training, and we'll be close by too."

"What about a sniper?" Megatron was running out of excuses. If it weren't for his public image with Cybertron and the other gladiators, he would wrap Bee up in his arms and never let go.

"We can bring Soundwave. He can scan for danger."

"What if-"

"What if scenarios are too diverse." Scrap. His own words used against him. "Megs, you need to relax. Ravage will go, you'll probably go too, Soundwave will go, anyone you want will go. Hey, you could bring those two twins. Primus knows they want to get out of here." Scythe took his servos in her own. "We will protect him, Megs."

Megatron finally caved. "Fine. You and the twins can go with Bee and Ravage."

"Why not you?"

"I'll attract too much attention. I'm easily recognizable now."

"Okay, Megs. Do you want to call Jazz and Orion too? They could come and watch Bee too while I get the latest scoop on Bee's origins."

Megatron gave her a rare smile and kissed her servo like a gentlemech. "That sounds like an excellent idea."

She blushed madly and got up to kiss Bee's helm and tuck his blankets in a little more. "Goodnight, Sweet Bee. Goodnight, Megs." She moved to leave, then turned around and kissed Megatron's cheek before rushing out the door, her face flushed blue.

Energon rushed to the gladiator's face as well. They hadn't exactly been courting, but there were always little hints that they cared for each other. And whenever Soundwave or Dagger picked up on these hints, they would collapse into a giggling fit until Scythe slapped them.

As usual, Megatron got up to sneak a kiss to Bumblebee's helm. As usual, he crawled into his berth and pulled the covers up to his chest. And as usual, he closed his optics and whispered:

"Goodnight, Bumblebee."