Transformers Prime: A Sparkling Issue

Chapter 3 - Prime Sitter

Sunday night: 10pm...

After the kids left, Optimus went back to the monitor, bringing up the material Rafael had already gathered. He wanted to look it over more in depth before diving into what made their newfound artifact tick. The sparklings were playing in the middle of the room, still batting around the soccer ball. Every few moments he glanced over to be sure all was okay before going back to his research. The Prime allowed himself just the smallest smile. The sparklings were behaving nicely and it seemed this wouldn't be too difficult a job.

He finished Rafael's information and started running a few tests, disconnecting or attaching new wires to the relic to get different results. Hopefully, one would give a clue as to its operation. He found himself greatly missing Ratchet's input as his fingers worked the keypad. Becoming more involved in his study as the minutes passed, the periodic check-ins became less frequent then he realized.

One of Bulkhead's louder giggles drew his attention. He briefly glanced back before returning to the screen, but something seemed off. He looked again. Blue, green, orange...

"Bumblebee?" he called. His optics made a quick scan of the bunker. No yellow. Putting scans on hold, he moved away and began searching the room more meticulously. The three other sparklings stopped their play to curiously watch the Prime as he hurried about, looking in every corner while calling the mech's name. He checked behind Ratchet's workstation, under the workstation, behind crates, around the platform – even down the tunnel entrance. Still no yellow.

And that's the moment Optimus felt every babysitters worse dread. He had lost the child.

He then expanded his search to the hallway leading to the bots' living chamber, wondering if maybe Bumblebee's young mind remembered enough to go to his berth room. This idea, unfortunately, turned up nothing when he found the scout's quarters empty. So Optimus went through all the rest of the berth rooms, checking each thoroughly while the slow apprehension continued to rise in the Prime's chest.

"Bumblebee?" he called again, a bit more anxiously this time, hoping maybe the sparkling would at least make some kind of a noise in response. His step had quickened, his optics darting to every possible hiding spot. He hurried into another hall and that's where he spied the runaway crawling down past the power generator's chamber and heading towards the armory.

"Bumblebee!" he called in relief. He quickly caught up to the sparkling and scooped him up before he made it to the armory doorway. "I see I'm going to have to keep a closer watch on all of you." Bumblebee only bleeped innocently in reply.

Loud wails suddenly sounded from back down the hall. Optimus quickly hurried back to the main bunker, realizing just how long he had left them unsupervised during his search. He entered to find Ratchet and Arcee in the middle of a tussle over possession of the soccer ball. Angry jabbers of bleeps and clicks came from both sides as each had an unrelenting hold, pulling from either side like a game of tug a war. Again Arcee wailed and Ratchet tried to outdo it with another of his own. They didn't seem to bother Bulkhead any, as the green mech had curled up on the floor in one of his powernaps that Optimus had noticed he seemed to frequently take over the last hour or so.

Optimus set Bumblebee on the floor and knelt down, hesitating a moment as he debated how to handle this. It seemed the most logical course of action was to remove the problem from the equation. With index and thumb, he pinched the ball to take it away. But instead of letting go as he expected, the sparkling were lifted off their treads a few inches. Both refused to let go so they dangled there literally rubbing against each other (which made them more upset at the other), and Optimus was forced to peel the ridiculously strong tiny servos from the soccer ball. But the second they were back on the floor, both began to cry with piercing howls, lubricant tears spilling over and servos reaching out towards the ball.