Son of Unicron

Chapter 5

   ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰  

A depressing mood hung over the Autobot base in the week that passed. For their safety, Jack, Miko, and June were to be confined to base, which meant no school and that the Darby's had to quit their jobs. After the transmission with Megatron, Agent Fowler had no choice but to inform the government of Rafael's capture, which would also mean informing them of the other humans.

Fowler managed to convince his superiors to allow June and the kids to stay under the Autobot's protection, while the government would provide them with the proper necessities.

Meanwhile, Miko and Rafael's family had to be relocated, should the Decepticons return for them as well. Miko's host family were confused by why they were being forced to move, yet the answer they received did not answer all their questions. Both families were told that Miko and Rafael had accidentally gotten involved with a terrorist organization, and therefore had to be put under government protection. However, for the Esquivel family, they were told that their son was kidnapped by said terrorists and that they were being moved should the terrorists come back to try and captured more of them. The family, of course, demanded to know who exactly took their son and why they wanted him, but their questions merely fell on deaf ears.

Rafael's other family, the Autobots, were in disarray. Ratchet was on a constant search for any of the Decepticons' frequencies, while Jack and Miko looked for public sightings of their warship. Optimus, Bulkhead, and Arcee went on frequent patrols to try and track down any leads to the Decepticon's whereabouts. Bumblebee, however, was the most active. The second he was back in base, he bridged himself to another location, determined to spot the Nemesis and get back his human charge. The bot rarely was in the base long enough to refuel or rest.

The team had multiple times tried to tell him to not push himself so much, but the young scout ignored them. Finally, when the scout began showing signs of energon depletion, did Optimus put his pede down.

"Bumblebee," the Prime said, trying to get the scouts attention before he could head out of the base for the fifth time that day. "While your motives are reasonable and your assistance appreciated, I would implore you to let your systems rest so that- "

"Rest?" He beeped, cutting his leader off and looking him in the optics. "You want me to rest while Raf is in the hands of the Decepticons? Rest while Megatron is doing Primus knows what to him?!"

Bulkhead stepped up. "Bee... he didn't mean it like that..."

"Then what did he mean?" Bumblebee snapped, silencing the green mech. He felt a gentle yet firm servo grasp his shoulder, causing him to spin around and face Optimus.

"Bumblebee, we will find Rafael, however, in order to do so, we need to be fully refueled and recharged." He said in a stern manner, yet his optics were gentle and held only worry for his youngest soldier.

Bumblebee looked down at the ground, his optics dimming in what looked like defeat. Then, his servo suddenly tightened into a first before he ripped his shoulder from Optimus's grasp. "If you guys want to recharge then be my guest, but I'm not resting until I find Raf."

With that, he began to make his way into the tunnel leading outside, but before he could leave, a voice thundered behind him.

"Then I have no choice but to confine you to the base."

Bumblebee stopped and his helm whipped around to look at the Prime in silent shock. The other members of Team Prime also looked at their leader. The young scout searched Optimus's faceplates for any sign that he was lying, yet he found none.