Rae ⚡️ 28 ⚡️ she/her just an idiot writer projecting my undying adoration for everyone’s favorite yellow lil’ shit ♡ header image by my lovely friend, @/alopexabee!! ♡
All of my written content is SFW, other than violence, distress, etc. Any warnings will be made explicitly clear at the top of every one of my posts!!
(RQ) = requested!
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About Me
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I work in EMS in a rural area of the USA and I try to stay on top of a regular schedule, but I make no promises! Right now, IKYS updates once a month or more. ⊹ ₊
As always, enjoy your stay on my page and feel free to send any asks/requests for TFA or TFP characters! Asks are always open unless stated otherwise! :)
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₊ ⊹ SERIES ⊹ ₊
₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊ I’ll Keep You Safe — TFA Bumblebee X fem!Reader ₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊
Summary: [Name], a teenager with an unexplained past, moves to Detroit to be with her last living relative. Very shortly after moving in, she befriends the Autobot scout Bumblebee. Together they traverse their new friendship under the watchful optics of the other Autobots — as well as the Decepticons. As bits and pieces of her origin and future begin to come to light, Bumblebee makes a promise to the best friend he’s ever had—that he’ll keep her safe from anything. But with mounting dangers, a massive target on her back, and a ruthless bounty hunter on the loose, his ability to keep his promise is pushed to the brink of no return.
Credits: All artwork shown in this fic was created for it by my good friend, Renny! You can find her on instagram at @/alopex.art
Please Note!: This fic is basically an AU where the Autobots come upon you instead of Sari. It doesn’t follow the plot of the show much at all, largely it’s its own story. The story of the War for Cybertron falls closer to TFOne, and the sequel will be set in the TFP universe. If that’s not your cup of tea, no worries! I kindly ask that you just ignore.
Warnings: Graphic violence, canon-typical violence and then some, major character death, some future cursing, reader has anxiety, reader develops PTSD, lots of hurt/comfort, loads of angst, an insufferable amount of playful bullying bffs, an absolute unit of fluff, and an author that loves to torture her readers. Specific chapter warnings will be posted at the beginnings of each one.
ONE — Home
TWO — First Encounters
THREE — Coincidence
FOUR — The Quarry
FIVE — Breaking and Entering
SIX — Raubtier und Beute
SEVEN — Guardian
EIGHT — Distractions
NINE — Materializing
TEN — Entangled Creations
ELEVEN — The First Threat (December 5th)
₊ ⊹ ONESHOTS ⊹ ₊
(RQ) TFA Bumblebee / gn!Reader — Bee has learned to appreciate the quiet moments after a rough day.
₊ ⊹ HEADCANONS ⊹ ₊
(RQ) TFA Bumblebee / showgirl!Reader — Bumblebee befriends a showgirl on the Vegas Strip.
(RQ) TFA Bumblebee / fem!Reader — Bumblebee sees you in a tuxedo.
(RQ) TFA Bumblebee / fem!Reader — You discover Bumblebee’s horns are his weak spot.
(RQ) TFA Bumblebee / fem!Reader — You take Bumblebee to a carwash (and he hates it).
GET. AI. OUT. OF. FANDOM. Stop making headcanons with it, stop making fanfic with it, stop making fanart with it. If I see one more "asking chatgpt *blank* about *character/characters in a fandom* I'm going to lose my goddamn mind. Use your own fucking brain, stop asking AI to do everything. You could even ask other real people what they think. Just. Stop. Using. AI. In. Creative. Spaces.
Since your asks are open, could I please get a oneshot of TFA Bumblebee playing with the readers hair. Just something sweet and comforting, like the two just relaxing at night cuddling. Sorry if this is too much!
A/N: FIRST OF ALL, this is absolutely not too much!!! This is AMAZING THANK YOU SM FOR REQUESTING THIS ONE I AM CRYING. I’ll leave it up to you to imagine what they just came home from, but otherwise, enjoy this slightly angsty bit. Bumblebee’s learned to slow down and appreciate the quiet moments after a rough day. I hope it’s okay!! :’0
Pairing: TFA Bumblebee x gn!Reader, can be seen as platonic or romantic.
Warnings: Some angst!
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It had been a long day.
Fighting for your lives was a common occurrence by now. Bumblebee had been doing it for almost as long as he could remember. But you? You were just a human—one that was now wrapped up in a war that you realistically should have no part in.
The amount of times you’d come close—too close—to death because of it made him want to hide you somewhere off in the galaxy where no one would be able to hurt you ever again.
But of course… it wasn’t realistic. He was a soldier. He had a duty to his crew, to his leader, and to Primus himself to stop the Decepticons from enslaving and destroying. To help restore Cybertron one day. And you had a life to live here on your home planet.
Ironic… You had your own life to live, but the young Autobot’s introduction had pulled all of that completely to a halt.
You weren’t just any other teen anymore. You were an easy target—small and fragile when compared to the gargantuan and practically bulletproof alien beings that could crush you without a second thought if they so pleased. All it would take was one mishap, one mistake, one moment where he could be looking away—and it would all be over. The mere thought of it made his spark chamber threaten to implode, and every single time the possibility did flutter across his processor, he forced it away quickly.
None of that could happen. None of it would happen. He’d make sure of it. Once again, he tried to suppress the torrent of thoughts within his helm. Because at least for now, he didn’t have to worry.
The two of you were safe, locked away within his quarters at the plant. The other Autobots had filed into their home base alongside you both without a word, all retreating to their own spaces to rest and recuperate. It was more than needed following the events of the day’s earlier hours.
As he lay on his side, his optics searched every one of your features. Before, you were a mess—covered in dirt from the moment you were forced to duck for cover beneath a fallen tree in the woods. You found a change of clothes and were able to utilize one of the showers that Fanzone had offered to hire someone to fix up. You said yourself that it was a ‘godsend,’ and the look on your face at the moment confirmed that even further. You were comfortable and more relaxed now, allowing your limbs to loll out in all directions and taking the occasional deep breath every few minutes. Your eyes were closed, but he could tell that you weren’t in stasis. He gazed at your freshly-washed hair, but by now it was mostly dry and a bit fluffed up.
You genuinely looked comfortable, but still somehow tense. Bumblebee wondered what was rolling around in that organic brain of yours. It was probably something similar to what he was thinking, he figured.
So, gingerly, he reached out to you. “Hey.”
Your eyes found his optics in an instant as if you’d been snapped out of a trance. Your voice was a bit smaller than it usually was—tired. “Hey.”
After a pause, the scout curled his body a bit closer as if he wanted to whisper to you, his tone level and gentle still. “You wanna listen to my spark again?”
You stared at him for a long moment, and it was almost long enough for him to burn up from the inside out. Then you smiled, and his spark soared. “Yes, please.”
You’d said before that the sound of his spark calms you down. You’d listen to it, match your own heartbeat to it, and fall asleep comfortably. Every time you did, he could feel the way you’d eventually relax completely.
He loved it too.
So the scout leaned over, gently slid his servo beneath you, and rolled onto his back with you in-hand before he let go again. You settled yourself into a comfortable position with your head resting just next to the insignia in the center of his chassis, releasing a heavy sigh and falling limp almost immediately.
Bumblebee’s servos were still there, as if to cradle you or keep you from falling out of place. They were as gentle as they always were; a calm sense of security that neither one of you really recognized was an instinctual act. He slowed his own intakes, leveling his beating spark as it burned and flared with intense affection. He let his helm drop back so it could rest on the berth and he stared at the ceiling in silence.
As your breathing slowed, he thought of sparking up quiet conversation. He could never really stand silence for very long, but he found that moments like these were few and far between—and this silence was a comfortable one. Plus, he didn’t want to interrupt the very thing he’d just offered to you. So he did the next best thing that he figured might soothe you even further.
One of the mech’s servos reached for you again, and he started by slowly rubbing your back with one gentle digit. His touch was light, mindful of his own strength, but still firm enough to create a sense of careful pressure. He stayed locked in that action for what felt like hours, until it eventually moved to your head to find locks of your hair. One digit began to lightly twirl what he could, given the size of his servos. He remembered what you said previously—that playing with someone’s hair was one of the most relaxing things on Earth—and he wanted to deliver you that sense of comfort.
The pulsing of the spark in his chassis eventually calmed and slowed. It was rhythmic, strong, comforting—everything you wanted to hear after yet another day of chaos. The sound reminded you that he was alive, here, never going anywhere, and that you were just the same; alive.
Falling asleep to the sound of it was something you’d never grow tired of.
@ that anon and also the very kind person who commented on every single chapter of IKYS over on ao3 in the last two days……… the way i finished and edited chapter ten at breakneck speed in the last day was for u babies. I seem to get absolutely MASSIVE bursts of inspiration to write when I see that people really like the story, so from the bottom of my stupid little heart, thank you!!!! I love you!!!!
₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊ I’ll Keep You Safe — TFA Bumblebee X fem!Reader ₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊
Join the IKYS Discord server!
IKYS Playlist
TEN — Entangled Creations
Word Count: 9.1k
Warnings: Suspense, playful and affectionate bullying, and a plot that is starting to thicken.
A/N: I’m so sorry for this chapter being late. EMS life is ROUGH. BUT… I have a few notes before we continue. There will be a major character death at some point… I’m adding that to the masterlist tags now. rip. ALSO, a reminder that this fic is largely my own AU. It doesn’t follow the plot of the TFA show, it takes a lot of elements and concepts from other TF media, and the sequel will be set in the TFP universe. If that’s not your cup of tea, no worries. I kindly ask that you just do not be passive-aggressive with me over it when the tags are right there, lol. Please feel free to ask questions or anything of the sort if you’d like to learn more! I’ll answer what I can without going into spoiler territory. Finally as always, please let me know what you think! Tags on reblogs and comments alwaysss give me so much life and they inspire me to keep writing. I LOVE knowing that people out there are enjoying my story. Thank you and enjoy!
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Over the sound of crinkling parchment paper, you closed your eyes to relish in the mouthwatering taste of your long-awaited cheeseburger. After another long day of Autobot shenanigans, it was a welcomed moment of peace on the Detroit riverbank.
Bumblebee sat beside you with his legs splayed out before him, pedes slowly turning from side to side while he leaned back onto his servos in the soft grass. His optics searched the glittering water ahead while you sat perched on the large root of the tree that loomed above you both, fully enveloped in the need to satisfy your stomach.
Sitting in this exact spot had become the new norm for the two of you ever since the Blitzwing incident almost a month prior. Bumblebee wanted to be closer to the road and away from any obstacles—like an almost-full boatyard—so he could make a much easier getaway if he needed to. He’d learned from that incident, clearly.
And you absolutely weren't complaining. The wide river before you reflected the lights of the buildings across the way as well as the moon, whenever it was visible and full. The massive Ambassador Bridge stood to the left not too far away. You could easily move just beyond the dense branches to look up into the sky for some stargazing, and the upward slope behind you provided some privacy from any prying eyes on the road and beyond. It was certainly pretty, and definitely a quiet and peaceful spot to sit and relax with your friend. Plus, the nauseating height of that davit was no longer a worry.
The summer heat had faded, giving way to chillier nights and warm afternoons. Halloween was just around the corner now that October had come, and you couldn’t wait for Bumblebee to actually experience it this year, particularly because you’d since discovered that he was insanely easy to scare. The young mech could barely handle scary clips online, let alone a bunch of much smaller beings dressed up as monsters and creatures and everything in between. At least, that was what you’d assumed.
The Autobot in question continued to gaze ahead in silence while you wolfed down your burger. His optics fell on the Ambassador Bridge for a long moment before a shiver ran through his circuits and he shook it off before turning to arch an optic ridge at you. “You enjoying your fuel?”
A vigorous nod and a piece of lettuce falling from your lip gave him his answer.
He laughed softly, then turned his optics back to the water again. “Ratchet’s gonna try to work on the holomatter generator again in a few cycles. Maybe I actually could try human fuel soon.”
“I wonder how that’s gonna work,” You mumbled through another mouthful, “The food is solid, so where does it go when you’re not a holoform anymore? Like, if your holoform disappeared, would a pile of ground beef fall on the floor out of thin air?” The image in your head made you wince. “Actually, that would be so gross. Ew.”
“Yeah, actually. Ew.” He shot you another smirk, then looked back at the water once again. “I think it’d be cool to actually feel like a human for a day. To touch stuff and feel stuff. But also not. I don’t know.”
You took your last bite and balled the parchment paper up into a ball with one hand, tossed it into the paper bag on your right, then turned to look at him. “Why not?
“Because being so small and having no plating or armor would probably make me feel so defenseless and basically naked.”
Your head turned sharply to your left so you could send him a glare and half a smile, “Hey! We’re not totally defenseless!”
“Yeah, you are! You guys are all squishy and soft! I mean, it’s gotta feel weird, right?” He leaned up to take the pressure off his servos, then reached over to poke your side with one digit which earned him a sharp laugh. “See? I just can’t believe I used to think you were dangerous!”
You pushed his servo away with another laugh, staying upright to defend yourself from it again if you needed to.
“Besides, I’m your guardian.” Bumblebee leaned forward and brought his knees closer to his chassis to balance his weight on the grass. “I can’t really protect you if I’m just as small and squishy as you are.”
“You’d be surprised.” You mused. “Humans are strong too. You just gotta give us the right tools.” Then you angled your head to the side to give him a playful glare. “And I am still dangerous. Mentally, at least.”
The Autobot turned back to you and squinted. “Yeah—dangerously delusional.”
You rolled your eyes and smiled, then cast your sights back on the rocky riverbank ahead.
The bridge continued to glitter with passing taillights against the dark night sky. Your eyes studied the sheer height of it and for a long moment, you wondered how far the roadway actually was from the water. It was a sickening drop—definitely way further than you’d first thought. Even simply driving across it gave you a strange spike of anxiety and nausea. You couldn’t imagine ever looking down into the dark river from that height.
The thought of it made you shiver once more. You shook your head, then let out a dramatic sigh and threw yourself down onto your back in the soft grass.
It took a moment for you to move again, mostly because you simply enjoyed laying beneath a massive tree, breathing in the scent of fall, and relishing in it all with your eyes closed. When you did open them again, stars speckled the spaces in between the leaves above you as the branches swayed in a gentle breeze. You could only count a few of the leaves that were still green, some of them patchy and others completely swallowed in warm shades of orange altogether. Beside you still, Bumblebee was quiet for once. He seemed to be enjoying the serenity just as much as yourself.
Life alongside him really hadn’t been as insane as you’d originally been led to believe. Decepticon activity was quieter than usual, according to the other Autobots—which was certainly strange but no one was complaining about it. Detroit remained relatively peaceful on that front, and the people inhabiting the city seemed to be at ease as well. Almost two months without a Decepticon attack? Extremely suspicious, sure, but certainly not unappreciated.
Liz had now met Bumblebee two more times since that first awkward meeting. She seemed a bit more relaxed with the idea of her niece hanging around a boy in her age group, especially now that she was actually able to talk to him and get a feel for his intentions—even if they weren’t completely true. They were still nothing but good intentions, but it was still technically a lie nonetheless. You were just glad that she could relax now. She’d barely complained about the ‘cybertronian problem’ at all since that night either, actually.
Prowl’s words still bounced around in your head on random occasions. The lack of Decepticon presence might have brought your guard down quite a lot, but his never seemed to go down at all. His persistence for remaining vigilant was incessant—and even annoying at times.
Prowl’s just paranoid. The words broke through to the forefront of your other thoughts, Everything’s fine.
The lack of chaos and danger was more than you could ask for. It only meant that you could spend more quality time making up inside jokes with the extremely rude Autobot scout beside you.
“You’re my best friend, Bee. The best friend I’ve ever had.” You’d blurted the quiet statement without thinking or even looking at him. While you continued to stare up at the stars beyond the leafy canopy, in your peripheral vision you saw his helm jerk to the side so he could look at you.
He didn’t say anything, but he continued to search your features. Suddenly, your cheeks were burning and you could feel your chest growing hot. So continuing to talk seemed to be the best thing to do without embarrassing yourself—hopefully. “I’m just glad that I ended up moving to Detroit.” You finally turned to give him a mischievous smile, “Honestly, I can’t imagine what my life would be like without my own little talking car to harass me everyday.”
“Little?!” The scout’s emotion visibly twisted from feigned offense into something sinister, complete with a wicked smirk. “You–!”
His servos lunged forward and immediately began an onslaught of poking and prodding, tickling your sides and your middle while minding his own strength. You let out a shriek that was quickly drowned out with laughter, totally and completely unable to form shouts of protest. Somewhere in the attack, he used a digit to ruffle your hair and started laughing at how wild he’d made it look. Your arms flew out once or twice in an effort to shove him away, and of course it would never work. However, your broken pleading for mercy was what finally made it end.
Through your ragged breathing and now-rigid posture, you’d leaned all the way up once more and stared at him with wild eyes, your giggling dying down when he stated firmly, “That’ll teach you not to call me little ever again.” Then he turned his helm up at you like he was too good to meet your eyes, “Because I’m not the smallest anymore. You are.”
Your heart was racing still, unable to come down from the unexpected attack. He’d figured out that humans can be tickled, clearly. How? You had no idea. But it was certainly something to remember from now on. You’d just have to figure out how to get him back for it anytime he weaponized it against you. Surely there had to be something that could work.
For now, you gave in. “Oh, please forgive me!” The back of your hand met your forehead and you leaned back, “How will I ever survive without our friendship?” With the rest of your woeful words, you flopped back down into your original place with your back in the grass and released a dramatic sigh.
“I think you’ll live.” Bumblebee mused.
You pinned your eyes shut and sighed loudly again to see if it would instigate him further, but when he surprisingly didn’t say anything, you finally allowed your muscles to relax. With another deep breath, you inhaled the scent of the chilly night air once again and calmed the racing, gleeful heart in your chest. Your eyes opened once more to find those pretty leaves again. “I don’t think I would, actually–”
The branches were… darker, somehow. While you thought your eyes were simply struggling to adjust, you realized that the stars beyond the canopy were now gone. At your sudden silence, Bumblebee turned to look at you with questioning optics and a mouth that hung open as if he were about to ask you what was wrong. He saw your eyes narrow, arms slowly pushing yourself up as you squinted up into the leaves before he finally voiced his concern, “What’re you looking at?”
As the realization dawned on you, you felt your pulse rush. “There’s something up in the–”
Whatever it was, it moved. The branches high up above shuddered against it’s weight and the leaves rustled violently. Then multiple bright red eyes appeared, and you couldn’t hold back a gasp of alarm.
A loud yelp ripped out of your lungs as you were snatched from your place in the grass. Bumblebee whirled on his pedes and jumped away to stand with his back facing the river. He threw you up onto the top of his chassis in between his helm and shoulder plating before he whipped out his stingers, loud electricity pulsating from them through erratic sparks and narrowed optics searching the treetop. But whatever was there had now vanished.
Your hands gripped the edge of his chassis as you steadied yourself, your own eyes searching wildly, “I saw something! I know I–!”
A heavy thud from behind him sent him whirling on his pedes again, but this time the both of you shrieked in total and complete terror at the sight of an enormous spider on the rocky riverbank. His weapons surprisingly didn’t fire off—probably because he was too focused on screaming louder than you’d ever thought possible and simultaneously backing away. And you were vocalizing just the same.
The horrifyingly massive insect didn’t move or speak during your very vocal shared panic. By the time your voices were dying down, still nothing had happened. Only a glaring stare bleeding from every single one of those slitted red optics grew with intensity as Bumblebee’s voice droned off and your’s did the same.
Silence. Tense, thick silence blanketed the space between yourself, your friend, and the multi-legged being that was still unmoving on the river’s rocky edge. The only sound drifting across the open stretch was the faint thrumming of Bumblebee’s electric stingers.
Until a smooth feminine voice delivered a dry insult. “Well, that was dramatic.”
Then, it transformed. Bumblebee’s posture tensed beneath your palms and you reached for something to grab onto, absentmindedly remembering not to grab onto his horns.
The being stood, her long and pointed appendages curling behind her back as she moved to stand upright. Black, purple, and gold plating reflected the indigo moonlight from above and the streetlights from the top of the slope that were now behind you. Sharp heels, clawed digits, and a sleek form came to take shape just a few yards before him. The new face stretched her arms forward before she looked completely relaxed with one servo coming to rest on her hip. Her armored helm and faceplate lacked any and all emotion—other than maybe a single shred of irritation.
Bumblebee’s stingers pulsed with fresh energy and he narrowed his optics, glowering at the feminine cybertronian that clearly neither of you had ever seen before. Inwardly, you cursed at yourself while you waited for something to inevitably happen. I just jinxed us.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of, Autobot.” Her voice was smooth, silky, and definitely not at all unnerving. “It’s just a little spider.”
“Back up.” You could feel the scout’s voicebox vibrating up through your chest as he growled. “I can see that insignia just fine.”
The femme glanced down at the Decepticon symbol in the center of her armored neckband, then she let out a sigh that sounded more like a hiss. “What—this thing?” One of her claws reached up to tap it lightly, “I haven’t been one of them for a long time, sweetspark.”
You narrowed your own eyes at her suspiciously. Nothing about the femme standing on the rocks ahead of you made you feel anything other than alarmed and ill. Her plating had sharp edges and ribbed pieces, very obviously less uniformed than any other cybertronian you’d ever seen. However, it made sense when considering what her alternate form was. A massive, metal spider with unnervingly long legs would send anyone into a spiral.
Your friend continued to hold his pointed glare, his stingers vibrating with energy once again and never lowering even an inch. “Then what do you want?”
Her helm flicked to her left just slightly. Even though her numerous optics were solid in color, you could almost feel their burning intensity. She seemed calm and collected, but there was still something about her that just seemed… wrong. A shiver ran along the length of your spine and into your fingertips.
“My designation is Black Arachnia.” The dark femme started in that same silky tone. Bumblebee’s form tensed once again when she stepped to the side and began to slowly pace along the rocky shoreline. “I’ve been exploring this planet for a few vorns now, but I came back here when I heard of the drama that you ridiculous mechs will still not let die. Somehow, you’ve dragged the war onto yet another planet—as if destroying our own homeworld wasn’t already enough.”
“We didn’t destroy anything. You can blame your leader for that.” Bumblebee hissed viciously through gritted denta.
Black Arachnia ignored him, her optics focused on the rocks before her pedes as she took each slow step, still not at all concerned about the scout’s drawn weapons. “But then I saw you, Autobot. And I was intrigued when I saw that human following your every move.” Her helm turned gradually to look at him once more. “A cybertronian and an Earth organic attached at the hip? It’s interesting. You’re proof that our kind can tolerate organic matter.”
Bumblebee didn’t move or speak. Goosebumps exploded along the surface of your skin and against the fabric of your sleeves.
“It’s cute, in a way. I really wondered how that came to be.” Arachnia stopped in her tracks and let out a soft laugh. “So I’ve been observing your bond for the last stellar cycle.”
She’s been watching us? For how long? Another shiver quaked through your body, as if you weren't already completely and totally freaked out.
Movement from her caught your attention once more and when you looked back, you saw half-lidded optics already meeting your own squinting eyes. Then that same smooth voice practically purred, “What’s your name, sweetspark?”
Your fingers curled along the edge of Bumblebee’s chassis, white-knuckling your grip on him and your breath caught in your chest for only a brief second. Even if you wanted to respond, Bumblebee beat you to it.
“You’re a freak of nature and you need to frag off.” His stingers roared with energy and the electric currents flared along the air before he squared his shoulders. The Autobot genuinely seemed like he was one more word away from firing a shot at his target.
“Hmph. Nature.” Arachnia’s optics squinted at him and her lip curled, just a fraction of anger making itself known. She paused for a long moment and searched him up and down, but she still hadn’t moved. “Sometimes becoming a freak of nature is a good thing, believe it or not. Organic matter might just end up being the key to a kind of power one can only dream of.”
The femme’s servo slipped from her hip and she took one small step toward him, then those solid optics narrowed in on you once again. “We have far more in common than you’d think.”
Bumblebee took one step back and repositioned his stingers to aim at her helm.
Then, she smiled and hissed with a note of disgust. “Hold onto that one while you can, scout.”
“Get lost!” He barked an instant response.
You flinched when the sparking stingers before him finally released in a flurry of zaps. Bolts of electricity soared across the air, each one missing their intended target as she dodged them effortlessly. Arachnia bent her knees and launched herself upward faster than your eyes could follow before she landed, now standing in the grass a few yards away on Bumblebee’s left. The young ‘Bot jerked to the side to face her and held his stingers higher, but he didn’t fire again.
You’d expected her to retaliate, to lash out—something. But she didn’t. Her posture was still relaxed when she stood tall after her landing with her helm lolled over her shoulder to send him another unbothered look.
Bumblebee was practically seething, his chassis shuddering in sporadic pants with his knees bent and ready to act if needed. Through his movements, you’d latched onto the side of his neck with one hand and the edge of his shoulder plating in the other. Staring at the being ahead of you once again was the only thing you felt you could really do.
Arachnia stared back for a moment longer before she raised her servos defensively and took a step back. Then she smiled and murmured, “See you around.”
With that, she shifted. The massive cybertronian spider came to be again, then scurried up the slope and out of sight.
The scout remained tense and rigid for a long moment. Only at the sound of your shaky breathing did he relax just slightly, one stinger returning to a servo while he let out an exvent himself. Bumblebee then straightened and stood tall with his helm turning back to see where she’d disappeared. Clearly, he still wasn’t convinced that she really had left.
On a normal night, you might have thought that the tense silence was suffocating. Instead you found yourself thinking the same thing that he probably was—it’s still dangerous. But when scanning the top of the slope revealed nothing and there was no sound other than the acceleration of a few distant cars, your shoulders finally sagged. She was gone.
Your friend shook his helm like he was rebooting himself. When you looked to find his faceplate, you found a scowl and squinting optics still trained on where he last saw her. It lasted only a moment before he turned to meet your gaze. “You good?”
“I’m good.” You stared at him, jaw agape for a few seconds and blinking away any lingering scraps of wild alarm. “Are you good?”
“Psh, I’m good.” He tried to sound confident, but it didn’t really work. His apprehension was still evident in his optics, his posture that still hadn’t completely relaxed, and the fact that he kept looking up the slope said everything. However, his opposite stinger finally turned back into a servo nonetheless. “But that was really weird.”
“You don’t say?” Your eyes went wide and you craned your neck forward to find his optics again with a tone that emphasized the sarcasm. “She just said she’s been following us for a stellar-whatever!”
“A stellar cycle.” The Autobot corrected. His optics only flicked to your face for a second as he spoke. “It’s like– I think it’s a month for you guys. Or whatever you call it.”
Your shoulders slumped with a sigh, then you flopped over with your weight leaning on the side of his helm. The fresh image of those many pointed legs popped back into your head and a violent shiver wracked your bones. You let out a hiss of disgust, “I hate spiders.”
“Me too.” Bumblebee confirmed, his own shiver reverberating through his circuits. “Especially the Decepticon kind.”
You were honestly surprised that he wasn’t complaining about you being so close to touching his horns by now. “I didn’t even know those existed and honestly, I’m not really thrilled about it.”
“Me neither—to both of those points.” Bumblebee finally turned to face the tree that had previously provided shelter, then he reached up to pluck you from your spot atop his chassis. The scout set you down on the ground beside him gently before he shifted back into the familiar WRX and popped the driver’s door open automatically. “Let’s go tell the guys.”
You nodded wordlessly and jumped in, happy to feel the warmth of his interior. Until that moment, you hadn’t realized that the goosebumps along your skin were still very prominent—likely from the combination of feeling thoroughly freaked out and the chilly night air.
Bumblebee pulled up alongside the massive oak tree and stopped to let you out for a brief second. You needed to retrieve your almost-forgotten burger-joint paperbag.
₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊
“There was this… spider-lady. But it was really weird.” Bumblebee’s need to talk with his servos flying all over the place would likely never be something he’d stop doing. “Apparently she’s been stalking us for cycles like some kind of freak!”
Optimus’ words were mellow and level, and one of his servos held his chin in a thoughtful expression. “And you saw the Decepticon insignia?”
“Yeah! She said she’s not one of them anymore—apparently.” Bumblebee’s optics turned to pan across the room at the other Autobots.
When you both scrambled in through the open bay door, Bulkhead had been discussing something with Optimus. Ratchet was in the middle of his never-ending tinkering. And Prowl must have been in the hallway, because the slender mech only appeared after Bumblebee exploded with frantic rambling. The plant had been quiet for a long couple of weeks and it left the team almost restless to some degree. Some excitement—even if it was coming from the ever-dramatic scout—was more than enough to get them all to stop what they were doing without a second thought.
Your own words seemed to get trapped in your throat. By now, your comfort among the other Autobots had skyrocketed, but they still left you feeling a bit intimidated during group discussions sometimes. You were getting better at it everyday, but the idea that you were just a little pest never seemed to stop bleeding from the cracks of your subconscious. Prowl’s consistent attitude still wasn’t helping either.
“And you didn’t engage?” The cyberninja’s monotone voice carried over to the scout standing beside you. There was just enough of a suspicious tone in there, you almost thought he was trying to instigate something.
“Well, not really. I fired a few warning shots to get her to back off, but that was it.” Bumblebee’s optics flicked across his teammates briefly, then he looked down at you and down at his pedes. “She didn’t attack back.”
Prowl let out a quiet hiss that was half a sigh, his right servo reaching up to cover his visor. You saw Bumblebee tense beside you, so before any bickering could inevitably blow up, you leaned up and took a deep breath.
“She talked about cybertronians getting along with organics and stuff. It was really weird.” You finally managed to work up enough courage to add to the conversation, even if your eyes still stayed stuck and glued to the cement beneath your sneakers. “Then she said that we have a lot in common, and she left.”
“She said that she has a lot in common with who?” Ratchet’s voice from behind you startled you only slightly. The older mech was leaning over you so he could meet your eyes, and you had to crane your neck back to see it. He had one optic ridge arched in question. “You?”
“I mean– I think?” You looked away from his optics, glazed eyes scanning the faceplates of the other Autobots to gauge their reactions. “She was looking right at me when she said it.”
Both Ratchet and Prowl looked to Optimus, then Bumblebee and Bulkhead did the same after staring down at you for a moment longer. Clearly they were all looking to their leader to see what he would think about the strange encounter.
The noble Autobot in question had his optics trained on you for a long few seconds—long enough to make your stomach churn at the unwanted attention. “And you’re sure you weren’t followed?”
“Honestly?” Bumblebee shrugged, his features flinching at the sudden realization. “I hope not. If she’s actually been following us for almost a stellar cycle, I had no idea.”
You looked from your friend and back up to the taller leader. Bumblebee didn’t answer his question, so you did. “I don’t think she followed us back to the plant tonight, no. We kept checking behind us and we never saw anything weird.”
Optimus let out a huff of air. Then the mech turned slightly and began to pace for just a moment. He was very clearly deep in thought, squinting his narrowed optics and still holding his chin within his servo. Then he heaved a heavy exvent and turned to meet the optics of his surrounding and expectant comrades. “I don’t like it.”
“Who would?” Ratchet quipped, his tone dropping into thick sarcasm. “A techno-organic stalking humans wasn’t exactly what I would have expected for our roster.”
“A techno-organic?” Your voice cracked. “Is that what she is?”
Optimus let out a hmph, then squared his shoulders before he turned to face Prowl and Bulkhead on his right. “I’m going to scope it out, see if she’s still in the area. Prowl, you’ll come with.”
The mech in question nodded wordlessly. His helm turned to his right, hidden optics undoubtedly landing on you, and you could feel yourself shrinking deeper into your own skin under the weight of his stare. You tried to avoid his gaze but before you could internally explode over it, he’d already looked away once more.
Neither one of you had spoken a word to each other since he’d lashed out at you—not really. There wasn’t really any need for it. You’d tried your best to hide away from his intense presence more often than not, and Bumblebee also made that quite easy for you. The scout very obviously had never liked Prowl from the start—and that feeling was mutual—long before you’d showed up in their lives, so keeping his charge away from the irritable grouch became one of his top priorities very quickly. Especially after you refused to tell him about how your ‘conversation’ went.
“You two–” Optimus turned to point at Bulkhead, then to Bumblebee, “–stay here with [Name] until we get back with a report.”
Bulkhead nodded. Bumblebee folded his arms across his chassis and dropped his helm to the side. There was a sharp scowl adorning his faceplate and his narrowed optics looked anywhere else but at the commanding leader. The scout was muttering something, but it was too quiet for you to catch it all. Something about ‘my charge’ and ‘I never get to patrol for stuff like this.’
You blinked at him, then rolled your eyes and shook off the remaining nerves as they fired warning after warning in your brain. You were ever so slowly beginning to get a grip on your anxious thoughts, but it was still a fight nonetheless. Plus, it wasn’t like you’d be able to truly relax with the newfound knowledge of an alien stalker on the loose.
Optimus stepped into the space between yourself and the yellow mech with Prowl following just a few paces behind. Once again, you could feel the weight of his stare burning the surface of your skin as he stalked quietly past. But that time, you chose not to meet it.
Maybe ignoring Prowl enough actually would make it all go away.
The two beings exited through the open bay door and Ratchet closed it swiftly behind them. When he turned back to face the abnormal silence, he found a stagnant room with three youngsters expectantly staring back at him.
A scowl rippled along his scarred faceplate, “What are you all staring at? Go play one of those human games—or whatever mindless slag you love to distract yourselves with.”
The old mech ambled away and into his own medical bay. That left yourself, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead all staring after him—until you turned to look back at the scout, then to the wrecker.
With the both of them stupidly staring back and Bumblebee being abnormally quiet, you threw your arms up in the air and widened your eyes.
Bulkhead blinked, then his helm turned just slightly to the side. “What now?”
You simply shrugged, eyes surveying him and Bumblebee repeatedly. “I dunno.”
“We do what Ratchet said!” Bumblebee suddenly jumped in the spot where he stood, his arms waving animatedly before him and his optics squinting in a suspicious look. Then his ever-present mischievous smirk came back brighter than ever. “Distract ourselves with mindless human slag!”
You could feel a shiver run through your insides, but you matched the energy nonetheless. “I don’t… ew, dude. Just ew. You make it sound so gross.”
“You’re gross!” Bumblebee barked defensively as he pointed a digit at you. “I’m just trying to make sure we don’t rust while we wait stellar cycles for them to come back.”
The young ‘Bot turned on his heel and sauntered across the living space toward the mouth of the hallway. He stopped short just before disappearing around the edge of the wall where he could still see you and the giant green mech standing behind you. After a long moment again filled with silent staring, his optic lids dropped and he tipped his helm to the side, “Well? What’re you guys waiting for? Come on!”
The sound of Bulkhead’s shifting parts finally made you move when you realized he’d obeyed without a second thought, and you did just the same. Scrambling to catch up with enormous beings wasn’t as easy as it looked—not to mention holding that pace while trying to keep up with them. Their legs were way longer than yours, after all.
Bumblebee led the two of you back into his own living quarters. Once the young ‘Bot was inside the space, he turned and waited for Bulkhead and yourself to step in before shoving the heavy door closed behind you. Then he scampered across the concrete floor to the opposite wall and hurriedly rummaged through a pile of electronics. Wires and batteries flew into the air and all over the place as he tossed them away, earning him a bark from you after you’d dodged one of the many pieces of flying debris.
“Watch it, dude!” Another small battery flew past your skull. How could he even manage batteries with servos as large as his own? You didn’t know—but you did know that you didn’t want to get clobbered with them. “You’re gonna hit me with those.”
A sharp tang sounded off from Bulkhead’s pede as he was struck with the end of a powercable. One side of his oversized jaw twitched upward in irritation at the contact. “Maybe [Name] should have some armor around here.”
Your eyes shot up to find his optics, wide and amazed and sparkling with sudden interest. “Whoa! I want armor! That would be so sick!”
A scoff came from the hyperfocused scout across the room, but he didn’t look away from whatever he was trying to find. “[Name] doesn’t need armor! She has me.”
“That’s exactly the problem.” Bulkhead leaned forward with one servo outstretched as if he wanted to cover you with it, but he stopped just before reaching you when Bumblebee barked excitedly.
“Aha!” The yellow mech jumped backward and pumped his servos into the air triumphantly, then he turned and presented the object in his grasp to yourself and the just as equally confused Autobot standing behind you.
It was a large box of some kind—dark gray and black in color with cables coming out of the backside of it and a large lens on it’s front.
Bumblebee’s smug smile tugging at his faceplate made you want to make some kind of joke to fluster him. However, your genuine curiosity outweighed the need to do so. “And this is–?”
“A media player.” He stated matter-of-factly, optics closed.
You blinked at him before your eyelids dropped just slightly, even if he couldn’t see it. “That’s a projector.”
“No, it’s my media player.” The Autobot reared back and shot you a look of feigned disgust. “It plays media.”
You had to resist the urge to smile teasingly. “Yeah. Also known as a projector.”
“No, it’s–!”
“Oh, who cares what it’s called!” Bulkhead snapped from behind you. His booming voice was more than enough to get anyone to shut up. “It plays movies! So we’re watching a movie. Right?”
“Right!” Bumblebee smiled brightly, then he looked down at you and winked. “So go get your big pile of tarps while I set this thing up.”
You rolled your eyes and sighed dramatically, but turned to find your mess of blankets nonetheless.
Over the last month, you’d obtained some king-sized blankets of your own to keep at the plant. Soft, plush, and warm quilted ones that offered a level of comfort you didn’t even have in your own bedroom at home. After you’d discovered this, you almost wished you had purchased more than the few residing in Bumblebee’s quarters to keep at the house too. But something in the back of your brain told you that it wasn’t exactly just the blankets offering comfort—it was the company you had when you were nestled here within them. Plus, Liz would wonder what you’d spent all that money on.
After you’d assembled a mess of blankets on the floor to your liking, you kicked off your sneakers and leaped into them with an excited yap. Almost instantly, you were buried in the soft and feathery material and it was a welcomed invitation to immediately relax. You allowed your muscles to go limp and your shoulders to slump so you could sink even further down on your back, closing your eyes in bliss as you did so.
Until a shadow loomed, blocking out the dim light that was beyond your eyelids. So you opted to crack one eye open.
Staring down at you was Bulkhead. The wrecker had titled his helm in what looked like confusion, one of his optic ridges was arched and his jaw quirked upward in a half smile. “What are you doing?”
You could only return his smile as you closed your eyes again. “Basking in the beauty and comfort of some really soft blankets. You should try it sometime.”
You could hear Bulkhead’s physical reaction; leaning backward while undoubtedly continuing to arch his optic ridge as he replied, “Uh, we don’t really need blankets. And I can’t even really… feel them… I guess?”
You cracked an eye open once more so you could see him again. “You can’t? Why not?”
“Uh, well–” The huge mech leaned further back and looked away awkwardly, “–we don’t have exposed protoforms, so we can’t really feel stuff like that.”
You leaned up while gazing at him in shock, curiosity rounding your eyes. “You can’t? Are you sure?” You threw one hand over your shoulder and pointed at Bumblebee with your thumb. “Because if I so much as flick that dude’s plating, he gets all freaked out about how much it hurts.”
The yellow scout’s helm shot upward from where he’d originally been focused on plugging in the cables for the projector. His cheeks were blown up and his optics were wide and angry, like he couldn’t believe that you’d actually say that to another member of the team. “Hey!”
“What?” You threw a sideways glance over your shoulder and tried to stifle your snort of laughter, “It’s true and you know it! It happened like, four hours ago!”
“No, it’s not!” Bumblebee jumped in place and threw his servos up into the air. Then he turned his optics on Bulkhead. “Listen, she likes to make stuff up all the time, so I wouldn’t–”
“Nah. I believe her. She’s not making that up.” The larger Autobot blinked and suppressed a rumble of laughter in his own chassis.
The reaction instantly earned him exasperated shouting from across the room. “What? Why?!”
“Because that so sounds like something you would do and it happens all the time.” Bulkhead snickered in a giddy tone of voice and you couldn’t help the laugh that broke out.
The younger ‘Bot threw his servos all over the place like he was struggling to bat the airborne insults away. “I–! You–! I can’t even–!”
He stood there staring between you and the wrecker for a long moment, then whirled on his pedes and very obviously tried his hardest to focus his efforts back on the projector. Then came the unmistakable sounds of his fans kicking on.
Your explosive laughter finally broke free, simply unable to hold it in anymore. Every few seconds through your cracked eyes, you could see him bristling at the sound while he rummaged through the mess of cables in his servos. Though it was extremely difficult, you tried to speak brokenly through your fit. “Oh– come on, Bee! We’re just– we’re just messing with you.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Laugh it up back there!” Bumblebee’s voice had developed a slight sting, then he turned and squinted at you harshly. “‘Cause you’re so gonna pay for that.”
“Ohhh.” Your tone droned up and down through a mischievous smile and you squinted back. “I’m so scared.”
“You don’t even know the half of it–” He murmured menacingly. Then without warning, he turned and leaped forward, stamping his pedes on the concrete and stopping just short of your blanket pile. The action made you clumsily fall back into the pillowed mess with a yelp, but he hardly heard it because he was too busy shouting, “–because you’re about to scream your little organic head off!”
“What?” Your arms worked to shove yourself upright again and your voice broke through the movement.
Bumblebee leaned all the way over, looming above you with his usually-suspect smug smile. “It’s scary movie time.”
“Oh, great.” A laugh, then you rolled your eyes. “Now I get to listen to you scream like a little girl for the next two hours.”
“Yeah. That’s usually what happens.” Bulkhead, still standing behind you, snickered.
“Wha–!” Bumblebee lurched backward like he’d been physically struck and cursed, “Don’t make me laugh, [Name]. Primus.”
He ate his words, however.
Because only about forty minutes into the movie, Bumblebee was shivering beside you. He was struggling to suppress it, but you saw it as clear as day. Bulkhead sat on your opposite side with his pedes situated in front of him comfortably and even he was casting you sideways glances at times. Both of you saw it perfectly clear, even in the light that only came from the projection and the blue string lights around the room.
Then came the most glorious possible thing that could ever grace your eyes.
A creature in the projection jumped forward, and the scout let out the highest shriek you’d ever heard in your life. Not only did you have no idea his voice could even reach that level of volume, but his frantic flailing and the distance his body tumbled backward only made it all the more epic. The screeching lasted for a long few seconds, and when he finally stopped scrambling for a grip on anything within range that he could grab onto, he froze.
He saw you and Bulkhead staring at him with massive eyes and optics respectively. Then came the howling laughter. You’d rolled onto your side in your blanket nest, completely unable to breathe, just as Bulkhead fell backward with a loud crash as his plating met solid concrete. The ground beneath the fabrics trembled just slightly as he shouted broken words through his fit, and your chest began to hurt without a proper breath.
The small ‘Bot squinted at you both while you were lost in the elation. He shuffled over and sat back down without a word—only bitterly narrowed optics and a curled lip as he watched you both struggling to compose yourselves.
When you finally leaned up once more, you were wiping fresh tears from the corners of your eyes with the backs of each of your hands. Your laughter had simmered down into sporadic whimpers, like you were genuinely trying to silence yourself and it was close to an impossible feat.
Bulkhead was now upright once more as well, and you only knew that because you’d recognized the familiar sound of shifting metal. You cast your eyes to your left where the ever-silent scout sat silently—no doubt internally simmering like a tea kettle.
Finally and after a heavy sigh, you managed to form coherent words, “You can hold my hand if you want t–”
“I don’t need hand-holding!” Bumblebee flinched away like your outstretched hand was a loaded weapon, “You need hand-holding!”
More laughter ensued—as if his torture was never going to end.
It wasn’t much longer before the movie ended with just a few more jumpscares. Bumblebee tried to hide his fear, but that was absolutely an impossible task. He didn’t know how to quell his trembling, nevermind stifle his vocal panic. The young mech was the most vocal of any of the Autobots, so naturally it would make sense that he couldn’t handle sitting quietly through any movie—and a scary one at that. Truly, it was a glorious thing to witness and it helped your anxiety fade away more and more by the minute.
You couldn’t stop a loud yawn from announcing your exhaustion. It really had been yet another long day, and the emotional adrenaline-fueled fluctuations had taken their toll. Bulkhead agreed that it was time for stasis, and he left without teasing his younger comrade any more than he already had.
You stood up and climbed out of your blanket nest clumsily, nearly tripping over your own foot as you did so. Bumblebee was in the process of closing the hangar door behind Bulkhead, but he stopped when he heard your voice.
“Hey!” You were waggling one finger at him when he turned to look at you, “Come on. You know the drill.”
Bumblebee’s shoulders slumped and he squeezed his optic lids shut, angling his helm upward to groan at the ceiling. “Ugh! You and your protoform.”
Your response came after a curt giggle. “No. It’s called privacy. And you need to get used to it.”
Bumblebee was halfway through opening up the door once again when he turned to shoot you a confused look. “I just don’t get it! I mean– why? I have a protoform too, y’know. It’s not that crazy.”
You eyed him and quirked one brow. “Can I see it?”
Instantly, he snapped his mouth shut, his optics blew up, and you heard his fans kick on. “Uh, well–”
“Exactly.” You shook your head and laughed lightly, simply waving your hand at him. “Now scram. I’ll be done in not even a full minute.”
“Ugh.” He sighed, but he didn’t argue any further.
At the sound of that massive door sliding shut, you turned your focus over to your little makeshift shelf to the right of his television setup. Within it, you’d accumulated a bit of your clothes from home to keep at the plant. There were way too many times where you’d been showered with dirt over and over again. Bumblebee was still learning that in a dirt lot or a muddy patch of grass, he should at least move away from you before transforming as soon as you left his interior.
That, and you really just wanted to have some comfy clothes to change into after a long day of robot shenanigans running amuck.
Once you were comfortably tucked into a pair of sweatpants and your biggest sweatshirt, you called for your friend to enter the room once more. Bumblebee slowly cracked the door without looking in, asked if you were sure, and pushed the door open further once he had your confirmation.
For a ‘Bot that pretends to be annoyed all the time, he sure did respect your demands. Most of the time.
Bumblebee quickly closed the hangar door behind him, flipped that huge lightswitch on the wall next to it, then took a few paces over to his berth and sat down on the edge of it. His bright blue optics lit up tiny dust particles as they floated around his helm and in front of his faceplate, watching you curiously.
You were in the middle of tossing some blankets up and around your head, very obviously in the process of making your blanket pile comfortable to sleep in once more. After settling your heavy quilted blanket across the divot in the middle, you climbed in and allowed the warm fabric to swallow you almost completely.
Bumblebee’s optics focused on you for a moment longer. Then he let out a dramatic sigh and flopped over onto his back, slowly pushing himself into a comfortable place across the length of the berth with his pedes. “That was a long day.”
Silence, and then a reply muffled by blankets. “It was.”
His optics searched the ceiling, pipes and concrete illuminated by bright royal blue string lights. Then he smiled, “I’m starting to think I should keep you away from Bulkhead.”
“What?” He heard you shift and lean up, but he didn’t look. “No! Why?!”
“Because every time you guys are together, you gang up on me!” Bumblebee rolled onto his side so he’d be able to see you from the edge, “Bullying isn’t cute, y’know.”
“Oh, come on. You bully me all the time!”
True, he thought. “Yeah, but I don’t bully you the way you bully me when he’s in the room.”
“What?” He could see you staring up at him, your jaw working to form some kind of retort, but you gave up after a moment and flopped back down into your makeshift bed once more. “Wimp.”
Bumblebee lurched upward with his arms and digits outstretched. “See?! Exactly!”
“Oh my god.” Your laughing made him smile.
The mech leaned back down and settled himself once more and a comfortable silence fell across the dimly lit room. Silence was never really something he liked, however. “That femme was really weird.”
More silence, then came a tentative reply from down below him. “Yeah. I don’t like her.”
“Me neither.” Bumblebee scowled. “And she called you sweetspark! Only I can do that!”
He heard a tiny laugh, but you didn’t reply.
He narrowed his optics up at the ceiling, deep in a bitter thought. “Also, if she’s been rogue for a long time like she said, why didn’t she get rid of her slag insignia? It’s so easy.”
You leaned up out of the warmth once again in favor of finding his optics. “Really? How… do you even do that? Does it hurt?”
“It can. You can get a new piece of plating, or smelt it off. Usually you need a medic to do it for you.” The Autobot above you murmured, then you heard his parts shifting as a violent shiver wracked his form. “But smelting it off would probably feel worse than Unicron himself.”
You scrunched your nose and titled your head, confused. “Uni-what? What about a unicorn?”
There was a sharp tang. Bumblebee definitely just clapped his forehead with his servo. “Unicron. He’s the… Uh, actually that’s a really long story. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.”
“Huh. Okay.”
Another long pause came and went. Your eyes drifted from the edge of the berth above you and floated over the floor, then the walls, the many stolen street signs and posters, and the royal blue lights up above.
The sound of metal shifting grasped your attention once more, however.
“Hey, [Name]? Uh– do you…” Yet another long pause, and Bumblebee’s voice was way quieter than you’d ever heard it before. “Do you wanna, um– maybe go to stasis up here?”
You blinked, and suddenly your cheeks were burning and hot to the touch. “You mean up there with you?”
“Yeah, uh–” He sat up yet again, his voicebox faltering like he didn’t know how to speak, “I mean, you can if you want to.”
There was a warm feeling in your chest. And it grew, and grew, and grew until it threatened to combust. You kept your cool however, calm and level and not at all feeling warm from head-to-toe all over. Your lengthy silence made that feeling grow with intensity and you suddenly found yourself needing to deflect somehow, so you said the first thing that came to mind. “You scared up there all by yourself?”
“No!” He barked.
A hefty laugh fell out of you at his instant and defensive response. “Relax, sunshine. I’m just messing with you. And yes, I would like that.”
There was some quiet muttering that you couldn’t really hear clearly, and then the mech was moving to stand. Bumblebee loomed over you only for a second before he reached down to gently pick you up and out of the blankets. He placed you softly on the foot of the berth and leaned back down once more to retrieve your warm haven, then turned and dumped them at the head of the bare slab of metal. You let out a giggle and you weren’t sure if he heard it, but if he did, he chose not to react.
He waited for you to climb back into them before he slowly and very cautiously followed suit. By the time you were done fluffing them, his helm was already laying beside you.
Your eyes drifted over his faceplate, his optics, and down to where his servos were crossing his chassis. He refused to look at you but he obviously knew you were staring, because the sound of his fans spinning harder was way too loud for you to miss.
Yet another chuckle, then you settled in and pulled part of that heavy quilt over your legs. “Thank you, o’ great hero.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever.”
A curt snort, then you finally allowed your muscles to relax and you fell limp in the warmth and safety once more.
With a heavy sigh, you tried to focus on releasing each limb from any lingering tension one by one. Staring at the ceiling proved to be interesting just like Bumblebee was doing, but it wasn’t because you were blushing like he was.
Really, you were just starting to analyze without even realizing it.
The spider-femme—a techno-organic—really was weird. Not to mention everything she said and her threatening undertone. She mentioned organics and cybertronians getting along, fully admitted to stalking you and your best friend for weeks, and what she said when she mentioned ‘holding onto that one while you can?’ It was extremely unsettling at the bare minimum.
You couldn’t help but shiver.
Somehow, you’d managed to fall asleep not long after that. But Bumblebee was wide awake, and he absolutely could not relax.
At some point in the night, he rolled over so he could see you. You were there, in the plant with him, and nothing would happen to you. He was sure of it.
But there was this sinking, gnawing feeling that wouldn’t release it’s grip on his spark. It pulsated and grew the more he thought about it and he could feel the tremors within his circuits through every nanokilk that passed by.
No techno-organic former-Decepticon would ever get their nasty servos anywhere near you, and he would make sure of that. Because he’d fry their protoform from the inside out if they ever tried.
I have just been absolutely obliterated by my EMS work lately, and I’ve been gearing up for the busy winter season, but I’m feeling better than I was!
P.S. I have like,, maybe five more paragraphs to write and CHAPTER TEN WILL BE DONE, hopefully will be posted by the end of this week! Thank you so so much for your patience ilysm
i love when characters are liars. i love when they're vain. i love when they don't know how to communicate, or simply refuse to. i love when they cause problems for themselves and also other people that could've easily been avoided. i love when they're too stubborn for their own good and end up making things worse. i love when they're consumed by guilt and grief. i love when they want to die
I’ve been seeing a lot about this topic on social media so i REALLY WANT TO STRESS THIS TO YOU GUYS,,
I DO NOT AND NEVER HAVE INTENTIONALLY USED AI FOR ANYTHING. AND I NEVER WILL. ESPECIALLY FOR MY CREATIVE ENDEAVORS.
I do love my em dashes, commas, I italicize a LOT for emphasis/attitude in words, but I will NEVER EVER USE IT FOR MY ART OR MY WRITING ESPECIALLY and I have absolutely no desire to. Never have, never will.
I hate AI usage in general, but imho when it was created it should have been created for the things I DON’T want to do. NOT my writing, my art, etc. The things that I genuinely enjoy doing with every fiber of my being? Absolutely not.
I’ve been drawing since I could pick up a pencil. I’ve been writing since I was thirteen, if not earlier. AI has no claim on my ass and it will stay that way for me until the day I die.
₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊ I’ll Keep You Safe — TFA Bumblebee X fem!Reader ₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊
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NINE — Materializing
Word Count: 9.9k
Warnings: The word ‘drugs,’ confrontations, an irritable Autobot medic (love him).
A/N: I know this chapter was supposed to come out September 26th, but that day ended up being the worst day of my entire EMS career so I am so sorry and I thank you all for your patience. I’ve been trying to post this chapter for the last three days, but work for the last full week has been just insane. The AO3 author curse is VERY REAL. I am tired. rip. Enjoy!
₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊
Gentle light filtered through the spaces between the blackout curtains in thin ribbons, bathing bits of the room in a golden glow. Those curtains were a great idea after all, being that you’d barely slept over the course of the previous two days. The darkness was more than welcome while you’d unknowingly slept in.
Eventually, noise beyond your closed bedroom door was finally what made you stir. Without a doubt Liz in the kitchen, you’d concluded.
Groggily and lazily, your arms moved to support your weight as you pushed yourself up and out of the warm safety of the covers. You turned your head to loll over your shoulder when you looked for the source of the light and found that it was definitely mid-morning at the earliest. You’d slept in way later than you’d intended to.
Thankfully, summer was still on and you had nowhere to be—other than breakfast with Liz, which you’d definitely forgotten about.
Kicking your legs out over the edge of the bed, you shifted your weight forward so you could stand. The air conditioning immediately made the surface of your skin explode with goosebumps and you promptly began searching for whatever hoodie was closest to you. How annoying it was, to beg for cold air everyday only to freeze during your groggy hours.
Once you’d situated yourself into the proper clothing and made a short stop in the bathroom to ready yourself, you stepped out into the hall and down toward the kitchen. Your bare feet against the soft carpet provided such an intense sense of relief, you hadn’t noticed how sore they were until then. Those sneakers were a few years old so they weren’t the best—particularly while running around a city alongside an alien robot. An upgrade was surely in order.
You popped your head around the edge of the doorway to the bright kitchen. At the sink was your aunt, who was in the middle of emptying the dishwasher as she listened to the news coming from the small television on the counter. Your eyes wandered around for a moment, wanting to test the waters before you made your presence known. Some small part of you was convinced that she knew that you’d snuck out last night, and you foolishly hadn’t thought of any excuses to get yourself out of the hypothetical predicament.
An older man was broadcasting the nuisance that had occurred last night, allegedly. Illegal streetracers taking out mailboxes, again. Allegedly.
“Hey,” Your voice was small at first, and you immediately cursed yourself for how meek it sounded. “Sorry I slept in so late, I… I didn’t mean to do that.”
Liz’s head jerked to look at you in surprise, then she turned back to focus on the dishes in the sink. “No worries, kiddo.”
Zero emotion. She sure was incredibly difficult to read at times. You just had to chalk it up to the knowledge that you just didn’t really know her all that well yet.
You blinked, then approached her and folded your arms over your chest—unconcious anxiety rearing it’s ugly head. “Do you need any help?”
“No, all good.” The woman murmured. “You hungry?”
At the mere mention of anything food related, your stomach growled like a freight train, and it was definitely loud enough for even her to hear. “Big time.”
“There’s a plate for you over there.” Liz pointed with her elbow to her right. “You’ll just have to throw it in the microwave for a minute or two.”
“Thank you.” You smiled at her, but her eyes were already back to the sink.
Sure enough, a full plate of eggs, bacon, toast, and some pancakes were set beside the television. Your folded arms extended to reach for it and when you picked it up, your ears picked up on the active broadcast once more.
That same tired man was relaying the known information the authorities had on the ‘delinquent nuisances’ that continued to rip up the city every other night. Apparently some of them were known to destroy public property, clip mailboxes, paste skidmarks all over the roads, steal roadsigns, and more.
Huh. Sounds like someone I know.
You turned your back on the television and padded across to the opposite wall where the microwave sat next to the fridge. Liz was still eerily quiet, but your anxiety was starting to quell itself. Surely if she knew, she would have said something about it by now.
When your plate was warmed, you retrieved it and turned toward the small table against the far wall. You pulled your chosen chair out to situate yourself down comfortably and thanked your aunt again as you did so. There was already a fork there waiting for you, and the need to satisfy your need for sustenance completely took over.
A new story came up as you absentmindedly chewed on a piece of bacon. That time it was detailing the continuing cleanup project from a little more than a month prior—the last time the city had felt Decepticon wrath. It was the same cleanup and restoration project that resulted from the day you met Bumblebee. Short clips of the Autobots working alongside city construction crews while they made repairs rolled across the screen as the broadcaster droned on.
No one had gotten hurt, thankfully, but two or three businesses were forced to close temporarily while their offices were restored. When images of the previous destruction came up on the screen, you immediately recognized the building as the one that Starscream had blasted with the intent of showering debris down onto your now best friend.
Then audio from numerous interviews with some of the locals began filtering over images of the damage. The owner of a small business—a short, older woman—launched into complaints about aliens bringing their drama into Detroit, which inevitably shattered her storefront windows on the ground level. A man in a suit voiced his demanding questions to the mayor, wanting to know why the people of Detroit were forced to shelter beings that were clearly a ‘threat to their lives.’ Then there was a small group of giddy children, exploding with excitement and huge smiles over the superheroes that called their city home.
You stopped mid-bite to curl your lip irritatedly. Did none of them know that the Autobots were quite literally stuck on the planet? Did they really think that the Autobots were a threat too?
A scowl from your left caught your attention and the look on your face fell instantly. Your eyes found Liz staring at the screen over her right shoulder, her brows furrowed and lip twitching. Then she shook her head and turned back to rinsing the dishes. “Those things need to go back to where they came from before they get more people killed.”
Your eyes were wide, staring at the back of her head as the wild thoughts in your brain fumbled to create a coherent response. You looked down at your plate and poked a piece of scrambled egg, suddenly realizing that your intense hunger had now completely vanished.
Your voice was small, tentative, like you were scared that she’d turn around to lash out at you for what you wanted to say. “Aren’t those ones the good guys?”
The older woman scoffed. “They’re all bad, [Name]. All they do is destroy the lives of us humans. Good guys or bad guys, doesn’t matter. Their fighting never ends and where there’s one, there’s more.” Your aunt finally turned to face you as she wiped her hands clean with a dishtowel, meeting your gaze with a stern look in her eyes. “Don’t you think they have the power to wipe our cities off the map? Our country? Our planet?”
You tried to soften the look that you knew was all over your face. You absolutely could not give anything away.
“They’ve all ruined so many lives.” The woman spoke pointedly, like she knew without a doubt in her mind that everything she was saying was completely correct—and there was some kind of shadow in her stare that unnerved you to your core. “I just wish they’d take their asinine drama back to where they came from.”
All you could do was blink at her. The fork in your grip rolled in your palm as the words that you wanted to say threatened to rip out of you, but you quelled them all. She’d probably never let you see the light of day again if she knew the truth.
“Why are you still living in Detroit then?” The question was quiet, and not at all accusatory. You were genuinely curious to know why—if she hated them so much—she’d choose to stay where the Autobots chose to set up a base. Simultaneously, you hoped to everything holy that your question wouldn’t give her any ideas.
The woman across the kitchen sighed again. She balled the dishtowel up in her hand before tossing it onto the counter behind her. You looked to find her gaze again until you saw her staring at the floor. Her silence was loud, and for the long few seconds it lasted, you almost regretted asking her.
“My work is here.” She finally responded, and then she chose to close the distance between you. Liz pulled the other chair out from the table and sat across from you, effectively blocking your view of the television. “I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am throughout my whole life. I just… I can’t throw it all away.”
“But you work as a researcher for a science magazine.” Or something. You weren’t really sure. You arched a brow and leaned toward her just a bit, “You can’t transfer? Or work remotely?”
Liz sighed again and leaned into the back of her chair. A sad and quiet laugh fell out of her after she finished her response. “No, unfortunately. My management would never let me leave. I don’t know if they’ll ever even let me retire.” She turned her head to look out the window on the front door, “I’ve tried.”
Something in your gut swirled with emotion. Relief? Anxiety? You weren’t sure. But you were now sure that you weren’t going to be leaving Bumblebee.
“Which means,” Liz started, leaning forward once more. Her demeanor was much brighter now that she’d apparently shaken her thoughts away. “I just have to stay vigilant now that I have a kid to look after. Make sure you don’t get into any trouble.”
You smiled at that.
“So where were you last night?”
Crap.
You forced your eyes not to widen and you tried so hard not to jump out of your seat. “What do you mean?”
When you looked at her again, her eyes were half-lidded with a look that said ‘don’t try to hide it.’ Her brows jumped up her forehead and her lips were pursed. Definitely not happy. “I went to check on you last night and you weren’t in your room, or anywhere else in the house. And your shoes were gone.”
Your stomach hit the floor and internal panic washed over your nerves in torrents. Oh, no. No no no no–
“I, uh–” Your voice stammered, struggling to form some kind of coherent excuse that didn’t sound way too far off. I was out committing a third crime over the course of three days with one of the alien robots you hate so much. No big deal.
“Don’t feed me any crap.” Liz muttered. The look she was giving you made you want to shrivel up into a ball on the floor. “Did you go out with those friends of yours again?”
A heavy sigh fell from your chest. “Yeah.”
“Are they making you do things?” The woman leaned forward with a sudden shift in her tone. “Are you doing drugs?”
“No!” You flinched at the mere implication, “We’re not doing drugs! We just– he–”
“He?!” Liz’s voice jumped to a level you hadn’t heard before and your eyes shot over to meet hers in a panic, cursing yourself for using the word. “You’re sneaking out at night to go hang out with a boy?!”
The fight-or-flight instinct was erupting now, and you were desperate for any way out of the confrontation. “No, I– No! Well, I mean– yeah, but he’s not–”
“My god.” Liz leaned back in her chair once more, then one of her hands rose to cover her mouth. “I’ve only had you for a little more than a month and you’re already sneaking out to meet boys. How did I let this–”
“Aunt Liz, I’m sorry for sneaking out. Okay? I am. Really.” You tried to level your voice and cut her off before she went into a parental tirade. You needed to get control of the narrative back, as bad as it made you feel. “But we’re not doing drugs. We’re not committing felonies. We’re not doing anything bad.” The lie burned your tongue as it left your mouth. “We just hang out, we play video games, get fast food... stuff like that. Regular, normal kid stuff. I swear.”
She stared at you suspiciously, hand still covering her mouth with her elbow propped up on the table. She was studying you intently, and it made you shrivel inwardly.
Your stomach twisted, both at the thought of lying to her but also from the fear of being ripped away from the only true friend you’d ever had.
“I just…” Again, your voice was quiet and nervous. “I didn’t have friends when I was living with Gramma. I didn’t get to just walk around and go do stuff—I basically lived in the middle of the woods. And Gramma wasn’t… all there, so nobody wanted to even be seen with me. I was the freak with a conspiracy theorist grandma.”
You met her eyes once more. She continued to stare through your very soul.
“I’ve only been here for a little more than a month and I already have the best friend I’ve ever had. And his family is so cool.” Mostly. You looked back down at your half-eaten breakfast as you spoke, then came a heavy sigh. “I want you to meet him, really. I do. I think you’d really like him.”
You just felt… sad. Pathetic. Begging for any scrap of friendship you could grab onto, and now the threat of it being ripped away was absolutely terrifying. Nothing about you had ever been normal, but Bumblebee made you feel normal. He made you feel seen and real—he didn’t think you were wrong, or stupid, or weird. He liked you. Everything about his presence made you feel like you’d finally found a right place for yourself in the world—that not all of it was bad.
But Liz would never get that, most likely. Her intense hatred for cybertronians was painfully obvious, and if she knew what your friend really was, she’d never accept it. Maybe you could meet him one day. If you chill out a little.
After a long moment of silence, the woman let out another heavy sigh. Her opposite hand reached up to her face and she rubbed her eyes with it. You could physically feel the frustration wafting from where she sat.
“Okay… You go get him and you bring him here so I can meet him.” She finally stated pointedly, angling one finger at you from across the small table. “And no sneaking out. Not ever. There’s a lot of freaks in the city and they all come out at night. Not to mention those giant, violent… creatures.”
A smile lit up across your face and that pit in your stomach vanished instantly in favor of sudden joy. “Thank you! Thank you, thank you!” You jumped from your seat at the table and clumsily picked up your mostly empty plate to discard it’s contents. You moved quickly out of excitement, rinsing the plate and tossing it in the dishwasher before scampering back to her once more. “You’re gonna love him, I promise!”
“I’d better.” There was a smile on her face now, but her suspicion was still evident, if only barely.
“You will!” I hope.
You scrambled back down the hall to your room and closed the door behind you. As soon as you had privacy once more, the smile dropped and you brought your hands up to cover your face with your back against the door. You wanted to scream, but the only thing that came out was hardly even a whisper, “What am I gonna do?!”
You dropped your hands and looked to find your phone where it was still charging on the night table. When you reached for it, you found it was already in the middle of vibrating with a notification. A few, actually. Your Autobot friend couldn’t resist blowing up your phone, particularly when you weren’t replying in a timely manner.
You didn’t even read his previous messages before you typed your own, We have a problem.
He replied almost instantly. Where? I’ll come blow up your wall!!!
Your eyes rolled hard. Not that kind of problem!
Oh.
Just come get me
You could hear the attitude in his typed words. Sweetspark, I never left.
₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊
“She’s gonna hate you.” With knees that were curled up into your chest, your fingers were pressing into your eyelids hard. A pothole in the road didn’t faze you in the slightest as you wallowed pitifully in the driver’s seat. “She’s so gonna hate you.”
Bumblebee let out a pssh. “I don’t get what there is to hate. I’m pretty awesome.”
“Of course you are!” You yelled with your hands flying out above your head in exasperation, “You’re too awesome! You’re an Autobot! And she hates Autobots!”
“Uh, I mean… the Decepticons are pretty bad–”
“All of you, she hates all of you. Any cybertronian is a no-go.” Your hands fell to your sides and your head dropped back against the headrest. With eyes that drifted lazily over the glowing dashboard, the volume of your voice trailed off with your thoughts. “I don’t know what we’re gonna do. Maybe I should pay someone to pretend to be my friend for a day.”
“Man, that’s just sad. That is so sad, [Name].” The scout’s voice was thick with mocking empathy, “I thought you were at least a little better than that.”
Your hands flew up into the air again. “Well, what do you expect me to do?! I can’t bring an alien robot to my aunt’s house! She went on a whole rant about you guys literally an hour ago!” Your voice only rose in volume as it went on. “If she knew that I’ve been hanging out with an Autobot this whole time, she’d probably throw me into Lake Erie.”
A long pause ensued, until Bumblebee let out a dramatic exvent. “I know what we’re gonna do.”
Your arms dropped to your sides again and you perked up just slightly. Any suggestion or idea was more than welcomed when compared to the thick wall of despair blocking out your rationale. “You do?”
“Yeah,” Bumblebee started with a tone that bled with disappointment. “I wanted it to be a surprise. But desperate times call for desperate measures, or whatever you organics say.”
You brightened up at that. He’d been planning a surprise for you? And he managed not to spoil it until now? The realization floored you, truly. “What is it?”
The Autobot’s tone was level at first, but as he continued to make his way toward the base, it rose higher with excitement and his speed began to pick up. “Y’know how we have holoforms?”
Your eyes blew wide open as your jaw dropped. “No! You never told me that!”
“What?!” He barked back, “You mean you’ve never seen Prowl’s holoform out in the wild before? He’s like, the easiest one to spot.”
“No!” You cried again, dumbfounded. How had you never seen them before? Why didn’t they use them that often? Was there a genuine purpose to them? Were they actual physical forms, or transparent, or made of light? So many questions.
“Okay, well–” The scout started with a sudden smoothness, absolutely smug like he was about to tell you his biggest secret, “We all have holoforms. It’s kind of a thing that used to help us blend in, but being that the city knows we’re here and whatever, we don’t really need them anymore. I haven’t used mine in a while.”
The young mech sped down one of the final straightaways just before the plant as he continued, “Honestly, I think we both knew that this exact problem with your carrier would come up at some point, so I asked Ratchet for an upgrade. But… I don’t think he started working on it yet.”
You couldn’t help your smile from spreading even wider. Witnessing what Bumblebee would look like as a human? You never would have thought it could be possible until now. “So that’s what your genius masterplan is.”
“Duh,” He shot back. “I’m so smart, I saw it coming from a deca-cycle away.”
“Easy there, dummy.” A snort broke through the sentences as you spoke them. “I still think I’m the smarter one in this little thing we got going on here.”
Bumblebee’s own sly laughter was like music to your ears. “Oh, yeah? Well, you never would’a thought of that.”
“Because I didn’t know that holoforms were even a real thing!”
“And I did, so that automatically makes me smarter than you!”
“Oh my god,” Your hands rose up to rub your eyes in feigned annoyance, but the smile on your face gave everything away. “You’re gonna be the death of me, truly.”
The note in his voice was purely playful. “Nah. I think you’re gonna be the death of me.”
Your eyes drew over to the sight of the plant, basking in the bright sunshine as it came into view. Prowl’s tree always seemed a little taller every time you saw it, seemingly sprouting with more life everyday. The leaves were bright and full, and plenty of small birds very obviously called it their home as they fluttered between the branches to their nests.
The thought of running into the skinny mech again made your stomach feel as if it was twisting up into a ball. You just tried to push the fresh memory away in favor of your yellow friend.
Bumblebee let you out just before the bay door, then he stood and gestured for you to enter first—he even bowed his head in respect. “After you.”
Your brows shot up your forehead at the polite move, then you squinted at him and smirked. “You’re too kind, sir.”
He simply snorted before he followed close behind.
Afternoon sunlight filtered through the many windows high up above. Bulkhead was in the main living space and watching something on the television, but you barely paid it any mind. “Hi, Bulk.”
The wrecker jumped and turned to look, then smiled when he saw the pair of you. “Hey, guys. What’re you up to today?”
“Oh, just looking for the doc.” The scout beside you placed his servos on his hips nonchalantly. “He’s gonna fix up my holomatter generator so I can go meet [Name]’s really annoying carrier!”
“Hey!” Your head snapped to the side to look up at him and you scrunched your nose. “Don’t be mean. She’s actually super nice.”
The ‘Bot turned to meet your eyes with half-lidded optics and a quirked lip. “You literally just said that she hates all cybertronians. And I think that’s really annoying!”
Rolling your eyes at this particular Autobot was such a common occurrence, it was beginning to make your head hurt. “Because she’s never actually spoken to one of you before! She just has no idea what she’s missing out on. If and when she gets to know you, I’m sure she’ll change her mind.”
Bumblebee scoffed and waved one servo at you dismissively, “Yeah, and I’ll grow wings like a Decepticon.”
He only earned yet another eye roll. When you looked back at Bulkhead, the green mech’s faceplate was contorted with a quizzical look, and then he raised one servo to rub the back of his helm. “Yeah, not really surprised. There are actually a lot of organics here that don’t like us.”
You’d opened your mouth to speak, but Bumblebee cut you off without realizing.
“I don’t get why.” He reached one servo forward and waved it as he complained. “All we do is protect the city and stop Decepticreeps from totally destroying it. And we help the cleanup crews.”
The giant mech before the two of you squinted at Bumblebee. “And steal street signs, and race when it’s not allowed, and drive around the city like a psycho-bot, and–”
“Hey! Who said we can’t have a little fun?” The scout raised his servos before him defensively. “It’s not like it’s hurting anyone! Besides, those street signs always show up again within a couple cycles. Which means, they have extras. So it’s fine.”
Bulkhead stared at him with a tense jaw. Then he looked down at you, to which you simply shrugged and nodded in agreement with him. “He doesn’t get it.”
Bumblebee flinched back and looked down to you with huge optics. “I don’t get what? It’s true!”
“Oh, just– whatever.” You waved him off and turned on your heel with an aim for the medical bay. “C’mon. Let’s find Ratchet so we can get this holoform thing going.”
The look left on his face after you turned away from him was seeping with astonishment, like he was appalled that you’d have the audacity to make him feel dumb. Bulkhead at least understood that lots of humans get irritated with younger humans for being troublemakers, and Bumblebee would definitely be one of those kids if he was a human. He kind of already was.
Nonetheless, he followed you into the adjoining room without a snarky comeback.
As you rounded the corner of the wall, the Autobot medic came into view. Ratchet was standing beside a berth with a plethora of different tools and materials laid out before him. One arm was draped across his chassis and his opposite servo gripped his chin as his optics flicked back and forth, very obviously in the middle of trying to piece some information together.
The old mech only turned to look when he heard Bumblebee’s pedes come to a stop.
Tired optics fell on his comrade, and then they dropped down to you. His optic ridges rose in question, like he was both somewhat surprised and genuinely curious as to why on Earth the pair of you would be bothering him. “What?”
“Hi, Ratchet.” You started first, determined to get on his good side before Bumblebee could say anything stupidly annoying. “What are you doing?”
There was a small moment of quiet as he stared at you like he was trying to work your words through his processor. Then he spoke with a level tone. “Trying to figure out which tool won’t make our generators explode. Cybertronian technology doesn’t really mix well with human technology.”
You let out a small laugh. “I’m not surprised. I think your stuff would make our stuff explode.”
The mech blinked. “It usually does.”
Bumblebee leaned down with one servo partly covering his mouth so he could murmur, “You should’ve seen what happened last week. Ratchet looked like–”
“Anyways,” Ratchet’s tone hardened and he squinted at the younger scout, “Why are you two bothering me?”
You couldn’t really place it but for some reason, Ratchet’s irritation didn’t scare you like Prowl’s did. Something about him felt warmer than the cyberninja somehow. It definitely didn’t make you feel as nervous.
Bumblebee leaned up once more and offered him a bright smile, “Well, doc–!”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Well, Ratchet!” He could always recover quickly, you’d give him that. “Remember when I asked you about an upgrade for my holomatter generator? We kinda need it… sooner than I thought. Like, today actually.”
The older ‘Bot stared at him in silence, his face giving nothing away. Other than the idea that he was definitely annoyed.
Bumblebee continued without a care in the world. “So [Name]’s carrier is super annoying. She doesn’t like anything cybertronian, and she’s started to get super weird about [Name]’s one true best friend forever—me. But if she actually meets me, [Name]’ll probably get smelted and we’ll never see her again.”
Ratchet’s lip turned up just the slightest bit. “Tragic.”
Ouch. Squinting at him a bit was all you felt you could really do, given the circumstances.
“So, we need that holomatter generator pronto.” The scout finished his explanation with his servos on his hips and cracked one optic open to send a hopeful look toward the old mech. “Did you… start working on it yet?”
“No.” Ratchet stated flatly, then he turned his back to the two of you so he could look back down at the array of tools before him again. “I’ve got bigger things to worry about than the games of two sparklings.”
“But Ratchet!” Bumblebee jumped forward with his servos extended in defense, “If we don’t get [Name]’s carrier to like me, she’s probably gonna die!”
“She’s not gonna die!” Ratchet’s hoarse voice snapped back, his helm turning to shoot Bumblebee a glare. “I’ll get to your holomatter generator when I get to it. For now, you should just tell that carrier to get over it.”
“But she won’t!” Your smaller friend approached Ratchet’s right with his servos together in a plea. “Trust me, she won’t. She’s one of those humans who hates all living machines or whatever. She’ll take [Name] away! And [Name]’s a part of our team now! I’m her guardian, remember? I literally can’t let that happen!”
“Then don’t let it happen.” The medic turned to squint at him once again. “A human carrier can’t do much to stop an Autobot now, can they?”
“We’ll help you!” You blurted without thinking.
Both mechs turned to look down at you, neither of them speaking.
You took it as your cue to continue. “I mean… I’m happy to help you at least. I think what you do is really cool, and I’d really love to learn more about it. Being the only medic on the team is probably crazy, right?”
Ratchet stared at you, but by now the look on his faceplate had softened just a bit. Meanwhile beside him, Bumblebee’s optics were wide and they flicked back and forth between you and his teammate. He looked like he was silently willing your interjection to work.
“And I have small hands!” You continued, reaching out to show him your own tiny digits. “I can definitely reach into spaces that you might not be able to get to. That could help, right?”
The medic stared at you for another long moment, then he turned to look at Bumblebee. As he did so, the smaller scout’s faceplate brightened up with a huge smile, then he quirked an optic ridge and offered a thumbs up.
With a heavy sigh, Ratchet’s shoulders dropped and he lowered his helm. “Alright. Let me just–”
Bumblebee practically leaped up into the air with a shriek of triumph, and it was instantly shut down by a loud vocal snap from the older mech, “Don’t start that! I don’t even know if it’ll work!”
“At least you’re trying!” The glee in the yellow ‘Bot’s face was infectious. “And we’ll definitely help, because I’m also really good with my–”
“Nope.” Ratchet had already turned away, but then he whirled and pointed a digit in Bumblebee’s face, “You touch nothing. And you–” The same digit turned to point at you, “–maybe.”
“Thank you!” Hope flared and it warmed your chest. “Thank you, thank you!”
₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊
“Reach in there and pull that cable out, the one to the left of the red one.” Ratchet’s voice fell on your ears and your eyes narrowed in on your new target.
That laser focus of yours was drawn to a single tiny gray wire exactly where the old medic said it would be, and you reached into the open side of the generator to grab it gently. When your fingers had a soft hold on it, you pulled it out slowly and handed the end of it to the waiting Autobot hovering behind you.
“Nice job.” Ratchet praised as he took hold of the wire with a large pair of forceps.
The heart in your chest swelled with pride and you smiled up at him. Helping the medic with his work made you beyond grateful for the opportunity to expand your knowledge of the cybertronian race, their technology, and how exactly all of it worked. It was only a small glimpse into their mechanics, but you found yourself deeply invested and interested. Hopefully Ratchet would let you do this more often.
You watched his servos hold the wire steady while he inspected the freshly snipped end of it, curiosity knowing no bounds. “Does that have to get spliced with something?”
Ratchet’s helm jerked back by only a fraction, as if he’d tried to suppress his surprise. He looked to you and lowered the wire away from his face only slightly. “Yeah. This has to get spliced with that one–” He pointed to the black cable hanging outside of the open generator compartment, “–and that should make the light that makes up his holoform appear to be more… solid. Hopefully.”
The corner of your mouth curled into a small smile and you worked your jaw. “As long as it’s solid enough, we’ll be good. I think it’d be weird if she hugs him the first time she meets him. Hopefully she won’t want to shake his hand.”
“Hmph. That would be the polite thing to do.” His hoarse replied flatly and he turned his helm to find Bumblebee—who was totally not involved in the process of upgrading his own generator as he inspected the screens above some kind of complicated control panel. “But he’s not really the one I’d call polite.”
Ratchet rolled his optics and you couldn’t help the snort that came out.
The older mech picked up some kind of scope, then leaned forward to bring his focus back on the wire in his servo. He fitted the scope to his left optic and picked up a pair of cybertronian plier-looking-things, then stripped the protective gray sleeve from the end of the tiny cable. You watched patiently from where you were sat on the berth, slowly leaning forward to watch the medic work his magic.
Ratchet’s optics flicked your way for a split second, but he didn’t say anything.
He continued on to stripping the black cable and then slowly and precariously spliced the two together to merge them. To put the finishing touch on, Ratchet picked up his final tool—some kind of welder—and then the two cables were one.
He continued to stare in silence at the quality of the weld until he leaned back and let out a heavy exvent. “Aright. That should do it.”
“Awesome!” A joyful bark came from behind the red-and-white ‘Bot, and he slowly turned to find the source of it while you were still totally locked in on Ratchet’s finished work. Bumblebee was suddenly in the picture again, his pedes tapping the ground as he couldn’t stand still. “Thanks, Ratchet! Now we can finally get this whole carrier thing over with.”
The medic stared at him with dead-panned optics. “You still shouldn’t be lying, kid. It’s not very cute.”
“We’re not lying!” The excited scout looked away and smiled awkwardly. “We’re just… biding our time until she realizes that we Autobots are actually so totally super cool and everything.”
Ratchet let out a hmph and suddenly your attention was brought back to the two massive beings behind you.
Your eyes fell on Ratchet’s back when he turned away to focus his attention back on the holomatter generator, finally finding your voice. “Thanks, Ratchet. Seriously. Liz is nice and all, but she’s not really… reasonable when it comes to you guys. But once she sees how nice Bee actually is, maybe she’ll want to meet the rest of you!”
“Oh, Primus.” His servos reached over to pick up Bumblebee’s generator, which he began to fiddle with as he muttered, “More humans under my pedes. That’s just what we need.”
His dripping sarcasm on a normal day might have made you silence yourself out of the fear of irritating him, but somehow… Ratchet’s demeanor still didn’t make you feel that way. Not deep down, anyway. And definitely nothing like Prowl’s attitude did.
You smiled at him gratefully nonetheless. “I know you’re a busy ‘Bot, so thank you again.”
He let out another hmph, this time of acknowledgement you figured. Bumblebee quirked an optic ridge at you and you simply shrugged.
Within only a few more minutes, Ratchet had closed up the holomatter generator and commanded you to move away so Bumblebee could lay flat on the berth. He worked on the scout’s left side, so from your place you couldn’t see exactly where the ‘organ’ had to be installed, but it didn’t take very long anyway.
Ratchet stepped back once he was satisfied with his task. “Alright, give it a go.”
Your yellow friend practically leaped off the berth and stamped his pedes onto the concrete, then he whirled and winked at you. He switched himself into his vehicle mode, and sure enough, the sound of a sharp whirr kicked on and a beam of light materialized before the hood of the WRX.
Almost instantly, a young boy appeared. There was a bright blue light around him that gradually faded as his form took shape. He stood with his hands at his hips and he beamed with a bright smile. You found dark skin, a yellow-and-black heavy coat, black pants and sneakers, and the finishing touch obviously had to be the hat adorned with small horns.
You stared down from your place on the edge of the berth with huge eyes. Bumblebee as a human kid! It was really happening! Right in front of your eyes!
The holoform stretched his arms out and took a huge step forward, then practically performed a runway walk in a wide circle. Ratchet watched from where he stood beside you silently, and then your stare finally broke with a massive smile. “It worked!”
“‘Course it did!” The boy made of light barked back while the older mech offered you a flat servo to bring you down to meet the concrete, “Ratchet’s the best medic around!”
“Alright, alright.” Ratchet waved his servo dismissively and turned away once more. “Now get out of my cables and go do your thing.”
You turned to look at him once again with an elated smile. “Thank you, Ratchet! You’re the best!”
Of course, you didn’t catch it because his back was turned, but the mechanically-talented Autobot shook his helm with what might have just been a small smile.
The WRX pulled forward and out of the medical bay to enter the main hangar once more. You followed quickly, hurrying to catch up with the newly ungraded holoform as it confidently waltzed ahead.
You jumped to land into a spot in front of him and his eyes snapped open to meet yours. He sported that same signature smug smile, and his eyes held the same confident attitude that Bumblebee was always exuding.
Your eyes wandered up and down as you took in the sight. The quality of the hologram had far exceeded your expectations. He certainly looked real, not transparent, and after a moment the urge to test what would happen if you touched him was far too strong. You reached one hand out tentatively as if you were afraid of an electric zap of some kind. But as your hand passed through his arm, the light around that spot only fizzled and glitched for a second or two.
You reared back with glee. “This is so cool!”
“I know right!” Bumblebee’s hologram spun where it stood in it’s place before you. Then he looked at his own hands, turned his head to look down the back of one leg, and reached up to touch the horns on his hat. “This feels so much better than it used to feel. I actually feel… solid! Like, for real this time!”
Your face had started to hurt from smiling so much. As your eyes searched him over once more, his sly and smug look returned to the holoform’s face once again. “You think I’m cute, huh?”
Your face fell instantly. Your eyes were wide, emotion flat, brainwaves firing with complete and total confusion. He was cute, but you weren’t ready to say that and you certainly weren’t expecting him to outright call it out.
The boy made of light burst into a fit of laughter, struggling to talk through his broken giggling. Then he leveled himself out as he searched himself over once more. “Yeah, I know. It’s okay to say it, [Name]. I’m irresistable.”
Your eyes were still huge and you struggled to work through your racing thoughts. Your cheeks were burning, you could feel it. At first, the words struggled to come out as you stammered, but you managed to work out a sharp reply as quickly as you could. “No! You’re actually, uh– you’re shorter than I thought you’d be!”
His head whipped up to shoot you a glare so fast, you thought his neck would have broken at the sheer speed of the action. His cheeks blew up and his brows furrowed furiously, then he immediately pointed a finger at you. “Hey! No! I’m still way taller than you!”
Success. You’d somehow managed to get out of that, and he’d very obviously forgotten all about it.
Your own smug smile creeped along your face. “No! You’re like, an inch shorter than me now!”
“No, I’m not!”
“Yes, you are!”
The boy stomped over to you then stood straight. His face being so close to yours made your cheeks light up once again, but he was too distracted and determined to notice. One of his hands was hovering above his head and then it gradually moved to yours to measure the height difference. Once it made contact with your hairline, his arm glitched only slightly, and his eyes blew up once again. He was wrong.
You jumped away, partly to save yourself from the embarrassment that he was painfully oblivious to and also so you could point at him. “Hah! See? I’m right!”
“No, you’re not!” The hologram squawked and moved in tune with the WRX behind him, “I’m still taller than you because I’m taller than you as an Autobot so it doesn’t count!”
“Yes, it does!”
“No, it–!”
“Will you two take your bickering outside?!” Ratchet’s distant voice from the other room barked. “Some ‘Bots have other things to focus on around here!”
The both of you turned to look at the doorway you’d come from before you looked back at each other, then tried to stifle your respective giggling. The WRX pulled forward toward the open hangar door and out into the open, where the two of you promptly released the wave of what was previously suffocated laughter.
₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊
“Aright.” You let out a heavy breath to steady your nerves, asking both him and partly yourself, “You ready?”
“Ready as ever!” The living vehicle quipped back.
“Just remember,” You pointed a finger at the hologram in the driver’s seat, “Don’t be rude. If she asks you any questions—which she will—you tell her that your name is Bee for Brian, we love playing video games, going out for fast food, and hanging out with your family. Not ‘your team,’ your family. Okay?”
“I’m not really sure about that last one, but–”
“Bee.”
“Yeah, I know! I know.” The dashboard lit up as he waved his hands before him in defense, “I won’t frag it up, I swear.”
“I hope not.” Your hand reached for the doorhandle. “For your sake and mine.”
As you stepped out of the car, the cooler air hit you like a brick. Over the soft breeze, your eyes trailed along the road to find the amber glow of the sunset in the distance. The pretty sight of it illuminating the clouds signified the end of another long day approaching, and you really hoped that Liz wouldn’t ask him to stay for much longer than needed.
The boy confidently stepped up beside you with his hand on the exterior handle, opening the door the rest of the way to let you completely step out. He looked at you with one eye closed and half a smug smile but somehow, that look was much softer than it normally would be—only until he winked and gestured for you to step away from the vehicle. “M’lady.”
Obviously Bumblebee had no idea what a blushing human looked like, because you’d done it now three times since the holoform had materialized. And you were so forever grateful that he didn’t know to tease you for it.
You stepped away and he closed the door behind you. “Psh, what are you doing? Trying to look good for my aunt? Where did you even learn how to do that?”
“Saw it in a movie. Isn’t the whole point of this to get on her good side?” The boy extended his elbow out as he stood beside you, obviously executing yet another gentlemanly move he’d seen in a movie. This was the part where you were supposed to grab a hold of his arm.
“Uh, that’s not gonna work. You’re made of light right now, remember? I don’t even think you actually closed the door just now.” You rolled your eyes and giggled. “Besides, that would definitely be way too much.”
“No, it wouldn’t!” He leaned forward to exaggerate his words, “I’m being a distinguished gentleman. Gentle-bot. Whatever.”
“You’re hopeless.” Your hand clapped your forehead lightly, then you stepped forward toward the familiar house across the street. “Come on. I wanna get this over with.”
“Me too.” He quipped as he hurried to match your pace. “We should go down to the water after this. We haven’t been stargazing in forever!”
You shot him a look and laughed. “We did that like, three days ago!”
“Yeah, but then we almost got fried!” Bumblebee barked back. “We deserve to sit and chill without Blitzbrain interrupting us.”
You blinked, then nodded. True.
As you walked up the skinny path of stones leading to the front door, it opened without warning. There stood Liz with one hand on the interior door handle and her opposite hand resting on her hip. She stared pointedly at you until her expectant gaze flicked to the hologram of your friend beside you. Your stomach froze and then it dropped into your shoes. Suddenly, you didn’t feel even half as confident about this plan as you had before leaving the plant.
Nonetheless, you tried to brush off any visible anxiety. “Hi, Aunt Liz! This is Bee!”
The boy beside you smiled and waved sheepishly, like he was expecting the woman a few feet away to lash out at him for doing it. Even he didn’t seem so confident anymore either. Waves of fresh anxiety reverberated on the air between you and the being made of light, and you made sure not to be close enough to touch him.
“Bee?” The older woman questioned with a hint of something in her voice that you couldn’t quite figure out. “That’s your name?”
“Uh– yeah! Bee for Brian.” He repeated your words from before and the tone of his voice managed to make you relax. He seemed to be recalling his confidence once again and it soothed you too, whether he knew it or not.
“Well, hello, Brian. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Liz’s words were quiet, yet pointed still. She looked back at you and winked—whatever that meant. “Come on in.”
When the woman turned away to retreat back into the kitchen, you released a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. Movement from Bumblebee’s hologram beside you caught your attention and when you looked at him, he was already looking back with wide eyes that said ‘holy Primus, it worked.’ You simply shrugged and motioned for him to follow you up the steps.
You watched him with intent as you waited for him to come completely through the doorway so you could close it behind him. The hologram surveyed his immediate surroundings curiously as you did so until Liz spoke up once again.
“So how did you meet my niece?” She was now sitting at the kitchen table with her usual cup of evening tea.
Bumblebee stood awkwardly beside you before you motioned for him to sit down, making sure to plant yourself between him and your aunt before he did. You just hoped that the action of pulling his chair out for him didn’t make her question why he wouldn’t do that for you.
“Um– I was–” His voice was unusually quiet for a change when he started his reply. “I was hanging around a few blocks away from here actually. One day. And uh, I saw her and she needed help… with something.”
Jeez, Bee. You would have slapped your forehead with your palm if it wouldn’t have been an extremely suspicious thing to do at that moment. Now you choose to be awkward?
“Oh?” Liz crossed her legs and brought the mug to her lips. “What did she need help with?”
Bumblebee was awfully quiet for a long few seconds that felt like they’d stretched on for years. “Her bag! She dropped some stuff out of her bag.”
“Oh,” The woman replied with an unexpected somber tone. “That’s how [Name]’s dad met her mom, actually. It’s a classic move, huh? Help a pretty girl with something she dropped.”
You would have flinched—or reacted sharply somehow—but her words were sending you for a loop. First she brings up your long-lost parents, then immediately follows up with questioning Bumblebee’s true intent. That’s… kinda messed up.
“I’d help anyone if they need it!”
Good answer.
“I’d hope so.” She murmured once more. “How long have you guys been friends?”
I already told you that. You bit back the thought. It felt as if you were having your own conversation with her in your head at the same time.
The hologram shifted in his seat, which unnerved you. You prayed silently that the chair wouldn’t make his light glitch out. “A little more than an orbi– a month.”
“Oh, cool.” She replied smoothly.
Liz was extremely suspicious, so much so that you could physically feel it radiating from her.
“Bee has his license.” You tried to interject to lift some of the awkward air away. “He’s got a cool WRX. And he’s a really good and really safe driver.”
“That’s good.” She placed her mug back down on the tablemat in front of her. “Your parents teach you how to drive?”
“Uh– yeah! I also took classes.” Wow. No, you didn’t. “I was in an academy for a while and they taught us how to… drive defensively.”
“Good, good. You kids need more of those kinds of things. Too many people drive like their lives are falling apart.” Liz stood suddenly and your nerves spiked.
She made her way to the sink and began to rinse out her mug. “Do either of you want anything? Something to drink?”
Bumblebee’s hologram opened it’s mouth to say something, but you interrupted before he could. “Nah, we’re okay. Thank you, though. We’re probably gonna go get a burger in a little while.”
“Oh, good.”
Liz was normally chatty, so the short replies weren’t making you feel any better. You turned your focus back on Bumblebee and shrugged. He opened his mouth to say something but as he did so, his arm lifted to reach up to the back of his head. To your horror, his fingers passed through the table and his whole arm glitched. The boy’s eyes blew wide and he snapped his jaw shut, then looked across the kitchen at your aunt just as you did the same.
Her back was still facing you and she was still rinsing the mug with tap water. “I won’t keep you kids then.”
A heavy sigh of relief came rushing out and your eyes narrowed in on the yellow-clad boy, silently willing him to hear your thoughts. Idiot! You’re gonna get us caught!
Bee shrugged and rolled his eyes. The two of you really were having a conversation in total silence.
It was cut off when you saw Liz appear out of the corner of your eye once again. She’d returned to her place at the table beside you and your glaring was immediately forgotten about. “I just wanted to make sure my niece wasn’t getting involved in the wrong crowd, but you seem like a nice boy.” She leaned back into her chair and crossed her legs again. “I’m just happy she has a friend now. The kids in the northeast weren’t very kind to her.”
Bumblebee’s eyes flicked to yours, you saw it. But you couldn’t look at him. He didn’t need to know your fears, or anything about what life was like for you back then. You would have snapped a sharp reply at Liz if the circumstances of the current moment weren’t already so tense.
However, your attitude came out just slightly in the end anyway. “On that note, we’re gonna go get some food if that’s okay.”
It was less so a question and more so a dare of some kind. Your aunt wasn’t aware of the fact that you didn’t want anyone to know what you’d come from, so you couldn’t really blame her—but the honesty stung you nonetheless. When her eyes found yours in question, she stared back at you like she’d been taken off guard.
You almost regretted your tone—almost—and you likely would have if she decided to push it, but thankfully she didn’t.
Liz leaned back once more and smiled while looking away, shrugging off the awkward eye contact in favor of the floor by her feet. “Of course. Just don’t stay out too late, okay? Please.”
Bee’s rigid posture straightened when she turned her eyes back on him. “I already told her that I don’t want her sneaking out. That’s how you kids will get killed.” She pointed a finger at him across the table. “Don’t do that again.”
“Uhh, yeah! Sure, sorry about that.” The boy scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile, “I’m a good influence though, I swear.”
Liar.
Liz arched an eyebrow at him before she pushed herself away from the table and stood with an aim for the window above the sink. She didn’t spare you another glance as she brushed past. “Okay! Go have fun!”
Bumblebee’s hologram practically leaped from his spot and in his rush, his whole form glitched once again. You shot him a wide-eyed glare in warning and he visibly winced at the intensity of it. You were definitely happy to get out of the house too, but there was no need to be reckless about it—not that he really knew how not to be reckless anyhow.
Regardless, your aunt’s back was turned once again so she missed it luckily. You still didn’t want to take any chances and you never would.
The boy quickly thanked Liz for welcoming him into her home and being ‘so cool’ about him hanging around her niece, then he turned and slipped out the front door after you’d opened it for him. You were close behind but as you stepped out, Liz grabbed onto your arm lightly.
You turned to look at her, fresh adrenaline piercing your bated breath. Something was still telling you deep down that she knew, but you also knew that that was likely just your anxiety talking.
“That car looks like the one I’ve seen on T.V.” She murmured, “You sure he’s not… affiliated with anything that you shouldn’t be?”
“No, Aunt Liz. He’s a nice guy.” Your response was flat, cold. If she couldn’t already tell that you were annoyed, she definitely would now.
She stared at you for a moment before her eyes softened and her gentle grip fell away. “I’m sorry about that. I figured you would’ve told him everything about yourself already.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t.” You muttered back under your breath bitterly. “And I kinda want to keep it that way.”
With that, you shrugged her off and stepped down onto the front porch to follow your friend. He was waiting patiently for you while rocking back and forth on his sneakers in place, very obviously losing his already non-existent patience.
You didn’t look back. There was nothing else to say. Not tonight, anyway.
The hologram of the teen beside you tried to keep up with your rushed pace as you made a beeline for the living WRX across the street. His eyes wandered up and down your back, your shoulders, the back of your head—suddenly very aware of how tense you were. “Hey, um– are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” The words were curt, but there was no animosity toward him. You just didn’t want to discuss it any further. “Let’s go get that burger because once again, I am starving. I really need to stash some snacks at the plant or something.”
Bumblebee’s eyes lit up. “You humans and your weird fuel. I’d give up half my processor to figure out why you love it so much.”
“Dude, you already don’t have half a processor.” You started with a brighter tone, reaching for the door handle on the passenger’s side, “But I just know you would love french fries. And burgers, and chicken nuggets, and–”
“Okay, okay! I think I get it.” The door before the hologram popped open automatically, and it didn’t matter now that he was mostly hidden from view if Liz was still watching. “Man. Ratchet’s really gonna have to hurry up with more generator upgrades. Maybe then I actually could try it one day. Chickman new-guts look so–”
“Chicken nuggets!” You corrected with a face contorted in disgust. “New-guts? Ew!”
The loud bickering continued as you and the figure made of light climbed back into his true interior, erratic laughter and yelling now muffled by tinted windows. The Autobot’s hologram disappeared from the driver’s seat only after he’d pulled away from his place by the cracked sidewalk.
As Bumblebee veered out of sight after reaching the stop sign, a shadow flitted along a rooftop at the opposite end of the street. Quiet, sharp tapping against the weathered shingles weren’t loud enough to alarm anyone inside the dwelling. In the fading light of dusk, slitted and glowing optics narrowed in on the home you’d just left behind.
Hey all! I’ve been wanting to put this together for a long time, so here it is!
These are 21 of the songs that have really inspired me to write the reboot. I have my own IKYS playlist that I listen to when I’m writing, brainstorming, editing, fleshing out future chapters, and these are all on it!
They’re not in any particular order other than the last one, which is the one I really feel like would be the theme song for the whole fic. Otherwise they range in genre, vibe, all that fun stuff. I won’t give anything away, but different songs have to do with different dynamics and situations that you’ll come to piece together down the line… wink wonk.
Sythwave is obvious, for galactic robots and all that. Cinematic epics for the drama and PMVs that I imagine in my head! Bumblebee I think would definitely like vibes of Kid Spirit, Weirdo, and the like. And then the angsty ones are there for obvious reasons.
If you have any personal songs that you like to associate with the fic, I’d SO LOVE to hear them! Who knows, they just might end up added to this list… ; )
(Please be aware that all of these are linked to YouTube so the visuals may vary, and every one of these songs can be found on Spotify!)
₊ ⊹ 🐝 ⊹ ₊
Kid Spirit — Family and Friends
Weirdo — More Fatter
Daylight Doom — MOTO BANDIT
Moon Man — Balu Brigada
Underground — Cody Fry
Cigarettes and Feelings — The Haunt
Buzzcut Season — Lorde
Cheerleader — Porter Robinson
Ocean’s End — Starjunk 95, BELELA
Summer’s Ending Soon — The Midnight
Deep Blue — The Midnight
Ripple — Good Neighbors
Automatic — half•alive
Green Lights — Yam Haus
Goner - Demo — Kids That Fly (this one hurts me for… reasons)
If you like my writing, Bumblebee, or ANYTHING Transformers Animated, Prime, and TF in general— feel free to check out our Discord server!
We love to chat about anything and everything! Mostly TFA and a metric ton of Bumblebee content, but we’re welcome to any and all discussions, art-sharing, writing, and more for Transformers!
I post a LOT more sneak peeks in this server rather than tumblr and there’s a role for you to be notified when I do! You might even get chunks of future content and art concepts if I’m feeling spontaneous… 👀
Come hang out!! We’d love to have you!
Check out the ✨🐝 IKYS / HOHS 🐝✨ community on Discord - hang out with 9 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.
Hey, I’m just reaching out to people on Tumblr. You’ve probably heard of Jesus and God, but have you ever reached out to Jesus for problems in your life? Big or small. Not to make you uncomfortable, but did you know sin (in your life and other people’s lives) can really hurt you, it can make feel like there is a void that is never satisfied. That void could be called a “God sized hole.” Sin sucks and not just in a cookie cutter way, but in a way that it feels like there is a decay within a person. That can be a lot to take in, but I hope it is good food for thought. I hope you’re having an awesome day!! 💕
A/N: A request for one of my bffs, Alo ( @alopexabee ), over in the IKYS discord server. >:) This one had me DYING. I have a disco car wash near me, so naturally… it was fitting lmao.
Request: You trick Bee into going through an automatic carwash (he does not like it lmao).
Note: Platonic, fem!Reader
Warnings: None!
Ripping around in muddy woods is fun for anyone. But when your best friend is a living wannabe rally car? Man, it’s unbeatable.
What’s also unbeatable is his incessant complaining afterwards about how dirt and mud and pebbles get lodged all up inside his plating, in between his cables, and so on.
So you offered him a very quick and painless solution. A carwash!
The mech was confused. A carwash? Those exist?
Those EXIST? WHY?! Washing is a private thing!
You had to very intently insist that nothing bad would happen to him. None of it was actually sentient, so his privacy would be kept totally safe and secured.
It took some more coaxing, but after another twenty minutes or so of complaining, he finally made his way to the one you’d suggested.
Apparently it was like a… disco carwash? You’d said there were lights and music and basically that it was a dance party? But humans couldn’t get out to actually dance because they’d just get soaked or… something?
Whatever. Humans are weird.
He pulled up to the entrance and waited while you hung halfway out of the driver’s side window to slip some coins into the slot. There was a lot of whimpering, moping, complaining— “OKAY, how ‘bout we just leave?! This is dumb!”
“NO. I am not listening to you complain about all the silt and dirt that’s itchy all up inside your grill! Literally!”
The Autobot pouted and his form practically shrunk in submission—ultimate defeat. He hated when you got like this. Because how in the world was he going to look at you and say no?
He wanted to keep his plating on his protoform, thank you very much.
Bumblebee pulled inside slowly and cautiously. He scanned his surroundings thoroughly, like at anytime one of the rolling washers might choose to obliterate him.
Scaredy-bot.
As the door closed behind him, the young mech started to have second thoughts. “Y’know, uh, why don’t we go get you some food instead? I hate it when you get hangry or whatever it’s called—”
“Too late!” Your reply came out quick, just before you reached to turn up his stereo system and start moving your shoulders to the now very loud party music.
The lights around him faded in and out between a rainbow of different colors, then they started exploding with light as the beginning of the washing cycle took place.
The Autobot surrounding you absolutely panicked.
Water blasted him from above and he shrieked with alarm at the sudden temperature change. The soap dispensers at his sides exploded with rainbow soaps and polishers, pelting him from both sides simultaneously. Then came those massive, horrifying brushes.
If he would just sit still and stop screaming for a second, you thought he might actually be able to enjoy it. But you were absolutely positive that would never happen.
It wasn’t until water blasted his undercarriage did you truly see how bad he’d freak out.
The Autobot scout screamed like he was being gutted by Unicron himself. Bumblebee’s tires began spinning and squealing furiously and before you could even tell him to shut up, he’d ripped out of his place on the track and went flying forward, barreling through the brushes and ripping them out of place in his panic.
The living WRX exploded out of the exit like he was being hunted by the very Primes themselves.
He stopped, panting heavily. Then the ‘Bot transformed to stand up onto his peds, which promptly threw you into the pavement on your butt with a screech of protest, “Ow! Dude! Calm do—”
Bumblebee loomed over you menacingly, and that look of utter and complete betrayal was unlike anything you’d ever seen before. “YOU! I am NEVER trusting you again!”
Unbridled laughter exploded from you without a second thought at the sight of him. He looked like he was physically ready to blow up with huge cheeks full of air, but the soap covering his helm made him look like he’d spontaneously grown a huge beard. How dare you?
And he did not find it funny.
It took only a minute or two to get him to chill out. All you had to do was promise that you’d give him a good old fashioned carwash with a handheld sponge and a garden hose for all to be forgiven.
But he’ll never forget the one time you told him it would be fine only for his undercarriage to get blasted, scarring him for life.
The way i ran over when i saw you posted the next chapter of IKYS i swear lmao, honestly the highlight of my day bc i genuinely adore this series
Dude!!! Thank you!!! 🫶🏻
I’m so so so glad you love it. If I can brighten one person’s day, I think I’m doin’ a good job. And comments like yours inspire me to continue writing it. :)
Thank you truly, anon, I hope you have the best day. 💛
