Chapter Text
Megatron was standing next to Bumblebee, and the worst part was that was all he was doing.
Protocols were activating, warnings of danger lighting up in his HUD. They reopened as soon as he managed to close them, refusing to be tamed. The energon in his fuel lines was working double time. All of Jazz and Prowl’s files on resisting torture were aggressively pinging up.
Those were not a resource Bumblebee had at Tyger Pax. It would be a relief to have them now… If they weren’t functionally useless!
In all fairness, Megatron wasn’t appearing threatening in the slightest. His servos were clasped behind his back, his eyes fixated ahead, pointedly not on Bumblebee. When he spoke, he carried an air of levity, voice light and carefully tuned to not sound demeaning or angry.
It also helped that, when nobody was looking, Megatron was scooting away. So subtly that nobody noticed but them, and Bumblebee only knew because he couldn’t seem to tear his optics away from him. The fear made its home in his spark chamber and refused to leave.
Even Dot had yet to notice, and she was a former soldier and ranger. Noticing small things was kind of her job.
If Bumblebee wasn’t so downright miserable, he might’ve teased her for it.
Regardless of it all, Bumblebee was undeniably grateful that Megatron was not pulling attention to his discomfort. It was one of the little ways he proved he had changed for the better, no longer the bot who would make a spectacle of a tiny, frightened scout on a battlefield.
Bumblebee could add it to his list of reasons why he should not be scared. It wouldn’t help with overriding the frantic commands, still piling up, but he could pretend.
“But anyway, that should about cover it.” Dot was saying when she turned back around, waving off her kids who had been listening with utmost excitement. Her optics on them caused a spread of relief to sweep through Bumblebee’s systems.
Somebody was watching. Somebody would know if Megatron tried anything.
Not that he would, because as previously stated! The big M.T.? A good guy now! He’d never stab Bumblebee in the neck and call him weak and pathetic. At least, not to his face. Bumblebee sure felt pathetic and weak, shoving down the trembles into his tank so the rattling didn’t sound like anything at all.
“We really appreciate you stopping by, Megs.” Dot said, tapping her best friend on the pede. “The kids are really looking forward to learning some real bot fighting moves. Bumblebee’s been trying to teach ‘em, but… It’s not so easy with him being exhausted all the time.”
All at once, Megatron looked every bit as uncomfortable as Bumblebee felt. There was a twist of victory in Bumblebee’s chassis at the sight, which he immediately stifled. He was supposed to feel sorry for Megatron now, not sweet vindication.
“I did… not realize that’s what you called me here for.” Megatron deadpanned. “I am uncertain if that is the best idea. I led the brutal army of Decepticon warriors for thousands of cycles. I do not know the concept of “holding back”. My training modules back at G.H.O.S.T. are set to have no mercy, and I do not wish to spread that kind of ruthlessness to your children.”
“Haha,” Dot laughed sarcastically, blinking slowly up at him. “Yeah, no, you’re not getting out of it that easy. Bumblebee’s set to supervise you. He’ll make sure you don’t show the kids anything too gruesome. Keep away from the “turbo twister”, and you two should be all set.”
“Perhaps if Bumblebee is truly as tired as you claim, it would be best if he recharged while I took care of the children.” Megatorn scoffed, placing his servo over his chassis, nice and slow. It was a measured task, carefully calculated as to not be startling. “I am certain I can figure out how to teach them without him playing babysitter.”
“You just said you weren’t sure if you could handle it.” Dot hummed, pointing at him authoritatively, free hand on her hip. “Thanks, Megs, but I’d prefer if Bumblebee was there. He’s their guardian after Alex and I, after all, and he knows what they need.”
Bumblebee’s spark warmed from the praise. They had never quite put into words what his ranking was underneath the adult Maltos, but it felt good to know he was, at least, above Megatron. To a point, anyway.
“And if you two have a problem, you can sort it out amongst yourselves.” Dot continued, frowning between them. Bumblebee realized he was starting to lean away from Megatron without even noticing it, and she had picked up on that, at least. “Be adults about it, and don’t let it get in the way of the kids. Please?”
“Of course.” Megatron agreed, thumping his chassis with his fist one more time. “I will abide by your house rules.”
“I appreciate it.” Dot nodded, giving Bumblebee a once over. “Play nice, Bee. I know you don’t like being jobbed, but while you’re recovering from what Mandroid did to you…”
Megatron’s gaze raked over Bumblebee once again. Megatron had to have known about Bot Brawl, since he always seemed to be listening in on Optimus and Bumblebee’s communications. And yet, it still felt like his weakness was being called forward for observation. Like Megatron would take advantage of anything he could find.
But that wasn’t true. Megatron was good now. He had to remember that and force his processor to get a grip.
Still, it was both harder than he thought it would be and easier than he expected to coax his voice box into working again. It strained from the effort he put into it, clicking with static at first and then smoothing into something pleasant.
“I’ll take it easy, Lieutenant Malto,” Bumblebee promised. The title slipped from his intake before he could think better of it, cycle-old instincts kicking into overdrive right along with all his defense protocols. From Dot’s raised brow, she caught it instantly. “I’m sure Megatron will do great.”
“Uh huh.” She drawled, thoughtful. “If you need me, I’m only a call away.”
“Thanks, Dot.” Bumblebee managed to avoid titles the second time, giving her a smile twinged with pride. He could feel Megatron’s optics boring into him, and it made his plating itch. He wished he could tear his armor right off, like it was his stupid gold paint that was making Megatron stare. “But we should be fine.”
“Yes,” Megatron echoed blankly, and Bumblebee immediately felt his vocoder snapping shut again. “We should be.”
“Mmhmm.” Dot hummed, giving them both a suspicious look.
It took a shorter amount of time to get his voice rebooted, this time. “Go to work,” Bumblebee pushed, ignoring his instincts. Every single one was begging her to stay, to not leave him and her kids alone with a warlord. Dot. Please. Don’t. “We’ve got this. Stop worrying.”
“Okay.” Dot surrendered at long last, turning away with a final “I’m watching you” gesture. “Play nice, and don’t annoy Megs to death.”
Ah.
She didn’t actually trust Bumblebee that much at all, then. Worse than that, she trusted Megatron to behave more than Bumblebee. Did she actually even want Bumblebee around her children at all? Was he supposed to show Megatron where he left off in the kids’ training, and then step back?
First his voice, now his purpose.
What else would Megatron take from him?
No, no, that was wrong! Megatron was good now. He wasn’t stealing anything! Bumblebee had to calm down. He had to remember that the warframe was on his side now.
Bumblebee forced his pedes to turn, making his way to the corral where the Terrans were already stretching. His back was to Megatron within five pedesteps, and that just made the fear worse.
He had a two nano-klik head start, but it would never be enough. Megatron would be upon him within–
No time at all! None! Because why would M.T. ever attack him? He was on their side.
Regardless, every step away was an effort. His sensors strained to keep Megatron in his field, waiting for sudden movements and finding none.
Megatron, after all, was following at a less than energetic pace and was falling further and further behind, pedes practically dragging. Bumblebee considered taking back his appreciation that Megatron was trying so hard not to draw attention to them. After all, acting like a downtrodden sparkling was just the thing to get Dot’s attention on them again.
That train of thought was also exactly what would get Megatron to kill him if he voiced it out loud. Thank Primus for little mercies, like Bumblebee finally learning to watch what he said around Megatron.
He just wished it had kicked in for everyone else, too. Because Bumblebee could be such a motor mouth.
They reached the corral after a klik that had stretched on for an eternity. Bumblebee leaned against the wood posts, reinforced to support the weights of bots endlessly crashing into them. “Hey, Maltobots!” He called.
He felt a shudder ripple through his frame as Megatron joined him, slinking into eyeshot and leaning against the fence, too. He had to calm down. He had to be a good example in front of the Terrans, because they were easily influenced.
They would learn to fear Megatron if Bumblebee was afraid, and they really couldn’t have that. Dot would never forgive him.
“Hey, Bee!” Twitch called back, rotor blades flicking on her backside. Her siblings waved enthusiastically beside her. “We’re just warming up! Before training!”
“Warming up?” Megatron grumbled, so quietly only Bumblebee heard. “Cybertronians do not need to warm up.”
Bumblebee’s intake felt awfully dry, like the gears were going to freeze in place, ungreased. “Right, well… The humans need to. And they’re… Robby and Mo join in sometimes.”
“But not today.”
“School.” Bumblebee said helplessly.
They watched the kids stretch for a moment longer. Bumblebee had a feeling Megatron was only entertaining the idea so that Bumblebee could wrangle his emotions back into place. No matter what his personal feelings were, he had to put on a good show for the kids.
It took him only a klik to stabilize himself. It still wasn’t good enough, with how close Megatron was standing. It wasn’t Megatron’s fault that Bumblebee was too paranoid for his own good. It was Bumblebee’s stupid processor.
After all, Megatron had killed so many people, but everyone else had moved on. They had forgiven him, they trusted him. Bumblebee was the only one stuck in the past, because of one stupid voice box. One that had, ultimately, been replaced in the end.
Why was Bumblebee the only problem here?
He swallowed down whatever fear he could, stamping it down into scrap. It filled his tank regardless, but at least he was able to scrounge his face plates into something resembling a smile.
“Okay, kids, that’s enough!” Bumblebee announced, and the Terrans straightened enthusiastically. Primus, he loved them. He jerked a thumb towards Megatron, who startled at the sudden address. “Megatron is going to be handling your training today. Say “hello, T.A. Megatron”!”
“What–?”
“Hello, T.A. Megatron!” Four of the Terrans chimed simultaneously.
Nightshade was the only one to enthusiastically report, “Hello, teacher’s assistant Megatron!”
Megatron didn’t even shoot Bumblebee a disgusted expression, like he would have if Optimus had been the one to downgrade him to a lowly assistant. His face did screw up, but it wasn’t directed at anyone or anything.
New appreciation found its way into Bumblebee’s spark chamber. Not that it changed the fear still flooding his tank, but that was fine. Everything was fine.
“I’m so excited for Megatron to teach us a couple of moves!” Jawbreaker exclaimed excitedly, shadowboxing the air with utmost enthusiasm. “One of the best warriors in all of Cybertron! Teaching us!”
Megatron snorted, finally pulling away from Bumblebee’s side to pad into the corral. Bumblebee finally let out a quiet vent, feeling a surge of relief flood his systems. With the newfound space, his fear finally began to abate.
At a distance, Megatron didn’t seem nearly so scary, guiding the children on how to stand, and what to do. He wouldn’t hurt the children, and the thought was so much easier to grasp when Bumblebee was left alone.
Bumblebee crept into the corral as well, inching along the sides until he reached one of the haystacks lining the fence. He sank down with a weary sigh, his joints creaking slightly. Dot had been right. He was too tired for much of anything after Mandroid drained his energon.
It would probably be better if Bumblebee went into the barn to recharge for a bit, but she had also told him to keep an eye out. Make sure Megatron wasn’t too ruthless.
Which was funny, because if anyone taught the kids to be gutless in combat, it would be Grimlock, and he already had his chance with the kids. Tried to temper it down, sure. Succeeded? Bumblebee dared not ask.
“What better bot,” Megatron said to the Terrans, snapping Bumblebee out of his melancholy, “to teach you how to fight than a warframe? The art of battle is ingrained into my system.”
Bumblebee winced to himself. Careful, Megs. Your prejudice is showing.
“Oh!” Twitch gushed, folding out her arm cannon. “I’m a warframe, too! Does that mean I’m better at fighting than my siblings?” Then she flushed, saluting with her untransformed servo. “I mean, sir!”
“No,” Megatron chuckled, taking both her arm and cannon into his servos, turning them beneath his digits. “It means you have an inherent advantage over them, yes. But it does not make you lesser or better. What matters is how you apply those skills. Elita-1, for example, is the best fighter I know. And she is a regular frame. No enhancements to speak of.”
Bumblebee felt himself relax. Of course Megatron wasn’t like that anymore. He simply meant that with his added arsenal, he could demonstrate abilities few others could.
He guessed the paranoia still hadn’t completely abated. Bumblebee had to get over himself. No matter what.
(:)
Training ended five groons later. They had taken a couple breaks throughout, sipping on their cave water or munching on energon jellies Wheeljack had brought over the previous solar-cycle. But finally, as the humans hopped off the school bus and approached the house, Megatron decided to conclude the training.
“Go,” he instructed, pointing towards the excited and waving Robby and Mo. “Have fun for the rest of the evening.”
“Yessir, Megatron sir!” Thrash burst out, blasting off before the rest of his siblings to bundle his eldest sister up in his arms. The other four followed no less enthusiastically, excited to throw themselves at their organic siblings and relax after a long day of training.
Bumblebee felt something deep in his spark warm, watching them cheer each other on and show off what they learned to Robby and Mo. Pride, perhaps, even though he wasn’t the one to teach them. He was happy to see them relax.
A servo sticking itself in front of his face made him jump, skid plate shoving against the fence. It creaked under the sudden assault, but held steady as Bumblebee lifted shocked optics up to Megatron.
“Apologies,” Megatron rumbled, taking a step back but not taking his servo away. “I simply wished to offer you a servo up. You’ve been recharging on your pedes for the last two groons.”
His spark burned too fast to be healthy, taking in the sight of the servo only a few inches behind him, and its wielder, casting him in shadow. He had to calm down. He had been fine, why couldn’t he hold onto the feeling of tranquility–
Bumblebee forced himself to grab Megatron’s servo. Cold, calloused digits wrapping around his wrist, and yet it burned. Megatron pulled him up to his pedes, a bit too fast for Bumblebee’s already addled senses, and the fear flushed through his fuel lines all at once.
He withdrew as soon as Megatron’s grip loosened, his forearm pressed against his chassis defensively.
“Hmm.” Megatron frowned, red optics searing over Bumblebee. “And here I thought you had finally calmed down.”
“Yeah,” Bumblebee said quietly, keeping his own gaze fully on Megatron. He wanted to look away, but none of his danger systems would let him do that. “I wish.”
Megatron sighed, reaching up to pinch the space between his optics. “You need to talk to someone about this. If only it could be me, but it’s clear that’s not possible. But now, it does not matter who. Optimus, I’m sure, would understand. And Dorothy has always been more than understanding with my own troubles.”
“I know.” Bumblebee said bitterly, feeling like he was two hundred years old again and pinned underneath a merciless servo, barely able to answer questions as they were thrown at him.
He had started out trying to be witty, trying to laugh in the face of danger. But the pressure had increased, and his steam had quickly run out. The most he had been able to do was mutter out short non-answers to Megatron’s demands.
What a curse, to be Optimus’ personal scout, blessed with information even people with higher ranks could only dream of obtaining. There was a target on his back, because while Optimus was constantly protected and shielded by all, Bumblebee was on his own most of the time.
Additionally, even worse than that, Bumblebee knew where Optimus was going to be every time. He had to know if he was to deliver information quickly and easily. Information that they couldn’t risk the Decepticons obtaining by intercepting a signal.
At Tyger Pax, Bumblebee had held out longer than any scout had before. He held out so long that Megatron had ripped out his voice box, spat in his face, and left him for dead. He hadn’t even tried hacking Bumblebee’s processor.
Thank Primus for that, because Bumblebee would’ve sooner initiated his self-destruction protocols then let that happen. Optimus knew that. Megatron knew that.
That willing acceptance to end everything for the cause was the only reason he was standing right here, with Megatron, on this solar-cycle. Megatron wouldn’t hurt him, anymore. He wouldn’t torture Bumblebee until he longed for death, begged Primus for it, because he was good now.
Bumblebee had to remember that he was safe here. So safe. It was unprecedented just how safe he was.
“If you know,” Megatron pressed, struggling against his clear instinct to fall into a glower. The neutrality of his face was almost painful to watch. “Then we wouldn’t be in this situation. Instead, you have subjected us both to having to ‘save face’ in front of Dorothy and the sparklings.”
Bumblebee flinched.
“The sparklings do not need their teacher to be a bad example on top of everything else. If you are not taking care to avoid triggering situations, what are they supposed to think? They are impressionable youth. They will copy you.” Megatron continued, voice building in harshness.
Bumblebee could feel himself starting to shrink, and was unable to stop himself from doing so.
“Optimus told me you were partially raised by Breakdown. Your first twelve cycles, taken care of by that–!” Megatron cut himself off with a growl. Bumblebee felt worry for his brother start to lock in. “Nevermind. But surely you can see, in yourself, times when he fell short in your upbringing. The Terrans are too important for you to screw up.”
Bumblebee had never failed an objective before. For Megatron to even suggest such a thing was…
It was…
Frag.
Megatron was worming his way underneath Bumblebee’s plating, and the scout was letting him. Whether it was on purpose on Megatron’s part or not.
“I won’t.” Bumblebee whispered, feeling his bottom derma start to tremble.
Megatron stared at him, optics scanning him over, like he was searching for a weakness.
All of Bumblebee was weak. One hit, and he’d be a pile of scrap. He was nothing but a distraction, but he was a poor excuse for one. There’d be no fight. Just desperate screaming for relief, whether out loud at Megatron or just in his processor at Primus.
“Bumblebee.” Megatron summoned. The scout barely managed to keep his pedes rooted firmly. “May you please try to hold a conversation with me?”
There was nothing Bumblebee could say. There was nothing he could do.
“Fine. Clearly, you are two worked up to have a proper discussion. Simply… consider talking about this with someone. You already know that I do not count.” Megatron turned away, his back to Bumblebee now.
Bumblebee itched from the want to fire at him, when his guard was dropped. Transform his arm cannon out and take aim. He was so close to eliminating that evil for good. But he couldn’t, because Megatron wasn’t bad anymore at all.
Megatron transformed, his turbines kicking in, dust spitting out from around him in curling clouds. Bumblebee couldn’t even lift up a servo to cover his optics.
He watched Megatron until he was gone, disappearing over the tips of the trees. The noise of his engines was gone after another couple nano-kliks. Still, Bumblebee’s spark burned from the close encounter, as if it couldn’t grasp that he made it out alive.
Optics stinging and chassis constricting, Bumblebee pivoted and ran for the first safe spot he could find to panic.
Megatron was right; he couldn’t afford to show weakness to the Terrans.
(:)
Alex found him a groon later, huddled along the backside of the house, where none of the kids ever went, with his digits shoved against his mouth in a curled fist.
“Oh,” Alex said, worriedly. “Oh, nonono. Bee, what happened?”
Blue optics snapped over to stare at him, and a tremble rattled its way through Bumblebee’s frame. He was trying to process who – or, rather, what – Alex was. Safe, right? He was an ally. Someone to trust.
Alex wasn’t looking at him, thinking he didn’t deserve to be on the Autobots because he was panicking over Megatron simply standing too close to him. For trying to talk to him. Alex was just worried about a friend. That was nice of him.
Primus, was that nice of him?!
“Bumblebee, come on.” Alex put a hand on Bumblebee’s pede. The suddentity of it – it wasn’t actually that sudden, Bumblebee had clearly seen him walk up – made him want to kick the human away. He barely resisted, but only because he had been trying to hold himself back so much already today that it was practically second nature at this point. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
His vocoder throbbed in his pipes, vibrating against his metal plating. It broke out of his pipes as a low whine, the sound of metal being thrown into a grinder, splintering to pieces. Claws on a chalkboard.
“Oh. Oh dear.”
Alex was a true master at words.
Bumblebee turned his helm away in shame, hunching his shoulders to hide his face plate. He wasn’t sure how to put into words what he felt. How terrified he was. Megatron was such a looming presence in his life, had haunted him since he was less than three vorns old up until now.
He was supposed to be past this, and yet. Here he was, curled up against their house as small as he could get. It wasn’t even that hidden. Windows literally faced out towards him, it was just that…
With the house to his back and the woods to his front, it made it hard for people to sneak up on him. He was safe-ish here. He could run in any direction if someone came at him. He would not be easily surrounded. Bumblebee was fine.
Nothing was even happening. Megatron wasn’t hunting him and the Allspark down, he wasn’t serving as a distraction or just being a scout. He was sitting, with his best friend staring up at him, and a thousand noises echoing out of the trees.
He wasn’t hurt. Bumblebee had to remember that.
Megatron wasn’t hurting him.
“I’ll just sit here for a bit,” Alex announced, stretching out his legs as he flopped next to Bumblebee, his back to the wall. “I have to make dinner in half an hour, but I’ll be here until then. Does that sound good to you, Bee?”
That was one question Bumblebee could answer. It was hard to get words out, because every time he tried it felt like his vocoder was the only thing in place, his voice box wrenched out of him. But at least he could nod.
He nodded fervently.
Alex laughed, a tad nervous, maybe, but mostly cheerful and loving. “Okay! Okay, Bee. I’ll stay here. Maybe one of the kids can cook dinner tonight, too. They’ve watched me enough, they should know how to make my chicken adobo at the very least!”
If they ate energon, that would remove the need altogether. Slide a jar into place underneath the diffuser and shove a hard chunk in on top, and watch it melt into liquid. A full day’s filling in fifteen minutes.
If Bumblebee could say as much, Alex would complain that energon had no flavour like that. It was an argument they had before, standing over the human’s grill and watching him cook chicken.
Sometimes, Bumblebee wished the Terrans shared his nutrient source. It was just another way that isolated him here. Made him feel like an “other” in alien territory. And technically, he was the only alien in their territory.
An Autobot behind Decepticon lines. A Cybertronian on a human-and-Terran world.
And yet, he was one of them.
Alex leaning against his side proved that much. The way the Terrans stared up at him with optics glowing was another mark in his direction. Robby and Mo loved sitting on his shoulders, and when Dot was in a friendly mood, she asked him to drive her to the ranger’s station and spend the day with her.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was good. It was a place both he and Megatron belonged and were welcome, and he had to make peace with that. He wasn’t going to keep Dot’s best friend away just because he was a little shellshocked. And nor should Megatron stay away.
He had to stop treating Bumblebee like a scared sparkling. Bumblebee logically knew it was only a matter of time before Megatron stopped pretending to be nice altogether. And yet, the next time he saw Megatron, he’d be standing a safe distance away. Just like he always had.
It didn’t matter how often he got frustrated at Bumblebee. His patience would return in no time at all. And try as he might, Bumblebee couldn’t return the favour.
Did Optimus send Bumblebee away, not to hunt for information about G.H.O.S.T., not to protect him, but instead give Megatron an out? So he wouldn’t have to keep going out of his way to make Bumblebee comfortable?
Bumblebee knew that wasn’t true. But it sometimes felt like it was. Like everyone was just like Dot and loved a murderer and executioner more than him. Their “lovable” scout. Quotations on the lovable, because…
If they knew how weak he was, would they still love him?
People made sacrifices for love. If Alex found out Bumblebee was scared of his wife’s best friend, would Alex hate him? Maybe, maybe not. It was hard to tell the difference between logic and his fumbling processor.
Being a scout was all about noticing all possible angles, even the most unlikely ones. It was the most unlikely ones that got one caught. It was seeing a small party of Decepticons heading towards the launch site and figuring you just had to lead them away. It was learning that they were scouts, too, leading a much bigger party. One that contained Megatron.
It was losing everything because he messed up once. He couldn’t afford to screw up again. He couldn’t afford to be kicked out of the family simply because he couldn’t live and let live.