Chapter Text
Timeline: After the Prime movie 'Predacon Rising', before the sequel series 'Robots in Disguise'
Optimus! I didn't come back to Cybertron to save a life... only to lose the one I care about most!
Bumblebee was worried about Ratchet. Losing Optimus was hard for them all, of course it was, but it affected Ratchet the most. It was like losing the grip of Optimus for the third time... And permanently this time. Life was blooming on Cybertron, thanks to Optimus' sacrifice, and Autobots as well as Decepticons had started returning home.
Bumblebee was on his way to see Ratchet. It had been just a few weeks since the rebirth of Cybertron, and already the Prime team had scattered around Cybertron. Some of them went to work for the reconstructions, some to capture escaped Decepticons and whatnot, in a situation like this there's a lot of work to be done. Bumblebee himself had enlisted for Cybertron's police forces. He rarely had free time, and now that he had, he'd decided to go see the medic. He wanted Ratchet to know that he wasn't alone. That there were bots he could grief with, trust and count on in hardest of times.
"Ratchet?" called Bumblebee from the medical bay's front doors. There was a large hall, full of wounded bots that were mended for. Lots of nurses and medics as well as volunteers hurried their way around places, some of the returned bots were in lethal state. Bumblebee approached the closest bot, who happened to be a male medic bot Red Alert, and asked him: "Hey, Red... Is Ratchet around? I really need to see him."
"Lieutenant Bumblebee, hello", Red Alert greeted him.Lieutenant, huh. Bumblebee still needed to get used to such a rank. Some time ago, he still was just a scout.
"He is away at the moment, but should be back soon."
Bumblebee had been waiting for Ratchet for maybe twenty minutes or so before the bot arrived to the medical bay. Bee was sitting on a crate next to the door, and when Ratchet arrived he jumped on his feet and stepped in front of the medic.
"Ratchet!" he said smiling, the medic almost bumping into him. He was deep in his thoughts and stopped just inches from the lieutenant.
"B-Bumblebee... hey", Ratchet replied and took half a step back. He was clearly upset and Bumblebee saw it. Well, he was upset earlier, but... now he was, like, super upset.
"Ratchet? What's wrong?" Bumblebee asked him and raised his hand on the medic's shoulder. What's wrong, that's a stupid question, Bumblebee!, he scolded himself. Ratchet brushed the hand off and looked away from Bee's optics. He couldn't possibly tell Bumblebee about what the new Council told him... It crushed him, but it would destroy Bumblebee. To hear what the Council said about Optimus Prime, how they blamed him and his team of the destruction of Cybertron, and how they'd prefer wiping Optimus out of the history really ached Ratchet's spark. He tried to convince them, he told them the truth, but what he got in return was a threat of being thrown into jail. He was left with an option; he'd be hunting down any remaining war criminals, or then he'd go to jail. Hunt down war criminals, more like being exiled from Cybertron...
Ratchet couldn't say goodbye to Bumblebee or the others. He couldn't really tell about his exile either, how could he? He just had to-... what, exactly? What should he tell him- them? Maybe nothing, maybe the best would be just vanishing? Disappearing? Ratchet was so full of rage and anger and sadness and whatnot, he was sure he'll explode sooner or later.
"I'm fine", Ratchet said strictly and faced Bee. Bumblebee frowned, now wasn't the best of times to be a grumpy bot, Ratchet!
"You're not. No one is", Bumblebee told him.
"Bumblebee, we've been through this. I-I don't want to talk about it anymore-" Ratchet answered, avoided eyecontact and tried to pass Bumblebee. The young bot moved back in front of him, preventing him from leaving. Ratchet caught his breath in sorrowful manner.
"I know, Ratchet. But- but Ratchet, you're not alone- We are here for you, I-I don't think you should be spending so much time alone..." Bee tried. Ratchet knew he did this because he cared.
"I can't grief if I am surrounded by other bots", said Ratchet, his tone of voice shaking lightly. Bumblebee understood that he was getting too meddlesome. The young bot dropped his optics down sadly and gave a soft little sigh.
"I'm sorry, Ratchet. I'm really sorry for everything", he whispered. Ratchet was going to walk past Bumblebee, but he got stuck staring at him. Bumblebee, like others, Arcee, Bulkhead and everyone, they just wanted Ratchet to know he's not alone. And Ratchet knew he wasn't, he just-... he's just like that. Ratchet bit his teeth together and gathered himself for a moment.
"There... was always the risk in loving Optimus", Ratchet told Bee, who looked sadly back into his optics.
"For as long as I have-... had known him, he was always ready to die for the greater good. I always hoped that he wouldn't have to..." the medic continued squinting his optics. He frowned, he felt like exploding now. Bumblebee placed his hands on Ratchet's and started: "Ratchet-"
"Bumblebee, I'm going away- for a while."
"...What?"