Note: yes, the title of this chapter is inspired by the Rescue Bot's episode "The Haunting of Griffin Rock" in the second half of Season 1. Why? Well, let's see y'all figure it out! Also, if you haven't read the rewritten Chapter 19, then please go do so before continuing! Enjoy!
– the next day –
{RISE AND SHINE, MY GOOD LITTLE TEST SUBJECT!}
"Huh? What?" Bumblebee startled awake, back plating scraping against the wall. His optics fluttered open to see the laboratory before him, but something was off.
The humans, normally running around with clipboards and coffee in their hands, are just standing around, staring at Bumblebee. Most are dressed in combat gear and are holding weapons, except for one. The human in particular appears to be a textbook mad scientist, complete with the crazy hair and eyes, and even a mechanical hand thrown into the mix.
"Uh..."
{Who am I? Why, I am Doctor Arkeville, of course! The greatest scientific mind in the world! At least, of the century. Well, chop-chop, we don't have all day! We're running severely behind schedule! Not to speak ill of our leading lady when she isn't around, but honestly, she really doesn't have what it takes to get any of this done. Don't tell her I said that, though. I would hate to lose this job.}
"Wait, slow down!" Bumblebee said, raising a servo to halt the incoming information. "What do you mean your Captain isn't around? Where is she?"
{To directly quote her – "I have a personal matter to attend to that isn't any concern of yours" – and then she left me in charge!}
One of the men standing next to the Doctor leaned over and whispered something in his ear.
{Yes, yes, I know she didn't actually put me in charge, but her commander, who was originally left to head things around here, decided to let me have free reign!}
Another human openly voiced their concern with that statement. The Doctor rolled his eyes.
{I'm not going to kill them! I'll just get as close as I can.}
A chill ran down Bumblebee's spinal strut. He reached out to Thunderhoof, either to comfort him or to be comforted, but all he felt was air. His internal Energon froze.
No... No no no no... Please no!
Bumblebee jumped to his pedes and looked around the cell.
It was just him.
No Thunderhoof.
Bumblebee circulated his vents and clenched his fists. Expression going hard, he turned on the humans. He approached the barrier and glared down at his captors.
"Where is he?"
{Oh, don't worry about your friend! He's fine, for now. Just needed to separate you two for a while! So, shall we begin?}
"No! I refuse to do anything if you've harmed him! Your Captain and I had an agreement!"
The Doctor laughed, then started messing with the controls.
{In case you haven't noticed, the lady isn't here to protect you!}
Suddenly, a holo-screen fizzled to life in the corner of the cell, showing Thunderhoof lying on his front, wrist cuffs locking him to the floor. A large ray comes into view, charges, and shoots a beam of energy at his back. Bumblebee looked on, horrified. It didn't get any better from there.
{You know, this picture is missing an important piece.}
In seconds, the room is filled with the agonized screams of a mech suffering excruciating pain.
{Ah, there we go! Much better!}
Bumblebee snapped his optics shut and clamped his servos over his audials, trying and failing to drown out Thunderhoof's cries, each one a plasma shot to the spark chamber. He didn't want to give into the demands of MECH, but is left with no other choice. It's either him or Thunderhoof, and being the Autobot that he is, refuses to let someone suffer in his place, even an Ex-Con.
At least I know what I'm up against.
Although Bumblebee has prepared himself, it doesn't do much to settle his rapidly increasing spark rate.
"OKAY, I'LL DO IT! WHATEVER YOU WANT! JUST STOP HURTING HIM! PLEASE!"
The Doctor smiled and laughed, not that Bumblebee noticed. A brief reprieve came when the room fell silent. He vented and removed his servos from his audials. He hesitantly forced his optics open and looked up. The screen was still there, recording the aftermath: Thunderhoof, panting, desperately trying to cool off as sparks of electricity dance along every inch of his cobalt blue frame.
Despite the pixelation of certain parts of the feed, Bumblebee is able to make out the faintest wisps of smoke rising from Thunderhoof's singed back.
By the Primes, I can't imagine how terrible he must feel right now. I mean, I can...
{I thought those were brand new security cameras! How are they already malfunctioning?}
The Doctor's outburst caught Bumblebee's attention. For the sake of keeping up appearances, he showed no signs of listening, his gaze trained on Thunderhoof instead of the humans.
{Well go find the electrician and have him take care of it! I have more important things to do!}
Feeling that something else is off, Bumblebee recalibrated his optical functions and analyzed everything around Thunderhoof. With this particular setting, he is able to see things that humans wouldn't be able to without machines, and even then, the lack of details in any movement would be classified as a technical error.
Like the non-blocky distortion in the far corner of the room, obscured by a convenient bundle of pixels.
What is that?
His thoughts were interrupted by gunfire aimed at his pedes. Bumblebee turned on his heel, coming face-to-face with a battalion of armed soldiers. They had deactivated the barrier and entered the cell without him noticing.
{Time's a wastin', robot! You can see your friend later!}
They think my worry is distracting me? It isn't, but I can't let them know that. I can't tell them what I saw, either, not that I have any clue as to what I saw. Whatever it is, I know MECH shouldn't know about it.
Determined to keep up the facade of being obedient for Thunderhoof's sake, – which he is, to a degree – Bumblebee kept his helm low, servos limp at his sides, and followed the humans to...
He can't remember what happened next.
One moment, Bumblebee was up and about, wide awake, and the next, he's forcing himself out of stasis. When his optics open, all he can see is a dark ceiling and stadium lights. He shifts in place, attempting to get a better look at his surroundings, and quickly realizes that he can't move.
"What in the world?" Bumblebee muttered, sluggishly fighting against his bonds. One of the clamps keeping him in place is tight around his neck, essentially choking him.
"Seriously? You have got to be kidding me!"
"I can't very well have you squirming around while I work, now can I? If there's one thing I know we both can agree on, it's that we don't want me to permanently disable you," Doctor Arkeville said, coming over to stand in Bumblebee's sightline.
"Frag you!"
"Language, my dear bot! Surely we can be civil?"
The Doctor gave a hearty laugh and started walking away.
"Civil! How funny is that?"
Bumblebee clenched his jaw. There was so much more he wanted to say, but didn't want to give the Doctor the satisfaction of getting under his plating, nor did he want to give the man another reason to hurt Thunderhoof. The Ex-Con was already dealing with a scrapheap of problems before any of this MECH stuff happened.
"Okey-doky, let's see that noggin of yours!"
Bumblebee stiffened at the Doctor's words.
Oh, Primus, no. Please, send me a sign, give me some luck, anything!
And as if some primordial force in the universe heard Bumblebee's prayers and thought – I'll give the yellow bug a break for once – the machinery short-circuits and lights dull to nothing.
"What the hell?"
"What's going on?"
"Who turned off the lights?"
"Where's an electrician when you need one?"
"Don't we have a fucking back-up generator for emergencies like this?"
"UNITED STATES MILITARY! UNIT E TASK FORCE! DON'T MOVE!"
Just as abruptly as everything went to chaos, the room went quiet. Bumblebee could hear his spark beating, feel the relief building within, but dare not release it, for fear that this isn't real. That what is happening right now is all in his processor. A last ditch attempt to ignore his fate.
Thankfully, that isn't the case.
Footsteps and voices are heard. Someone asks someone else to get the lights working. A couple minutes pass before the room is once again illuminated.
"Good work, boys!" A man's very familiar voice called out. "Probie, get the big guy and his bots in while we round-up the crazies!"
"Yes, sir!"
Footsteps approached Bumblebee, and he couldn't help the smile that formed when the brown-skinned face came into view.
"Lying on the job, soldier?"
"Not if I can help it," Bumblebee chuckled, happy beyond belief to see Agent Fowler in person.
"Uh-huh, sure. So, how's Cybertron? Post-war life treating you well?"
"Eh, could be worse."
"Understatement of the day."
"Heh. Yeah. And how about you?"
"Well, I'm still kicking. Rookies are a pain to deal with. Don't know how Prime kept so calm all the time."
Bumblebee laughed. Once he settled down, his gaze turned serious.
"This is real, right? I'm not imagining all of this?"
Agent Fowler looked at Bumblebee like he had just said the most ridiculous thing ever, but before he could respond, something – correction, a bunch of someones – entered the room.
"Hey, Prime, your boy here thinks he's dreaming!" Agent Fowler yelled.
Heavy steps approached the two, and even more familiar faces had Bumblebee brimming at the seams.
"Optimus!" Bumblebee gasped.
"Are you alright, Bumblebee?" Optimus asked. His battle mask covered most of his faceplate, but his optics still shone, and for the yellow and black mech alone, filled with concern.
"I am, now that you're here!"
"It's not just Optimus, you know," Heatwave said from Bumblebee's right.
The entire Sigma-17 crew had tagged along and were currently undoing his restraints. His wrists, arms, legs, abdomen, and chassis are freed quite quickly. The clamp around his neck is more slow-going, as Heatwave doesn't want to accidentally cut his neck. Minutes later, the tension releases, and Bumblebee immediately reaches up to rub the soreness away.
"Thank the Primes that's off," Bumblebee grumbled, sitting up with help from Optimus and Heatwave. He nearly fell back against the operating table when an orange and white frame tackled him in a great big hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Blades cried.
"I'm glad I am, too, Blades!"
"Blades, maybe hold off on the hug until we're back home?" Boulder suggested, placing a gentle servo on his team-mate's shoulder plate.
"Especially when there is another Cybertronian to be accounted for, is there not?" Chase added.
"Oh, right!" Blades exclaimed. He pulled back and looked around the room.
"Where's Thunderhoof?"
"I don't know, but he's hurt badly," Bumblebee replied, leaning against Optimus for support as he stood up. "We need to get him medical attention as soon as possible."
"Of course, that's what we're here for!" Heatwave said, giving Bumblebee's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Regardless of what any of us think of him, it's a Rescue Bot's job to help when needed. If Thunderhoof needs us, then we'll be there for him."
Bumblebee smiled and placed his own servo over Heatwave's. He knew that out of everyone on the Rescue team, Heatwave was the one most against letting Thunderhoof stay on Griffin Rock, so his declaration is a pleasant surprise for Bumblebee.
"Well said, Heatwave," Optimus praised.
"Thank you, Heatwave," Bumblebee followed-up.
There was a glimmer of doubt, but considering how Heatwave is in general, Bumblebee decides not to worry himself sick about it.
"Prime!" Agent Fowler yelled, catching Optimus' attention. "We'll take care of the humans, you just go find your missing Con!"
"Wait, you..." Bumblebee started.
"Agent Fowler has been updated on Thunderhoof's situation, as well as any and all Decepticons, past and present," Optimus clarified. "Both he and Heatwave may share similar reservations, and yet, they still agreed to take part in the mission."
Despite everything being told to him, Bumblebee is uncertain of how much of it is actually true.
Did a part of them actually care about Thunderhoof's fate?
Are they rescuing him for the sake of Steeljaw's daughter?
Or do they have to save him because Bumblebee was in the same predicament and he wouldn't let them leave without him?
Bumblebee decides not to ask.
"Alright, sounds good. Let's go."
The bots promptly split away from the humans and delved deeper into the facility. Everything is a mix of dark rock and pale metal, like a building merged with a cave. Which would make sense why it took so long to find the place, and begs an obvious question.
"How did you find us?" Bumblebee asked. The Rescue Bots exchanged uncertain glances.
"What?"
"Yip!"
Bumblebee stopped dead in his tracks and looked down. Steeljaw's daughter, Thunderhoof's charge, is standing right there.
"You guys brought the pup with you?" Bumblebee pitched.
"Not on purpose!" Blades defended.
"We didn't know she hitched a ride with us until halfway through our search, and every time we tried to catch her and send her back to the Island, she ran off," Heatwave explained.
"One of the humans eventually pointed out that he's seen dogs exhibit similar behaviors, and that she was, in fact, trying to get our attention," Chase continued.
"So we followed her and found this place," Boulder finished.
Bumblebee blinked at the Rescue bots, then the pup, gradually taking in the information.
I guess it makes sense. Then again, should I expect anything less from Steeljaw's daughter?
"You know where Thunderhoof is?" Bumblebee asked the pup.
"Yip!"
Steeljaw's daughter turned in a circle and ran down the hall. The bots followed, half wondering how they ended up following a sparkling, and the other half not questioning it. They hook a few corners, ultimately arriving at a supposed dead end, were it not for the suspiciously out-of-place security panel hiding in the corner.
That strange feeling from earlier?
With the camera?
It's back in full force and eating away at Bumblebee's processor.
How does she know that Thunderhoof is in there? Did she track his scent? Crawl through the air ducts? Hack the panel? No, there's no way she would be able to bypass the security provided for it! Maybe when she's older and Steeljaw shows her his tricks...
Bumblebee cut his thoughts short. Right now isn't the time to be worrying about what Steeljaw will teach his daughter. That's a conundrum reserved for future Bumblebee.
A pressure on his shoulder has Bumblebee looking up. Optimus is staring at him, curiosity a murky spot in reserved, stoic optics. Of course Optimus sensed his internal struggles, but he didn't push for answers. Presently, Bumblebee is thankful for his silence. He smiles and slightly nods his helm. Optimus accepts the answer and gives an extra squeeze before approaching the Rescue Bots.
"Brute force may be prudent, in this case."
Once Heatwave and the others were out of the way, Optimus activated his cannon and fired at close range. The shockwave from the impact pushed everyone back a few paces. Optimus shuts his weapon down when he hears the wall breaking. The mechs stand around for a few minutes, waiting for the dust to clear.
However, after seeing what MECH did to Thunderhoof earlier, Bumblebee isn't keen on waiting any longer. Sliding his battle mask out and shuttering his optics, the yellow and black mech ran through the debris. Visibility on the other side isn't as bad, and Bumblebee has to take a sec to gape at the neverending hole Optimus' weapon made in the opposite wall.
"B...Bumblebee?"
The voice is low and glitched-out, but it can only belong to one mech.
"Thunderhoof!"
Bumblebee spotted the Cervicon right where he last saw him. He rushed to Thunderhoof's side and crouched down to get a better look at him. Covered in debris, and excluding his new burn, still in one piece.
"I am so sorry, I didn't know this was going to happen!" Bumblebee apologized.
"Whatever," Thunderhoof mumbled. "Somethin' tells me we're gettin' out of here very soon."
Bumblebee smiled, completely forgetting he was still wearing his battle mask. His optics carry across the point, though, as Thunderhoof gradually relaxes the longer he looks into them.
"Good. Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm missin' those humans yous stuck me with."
"I have no doubt in my mind that they feel the same way," Bumblebee chuckled.
The obstructive cloud finally dissipated, allowing Optimus, Heatwave, Chase, Boulder, and Blades a relatively clear view of the scene before them. Each Rescue Bot showcases a degree of horror, anger, and concern. Optimus, who expresses indifference, is feeling regret for not being able to prevent this from happening. Bumblebee feels the same way, yet holds no restraint regarding his expressiveness.
"Brought in the cavalry, I see," Thunderhoof said, a faint smirk curling into existence.
"Well, at least he's coherent," Boulder said, returning the smirk with his own kind smile.
"I'll count that as a good sign," Blades agreed, approaching Bumblebee and Thunderhoof alongside Boulder.
"I believe I can get these off without too much trouble," Chase mentioned, pointing to the cuffs.
"That'd be wonderful, Chase, thank you," Bumblebee replied.
"What the bug said," Thunderhoof muttered.
Chase just barely managed a smile before getting to work.
"What'd the humans do to you?" Heatwave asked, coming over to stand behind Bumblebee.
"Shot me in the back with a big aft energy blast," Thunderhoof answered, retaining optic contact with the lead Rescue Bot. He flinched and let out a hiss of pain when Blades touched the edges of his burn with only the tips of his digits.
"Frag! That hurts more than the blast to the chassis!"
"It certainly looked like it hurt," Bumblebee mentioned without thinking, garnering everyone's attention.
"How would yous know?" Thunderhoof asked.
"Because they have a camera in here, and when I wouldn't cooperate, they turned it on so I could see and hear what they did to you."
Bumblebee vented and averted his gaze. He didn't want to linger on the looks of sympathy and surprise sent his way.
"I..."
Bumblebee turned back to Thunderhoof. Chase had managed to unlock his cuffs. The Cervicon now sat on his servos and knee joints, supported by Boulder and Blades.
"I suppose, from your side of things, it must have been just as bad feelin' helpless, huh?"
Bumblebee gaped at Thunderhoof, not believing what he heard. Based on the Rescue Bots' faces, they were just as surprised.
"What you two have experienced I would not wish on anyone," Optimus spoke, approaching the mechs and kneeling in front of Thunderhoof. He reaches out, willing Thunderhoof to accept his help, if he wants it.
"I hope that from this day forward, you and Bumblebee will allow those closest to you to alight your darkest hour. To help you heal. Not to forget, but to live despite what happened."
Thunderhoof eyed the Prime. Being confronted by the leader of the former enemy faction in such a way – as in, non-violent – is something he never would have thought of happening. Despite his instincts telling him not to take the servo, or to make a rude remark, he slowly raised his arm and placed his own servo in the Prime's. Large digits closed around Thunderhoof's slightly smaller servo, grip gentle yet firm, and pulled him to his pedes.
"I do not wish to force you into something, Thunderhoof, but perhaps it would be best for you to lean against me for the time being? I am concerned that you may not be able to fully support yourself at the moment," Optimus suggested, prompting the Cervicon to laugh.
"Using the Prime as a crutch? Would be a lot funnier in any other scenario," Thunderhoof said, shuttering his optics. He made no move to step away.
Behind his mask, Optimus smiled. He turned to the bots gathered before him.
"Let us return home."
Nothing sounded better than those four words.
.
.
.
.
.
"Yip!"
"WHO THE FRAG BROUGHT THE BITLIT?"
"It's a long story."