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The message had come in shortly after Arcee and Bulkhead had left on an energon mine scouting trip.
Bumblebee, having heard the alert from across the silo, came rushing over to the monitor just as Ratchet and Optimus opened the frequency.
From behind the two bots it was impossible to see what the message said, but Bee was desperate for any sort of action. It had been a whole deca-cycle since the… incident with M.E.C.H, but Ratchet still refused to allow the scout on any missions, due to the concern of “overexerting the newly repaired t-cog,” as the medic had put it.
But it was only a matter of time before the lack of action drove Bumblebee into the mental scrapyard.
So, when he heard the familiar beeping of a new notification, he zipped over to the monitor, trying to see from behind the large frames of Optimus and Ratchet.
“What is it?” the Prime said, as Ratchet opened the communicational link.
A long-suffering sigh escaped the medic, as he presumably read through the message. “Starscream,” he said, “once again requesting medical aid.”
Bumblebee finally found a vantage point from behind Optimus that allowed him to see the message, it read:
Bring medical kit, I have information, come alone.
Bee wanted to scoff. As if the Autobots would ever trust someone like Starscream enough to meet him without back-up.
Just as Bumblebee finished reading the request, he watched as Ratchet prepared to close the communicational frequency, only to stop when Optimus placed a servo on his shoulder.
“Ratchet, I find it is in our best interest to meet with Starscream, if only to disprove his usefulness,” the Prime said.
“Puh-lease,” Ratchet exclaimed, “As if that…” the medic glanced to the three human children, obliviously sitting on their couch, “that mech has anything to offer us.” Clearly Ratchet had wanted to use a much more colorful word to describe the ex-Decepticon.
Bumblebee was inclined to agree with the medic’s notion. After all, it was Starscream that had nearly destroyed the scout’s t-cog. Without Ratchet’s expertise, Bee would have never gotten his wheels back.
Leave him to his own damage, serves him right , Bee wanted to say. But he kept his voice box off.
No further words were exchanged between the medic and Prime, but Bumblebee could tell Optimus was giving Ratchet The Look. The one that said the decision had already been made.
“Fine,” Ratchet grumbled, moving to activate the ground bridge.
Bee saw this as his moment, piping up from behind the mechs and requesting to come along in his usual beeps and buzzes.
Optimus and Ratchet, attentions pulled away from the ground bridge, looked to the scout, and then to one another. A silent conversation passed between the two bots, as Bumblebee eagerly awaited approval.
Another exhale left Ratchet’s intake. “Very well,” he said, turning back to the bridge controls.
“I will stay and manage the controls,” Optimus declared.
“Where are you guys going?” Jack asked, as he and the others approached the yellow railings.
The ground bridge activated, with the familiar boom ringing out through the missile silo.
“Out,” Ratchet responded.
Miko and Jack looked at each other and shrugged, but Raf turned to Bee, who explained the message from Starscream.
“Starscream?” Raf said, bringing a hand up to push up his glasses.
“What’d Bee say?” Miko asked, turning towards the two’s conversation.
Raf began to recount all of what Bumblebee told him, as the scout and medic made their way to the ground bridge.
“We’ll be back,” Ratchet said, just as the two entered the portal.
The scenery that met them on the other side was a stark difference to that of Nevada’s desert. Looming rock formations were replaced with vibrant trees, and the dusty earth was replaced with soft grass beneath their pedes.
Ratchet and Bumblebee both looked around, hoping to spot the elusive Seeker. It only took them a few nanokliks to differentiate the mech’s gunmetal gray from the surrounding greenery.
Starscream slouched against a boulder, and, even across the few mechonometers that stood between them, Bee could see the Seeker fidgeting.
The scout looked to the medic, who was also observing the ex-decepticon, and awaited instructions.
Eventually, Ratchet turned to Bee, and gave the signal to move in.
Slowly the two stalked through the trees, approaching Starscream’s form one step at a time.
Soon enough, the Seeker was alerted to their presence, and swiftly stood up and turned to them in the blink of an optic. He was clearly on edge, only slightly relaxing his posture when locking optics on the medic. Then his gaze moved to Bumblebee, and the rigidness returned.
It seemed Starscream had not forgotten their last interaction, either.
Ratchet continued his approach, with Bee only slightly lagging behind. Upon closer inspection, Starscream did not seem to be harmed in any way, so what did he really call them for?
Ratchet seemed to be thinking the same way, as he slowed his advance, and simply looked the mech up and down.
When Starscream did not make a move to speak, the medic did. “What do you want, Starscream?”
“I… seem to have… misplaced by t-cog,” the Seeker admitted with a sheepish chuckle.
The Autobots simply stood there, taking in the mech’s words, before Ratchet released a sadistic chortle.
“How ironic,” the medic said, the smirk evident in his voice.
Bee had told Ratchet of his most recent encounter with Starscream, and it seemed the grumpy old bot was not so willing to let go of a grudge either.
“How dare you!” Starscream whined, raising an offended servo to his chassis, “I am in urgent need of assistance, and you dare laugh!”
Bumblebee couldn’t help but roll his optics. How oblivious did the ex-Decepticon have to be towards the irony of his situation to turn to the Autobots for aid.
“Oh save it,” Ratchet grumbled, “you won’t find any pity from us. Might as well run back to your Decepticon master, he’s more likely to help than us.”
It was a particularly cold response, but Bee couldn’t find it in himself to care. Serves you right , he thought.
Starscream began to wail an onslaught of pleas, indignation, and even so much as a backwards apology at the two, but Bumblebee wasn’t particularly listening. He found the whole situation absurdly funny, despite the possibly dire circumstances surrounding the Seeker.
Eventually, Ratchet cut off Starscream’s rant. “Oh hush up,” he said, putting a digit to his comm. unit– presumably to request a return bridge, “save the crocodile tears for someone who cares.”
Crocodile tears , Bee thought, it was a term the Autobots had picked up from their human companions. A term Starscream surely did not understand, if the bewildered look on his faceplate was any indication.
Without further adieu, a ground bridge opened up just behind the medic and scout, and Ratchet swiftly turned to enter it. Bumblebee lingered for a nanoklik longer, staring at Starscream’s stilled frame. But, soon enough, he too turned, following the medic back to base.
Serves you right
, he thought once again.