Semi-conscious.
Semi means partially, hence semi-conscious meant partially conscious. In more abstract terms, it was like lingering in the doorway between awake and asleep.....or alive and dead under more dire circumstances.
Which one was she in at the moment? Hopefully not the latter, Primus she prayed it wasn't the latter.
Wait, why was she here again? Oh.....that's right. She had fainted, her injuries were more severe than she thought, how long had she drifted off in space helpless to the endless realm of space with only the gravity and technology as her guide?
Why did she keep asking herself these trivial questions? Were there not questions even more urgent and important? Oh right, she wasn't exactly in the sharpest state at the moment.
She was tired....she was exhausted- physically, mentally and...emotionally? Why? Wait...she remembers now...her brother, Prowl oh sweet Solus Prime if her processor wasn't glitching with her then she remembered.
Prowl was alive.
He was still alive and kicking, he's been online and functioning all this time! All those vorns spent gazing at the stars, wondering if her brother was doing the same or if he was now a part of them....well, looks like she's found her answer.
That thought gave her solace, peace that she hadn't realized how much she had been desperately praying for all these vorns until now. At least that dilemma has been put to rest.
Rest........that sounded so...so attractive...so compelling....
No!
Not yet, not after all these vorns.
She all but ripped herself free from the tendrils of unconsciousness. She knew they meant no ill will- in fact in this internal conflict of consciousness and unconsciousness she knew that neither side was good nor bad but at that moment, the side she chose was consciousness.
Thankfully that side won. More or less.
She was grasping onto consciousness by a hair thin thread that was already fraying and threatening to snap. She quickly dug into her new small but strong reserve of energy and rummaged through her subspace.
'Where is it...where is it...where is it damn it?!' she asked herself then her digits brushed against it- her treasure, the one thing that kept her grounded through the darkest times; the one simple creation that partially meant the world to her.
She grasped it and pulled it out. If they ever needed any proof, it would be this. But just as she brought it out, the thread that connected her to reality snapped.
'No, no, no.' she thought and desperately tried to mend that thread but it was too late.
This time, the tendrils dragged her into the blissful realm of unconsciousness but she just managed to grab onto a thin thread that connected her to consciousness.
It was so thin she could barely feel it but....she could still feel and that was something. Even though it was only the tiniest bit, it was still something.
Wait, where was it? The feeling of cool but old metal grasped in her servo was gone. Oh no....did she lose it?!
'Oh no....oh you've gotta be slagging kidding me, Primus, please don't tell me I lost it.' She thought but she couldn't do anything. She was merely a passenger now in her unconscious body.
'Stupid fragging cons.' she couldn't help but think bitterly.
She felt a pair of strong but gentle servos lifting her....were they Prowl's? They felt......sleek yet strong.......it had to be him, right?
There were voices....what were they saying? They were too soft, she couldn't hear them- speak up damn it! Okay...there were...a few...one sounds.....gruff and cranky, an older one perhaps? One sounded....young; no two of them sounded young...or was it three? There was another, he sounded......authoritative? Responsible? The leader maybe?
And one more.......no way, was that Prowl's voice?! She wanted to speak up, let her own voice be heard, she wanted to just yell 'BROTHER, IT'S ME MANTIS!' as loud as her voicebox would allow but....said voicebox absolutely refused to cooperate.
They were getting too loud...okay now the voices were too much, that was enough her processor was banging every inch of her helm, screaming at her and reality to just leave it alone.
She gave reality one last glance, one tiny look as though through her peripheral vision....then finally succumbed herself to the realm of unconscious.....and this time, she didn't even try to grasp onto a thread to connect her to consciousness.
^^*************^^
"I'm.....I'm sorry, Master." Prowl said, helm lowering in shame and shoulders sagged in defeat as he tried- Primus, he really tried his best- and failed to close the door which led to the secret chamber containing the protoforms.
"You have the spark within you; you simply have to locate it." Yoketron explained patiently, trying to lift Prowl's deflated spirits. "That is why I am sending you on an optic quest. Find your spark, Prowl and return as the cyber-ninja I know you to be."
Prowl bowed and turned around, already planning his long journey ahead then paused as the words sunk in.
"Wait, Master!" he called.
Yoketron stopped and turned around, wondering what his student wanted. "Yes?"
"How long will this quest take?" Prowl asked.
Yoketron considered the question. "It depends on the cyber-ninja, not the journey. It won't be easy, that much I can say for certain."
"So, it could take.....stellar cycles?" Prowl asked.
Yoketron shrugged. "Or vorns. Like I said, it depends on the cyber-ninja." He said.
Prowl frowned and Yoketron did not miss it. "Is something the matter?" he asked.
"No it's just.....how will Mantis take this news?" Prowl asked.
"Take what news?" Mantis said seeming to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Under Yoketron's guidance, her stealth skills vastly improved, surpassing even Yoketron's expectations and soon she became one of the youngest to almost master it....and perhaps even the best- even better than bots older than her- so good that her pede-steps became naturally light, barely making any sound without her even noticing. Evidently, she knew when to use her skill to her advantage.
"Little jade, you know it is disrespectful to eavesdrop on others without their consent, especially if they are family." Yoketron said sternly.
"Sorry, I just came to let you know dinner was ready and then I saw you show brother the.......'chamber' and well......" she shuffled her pedes then she seemed to finally gather herself as she looked at them with a resigned but slightly proud look on her faceplate. "Brother is leaving for his optic quest too, isn't he." it wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"Yes." Prowl replied himself. "I....I'm sorry." Was the only thing he could think of saying.
"What? Oh no, it's fine, really." Mantis said waving her servos, trying to brush it off. "I'm happy for you honestly, this is a huge accomplishment, brother!" her words sounded bittersweet and the enthusiasm forced.
Prowl opened his mouth then closed it...then opened it again but no words came out. He didn't know what to say- or what to feel. On one hand, he was proud and happy that he could finally prove himself and earn his place in the Cyber-Ninja Corps but on the other....he didn't want to leave the two bots he's come to call his family.
"I believe it is best if we delay no further, the energon is getting cold." Yoketron said, changing the subject.
Dinner was.....awkward.
Normally it would be filled with some form of conversation- mostly from Mantis who seemed to be able to chatter on and on about almost anything but for once, it was a silent affair.
Before Mantis arrived, dinner wasn't exactly a rowdy event either but back then it had been filled with a peaceful comfortable silence.
Now? The silence they were enveloped in seemed to be roaring loudly with an ugly uncertain fog that spoke a hundred words.
"When do you leave?" Mantis asked finishing off the last of her energon.
"In two solar cycles." Prowl said. If he was going to leave for who knows how long, he might as well give himself time to say goodbye to them.
Mantis bit her lip but said no more.
That night, Prowl heard a knock on his door. "Come in." he said already knowing who it was.
The door opened and Mantis came in. Prowl shifted on his berth and Mantis walked over and sat on it. She brought her pedes up and sat criss-cross applesauce on the berth. For a few megacycles, she just sat there in silence, fidgeting and playing with her dreads as she gathered her thoughts.
Prowl said nothing and patiently waited for her to gather herself.
"I'm going to miss you." Mantis said softly, helm down.
"As will I." Prowl said.
Mantis sniffled. "I don't want you to leave." She said. "It's nice here when you're around. When you're here it isn't lonely."
"It's okay." Prowl comforted wrapping a servo around her shoulders and pulling her close to him for comfort. "Master Yoketron is still here."
"But who will take me out to eat rust sticks? Who will play with me at the energon meadows?" she hiccuped. "It's always like this. They come and learn then they leave and don't come back. The only one who does is that white bot named Jazz and it's been stellar cycles since he's come cuz he's busy with the Elite Guard and Dai Atlas himself hasn't returned in an entire vorn!"
She stopped and wiped away the tears that leaked out from under her shades. "Shifu says they're part of the brotherhood, which means they're family but they don't even stay together with family." She said.
'Ah, a youngling's mind, so straightforward and simple yet wild and unpredictable at times.' Prowl thought.
"They do care, they're just busy. Trust me, sister, the world is undoubtedly beautiful...in a way but it's also harsher than you think. It isn't easy being a cyber-ninja. You should know better than anyone that it isn't a title to be taken lightly. A cyber-ninja's skills are needed to help others who are weaker or lost.....like I once was." He explained.
"But you found your way." She pointed out.
"Because I had you and Master....because I had family. Sometimes the best compass in life is family, they can help you reach places further than you ever thought you could travel." He said.
"When did you become so wise?" she asked.
Prowl shrugged. "I think you and Master are rubbing off on me."
"So you think I'm wise?" Mantis asked regaining some of her original enthusiasm and sassiness.
Perhaps it won't hurt to stroke her young ego a little, only a little. "Well you are certainly wiser than other younglings your age." He said.
Mantis perked up at that. "Aw, never knew you held me in such a high regard." She said.
'Time for the ego stroking to end.' He thought. "Don't push it." He said promptly bringing it down to a halt.
"What are you gonna do after you complete your quest?" she asked.
Prowl thought about it. Come to think of it, he hasn't really considered his future that much. The furthest he's gone is accomplishing the quest and finally becoming a full-fledged cyber-ninja and being able to earn his place beside the rest of the corps.
But then what? He certainly couldn't stay with Yoketron forever- he'd just become a burden. He'd need to get a job- an actual steady decent job that would earn him a living, enough to provide energon on the table and a roof over his helm. Then he'd find a place to stay and move out of the dojo.
But what kind of job? He had the skills of a cyber-ninja, he should put those to good use. Should he....should he actually consider on contributing to the war? The Autobot cause?
"I.....I don't know." He said. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."
"You can stay here forever with me and Shifu." Mantis suggested optimistically. In her processor, it was the perfect idea.
Prowl chuckled. "We'll see." He said.
Then he noticed Mantis's optics drooped. She must've been exhausted, both physically and mentally....and emotionally.
"Can I sleep with you tonight, brother?" she asked words slightly slurred. "I don't wanna be alone and I'm lazy to go back.....to my own berth." she yawned.
"Of course, sister." He said.
"I love you, brother." She said before going into recharge.
Prowl smiled and tucked her in. "I love you too, sister." Then he leaned forward and tenderly planted a kiss on her forehelm.
^^*************^^
Prowl rode back to the dojo with a heavy spark. He had failed. He tried, he did his best and oh Primus he really tried, what did he do wrong? He tried his best....but still failed.
'What will Master think?' he asked himself. Would he be angry? Disappointed? Upset? Would he deem him a failure and kick him out? These thoughts kept plaguing his processor. What would Mantis think? She looked up to him and put so much faith in him, she trusted him, would that trust be taken away too?
He arrived at the dojo all too soon. He sighed then steeled himself. Time to face the music. At least....at least he tried his best. If he truly was going down, he was going to hold his chin up high and admit his failure honestly then if he was lucky, he would try again and again until he got it right.
Speaking of right....something wasn't right. As he drove towards the dojo, his wheels screeched to a jarring halt. Something felt...wrong. Something wasn't right.
But what?
Was he being too paranoid or was it just his anxiety and shame at his failure messing with him?
Regardless, he brushed it off and mentally prepared himself for what lay ahead of him.
If only he had known what awaited him.
He rolled into the main room where he expected Yoketron and Mantis to be there waiting for him and transformed back into his bi-pedal form.
"Master Yoketron, forgive me I....I tried but......" the words died in his voicebox as he looked around and instantly noticed that something was wrong.
The main room where he had trained with Yoketron and Mantis, the same one where he had gained dents, scratches, pain, knowledge, skills, happiness, discipline and so much more was a warzone.
Burnt marks on the floor littered the floor- some still smoking even, the furniture was broken to pieces, the walls had cracks, dents, scratches and burnt marks on them, the windows were shattered, the pieces lay scattered and crushed on the floor and...oh Primus he took a step back as he saw an energon stain......an almost fresh one.
He looked up to find the roof blown off, pieces of shattered glass littered around his pedes ad the statues that stood proudly destroyed into pieces.
But the worst part was the bodies.
Scattered all over the place as though a colossal hand had carelessly thrown them were bodies of other bots. All of their bodies now a dull gray, optics no longer the luminescent blue and lying in a pool of their own energon.
"No....." he walked over to them and crouched down beside them but it was pointless.
They were all one with the Well.
He recognized some of the other bots. He had even trained with some of them once. It was brief and although they were practically strangers to him.....he no doubt felt a sense of kinship with them and vice versa.
These were his seniors, acquaintances and he daresay brothers.....and they were all gone.
"Master Yoketron.....sister ......" his spark was squeezed in cold horror as he remembered them. He got up and made a mad dash to Mantis's room, his body seemingly on autopilot.
He ran as fast as his pedes could carry him, his soles thumping on the ground almost in rhythm to his beating spark that was panicking like never before.
He skidded to a halt, nearly tripping over his own pedes and stopped in front of the door with cheerful stickers.....except said door was open ajar and the stickers were scratched or ripped off.
Prowl grunted as he forced the door open. "SISTER!" he yelled out as loud as he dared. "Sister, it's me, Prowl." He began to frantically search through the room for any sign of her. "Sister! Oh Primus, please, please, please....oh please, Primus let her be alright......" he desperately prayed. He wasn't religious but he prayed, oh how he prayed that she was alright to every god and deity he could think of which wasn't many.
He found nothing. The only trace that indicated she had ever been there was a broken datapad that laid there on the floor beside a half eaten energon cube. Prowl carefully picked it up. The screen was cracked and one of the corners chipped off but when he turned it on, he could see it was a half-finished drawing of....of her, Yoketron and Prowl standing together and smiling.
A choked sob escaped his voicebox and his knees buckled, causing him to collapse to his knees on the floor as he realized that she might never finish this drawing.
"Master Yoketron....." he realized. If his Master was alive then maybe....maybe Mantis was too! Maybe they escaped! Maybe they managed to find a safe place to hide! Maybe they were alright!
This filled him with renewed hope. If Master was alive, maybe he could tell him where Mantis was and vice versa or even better, both were hurt but online and functioning and merely in hiding.
Those hopes were crushed the moment he saw his Master's lifeless husk.
"No......" he said not believing his optics. "It can't be." He walked forward, his pedes feeling as heavy as lead. "Master...." He called.
No response.
"Master...Master, it's me Prowl." When had he knelt down beside him? "Wake up....Master, please, you have to wake up!" he shook his teacher's body.......no response other than the joints creaking at the motion.
"Master Yoketron...please, WAKE UP!" Prowl said his voice rising in desperation. "Please...please......" it was no use....he was gone.
A choked sob escaped once again. "I'm sorry....I'm sorry....I'm so so sorry........I'M SORRY!!!" he yelled not knowing what else to do as he was drowned in grief and guilt.
The broken datapad was still with him and he held onto it like a lifeline with one servo while the other lay across his teacher's exposed spark chamber. Whereas once it contained a beautiful warm spark, it was now an empty icy cold husk. The one bot that had cared for him like the father he never had was gone.
"It's your fault....."
His optics widened and he whipped his helm around to see Mantis standing there!
"Sister!" he said standing up, relief flooding through him. She had survived she was okay!
"It's all your fault....." she said again and this time Prowl heard her words clearly.
"What?" he asked and took an involuntary step back. Something was wrong. She was hurt, there was energon leaking everywhere and....his optics widened and he blanched when he saw her missing servo. What happened to her?
She began to walk forward like a puppet with a clumsy puppeteer, the grace and bounce in her step all but gone, helm held low and dreads wild and covering her shades like a curtain.
She looked like a lifeless zombie more than anything.
"Because of you....where were you....where were you when Shifu needed you......where we YOU WHEN WE NEEDED YOU MOST?!" she asked voice rising in volume filled with malice and resentment.
Prowl began to walk back. That couldn't be Mantis. That couldn't his sister. What happened to the cheerful femme who always wore a smile even on the worst days? What happened to the sister who would always see the good in others? That.....that thing was not his sister.
"She's right, Prowl." He whipped around and his vents hitched as he saw the once lifeless husk of his teacher rise. "You failed us." He said voice filled with anger and disappointment. "You failed the corps!"
"It's your fault." "You're to blame." "Failure." "Where were you?!" "Coward!" "Disgrace."
His optics darted frantically and his spark began to pound against his spark chamber so hard, he was surprised it hasn't burst out yet. His optics widened, the pupils dilated to needle thin slits and his vents became hitched as he saw the bodies of the fallen cyber-ninjas rise up like punishers from the grave, the dull grey of their bodies making the luminescent energon oozing from their wounds even more vivid.
"Your fault....all your fault....it's your fault....your fault...." They all chanted as they lumbered towards him.
"No....no....stay back! Stay back!" Prowl said stepping back, voice panicked.
Suddenly, he couldn't move and looked down to see a black mist spread under his pedes.....Then servos shot out of it like vipers and latched around his pedes, clutching so tight they dug into his plating.
Then he began to sink as the servos pulled him down. He began to desperately struggle against the dark twisted force threatening to pull him into the abyss he will never crawl out of.
"Your fault....your fault....." "Disgrace." "Failure." "Unworthy." "You bring shame upon our brotherhood." "Some brother you are." "It's all your fault." "Why didn't you do better?!" "Your fault...your fault...."
All those words slinked into his audio receptors and seemed to stab at his spark with each syllable, each word.
The servos reached up and grabbed onto his chassis, his servos, his shoulders and even his faceplate as he desperately tried to push them off and climb out.
"Failure.....disgrace.....failure.....disgrace.....failure.....disgrace....." they chanted over and over again like some twisted cursed mantra.
'Stop....please.....' he begged as he began to sink lower and lower, one of his free servos reaching up as though he could grab onto some sort of lifeline.
"Your fault......dishonor.....failure.....disgrace.....coward....."
His vision was filled with nothing but the dull gray plating of the offlined cyber-ninjas, the sickly sweet smell of energon invading his olfactory sensors and vents making him want to hurl.
A servo clamped over his faceplate and he jerked his helm around in an attempt to get it off.
"Your fault....."
Through the gaps on the splayed out digits, his optics widened even more as the faceplates of Yoketron and Mantis came into view, except this time Mantis was now older, more mature, gone was the innocent child he had saw earlier.
Their optics were like dull gray voids filled with malice, hatred and disappointment and he felt himself being sucked into that void.
"It's your fault....it's your fault....it's your fault BroTHer........."
Prowl's optics snapped open and he gasped, shooting up as though he had gotten electrocuted. His chassis rose and fell like a raging wave as his vents struggled to intake enough air to satisfy them. His vents hitched and came out in gasps as though he had been a human drowning and struggling for breath.
He whipped his helm around rapidly, nearly giving himself whiplash. He was in his room again. Wait, why was he here? Where was Mantis?
He mentally went through a recap of the past hours.......That's right; he had been sitting in the med-bay waiting for Mantis to wake up. Then Bumblebee had come in to return him the metal flower he had given her before she left then....then.....he must've dozed off.
Wait.....
'Was it all a dream?' he asked.
That thought flooded his spark with despair. No, it couldn't have been a dream....right? Then he remembered the flower and began to frantically rummage through his subspace.
'Where is it....where is it?!' he asked himself desperately.
Finally, his digits closed around it and he brought it out. He just held it there and stared at it. He brushed his thumb over the thin sheets that served as the petals and rubbed it in the middle where the chain was. The cool, slightly rough feeling of the copper and metal registered his sensors.
It was real.
He released a long pent up intake he had no idea he had held. Wait, why wasn't he in the med-bay again?
The door slid open to reveal the bulky form of Bulkhead who seemed surprise to see him sitting up in his berth.
"Oh you're awake already?" Bulkhead said.
"How did I get here?" Prowl asked.
"Well, the doc found you dozed off in the med-bay and said 'I can't do my work if there's a half-functioning tin can in the way!' so I carried ya back here where you can rest properly." He said. "Hope you don't mind."
"No, no, it's fine....thanks I appreciate it." Prowl said. Admittedly, among all the bots of their ragtag team, he always seemed most compatible Bulkhead despite his clumsiness.
"Yeah...anyways the doc thought you might want an update on that femme we saved. What's her name again? Mary?" Bulkhead asked.
"Mantis." Prowl corrected.
"Right, Mantis." Bulkhead corrected trying to store that name for the next time he met her when she was online. "He said she's doing fine. Her energon levels are goin back to normal and her other functions are pretty okay. So who knows? Maybe she'll even wake up today."
"That's good to hear." Prowl said honestly and felt a weight he was unaware of lift from his shoulders.
"Well looks who's up. Morning sunshine." Bee said, his helm suddenly poking in from the doorway.
Prowl groaned. Now he wished he hadn't waked up.
"What do you want?" he asked, wanting to get this over with.
"Answers." Bee said then walked in and sat down on the floor in front of Prowl like a child waiting for a bedtime story. "Like for starters, who is that chic?" he asked.
"My sister, Mantis. I already told you that yesterday." Prowl deadpanned.
"Yeah, that brings me to my next question, WHEN DID YOU HAVE A SLAGGING SISTER?!" he demanded.
"Did you have to ask THAT LOUD?!" Prowl shot back. "Are you trying to wake everyone in the plant?" he hissed.
"KEEP YOUR DARN VOICES DOWN OR I'LL TUNE IT DOWN MYSELF!!!" Ratchet's voice replied answering that question.
"Uh oh." Bulkhead said. "Now the doc's cranky."
"When he is not cranky?" Bee pointed out.
"True." Bulkhead admitted.
"Back to the point, when didja get a sister?" Bee asked honestly intrigued. Maybe this will shed some light on the mysterious enigma that was Prowl's past.
"We aren't related biologically, she's adopted." Prowl said. "She was the adopted daughter of my teacher and well.....I guess she grew fond of me and I admittedly began to love her like a brother does his sister."
"Aw....so you do have a spark." Bee said.
"Don't push it." Prowl warned.
"Where has she been all this time? And why wasn't she with you?" Bulkhead asked getting them back on track.
"Because....." Prowl paused. He's grown....closer to them, in a way after all the dangers and obstacles they've been through but.....he doesn't trust them enough with something as personal as this. Not yet anyways, Sari was a different matter and under different circumstances.
"It....it's complicated and frankly I don't want to talk about it." He said instead.
"Aw come on...." Bee said. So much for that. But despite his curiosity eating away at him, even he knew his limits.
"If you have nothing else to ask other than annoying me, please leave." Prowl said curtly putting an end to this discussion.
"Fine." Bee said letting it go......for now.
"You uh.....want anything?" Bulkhead asked awkwardly to relieve some of the tension.
"I'm fine." He said simply.
"Ok then." Bulkhead said getting up and heading on to the door. "See ya."
"Later Prowl." Bee said leaving too with a lazy wave.
For a while, Bee walked behind Bulkhead in companionable silence. Then when the yellow bot was certain he was far away enough from Prowl's room and that he wasn't being watched.....
He doubled back and headed for the med-bay.
"Hey, where you goin, lil buddy?" Bulkhead asked.
"To get answers." Bee said.
"I'm pretty sure Prowl ain't in the mood right now." He pointed out.
"I've noticed." Bee said dryly. "So I'm heading for the next best bot with answers."
"Who?" Bulkhead asked.
"The femme herself- Mantis, duh." Bee said.
"Oh." Bulkhead said. Then the words settled and his optics widened. "Oh no." he said pushing pass Bee and standing in front of him, blocking the smaller bot's path. "That's a bad idea."
"Aw c'mon Bulk, why not?" Bee asked.
"Because it could oh I don't know...make Prowl mad? Like, really really mad?" Bulkhead said. "I mean, have you seen him mad before?"
"No, not really." Bee pointed out.
"Exactly, and I wanna keep it that way." He said.
"Come on, Bulk, where's your sense of adventure?" Bee asked.
"Where's your sense of self-preservation?" Bulkhead shot back. "Do you really want to tick Prowl off? As in really honest to Primus ticked off?"
"No." Bee admitted. "But I don't wanna be left in the dark either. I doubt you'd like that."
"True......" Bulkhead had to admit. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't tempted to get answers himself.
"Look, the doc bot said she might wake up around today. So we'll just slip in, wait for a couple of megacycles then if nothing happens, we slip out before Prowl even notices. There. How hard can it be?" Bee said.
"Uh, very hard?" Bulkhead said. He and Bee knew better than anyone that stealth wasn't exactly the hulking green bot's forte.
"And that's why I've got your back, Bulkie. You and I've got this. Now you with me or what?" Bee asked.
Bulkhead mulled it over then sighed and stepped out of the way. He knew arguing with Bee and dissuading him was almost impossible so he may as well just roll with it. Besides, it won't hurt to nose around a bit for some answers. "Fine, but if we hear anyone comin, we leave, got it?" he said pointing one of his slightly pudgy clawed like digits at Bee.
"Loud and clear. Now less talk, time for action!" Bee said before jogging off, Bulkhead at his heels.
They entered the med-bay and found it empty, even Ratchet wasn't there. The only occupant of the room was their target.
"The coast is clear." Bee said glad that at least they wouldn't have to explain themselves to the grumpy old war medic.
"Yeah.....so.....what do we do now?" Bulkhead asked as they stepped in.
Bee shrugged. "Wait, I guess." He said. "I mean, there's nothing much we can do." He said with a sense of philosophy.
He hated waiting; he was an impatient bot no doubt about that, even he was willing to admit that. But while he doesn't have the brightest processor, even he knew when to see the simple hard common sense behind certain things and roll with it.
And he knew that the only thing they could do now was wait for the femme to wake up.
Bulkhead couldn't keep his curiosity in check for long and leaned forward to examine the femme aka Mantis. "She looks pretty." He said out loud.
"Definitely." Bee said. "Wonder if she's single?" he said jokingly. As much as he enjoyed attention, he had his limits however. He wasn't the 'playboy' type, no, that was another level of low he doesn't plan on stooping to anytime soon.
"Just a thought." Bulkhead said bashfully with a shrug. He didn't mean for that to slip, he just honestly thought she was pretty good-looking all things considered.
"Hey, look, she's even got a jetpack mod like Prowl." He pointed out.
"And wheels on heels! Literally!" Bee noticed. "I look forward to meeting her already."
"Looks ain't everything, bud." Bulkhead pointed out. "Remember Blackairachnia?"
Bee shuddered as he remembered the techno-organic spider femme Decepticon. "Don't remind me." He said.
Then he leaned closer to her faceplate as he noted two other features. "Wonder what's with the shades, do all cyber-ninjas wear those?" he asked aloud.
"I don't think you should get so close....." Bulkhead said nervously. What both were unaware of was the spark monitor that had been connected to the femme began to spike up slightly.
"Aw, she even has that cute lil horn set on her helm like Prowl." Bee said oblivious to the true depth of the situation.
One of Mantis's digits twitched.
Bulkhead blinked and turned his attention to her servos. He could've sworn he caught some form of movement in his peripheral vision.
"Bee....." he warned.
"Helm shape is pretty similar too. They're definitely related." Bee said.
"Bee! Look!" Bulkhead hissed finally getting his attention.
"What?!" Bee snapped annoyed. Bulkhead pointed at the spark monitor and it was then they noticed the sparkbeat had spiked up ever so slightly.
"Holy slag, she must be waking up!" he said. "Quick! Get the doc bot!"
"What about you?" Bulkhead asked. He didn't feel alright with leaving Bee alone with a stranger. She was Prowl's 'sister' and all but still.
"I'll...I'll stay here in case she wakes up and flips. Don't worry, I'm good with people.....well that's what Sari said but you get my point!" Bee said. He was no tactician and he certainly wasn't star cadet back at the academy but it was common logic to leave someone here to keep watch so they can report anything that went out of hand while the other goes for backup.
"R-right, be back in a click." Bulkhead said before lumbering off, accidentally bumping into something in the hallway along the way.
Bee turned his attention back to Mantis. 'I hope she's friendly.' He thought.
Then he heard a faint groan.
He blinked and leaned in closer. Sure enough, the femme began to stir! Bee noticed the lenses of her shades narrow, they must be connected to her optics so they naturally widen and narrow according to her expression....sweet.
Behind the shades, a pair of optics slowly came back online and the first thing they registered was a blurry figure of yellow and gray.
Bee took her shades widening as a sign that she was waking up and decided to try to calm her down before she panicked. "Hey! You're awake. That's a relief, we thought you'd be out for a whi-"
He never got to finish as a feisty 'Kya!' rang through the air a few clicks before his helm was snapped back and a massive pain registered in his chin which traveled up his faceplate and numbed his entire jaw and cheeks.
He should've traded places with Bulkhead.