Chapter Text
Whatever you do, don’t look down.
Taking a vent, Bumblebee followed his advice. Instead, he looked up, and that was almost worse.
Bumblebee never got to see what Krusher’s capital looked like when coming to the planet. Now he had a very close view of scaling down the side of it.
The whole building was sinister, even in the daylight. It was spikey and jagged, threatening anyone who dared get close. Bumblebee could attest to that; every breem or so, he got a thin cut along his servo, the only part of his protoform exposed. It hurt, but Bumblebee bore through it. After all, he had been through worse. Nicks were the least of his concerns.
Like falling. He thought. He got the urge to look down. Bumblebee flattened his plating, trying not to let in the urge.
Starscream and his trine were a part of the Decepticon High Command. Those positions came with some… luxuries. One of which was getting a cushy apartment suite at the top of the palace that was Krusher. Even if they weren’t High Command, being Seekers would also factor into getting an apartment in the higher lofts of Krusher.
It was likely a relief for the flight frames. Bee has heard the rumours. Certain flight frames (i.e. Seekers) got sky sickness or something along those lines if they couldn’t see or be in the air after a certain point. Bumblebee wasn’t sure if that was true. He had spent a vorn with Starscream in the depths of Unicron, after all. His ‘beloved’ had been…
Alright, sane probably wasn’t the glyph Bee would have called him, but it wasn’t like he got worse the longer they stayed down there. He was just constantly a deranged aft.
However, rumours were often based on some truth. Either way, it’d be pretty stupid to put the flight frames on the ground levels.
That being said, it was just as ridiculous putting a ground frame on the upper levels.
Well, they probably did that by design. Bumblebee thought glumly, denta grinding against each other.
Megatron, Shockwave and all the rest of Primus-damned ‘Con command probably wanted Bee in the brig. They fought hard to put him in it on the Nemesis. Bee was lucky his injuries were so severe that he had to stay in the medbay the whole time.
The reason they probably didn’t fight as much for his captivity in Krusher was because of two things. One: that fragging collar that was still around Bee’s neck. And two: heights and grounders didn’t mix.
But that’s not going to stop me! Bee thought confidently. Well, tried to. His spark whirled with anxiety as he continued his descent. He had been climbing down for a joor now. Bumblebee estimated he was a third of the way there (curse Starscream for being a slagging Seeker, curse Megatron for needing a fragging mountain of a palace to reside in).
Bee’s had some close calls with aerial patrols. He had observed them when he’d lounge outside with Warp and TC. They came around this side of Krusher five times a joor. The downside of Krusher being a gothic monstrosity was also an upside. Although Bee was brightly colored, Krusher’s exterior had many crevices where he could hide. Since no Autobot had been to New Kaon before (so the Cons thought), their patrols were more relaxed. It was easy for Bee to hide from the soaring trines.
On his HUD, Bumblebee’s alarm went off. Taking a deep vent, he looked down. His gaze didn’t travel to the ground but to his next stopping point. With tense cables, Bee half jumped, half slid down into the corner. The shadow of some gaudy support hid Bee well, especially since New Kaon was already hazy.
Just as Bumblebee tucked himself into the corner, he heard the familiar engines of Seekers coming by. They passed quickly, barely enough time for Bee to reload his HUD.
He stayed put for a moment, checking out his rough map of Krusher. There was a ground patrol going over a bridge to one of the towers soon. Bee’s position was in optic sight to it. He glanced out of his hiding spot to confirm. There, two stock troopers were marching across, their ped steps barely audible.
Bumblebee was thankful for the excuse to take a break. His digits were sore from gripping metal. The nicks in them were thankfully within range of his self-repair. Bee did some servo stretches Bluestreak once taught him, trying to get rid of the ache. His arm and leg struts weren’t faring much better.
It was too soon that the ground patrol had passed. Bumblebee waited another breem before resuming the climb. He still had a long way to go before he got to his next “checkpoint”, so the Seekers wouldn’t find him.
Groaning internally, Bee whirled around so his sensor wings faced out again. He found the servo and ped holds to stabilise himself, then started his descent again.
Bumblebee was tired. Later on, he would blame his fatigue and concentration on not realising he was being watched.
“Watcha doing?”
Spark lurching, Bee jumped. He cursed when he started to slip. Forgetting about the new presence for a moment, Bumblebee focused on making sure he didn’t fall and die.
When he was stable again, Bee whirled his helm around to see Skywarp lounging just a few lengths away. He laid on his abdomen, peds kicking in the air as he casually watched Bumblebee.
“Skywarp.” Bumblebee hissed, glaring at the Seeker with raised sensor wings. “What are you doing?”
Tilting his helm, Warp gave Bee a look the scout couldn’t decipher. It was intense and intimidating. However, he seemed a little amused by the lift derma. “I believe I asked you first.”
Bumblebee looked away, trying to focus on something else. The only thing he could find was how far up he was from the ground, and that was even worse.
“None of your business.” Bee snapped, glaring back up at Skywarp. Fidgeting, Bumblebee flapped his sensor wings. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be doing… I don’t know, Decepticon-y stuff?”
Slowly, a wide grin spread across Skywarp’s faceplates. “‘Decepticon-y stuff?’” The amusement was very clear now.
“You know what I meant.” Bee bit out, snarling.
“Ah, no. I don’t think so.” Skywarp said, settling into a more relaxed position. Ironhide would have described it as slag-eating. “I think I’m going to need more clarification.”
Gritting his denta, Bee looked away, frustration drowning any of his earlier fear.
In his peripheral vision, Bumblebee saw Skywarp shift. He got up, letting his legs dangle over the edge. “Just what rumours are the Autobots spreading about us?” He inquired, brow raised. “I know you guys think Megatron’s feasting on traitors’ sparks- which is really Tarn’s thing. But do you really think we’re the horde of Unicron? Obviously not, since we teamed up to defeat them. I know Autobots are pruds, but-”
“No! That’s not what I meant!” Bee snapped.
Skywarp’s unprompted speech riled Bumblebee up. Sure, once upon of time when Bee was just a fresh recruit, he heard some wild things about the Cons. Autobot propaganda was thorough in making them the villains. It wasn’t until later on that Bumblebee even considered the other side or their history (closer to the Unicron Wars than he wanted to admit). After a serious talk with Ironhide, Bee actually found himself agreeing with some of their ideals, especially after learning how hard Functionalism was on them.
Their ideals are nice, they’re execution… not so much. Ironhide’s voice echoed through his processor.
Ex-venting deeply, Bee looked away. He happened to catch a glimpse of the ground, which made him intimately aware of his surroundings.
“I… I’m sorry.” Bumblebee forced out, hating every moment. He didn’t look at Skywarp when he did (if he had, he would have seen Skywarp’s sharp grimace). “I didn’t mean to imply anything bad about Decepticon culture. I just meant that Starscream’s Second-in-Command. I would have thought- you being his trine- you were also high command. You’re always gone from the suite for joors upon end, I at least thought you’d be busy doing…”
Bee searched for glyphs but was coming up blank. Primus, what were some of Ironhide’s responsibilities?
Skywarp took pity on Bumblebee, smiling a little. “Overseeing training maneuvers of the Seeker divisions?”
“Sure, that.” Bee agreed easily, turning back to Skywarp.
The Seeker nods, looking out into the horizon. “Yeah, TC and I rotate through supervising. It was my turn, but something must have gone poorly for Starscream this cycle. He took over halfway through. I was booted out into some officer meeting. Nothing fun, like an emergency High Command meeting. Really, it was more of an accounting thing. I was just there to take notes for Starscream.”
“Okay,” Bumblebee said, not sure what else to say. He turned inward, towards the force bond he had with Starscream. He hadn’t felt any of the turmoil that Skywarp referenced. Then again, the bond was really locked down. Bee couldn’t help but resent Starscream’s control. It grew with each cycle. Starscream had all the control.
Bumblebee was finally taking it back, only to be stopped halfway there.
Not even. Bee thought. He was halfway down Krusher. He still had to go through the city and make it to the nearest spaceport to steal a vessel. Then he’d have to get free from New Kaon’s atmosphere and get to a place Ironhide could spacebridge him back to Autobot airspace.
“Why are you here then?” Bee repeated his previous question, being a little snippy that his plan was foiled. “If you’re supposed to be in some meeting.”
Skywarp groaned, tipping his helm back before flopping onto his side. “Because it was boring and Starscream can suck it.” Shaking his helm, Warp propped up a leg, coking his hip. “I knew you’d be bored too. I thought we could do something together. Imagine my surprise to find you were already on it by yourself.”
Bee snorted but didn’t say anything else. The lid he kept on his emotions was starting to crack. He was so tired. So done.
“How’d you find me?” Bumblebee managed to get out. He needed to do something, but all he could do was hang off the side of Krusher. His servos were starting to ache, his arm struts wanted to shake, but he continued to cling.
“...your collar has a tracker,” Warp said hesitantly.
Of course, how could Bee forget the stupid collar? He knew it had a tracker in it. He just thought he’d be gone and rid of the damned thing before anyone actually noticed.
And he was technically right. If Skywarp hadn’t checked on him (if Starscream hadn’t changed routine), he would have been home free.
“Bee… what are you doing?” Skywarp asked softly after a tense moment.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Bee snapped, vocalizer spitting static.
Another burst of silence. Bumblebee turned to see Warp just watching him.
As the quiet continued to coil between them, Bee became antsy.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” The scout finally snapped. “Aren’t you going to scold me? I’m bonded to Starscream. If I die, it’ll- well, maybe not kill him, but he’ll probably wish he was with the giant hole I leave in his spark. I’m a liability. I’m a huge target if I escape. I need to be contained.
“So go ahead. Drag me back to that fragging room where I can do nothing but stare out a window, wondering when my oh-so-beloved sparkmate will return. Maybe he’ll finally acknowledge me now… Now that I’ve basically threatened him.”
After Bumblebee’s rant, the silence between Warp and him was thick. Bee didn’t look at the Seeker. He stared off into the horizon, looking over the city listlessly. Prepared for Skywarp to grab him and teleport him back to the aerie, Bumblebee was confused when nothing touched him. Skywarp’s field didn’t even brush against his agitated one.
Bumblebee started to turn his helm toward the Seeker’s perch when he heard a beep. His sensor wings perked up just as the collar around his neck went slack. Bee looked down to see the collar fall away, tumbling down to the ground.
He just watched it for a moment, optics locked on tracking the restraint as it grew smaller and smaller. A morbid part of Bee’s processor replaced the scene with himself falling from that height, but he quickly shook it away.
Turning toward Skywarp, Bumblebee just held the Seeker’s gaze for a klik. Warp usually wore his emotions on his pauldron. At least when off duty. However, the mask of the left wing of the Command Trine seemed to be in place now. He just returned Bee’s look, observing and analysing. His frame was completely still.
The shock frame of the collar being released dissipated, reminding Bumblebee was his earlier ire. “Well?” He asked sharply, nodding down to the falling object. It would hit the ground soon. “Aren’t you going to go get it?”
“Nah,” Skywarp said, shrugging. The predator-like stance he held dissolved. Flicking his wings, Warp went back into a relaxed stance. “Shockwave can go slag himself, you’re obviously not a threat to us. If anything, that fragging collar was an incentive. I’m doing everyone a favour.”
Bee opened his intake to say… something. Protest? Slag that. Skywarp seemed like he’d take the blame for any political fallout. Bumblebee was better off keeping himself quiet.
Warp suddenly leapt off his little ridge. Bumblebee’s spark dropped as he watched the Seeker fall. A moment later, Skywarp activated his thrusters. With a little spin, he came to hover in front of Bee, servo raise.
“C’mon,” Skywarp said, wiggling his digits. “Let’s ditch this place. Screamer can also go slag himself for all I care. You need to get out.”
Bumblebee’s servo started moving before he processed the glyphs. He flinched away last klik, giving Skywarp a suspicious look. His sensor wings flared slightly. “Where are we going?”
Skywarp smirked. “Somewhere fun.” He exclaimed before snorting. The Seeker wiggled his digits again. “You’ll like it. Trust. It’ll be somewhere where you can vent freely. Not on edge, just be yourself. Maybe even get some of that pent-up frustration out of your system.”
When Bee didn’t immediately answer, Skywarp nudged him with his field. They brushed, showing Warp’s sincerity. After a klik, Bumblebee felt himself relax a little. Looking between Skywarp’s servo and his optics, Bee finally relented. “Fine.” He muttered, slapping his servo over the Seeker’s. “This better be worth it.
The mischievous gleam in Skywarp’s optics strangely soothed Bumblebee.