Chapter Text
Bumblebee didn't expect much when he went undercover. Staying low and being on the move was what he would have thought, but if you told his past self he would pull performances for Decepticon entertainment, he would have laughed in your face and told you you had too much high grade and that he would kiss Megatron's pedes if he ever were to perform for a bunch of Decepti-creaps. He'd better keep his pedes clean.
If only the former had been true. Bumblebee found himself driving through the streets of an abandoned town. It had been abandoned after an earthquake hit it one Quartex ago. Once it had stopped, instead of rehabilitating the homes, the organics had moved elsewhere once Decepticon activity was frequently found.
Why didn't the Autobots or GHOST intervene? Simple, they already did. At least the former party. Hence why Bumblebee was riding through the streets. On the surface, nothing looked out of place, but the scout knew better. He's lost count of how many times he's been here already.
His job was simple, really: go undercover and gather information from the inside. As Optimes had so simply put it, in reality, it's much easier said than done. For their laidback demeanors, the communication networks between the cons run deep; if you don't have at least two connections backing you up, you're as good as outed as a spy.
Hence why laying low would have sounded nice but was not an option; instead, the scouts' first outing had been simple, to see what made the cons tick and then act on it. And as it turned out, there is this underground bar where an energon mine was found. How it came into existence, Bee would never know, but what he did is that entertainment was low.
With the same bots stuck on Earth to hang around with, the Decepticons lacked any other source of entertainment except high-grade and gossip. So Bee did what he did best: stand out. He found some cans of white paint in an abandoned car repair shop. He painted his plating white and asked for a bug drive from Optimus, who somehow got Wealjack convinced to make one, even though he was not given the details. With some simple instructions, or how simple Weeljack's handwriting got, the scout had installed it into his headwear, optics darkening to a beaming red. The hard part had been getting a Decepticon enigma. Optimus somehow had one he wasn't willing to ask about how.
His white plating shined in the setting sun as he came to a stop by the outpost. Not much to speak of, just a building with some cons inside acting as the guards. Or more like playing cards. Bee revved his engine to get their attention. One of the cons appeared from the window; once their optics landed on his Decepticon enigma, they gave a thumbs up. Servo moved up to their comlink, giving out orders, and the double doors opened.
The scout transformed and walked incise, the cons side opticed him as he walked down the hole in the floor, the hole led to the cave system the earthquake had made in its short presence. Well, cave system was putting it gently, more like tears in the ground moving down with a pathway made on the side. For once, he was glad for his smaller size; the path was made for bigger bots, and so he had no problem walking along.
To be fair, he was actually kind of nervous. Which is ridiculous, he's faced more cons bigger than him without a single doubt or fear, but performing for them was what got him nervous? Bee felt pathetic. If it weren't for this stupid mission, I wouldn't have come here to begin with. It's a good thing cons are mostly blind. But they're not that blind. Bee had to take a new alt mode; to be honest, he missed his beetle mode. (He's in canon Earth Spark auto mode, just for funsies, imagine him a bit shorter)
This alt made his curves too sharp for his liking; it made his frame look more feminine than he would have liked to cross; more bots have been staring at him recently, and it is starting to make him uncomfortable. He gets it there are almost no female bots on earth, but that doesn't excuse them for assuming he's one, he's a proud male! Thank you very much. Bumblebee manically stops himself from scratching the edges of his paint job, small specs of yellow showing under the white on his digits. What did he have to sign himself up for a stage form? How short that form may have been, not many bots get appreciation for their talents. Most coming off the stage were covered in energon or whatever the cons had thrown at them.
Even if they were cons, Bee felt bad for them, even more so now that he has to take the stage. Bee crossed his digits as he walked into the open bar, the scent of high-grade hitting him hard. The stage was empty, with some energon spills that escaped the cleaning crew's lazy optics. The scout took a deep breath. No going back now.
Walking up to the bar, Bee waved his servo to get the working cons' attention and pointed at the stage. The con only spared him a glance before waving him off on his way. Bee pretended he didn't notice the bots' optics move up and down his frame as he left. Note to future self. ‘Never doing this again’.- His thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he met optics with the bot in charge of the stage. Soundwave, frag.
Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me Please don't recognize me- ‘’Hayy’’ Bumblebee waved as he came to stand in front of said bot who didn't react in the slightest to his all cheery voice. Perfect. ‘’My performance is next- Um, I'm Goldbug! Nice to meet you!’’ Holding out a servo, he's met with empty air as soundwave didn't return the gesture. Rubbing his neck strut, Bee retracted his arm. ‘’So I heard you're in charge of the music?’’
‘’Goldbug, Performer 2 of the day, you’re late
Late? ‘’Well as the day is almost over and I'm the only one in line, I wouldn't call it late, more fashionably late. Even if I do say so myself.’’ A little charm never hurts, right? Shockwave didn't give him the entertainment of a reaction; instead, he handed him a microphone, not that they really needed one, but for funsies' sake. Bee, in turn, handed Soundwave the music drive and went up to the stage. ‘Alright, Bee vent.’ Taking a few deep vents, Bee stood on the stage, mic in hand. The cons weren't paying attention yet, good. Please let it just be like this for the rest of the performance. Maybe he should have thought about something to do besides singing.
Music started playing, that's his cue, please let him at least not be covered in energon at the end of this. He spent the whole night writing this song; it's better not going to let him down now.
[Song Get Jinxed by League of Legends & Djerv]
Some of the lyrics have been changed to accommodate the story. Song and lyrics belong to their original maker; Bee said he made it only for story purposes. Song lyrics will be displayed between ~Song text~
Song
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(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFwFm8e49Vs&list=RDdFwFm8e49Vs&start_radio=1)
So stand out and go for it, be loud and obnoxious, noted.
~Blah-blah, b-blah-blah-blah, blah!~
As the song starts, Bee starts obnoxious, like, whenever do you get the chance to do this in their faces without consequences except some energon cubes in the air? Never! Let him enjoy it while it lasts!
~Blah-blah, b-blah-blah-blah, blah!~
His voice already seems to catch some of the Decepticons' attention. I mean, who wouldn't turn to watch someone sounding like they're mocking you? Despite the optics now on him, Bee kept his confident stance, mic held up to his intake.
~Wanna join me?~ Bee didn't know what came over him, but in the moment he held no shame; it's all or nothing, this performance would either get him outed or pulled into the Decepticon ranks. The latter option is favored. He extended his servo for the next part, palm facing up and his pointing digit curling in as he spoke. ~Come and play~ If he wasn't in disguise right now, he would have hidden his face from embarrassment.
~But I might shoot you in your face~ Retracting his arm as he curled his digits into his palm. ~Bombs and bullets will do the trick~ Moving his now fist into the air. ~What we need here is a little bit of panic~ Growing louder at the end.
So good so far, the cons that were watching hadn't thrown anything yet, so that's a good sign. ~Do you ever wanna catch me?~ He moved his servo back down to hold the mic with both as he stomped a pede on the stage for the next part. ~Right now I'm feeling ignored~ Why only sing if drama can be part of it? Some may say it's his strongest skill. More Decepticons sat to face him, more optics turned to his frame. ~So can you try a little harder?~
A chuckle, some bot was chuckling at him?! What was so funny? Optics dart to the sound landing on said bot. OH, he got it now; he thought he was a big shot. The con held up some shanix, motioning for him to come over. Who does he think I am? A piece of shareware? Bee narrowed his optics in challenge ~I'm really getting bored~ Tilting his helm, the scout let the music continue, optics trailing over the bigger Con before a grin made its way on his faceplate as he bluntly ignored him.
A whistle from the other side of the bar as the big cons' faceplate flushes with embarrassment. Getting rejected in front of every con watching the performance? Yeh Bee felt no spite for that one.
As the beet caught up again, Bee continued, bots were starting to fully focus on him, no half glances, but fully watching it made Bee's plating crawl. ~Come on, shoot faster. Just a little bit of energy, yeah~ The next part could get him on the chopping block or completely accepted. Bumblebee’s no idiot. The anger the Decepticons felt at their leader's betrayal, bringing it up in this way, is risky, but he's willing to take that risk if only for his undercover mission to be a success. ~I wanna try something fun right now. I guess some people call it anarchy!~ Alright, here it goes, all or nothing. No more half-baked reports and half-truths. If Prime needs information, Bee gets it, no. matter. what.
For the next part, Bumblebee starts to sing louder. For this to work, every bot needs to hear it. ~Let's blow this city to ashes~ Pulling up his servo into the air, Bee filled his voice with as much disdain as he could. No need to fake it after all the meg had done. Bee didn't need to act to put disdain into his voice. ~And see what Megatron thinks!~ His arm remained raised high above his helm, digits clenched, as he swung it from side to side in broad, powerful sweeps, each motion full of energy, the gesture radiating confidence. If a bot wasn't watching him before, they are now. At the mention of their former leader, all helms not on him already snapped to his position on the stage. Alright, he may have gone overboard with that one.
Bee took a deep vent continuing, all his focus set on staying confident in his voice and face as he spoke. ~It's such pathetic neatness. But not for long 'cause it'll get jinxed!~ As the music continued, Bee took the opportunity to look around. Still, no energon had been thrown. A servo caught Bee's attention as it rose with a cube of high-grade. Shit! He's gone too far. Bee managed to hold back a flinch as the con spoke. ‘’Hell yeah! Fuck Megatron!’’ Two more servos with energon cubes raised, shouting all the same. “Frag Megatron!” ‘’Down with him!’’ It worked? Bee can't believe that it actually worked!
Bumblebee continued, murmuring softly this time, much less mocking than before. ~Blah-blah, b-blah-blah-blah, blah!~ Hey! If he could bond over Megatron hatred, then he would! Thank you very much!
Suddenly, standing on a stage didn't feel as bad anymore; to be honest, he kind of felt at ease, even if he was surrounded by Decepticons. Hearing them talk slag about Megatron seemed to have a calming effect on his nerves. ~Blah-blah, b-blah-blah-blah, blah!~ Still, it was kind of funny. Maybe if he wasn't in a bar filled with Decepticons, he could have made it a habit. Bee didn't mind doing this again. ~Blah-Blah, Blah!~
~So much better, so much fun~ Alright, let him make a spin if he wants to, okay! The scout made a small spin before facing the crowd again. Crowd? Bumblebee had been so distracted that he hadn't even noticed a crowd had formed around the stage. ~Let's start from scratch and blow up the sun~ Now that he thought about it, there were more bots in the bar than when his performance started; the loud music must have caught the attention of outside cons wanting in on the party. No matter, the more bots, the more likely one would be to spill information.
The scout knelt by the edge of the stage. Alright, he has a thing for attention; who can blame him? He's been in hiding for over 5 Stellar cycles, no communication, no interactions, nothing. Let him enjoy the attention while it lasts. Bee waves at some of them as he gets waves back. The bots were hyped up, understandably so with the high grade through their systems, and finally some entertainment worthwhile, even if he says so himself. To be honest, the place looks livelier than the first time Bee had sneaked in. It looked like a death plot, no pun. Decepticons are sitting around drinking their energon and are easily riled up or irritated. Right now, the mood seems to be through the roof. The scout might even say he has started a party, even if it was to curse out Megatron.
As Bumblebee stood back up, the track regained a beat, so he had to sing again soon. A high-grade cube was suddenly put in his servo. Free drink? Yes please. Standing up to his full height, Bumblebee was just in time to catch the beat again. ~Come on, shoot faster. Just a little bit of energy, Yeah~ Bee raised his servo to his intake, taking a quick sip before he continued. The drink burned down his intake, settling a fuzzy feeling deep into his tanks. ~I wanna try something fun right now. I guess some people call it anarchy!~ Bumblebee raised his servo with the cube; the bots around him followed, already assuming what was coming next. Bee took from the grins plastered on their faceplates.
~Let's blow this city to ashes~ The bots actively started to sing along with him. I mean, no doubt they find this the best part. Bee filled his voice with more disdain than he had ever heard before as the crowd matched his tone. ~And see what Megatron thinks!~ Bee swung his arm in the same motion he had done before, from side to side in broad, powerful sweeps full of energy; the crowd followed his movement. Cold liquid spilled over his plating, slipping down and dripping onto the stage. Bumblebee couldn't find it in himself to care. High grade trailed down his arm, the cube in his digits now half empty, the other part of it splattered across his plating. The scout paid more attention to the heartfelt screams of the crowd than the drink on his plating.
~It's such pathetic neatness. But not for long 'cause it'll get jinxed!~
~Come on!!~ Bee held the leftover cube up high in front of him instead of right above, causing the energon that continued to spill to only hit his arm.
~Come on!!~ Bee repeated the motion as the cons around him cheered. Bee let his voice get louder as he dragged the words out. A small crack in his voice at the end, no one had to notice, or no one cared enough to point it out.
~And get jinxed!!!~ Bee lifted the leftover cube to his intake and downed it in one gulp. Bots around him cheered as the music started to die down. The scout vented heavily, vents turning on to cool his systems. A blush spreads across his cheeks as the high of the nerves fades down to make way for reality to come down, and perhaps because of the high grade. Gosh, he's a mess. Bee waved as he made his way off the stage. Frag, he was going to be so sticky if he let the energon dry on him like that. As if on cue, a towel was put in his face. Looking at the bot the servo belonged to, it was Soundwave.
“Thanks.” Giving an exhausted smile, Bee took it as he started cleaning what he could see; meanwhile said bot took the mic from him and placed it down. ‘’Sing before?” Hearing the bot talk on the battlefield and in person are two whole diverse experiences. He actually sounded understandable for once, between all the radio chatter from cut voices, Bee never really managed to make out what the bot was saying. But this sounded clear enough.
“No, actually, this was my first time.” Soundwave looked taken aback at that; it was what Bee assumed, as the guy barely had any room for expressions except the tone in the recorded voices. Bee handed him the towel back. Instead of taking it and leaving as Bee had thought he would, he took it and turned the scout around, cleaning off the energon stains on his back. That was oddly nice of him? The servo on his shoulder was oddly firm, controlling even. Has he ever held someone just to hold? Not to move around? Bee hardly thinks he had time for gentle wit with the war going on and all. Which it still is, just not as intensely. Speaking of, he should properly ask around and start gathering information. Why not start with Soundwave? He always knows what's going on.
“Um S-” Wait, Soundwave doesn't know him; wouldn't it be weird for him to know his name? “So what's your name?” It almost seemed like he wasn't going to get an answer till the sound of Megatron's voice flowed through his audials. Scrap that, the recorded voice of Megatron. “Soundwave” Greet now he can't mess up name calling. “Do you only speak with recorded voices? Or is it like your hobby or something?” Honestly, he was curious. If now wasn't the best time to get some answers from the mysterious con, then what is?
“You ask too many questions,” getting called right out, outch! “Can't a meg be curious about a mysterious cool bot such as yourself?” Bee winked over his shoulder. Why? No clue; he himself does not know. Soundwaves servo posed in its movement, but only for a Nanoklik. That actively got to him? Bee couldn't stop the smile from crossing his faceplate. How much further could he push? “You know~” Bee trailed off in his sing-song voice as he put his servo on the one on his shoulder blade. “You got a strong grip for a bot who doesn't talk much.” The scout turned to face the bot whose faceplate hadn't changed one bit. “It makes me wonder…” Where was he going with this? He had no idea. All he knew was that flirting right now felt like a good idea. How? No idea. It is the vibes; the vibes are speaking to him! Or it could be the high grade in his systems, finely taking its toll. How could he be such a lightweight? Well, he never had the high grade to find out.
Bee’s helm leaned in as he placed both servos on Soundwave's shoulder pads. How he didn't hit him away, yet he didn't know and didn't care, things happen in the moment, and opportunities must be taken. “What you hide underneath that mask of yours?” Bee found himself chuckling. The towel was abandoned next to the mic long ago. Soundwaves servo instead held Bee’s hips; when it got there, he didn't know. “Or are you afraid you would be found unattractive?~” Bee landed in full-blown laughter now, before it came down. Intake close to Soundwaves audials. “Come on~ Show me what a big bad con such as yourself can do.” A small wine left Bee’s intake as the grip on his hip tightened. Is he going too far? Nooo~ Why would ya think that?
Bee felt his thoughts slur together as he felt like much underneath Soundwave's grip. Since when has his face looked that attractive? His red visor seems to glow in the dim bar lights. What would his derma look like? Would they be soft against his own? Soundwave spoke directly into his audioreceptors. Not recorded voices making a sentence, but his own voice, deep and intimidating, made the scouts' legs go weak. “Why don't we find out?” Bumblebee's response was incoherent as his voicebox failed him. He didn't have to speak, with a servo firm on his shoulder plating, as Soundwave guided him deeper into the bar, behind the stage, into a hallway, around a corner, and down a set of stairs. Gosh, this place was a maze. They must have made a distance as the sounds of the bar chatter started to fade into the background.
As they walked another hallway, the stone and rubble started to make way for metal flooring, walls, and ceiling, the wet dirt smell changing into a clean metallic odor. This shouldn't be underground, right? Bumblebee could barely focus on the scenery change as his mind trailed back to the servo on his shoulder guiding him in front. His servo felt cold. Was Soundwave feeling cold? Did he like the cold, or did he just ignore the feeling? They come to a stop in front of a highly secured metal door. Soundwave put his free servo on the scanner panel, and the doors slid open. As they entered, Bee couldn't help but look around; it looked like a laboratory. A foul stench hangs around the place.
Soundwave guided him to two sets of side doors, letting Bee step inside the left one, following behind. It was a normal berth room. The space was empty except for a desk with some equipment lying around on it in the left corner and opposite a berth against the wall. As the door slid closed behind them, Soundwave placed his servos on either side of the scout's hips. Bee could hear his low voice ringing through his audials. “Make yourself comfortable.” With the smell no longer entering the small room, Bee felt himself being pulled back into comfort by the others' possessive grip over him.
“I like it, here, in your grip better.” Bee's words came out as a slur as he leaned his helm back into Soundwave’s chassis. Bee couldn't find it in himself to complain at the height difference; in the moment, it felt kind of nice. Everything felt so foggy. Like his processors were miscommunicating, leaving him with a lack of sensors. His frame felt numb as the fuzzy feeling in his tanks grew. Helm filled up with fog as his vision started to blur, optics dropping. Soundwave held him more securely as more of his weight leaned on the bigger bot. Was high grade really that strong? Or was he just such a lightweight?
Bees' optics fully offlined, a servo cupped his face plating before his body was pulled up. The world around him seemed to fade as his processor put him into recharge.