Energon is Thicker Than Water (RID2015 Fanfic)

Chapter 9 - Delays

Bumblebee moved across the landscape slowly, the ground bumpier than he'd been expecting and leaving him at a slower pace than he would have wanted. He hoped he found a road in the dark soon so he could increase his speed and find his daughter faster.

How could he have been so stupid? How could he be so clueless? He sighed as he moved along. "I have a lot of apologizing to do when I find her...I just hope she's alright."

His attention was caught by the bumps suddenly vanished almost completely, and he found himself on a road. "Finally..." he murmured as he turned and started down it, towards the town. "She's gotta be out here somewhere..."

He'd gone a few miles when all of a sudden headlights came at him from ahead, their brights shining in the autobot's optics and blinding him. "AAH!" He swerved to avoid them, but wasn't able to get out of the way before it rammed into the back side of him. His tires screeched as they left the asphalt and he slid down a steep slope into a deep ditch.

The hit had stunned him, and when his systems came back on, he was lying on his side in the ditch. It was fortunate that he had no passengers, or else they would've been hurt. The car who'd rammed him was nowhere in sight, and the revving of an engine told him that they were driving off into the distance. A hit and run, the humans called it.

Bumblebee moaned in pain, attempting to get onto his wheels again, but unable to, due to the slope of the ditch. He went still again as he heard another car pull up on the road above him.

There were car doors being slammed, and then footsteps coming up to the top of the slope.

"You okay!?" A voice called.

Bumblebee didn't answer, but he heard one of them sliding down the hill to him. "Come on Bee, snap out of it...!"

Bumblebee stiffened up a little, then saw the woman come up to the front, where his headlights could light up her appearance. Long black hair with streaks of pink through it and a familiar face. "...Miko...?" He whispered.

"Hey." Miko greeted. "What happened?"

"Ugh...Got blindsided by some idiot...They're gone."

"Obviously...Can you transform? Nobody else is here."

The woman backed up as Bumblebee transformed into robot mode, grimacing as she saw the deep dent in his left thigh. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah...I've dealt with worse..." Bumblebee murmured as he limped a few steps.

"At least you're a friendly, Bumblebee."

Bumblebee looked up and saw another familiar face on the hillside. "Jack...I think your version of 'nobody is here' and mine are different, Miko."

"Well I meant nobody that doesn't already know."

"I knew what you meant..." Bumblebee limped up onto the road. "W-What're you two doing here?"

"We picked up a cybertronian signal and came to investigate." Miko replied. "What're you doing here...?"

Bumblebee sighed. "It's a long story... But I'm here looking for one of my own."

"What happened?"

"...I made a mistake. Hopefully I'm not too late to fix it... Have you seen another bot?"

"No. We only picked up one signal on our scanner."

"Yeah...That would be because she isn't marked yet. She's only a few days old."

"Get out!" Miko exclaimed with a grin. "We're looking for a baby autobot!?"

"Yes..." Bumblebee grimaced again, and then transformed into vehicle mode again. "I have to find her..."