Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Scrap. Scrapscrapscrap! The Autobots had their share of bad luck, but this-

Ratchet had shouted that the newly upgraded groundbridge needed one more check when Bee was already driving into it. He found himself in a familiar dark hall staring up at a mask made of all sharp edges- Megatron.

Bee immediately charged his cannon, but a cold, unmerciful fist grabbed his arm and forced the blast to the ceiling. Bee used the crumbing embers to his advantage and clipped Megatron in the eye with his free hand. He broke free and fled, hitting his comm to try to contact Ratchet. He heard static, then the sharp intake of his own vents. He hit the ground and stuck fast, a thick blanket of web chained around him. He whipped his head back and his spark tightened in horror.

Airachnid. He thought she had left the Decepticons! And not just her, but vehicons were looming over Bee, and Knock Out was assisting Megatron to his feet.

“Careful, little spy. You may hurt yourself,” Arachnid crooned.

“This is no time for your teasing, Airachnid,” Megatron said sternly, rising to his full height again.

She chuckled, unfrightened. “My apologies.”

Megatron seemed to leave it at that, which Bee might have found strange if his mind wasn’t racing for the slightest chance to escape. But there was none, so he prayed and steeled himself as Megatron reached out. The warlord pulled him up to a sitting position. Rather carefully so, but Bee still couldn’t get to his feet.

“Tell us how you found us,” Megatron said, stepping away with his arms folded, as though Bee was a sparkling caught after curfew.

“Call it an act of Primus,” Bee hissed.

Megatron frowned. “You sound different. Have the Autobots changed your voice box?”

Bee was less scared and more offended now. “By all means, waste your time on me,” he whirred. “I’m not telling you any more than last time.”

“Last…?” Megatron shook his head. “Let’s try this.” He started toward Bumblebee.

Bee flinched, and Megatron halted. “No one is going to harm you,” Megatron said evenly. “We can’t allow you to tell the Autobots where we are, but no one is going to harm you.”

Bee’s optics darted between the Decepticons. They looked worried. Compassionate. He could expect mind games from Airachnid, maybe Knock Out, but all of them at once?

“What happened to your optics, Yellow?” Knock Out asked, leaning forward. Bee leaned sharply back. Megatron held a hand in front of Knock Out, warning him with a look.

“Well, I’m sorry,” Knock Out said in his arrogant way, “but his optics are different!”

Megatron studied Bee. Bee slowly registered- the same could be said of them. Megatron had dark blue optics. Knock Out had gold and Airachnid, a pale blue that was almost white. Scrap, even the vehicons looked different. More varied.

“Hm,” Megatron pondered. “Tell me, Bumblebee. Why are you fighting this war?”

Bee was still on edge, but while he wasn’t under a weapon- “Same reason as Optimus. To protect earth’s people and restore Cybertron. Actually restore it.”

Another confused, concerned glance went around the Cons.

“He might have gone insane. And I know insane,” Airachnid remarked, casually tapping the side of her head.

Bee was beginning to wonder if he had. But no. No. This could still be a trick.

“Knock Out, run a basic examination on Bumblebee,” Megatron ordered. “But if you taunt him, so help me Primus, I will send you to mine through a sandstorm.”

“Understood,” Knock Out said begrudgingly, putting a protective hand over his finish. He stepped toward Bee, who recoiled again. The Deceptions paused.

“Shall I cut off his webbing?” Airachnid asked.

Megatron considered this. For the first time, his optics gleamed with a threat. “Do you intend to harm my medic, young Autobot?”

Bee could not have been more confused. But he shook his head.

“Cut him free. Let him know we are not like the Autobots,” Megatron ordered. So he was cut free.

Chapter Text

With no visible optics, Soundwave looked the same. He was silently working in the medical bay when Knock Out escorted Bee there. Bee didn’t realize the Nemesis was so pressed for space- But then again, they had passed by more vehicons (and again, more variety among them) than he expected.

Knock Out was not one to savor a mystery, and peppered Bee with questions as he worked, having Bee read from a chart and inspecting his optics with a flashlight. “So you remember Lord Megatron critically damaging your voice box in an interrogation. Strange.”

“Why?” Bee asked, still trying not to squirm. Knock Out had kept his promise and treated him like a patient, though a patient who wasn't allowed to leave.

“Well, my liege did have to damage your voice box, but only because the alternative was to offline you,” Knock Out explained as if it should be obvious. “We couldn’t have you going to the Autobots with the code to our major energon vault before we had time to change it.”

“…What?”

“So that is unfamiliar as well? And what’s the most recent thing you remember? At all? Of me?”

“A groundbridge,” was all Bee was willing to say. “And tearing up your paint job in the subways.”

Knock Out grimaced. “You did do that, and I have not entirely forgiven you. But that still doesn’t explain the optics… You don’t have any evidence of induced stasis or hacking, so I can’t imagine…” He stopped as Soundwave stood from his work. The silent mech pointed to a strange equation on his screen.

“No… You really think so?” Knock Out asked.

“Think what…?” Bee wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but he didn’t want not to know.

Knock Out pivoted to Soundwave’s side. “An old conjunx’s tale, so I’ve assumed. Other planes of existence, no one knows their basis, that bear a resemblance to our own. Though a few choices, you see, are critically different.”

Bee sucked in a slow breath. “You mean to honestly tell me- that you are not the Knock Out and Soundwave I know?”

“Nor are you the insufferable scout we know!” Though Soundwave remained in an unreadable silence, the idea seemed to fascinate KO very much. He turned back to the research, scrolling as he began to chatter about theorems and parallels, while Bee’s gears slowly began to turn. There was no telling if Soundwave had his optics on him, but the mech didn’t move as without warning, Bee got up and- just hard enough to scuff his paint- clipped Knock Out on the shoulder.

The Con gasped in very KO-esque shock and indignation. “Why you little miscreant- I just buffed that!” He whipped around and found Bee had jumped into a defensive stance as soon as he made the scratch. The Con glared. “I’m not going to hit you, you obnoxious son of a bug! You’re still technically a prisoner, it would be barbaric!”

“Primus help me,” Bee breathed. “I’m in another dimension.”

Chapter Text

“You really mean to tell us that there are mechs parallel to us, from a world parallel to ours?” asked Megatron. The Decepticons were gathered again, once Knock Out had declared himself presentable.

“Poor bot,” Breakdown cracked. (Bee tried not to stare at the formerly dead Con joking around.)

“Speak for yourself,” Airachnid grinned, playfully swatting Breakdown’s side. “I’d love to meet myself.”

Megatron gestured for silence. “But where you are from, Bumblebee, the Autobots are protecting humanity and we are the ones willing to destroy it.”

Knock Out nodded proudly. Bee nodded feebly.

Before Megatron could question Bee further, Soundwave pointed him to a data point on his screen.

“Autobot signals at one of our mines,” said Megatron. “Knock Out, Breakdown, take your squadron and secure the area. And observe if the Autobots seem to be missing their scout.”

The two shot off on a groundbridge. Bee sat down, acutely feeling the not-Cons optics on him. He wondered how his Autobots would get to the last relic without him, and a sick feeling was growing in his tank- If the Decepticons here were good, what kind of Autobots were Breakdown and Knock Out meeting?

Bee didn’t have to stew for long. The two reappeared, Knock Out proudly putting away his (unstained for now) buzzsaws. “Mine is secured. Unless you Autobots figured out bilocation, we can confirm a second Bumble was on the field.”

Airachnid gave a low whistle. Megatron shook his head grimly.

“No wonder you were alarmed,” Megatron said, looking at Bee with uncanny compassion. The warlord was silent for a moment. “I would be glad to have an addition to the Decepticons but… we must bring you back home.”

Bee nodded. “Wait,” he beeped in alarm. “The kids! Do- Do you know three kids named Jack, Miko, and Raf?” If they were with these Autobots-

“Oh, the three larvae!” Airachnid chirped affectionately.

“Don’t call them that,” Breakdown groaned, though he looked amused.

“Excuse you, that’s a term of endearment among insecticons,” Airachnid replied smartly, propping all eight arms on her hips.

“So they’re with you? And they’re okay?” Bee pressed.

“Would you like to meet them?” Airachnid asked, sounding a bit like she would introduce them before explaining that Bee wasn’t evil for the heck of it.

“After their school hours would be best,” Megatron said firmly. “Soundwave, as soon as you have finished decoding the next coordinates, begin to research a way to bring our guest home.”

Soundwave began to type, but his fingers froze as the groundbridge began to rattle. The energy readings on Soundwave’s monitor surged and a tunnel of light began to form.

“Soundwave!” Megatron barked. “Who are you trying to contact?”

Soundwave shook his head that he wasn’t. Bee sat up in horrified realization. All in the same second, Ratchet shot in with the Autobots behind him, weapons trained on the Decepticons, as Bee shrilly beeped something that sounded like, “Waitwaitwaitwait!”

Chapter Text

Ratchet shot first. Soundwave held his arm up, reflecting the blast. Ratchet was about to fire again when Bee jumped between them. “Guys, wait! It’s okay! I’m not a prisoner!”

Optimus charged toward Megatron, but prudently halted when Airachnid and Breakdown leapt in the way. “What have you done?” he demanded over their heads.

“Nothing,” said Airachnid, only sounding more suspicious.

“Nothing,” Bee agreed. “You saw how weird the groundbridge was, right? It brought me- us- to some world where the Decepticons are- different! Where they’re like us.”

“Bee, can you recognize me? Did they put a psychic patch on you?” Ratchet urged, grasping Bee’s shoulders and probing for damage in his optics.

Bee whirred in laughter, nearly hysterical. “It’s me, guys!”

The Autobots gradually registered that none of the Cons had gone on the offensive. Breakdown looked bewildered, Knock Out alarmed, Airachnid amused. And Megatron watched Optimus with a fixed, unreadable gaze.

“It’s okay,” Bee assured.

There was a tense silence. Optimus put away his blaster. “Perhaps we need an explanation.”

Bee and the Decepticons gave it. Further silence.

“…I apologize for the rude entry,” Optimus finally said.

Megatron covered his face with one hand, suppressing laughter. “Forgive me-” That was strange for the Autobots to hear, “you are eerily like the Optimus we know.”

“And you are similar to the Megatron we know,” Optimus replied. He gave a rare smile. “But clearly different.” He glanced mournfully back at the groundbridge, split cleanly in two by Ratchet’s blast.

“We needed that, didn’t we?” Ratchet groaned, rubbing his optics.

Soundwave gestured to Megatron for permission to begin fixing it.

“We still need to decode the coordinates to the other Iacon relics,” Megatron muttered.

“That happens to be my expertise,” Optimus remarked, stepping forward. “If it will help you and allow Soundwave to deliver us home, I am happy to do so.”

“What about Jackie?” Bulkhead asked, pointing back to the now far-gone base, where Wheeljack had agreed to keep watch. “And the kids? And our race with the Decepticons?”

“All will go more smoothly if we allow Soundwave to focus on getting us home. In the meantime-” He turned to the blue-eyed Megatron again. “If this planet is under your protection, then you are under ours. How can we assist in gathering the relics?”

Megatron raised an eyebrow. “You would fight your doubles?”

“Trust me, I’ll kick bad guy pipe of any shape!” Smokescreen said with an eager grin.

“We probably would have serious insight into helping you win,” Arcee added.

“Might even let us know our Cons’ next move,” Bulkhead remarked.

Megatron shook his head faintly in amazement. “I can’t reject the Autobots’ help. Optimus, the database is yours.”

Breakdown glanced behind him to exchange isn’t-this-scrapping-crazy glances with Knock Out and Ariachnid- but Airachnid had slipped away. At the same time, Arcee was the last Autobot to fully put her weapons away.