“Arcee?”

            Against my will, I turned to see that the innocent-sounding voice belonged to Bumblebee. For the past few days, I had been staying away from base as much as possible, and was instead helping Bulkhead and the Vehicons with rebuilding the city. Knowing Knock Out, he’d been bragging when Bumblebee was around, about how much “sweet alone time” he’d been getting with me, knowing how Bee felt about me. Knock Out knew it hurt Bee, and it more than irked me that he would be so blatant about our relationship, or whatever it was that was going on between us, but at the time I didn’t know what I could do about it. Tell Bee the truth or try to keep it hidden from him. Either way, he’ll be crushed.

            He stood a few yards away from me, moving aside so that two Vehicons carrying a long length of metal could get by him, one of them on each end of it. The metal looked quite heavy, and they stumbled in an awkward fashion while grunting with effort. The Vehicon who was walking backwards to carry it tripped over a chunk of something that was poking out of the ground. The second Vehicon dropped the metal chunk and sniggered.

            “Hey.” I gazed down at my pedes, too ashamed to make optic contact with Bumblebee. I could feel my face heating up, and my cooling fans were starting to whir. I figured that keeping Bumblebee out of the loop about Knock Out would be the best thing to do, but it was quite evident that Knock Out didn’t want that.

            “So… you and Knock Out, huh?” Bee’s voice rose and fell, then cracked in a failed attempt at nonchalance.

My optics widened. “No! I -” It was louder than I had intended to be. Whipping my head up, I looked all around, and to my relief no one else was within hearing range. They were all busy with work, and Bulkhead was a good distance away, shouting orders and helping heft around the larger, heavier bricks of metal. I watched Bulkhead as I spoke, this time in a near whisper. “We’re friends, I’ll admit that. But he’s just helping me with an internal circuiting issue. Something in my arm,” I said, grasping one of my arms to show emphasis. “I’d have Ratchet do it if he was here, but he’s not, so-”

“You don’t have to lie to me, Arcee,” Bumblebee said. He moved closer towards me, and I glanced at him. He looked upset, but not angry. He clenched and unclenched his fists and looked down, uncertain. “Just… if he hurts you in any way, tell me. Arcee, I -”

“Are you kidding?” I couldn’t hide the rage that was now being directed at Bumblebee. “We can trust him! I can trust him! The Decepticons are long gone. Who the frag would he betray us to?”

“That’s not what I meant!” Bee said, startled by my sudden change of emotions. He bit his dermas. “I just… if you’re getting into something serious with him, be careful. You know how he is. Please… I care about you.”

My spark felt like it was being torn in half. I couldn’t stand the look of absolute dejected sorrow in my friend’s face. I’d known him for eons, but through that entire time I’d felt nothing other than companionable love for him. I couldn’t see myself feeling any other way towards him, and it did make me sad at times. “Bumblebee,” I started, reaching towards him.

He turned on his heel and transformed, racing off before I had the chance to say anything more, tearing through a group of alarmed Vehicons and having a close call with running over one of them in the process.

I stood rooted to the spot, listening to the sound of his engine fading as he drove farther away. I blinked and hung my head, letting my arm drop. “Oh, Cliff… what am I getting myself into?”

* * * * *

Entering the base with my chin held high, I headed towards Ultra Magnus. Knock Out was bent over an operation berth with his back to me, in the process of taking apart a spare Cybertronian limb. It had been a day since my confrontation with Bumblebee, and since then I’d been giving Knock Out the cold shoulder. A few times he had approached me while I was working and laid an arm around my shoulders, or had attempted some other way of touching me with affection, but I shook him off, and without a word stormed away from him. It confused him, which infuriated me even more. How can he be so oblivious to what he’s doing? Each time I’d had to use all the willpower I had not to put a few dents in his armor.

“Ultra Magnus, sir.” I stopped a ways behind the tall mech and waited for him to acknowledge me before continuing. Out of the corner of my optic, I could see that Knock Out had stopped what he was doing and was watching me. His stare seared into the back of my head, but I wouldn’t spare him a single glance. He could use a little rejection, I thought, crossing my arms.

Ultra Magnus looked down at me, authoritative but sociable. Besides his occasional snobbish personality and quirks in his appearance, he was just like Optimus: strong, noble, wise, and willing to lead his comrades into battle. He wasn’t a replica of Optimus Prime, but he was good enough for the time being.

I smiled. “Anything new?”

“Nothing unusual has come up,” Ultra Magnus replied, holding his servos behind his back in his typical stance. “Which only further arouses my suspicions about that energon cave. Shockwave could be doing anything in there… including building an army of some sort. Could be recruiting some of the Vehicons. That would explain the random Vehicon disappearances.” He turned to face the computer screens, and I moved so that I was standing beside him. “He did it once with the Predacon remains, and I wouldn’t eliminate the possibility of him doing it again with other means. Nonetheless, I do not want to be kept in the dark any longer.” As he talked, he typed commands on one of the screens, which prompted a set of coordinates to appear. His sharp gaze met mine. Seeing those coordinates on the screen, I could foresee what he was about to say.

“As soon as you’re ready, I’ll need you, along with a few others, to go back to the cave. I will lead the patrol.” Ultra Magnus lifted his handicapped servo into his field of vision and curled his digits into a fist, a menacing scowl marking his face. “This time, with extra vigilance.”

I could hear Knock Out huff, no doubt refraining from starting the pointless argument with Ultra Magnus about coming along. I already knew who all would be part of the investigation: myself, Ultra Magnus, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, and Wheeljack. We were the only ones who were unoccupied and fit to fight, and there was no way Ultra Magnus would allow Knock Out to risk himself when he was the only medic on Cybertron.

I couldn’t help but smirk. Too bad for him. Now he’ll have some more time to think about his rudeness, and maybe apologize to me when I get back. Some time away from him definitely won’t do me any harm.