Bee sat on the couch next to Bulkhead, he kept looking back to the medical room as he waited for Sari to come out. Optimus and Doc bot had gone in to help her, and wouldn't let anyone else in. The little bot looked over at his counterpart who sat against the far corner with his knees drawn up to his chest plate. The femme sat next to him and spoke quietly but he didn't seem to really be listening. Prowl walked in and sat cross-legged next to the couch. The three bots were quiet for a moment.
"It's kind of weird...." Bulkhead whispered.
"What do you mean?" Prowl asked without looking at him.
"That the key doesn't just work on them. I know it's cause they're from a different dimension, but I figured it would still work." Bulkhead said. Prowl huffed in response and the little bot remained quiet as he stared at the opposite wall.
"You okay little buddy?" The big bot asked as he set a servo on his head. Bee looked up at him for a moment.
"You remember when we first came here and Optimus.....died?" He said softly.
"Yes. That's when we figured out Saris key could do a lot more than we previously thought" Prowl answered without looking.
"Why weren't we as upset as they are now?" Bee asked as he looked at the bots in the far corner. The others followed his gaze.
"Maybe because the realization didn't sink in." Prowl responded. "Sometimes we're in denial of what happens to those we care about." He mumbled. Bee nodded slowly.
"Don't worry little buddy." Bulkhead said. "As long as we have Sari and her key, we won't have to worry about losing each other." He said as he smiled. Bee smiled up at him.
"And we all know nothing can hurt this ninja bot." He teased as he flicked Prowl in the helm.
The bot grumbled in response but smirked to himself. The little bot truly felt his team was invincible, and nothing could take them away. He wondered if that was true. Prowl looked at the two bots sitting by the wall, the way the femme saw her team was different from what he thought of his. She saw them as something more than just bots, he saw his as a nuisance and a way to slow him down.
Curiosity got the better of him and he walked over to them. He glanced at the Professor who was talking to Raf as they worked on the computer. The boy just stared at the floor, he looked empty. He shuddered a little as it reminded him of something.
"Can I speak with you?" Prowl asked. The femme looked up at him then at the scout who had the same dead look as the boy.
"Ya." Arcee muttered. He watched as she hugged the bot sitting next to her, he just buried his head in his arms. She got up and they walked to a part of the room where they wouldn't be over heard. A few minutes passed before he spoke.
"I'm curious about your team." Prowl said as he looked back at Bumblebee. "You all seem so close, doesn't it make it harder to fight by them." He asked. The femme looked back at the scout and remembered when she had lost Cliff Jumper. She smiled slightly as she remembered how they, in their own way, helped her.
"Ya....you can say we're more than a team." She looked at the ground and smiled sadly. "We've grown closer over the years and trusted each other more. Some of us didn't have much when we came to earth." She looked at Bumblebee who hadn't moved. "Some of us lost so much during the war on Cybertron, that we didn't have anywhere else to go." Prowl looked at the scout.
"Rachet saved his life on Cybertron.... didn't he." The ninja said. Arcee nodded slowly.
"Bumblebee saw Optimus as a father figure and Rachet as someone he could always trust." She said quietly. "He keeps most things to himself, but he'll talk to me once in a while. He hates to let either of them down.... so you can imagine how he feels." She mumbled.
"How did you see Rachet?" Prowl whispered. He was starting to see the difference in how they viewed their teams. She looked up at him.
"A friend." She said. "He may be hard to get along with, and be annoying at times. But he's always ready to listen, even if he won't admit it." She smiled sadly again. Prowl thought for a moment, about what they had talked about.
The medical room doors opened and everyone looked up. Bumblebees helm shot up and he jumped to his peds. Optimus walked out helm facing the floor. He looked up at the others for a moment. Doc bot followed shortly after and looked at Arcee. Sari slowly walked out and sat with Bee.
"We did everything we could...." the doctor mumbled. "But there's nothing else we could have done to save him. The damage is just to severe." He hung his helm and the room went silent.
Arcee bit her lower lip as it quivered and squeezed her optics shut as she fought her tears. Bumblebee closed his optics, hung his helm and clenched his fists. His shoulder plates shook as he tried not to cry again. Doc bot and Optimus looked at each other sadly. The leader walked over to the scout.
"The least we can do is give him a proper burial." Optimus whispered. Bumblebee nodded slowly but didn't look up. He couldn't do anything to save his friend and that tore him apart. The room went deathly quiet again, and for a moment no one knew what to say.
"Wait! We can't give up yet!" Raf yelled, his outburst broke the silence and they jumped a little. The bots looked at him sadly. The boy ran down to their peds and looked up at them.
"There's nothing else we can do Kid." Doc bot mumbled. The boy glared up at him and clenched his fists.
"I'm not giving up on him." He said as hot tears filled his eyes. "Rachets my friend too and I'm not ready to give him up yet." He looked up at his guardian as tears ran down his face.
"What about the Forge of the Primes?" He asked. The room was quiet and Bumblebees optics widened as hope took hold of his spark.
"That's in our dimension... and can only be wielded by a Prime." Arcee muttered. Raf walked over to the relic and glared at it.
"Then lets go get it." He said pushing his glasses up.
"Raf.....I don't think the relic works anymore." The femme mumbled sadly. The boy looked over at Sari then smiled.
"Let me deal with that." He said. "We just have to try." His determination filled them with hope, and the two bots smiled at each other.