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“Again,” Blitzwing commanded into his commlink, scrutinizing the techno-organic’s take-off with his monocular as she shot into the sky.
“Ughhhhhh…” Sari powered down her jetpack and landed on the roof of a building that coincidentally was just high enough for her massive teacher to examine her take-off at eye-level. Currently in her bot form, she switched off her mask so that her human face was showing. “Do I have to? We’ve been doing this for hours!”
“I am still unfamiliar with earth’s units of time but I know for certain it’s been less than half a megacycle since we started this drill. Flying requires discipline-” with a whirr and a click, his cool and composed faceplate was replaced with a red and black one with an unhinged spike-toothed grin, “And you know there’s no-bot more disciplined than I am, aha!”
With a practiced finger, the ex-deceptacon reached down to muss up her hair with a mischievous cackle. “Besides, you’ve already improved so much, why stop now?”
The teenager indignantly protested the treatment and shoved the giant digit away. “Because I’m bored!” she said with a stomp of her foot. “Why do I have to keep practicing this? I know how to take off!”
One of his optics twitched as Blitzwing felt a rage building within him at her insolence. However, he quickly stifled it, switching back to his Icy persona as he reminded himself of her age and that the autobots in general were unaccustomed to following orders without explanation.
“You still haven’t synced your pede-thrusters with your upgrade,” he explained coolly. “They may not be specifically designed for flying but they will improve your speed and control immensely if you learn to use them properly. This drill will help you do so.”
“I hate drills,” the girl muttered venomously, scuffing her foot against the ground unhappily.
With a mechanical whirr, Blitzwing saw red and he bared his gap-toothed dentae at Sari. He was about to call out her poor attitude when he sensed water droplets hitting his plating. Glancing skyward, he realized the storm he hoped would pass them by was now rapidly approaching. The dark clouds rolling in gave a thunderous growl of warning and he could feel the rain begin to fall with increased frequency. So much for being optimistic.
Returning to Icy, he said, “Change of plans, we will finish today’s lesson indoors.”
He thought Sari would be grateful for the change. He was wrong.
“Awww, it’s just a little rain!” she protested even as she summoned her face mask and her voice was distorted by the armor covering her mouth. “I don’t wanna go inside!”
“The storm will only get worse from here,” Blitzwing calmly argued. “Remember, your frame isn’t built for flying. Should lightning strike, the electricity-”
“Could blow me up or stop my spark, yeah, yeah, I know,” she said with a dismissive wave.
“ Or reset your system,” he responded, slightly miffed by the interruption, “Which at a high velocity and altitude would be-
“‘Catastrophic’, I know!” she snapped, clearly annoyed by the topic. “But the chances of a person getting struck by lightning are like a million to one!”
“Not when you’re flying through its source.” With that, he saw red again as his faceplate switched to Hothead. “You were the one begging to do something different! You’ve got your wish, now stop whining about it!”
“I’m not whining!” she whined while stubbornly folding her arms. “I just don’t want to go inside yet. Drills are bad but listening to you lecture about flight theory or tactics or whatever is worse!”
“Too bad, it’s for your own safety, sparkling.” His tone left no room for argument.
“I’m not a sparkling!”
“How many stellar-cycles are you again?”
“I’m mature for my age!”
“HAH! I guarantee you are the only one that thinks that.”
They glared at each other for several tense seconds while the rain continued to fall before Sari gave in.
“Sometimes, I think you’re a bigger worrywort than Ratchet,” she mumbled as she defeatedly walked towards the edge of the building, not intending for the much larger bot to pick up her words.
“What did you just call me?” he snarled even as he extended an inviting servo to the much smaller being.
With a shake of her head, Sari declined to use it, instead blasting herself into the air and landing neatly on one of his shoulders. “Nothing!” she cheerfully declared, making herself comfortable on the edge of his plating.
Blitzwing glared at the half-human suspiciously but in light of the worsening thunderstorm, he decided to drop it. He briefly considered flying home to shorten the trip but didn’t want to set a bad example. Choosing to remain in robot mode, he headed in the direction of the autobot base, subconsciously switching to his main faceplate as he walked.
Occasionally, he glanced at his shoulder to ensure Sari hadn’t slid off while he was walking. Every time he checked, she was still sitting in the same spot, contentedly kicking her legs while watching the moving cars and other sights on the ground so far below her.
His ice-blue derma twitched up fondly at the sight. Once, he would have purged at the thought of letting an organic crawl on him. However, this specific organic had grown on him, to the point where he even enjoyed the friendly contact. The revelation that she had cybertronian origins certainly helped temper his disgust, although he had already learned to tolerate her presence long before that particular piece of information was uncovered.
He blamed Bumblebee for that. The ex-decepticon doubted he would ever have grown to tolerate humans if the sociable minibot wasn’t already practically welded at the hip to one when their relationship started.
Although, sometimes he wondered if he should be more put off by Sari’s true nature. The only other techno-organic he’d been in contact with was Black Arachnia. Considering what she’d done to him, the thought of ever coming into contact with another of her kind should have terrified or enraged him. However, the half-human was so drastically different from the bot responsible for his triple-changer status that he found it impossible to group the two together in his mind.
Sari caught him staring and raised a curious eyebrow. “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” he quickly defended, mildly embarrassed to have been caught staring. Then, he switched faceplates. “Except for the sky!”
The techno-organic groaned at the joke. “That was terrible.”
“No it wasn’t, but this one is!” Blitzwing let out an anticipatory cackle before finally settling down enough to actually tell the joke. “What do you call an autobot that breaks the law?”
“What?” his passenger asked in a resigned tone.
“Optimus Crime!”
Sari couldn’t help but snort at the bad pun and a delighted Blitzwing took that as a sign to keep going.
“What do you call an autobot with a long history of collisions?”
“What?”
“Optimus Wrecks!”
“Oh my gosh.” The girl covered her face in second-hand embarrassment but Blitzwing caught a hint of a smile before she did so. “That was worse than the last one!”
“How about this one? An autobot, a decepticon and an organic walk into a bar…”
Bumblebee paced impatiently just outside their base’s main entrance in the living room, feeling only a little guilty about how excited he was for Sari and Blitzwing to come home early. It was raining, which meant the ex-con would have called off the teen’s flight lesson for the day.
While he was grateful his boyfriend and his best friend got along so well, he was starting to feel a little jealous of how much time they were spending together. Of course, he was ecstatic about how much their relationship had improved since the then-decepticon tried to squish the girl when she found them shortly after they started dating. The problem was that their new favorite activity, flying, wasn’t exactly something he could be included in. He tried sitting in on their first lesson but quickly grew bored of listening to all the rules Blitzwing set down, and he was especially bored after they ditched him for a test-flight. He knew it was dumb but he had grown accustomed to having Blitzy at his side nearly every second of the day and having Sari practically on-call whenever he was free.
However, he refused to be that stereo-typical possessive and overly-dependent friend/boyfriend he saw on so many shows that the trio liked to watch together. Normally, he was fine hanging out with Bulkhead during their flight lessons but today his buddy was out patrolling with Optimus. Thus, Bumblebee was forced to resort to bothering Ratchet and Prowl or tinkering with their gaming equipment for his own entertainment, until he noticed the rain coming down.
His pacing was abruptly interrupted by a war-toughened voice. “I don’t like how much time they’re spending together.”
Glancing up, Bumblebee was greeted by the sight of Ratchet leaning grumpily against a doorframe across the living room. The veteran scowled at the garage doors that served as the base’s main entrance.
Despite not mentioning their names, the scout knew exactly who he was referencing and glared at the intruding autobot. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Clearly catching on to his defensive tone, Ratchet vented, his discontent expression softening slightly. “Now don’t take this the wrong way-”
“Anytime someone says ‘don’t take this the wrong way’ that usually means there’s no other way to take it.”
Ratchet glared pointedly at the other bot and Bumblebee put his hands on his hips, waiting for him to continue with a challenging air.
“I know he’s different now,” the medic begrudgingly admitted, “but he was a ‘con for eons. I don’t think he’s the best influence for Sari.”
Here we go again, the minibot thought to himself with a roll of his optics.
“Oh, blow it out your exhaust port, ya old tin can, he’s fine,” he said dismissively. “Besides, who else is going to teach her how to fly?
“She shouldn’t be flying at all,” Ratchet retorted, glowering at the ‘tin can’ comment. “The kid just barely found out she’s part bot, she should be focusing on mastering her primary functions and abilities before throwing in flight training of all things. She’s not ready for upgrades, especially not a major one like that! It’s not safe.”
“You said the same thing about my turbo boosters.”
“And I stand by my previous statement!”
“C’mon, I used those things to save the city!”
“If you hadn’t had them, then the city might not have been endangered in the first place!”
Wincing at the reminder, Bumblebee made a mental note to stop bringing up events that could serve as evidence against his arguments during a debate, “Okay, you might have a small point there but in the end what upgrades Sari gets is up to her and her dad to decide.”
“Not unless I’m the one installing them,” the resident medic grumbled.
“Has she ever asked you to install anything?”
The following silence answered his question and the minibot smirked. “Besides,” he added, deciding to be nice and alleviate the other mech’s fear regarding her safety. “Blitzwing’s a great flier. He can totally take care of her while they’re out together.”
Ratchet’s scowl returned and he muttered darkly, “Decepticons don’t ‘care’ about organics.”
Bristling at the comment, Bumblebee was about to shoot out a scathing response when the door opened behind him and he was blasted by a sudden gust of freezing wind and rain. He whipped around just in time to greet a soaked yet grinning Blitzwing holding Sari protectively in his servos, using his free one to shield her from the sky’s aggressive assault.
When the teenager caught sight of him she leapt off the giant servo.
“Save me!” she cried desperately as she launched herself at the yellow bot, transforming to her human mode as she did so.
With a surprised yelp he leapt forward with outstretched arms. Luckily, he wasn’t too far when she jumped and caught her without an issue. In turn, she clung to his chassis and he was greatly displeased to discover that despite Blitzwing’s attempt to shield her from the rain, she was still rather damp. The liquid sapped the heat from Bumblebee’s plating and he grimaced at the sensation.
“Sari, you’re all wet!” he complained as he held her out at arm’s length at the same time that Ratchet called out an alarmed, “What’s wrong?” from the other side of the room.
The teen turned and pointed accusingly at the triple-changer. “He’s been telling bad jokes the whole way here!”
“Guilty as charged,” he giggled mischievously, before crouching to Bumblebee’s level. “Where’s my hug, my little honeybee?”
“No more hugs until you’re both dry!” the minibot declared, gingerly setting Sari on the ground. She dropped her jetpack by the door and ran off, probably to find a towel.
Blitzwing pouted at his partner, before his grin turned wicked.
“A little water never hurt anybot,” he chuckled, reaching out to Bumblebee with malicious intent.
With a panicked shriek, the scout tried to escape but he slipped on water he hadn’t noticed pooling around Blitzwing’s feet. The triple-changer easily caught the smaller bot and trapped him in a hug, ignoring the other’s squirming protests as the water spread to his frame.
“NO! You’re gonna make my joints rust, Blitzbrain!”
“Then we can be rusty and crusty together!”
At least Blitzwing was warm, unlike Sari. His two engines kept him running just as hot as his appearance, even soaked in rainwater. By the time it reached Bumblebee, the substance was already close to evaporating, although he still disliked the sensation. Eventually, he resigned himself to his fate and simply hugged him back.
“I missed you,” the minibot sighed into his partner.
“I missed you, too,” said the larger bot before he planted a quick kiss on Bumblebee’s forehead, sending his spark a-flutter.
There was an awkward cough and they both stopped and turned their attention toward the old bot standing a little further into the room, who was watching the affectionate display with a slight grimace.
Blitzwing nodded politely at the medic. “Ratchet.”
The autobot stiffly returned the gesture. “Blitzwing.”
There was an awkward pause where the war veteran looked like he wanted to say something else before he vented heavily and disappeared in the direction of the medbay.
With a click, Blitzwing’s faceplate turned serious and he released Bumblebee. “What was his problem?”
“Don’t worry about it,” the minibot responded with a dismissive wave. “He’s just being a grump.”
The triple-changer chuckled softly at that. “When isn’t he?”
Bumblebee’s mood brightened when he remembered why he was so impatient for Blitzwing to return. He took a hold of his partner’s servo and pulled him further into the warehouse.
“I got bored and fixed your controller while you were gone!” the yellow scout cheerily informed the other, tactically omitting any reference to the situation where the controller was broken in the first place, “Now all three of us can play together again!”
“How wonderful,” the triple-changer responded dryly.
Sari re-entered the room with a towel wrapped over her clothes.
Clearly having overheard the news, she shouted, “That’s awesome!” and ran over to the pair. “Let’s go play now!”
“Actually, I was going to instruct you about jetstreams and-.”
“Ughhhhh…..” Bumblebee and Sari groaned in unison.
“That sounds so boring,” the techno-organic complained.
“Yeah, it wouldn’t hurt to give her a break for a day,” Bumblebee said as he playfully elbowed his partner.
Blitzwing frowned at their statements. “We only used about half of our lesson time today. Regular instruction is important, especially considering Sari’s determination to fly outside of her designated practice hours.”
Despite his words, Bumblebee sensed weakness in the bigger mech’s tone and locked gazes with Sari. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded in understanding. She sprint-jumped into the scout’s arms and he turned to face his boyfriend while holding her securely against his chassis.
“Please!!!!” Bumblebee and Sari begged simultaneously. Two sets of round blue eyes glowed up at the triple-changer’s red ones as they gave him their best imitation of a pair of begging puppies.
Blitzwing returned their gazes with an unamused expression. Bumblebee continued to hold his pleading face while trusting Sari did the same. It had been a while since they used this tactic on the ex-con and he was almost one-hundred percent confident that it would work, considering it had yet to fail them. It was for this very reason they made the joint decision to use its power sparingly.
After several tense nano-kliks, Blitzwing broke the silence with a short, “Fine,” and switched to Hothead. “But only just this once! I refuse to make this a habit. Now stop staring at me with those beady little optics and allow me to crush you in the video games!”
Without giving him the opportunity to change his mind, Bumblebee and Sari sprinted off to get their console ready while Blitzwing reluctantly followed.
After sitting on the couch, they settled into their usual position with Sari sitting in Bumblebee’s lap and Bumblebee sitting in Blitzwing’s lap.
As the hours passed and the trio happily played away (happily meaning taking turns trolling and raging at each other in response to the trolling) the storm increased in intensity. At every thunderstrike Blitzwing flinched and Bumblebee momentarily rested a supportive servo on his thigh. He didn’t have to ask to know why the larger bot disliked the explosive sound.
The sun was long gone when the front entrance began to open, which normally wouldn’t be a big deal if the storm hadn’t decided to let out the loudest crash of thunder yet at the same time.
The sound absolutely shattered the comfortable atmosphere of the living room and in the same instant, Bumblebee was flung from his perch as the legs serving as his seat rose to their peds. Sari screamed as she too was forcibly moved, although the minibot quickly caught her with one servo and himself with the other. He flipped around to face the offending mech.
“What the frag, Blitz?!” he yelled, stopping when he realized his partner had both cannons aimed at the open door.
Optimus and Bulkhead stood there, copious amounts of water dripping from their frames and soaking the floor. The former had his hands raised with his optics locked on the triple-changer.
“Stand down, Blitzwing, it’s just us.”
The words proved unnecessary as the ex-con was already raising his cannons.
“Maybe you should try knocking before coming in,” he said passive-aggressively before his face switched to Random. “OOOoooo, I know some good knock-knock jokes.”
The mech turned to face his favorite victim to say, “Hey Sari, knock-” and was immediately silenced by a sudden flurry of expertly aimed pillows pelting his faceplate.
Despite the dangerous welcome, neither Optimus nor Bulkhead appeared too bothered after finding themselves on the business ends of Blitzwing’s cannons. Bumblebee’s spark warmed at the realization. It hadn’t been that long ago before such an incident would set everyone in the base on edge for the rest of the solar-cycle; now they treated it as a simple misunderstanding.
The team’s leader turned to address the little techno-organic who was still eyeing Blitzwing with a threatening pillow in hand.
“Shouldn’t you be at home by now?” he asked with a parental tone.
In sync, the three gamers checked the time and groaned as they realized Optimus was right.
“Can’t I stay until it stops raining so I can fly home?” Sari asked hopefully while lowering her plush weapon, it being the last of her stash that made resting comfortably on robots possible.
The Prime shook his head. “This storm doesn’t look like it’s letting up anytime soon. One of us will have to drive you.”
“C’mon, Bossbot, we’re in the middle of the game, she can stay a little longer!” Bumblebee complained, looking to his boyfriend for support. “Right, Blitzy?”
Blitzwing spat out a pillow. “Why do you two always make me have to be the responsible one?” he whined before switching to Icy. “Optimus is right. It’s time for Sari to go home.”
“I can take her!” Bulkhead offered, transforming on the spot and opening a door invitingly.
“Actually Bulkhead,” Optimus interrupted apologetically, “I think it would be best if I do it. I was hoping to have a quick word with her in private, if that’s okay with you, Sari. I was going to talk to you tomorrow but since you’re still here-”
“That’s okay!” Sari hurriedly cut in, rising to her feet, “We can just talk here and then Bulkhead can take me home.”
Then, she whispered to Bumblebee, “If I keep him talking long enough, maybe I can turn this into a sleepover.”
Bumblebee nodded conspiratorially. “Good idea,” he whispered back. “See if you can get him on a history rant, those things last forever.”
“What are you two discussing over there?” the Prime asked suspiciously.
“Nothing!” they chimed back in unison as Sari leapt into action, heading to the connecting corridor so she could follow Optimus into another part of the base.
“What’d you wanna talk about anyways?” she asked curiously as she waited for the still-dripping autobots to join her.
“I’ll tell you about it in my office,” Optimus replied tiredly. “It shouldn’t take too long.”
The giant green autobot waved at them before walking into a different part of the base. “Alright, I’ll be in my room if you need me.”
After they left, Blitzwing and Bumblebee returned to their game. The latter was secretly pleased to have some alone time with his boyfriend, even if said boyfriend was currently destroying him in Mortal Kombat.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before Sari suddenly stormed past, the stomps of her tiny feet echoing surprisingly loudly through the warehouse.
Pausing their game, the minibot was about to ask her what was wrong when an exasperated Optimus also entered the room.
Quickening her pace, the teen shouted, “Leave me alone!”
“Please Sari, just listen-”
“I don’t want to talk anymore!”
Bumblebee and Blitzwing shared a glance before resuming their game, silently agreeing to mind their own business.
The main entrance opened and the yellow bot subtly watched from the corner of his optics as Sari retrieved her jetpack and left the building with Optimus tailing close behind, both immediately drenched by the downpour of rain that followed.
After thinking about it a little more, Bumblebee sighed and paused their game again. “I should probably go help calm Sari down or back her up if Bossbot is being a bolthead. You know, best friend stuff.”
Nodding understandingly, Blitzwing allowed Bumblebee to slide to the floor. The minibot made it about halfway across the room when his commlink crackled to life with Optimus’s voice.
“Sari, return to base right now, that’s an order! You’re not supposed to fly in rain!”
His fuel tank dropped. Without hesitation, he sprinted out the door. Judging by the sound of massive pedes hitting concrete behind him, Blitzwing had heard the message too.
A wave of rain crashed against his plating the moment the yellow bot stepped outside but he ignored it. He quickly joined Optimus’s side where the Prime was staring hopelessly into the sky.
“Sari! What are you doing? Come back!” He shouted at max volume, following Optimus’ gaze. To his dismay, she was already nothing more than a glowing speck in the distance as the rain prevented him from getting a clear view of the renegade teenager.
The team’s leader sighed. “Thanks Bumblebee, but I don’t think she can hear you from here.”
As Bumblebee went to repeat himself through his commlink, someone else beat him to it.
“Sari, as your flight instructor I-ORDER YOU TO LAND YOUR REBELLIOUS AFT THIS INSTANT!”
The minibot turned to find a red-faced Blitzwing standing in the doorway, clutching the doorframe so tight the metal and surrounding concrete cracked.
“You’re not the boss of me!” her voice spat back.
The ex-con gripped the wall even tighter, then vented heavily, returning to his calmer faceplate. “You are too emotional to fly right now. Whatever it is that upset you, I’m sure we can come to an agreeable solution.”
His faceplate switched to Random and he let out a high-pitched stressed laugh, “We can’t make any more friendship bracelets if the flashy cloud snakes fry your circuits!”
Bumblebee turned back to track Sari’s flight and noticed her light had paused, quickly realizing she must have stopped to hover in place while responding to Blitzwing. His spark skipped a beat, and he desperately hoped that his boyfriend would succeed in reasoning with her.
“I’m not too emotional! If I want to fly, I’m going to fly!”
“Calm down,” the triple-changer pleaded. The characteristic sound of breaking concrete repeated and Bumblebee absentmindedly wondered if Optimus would make him fix the wall later.
“I am perfectly ca-!”
Lightning split the sky right at Sari’s location, followed by a sharp crack of audial-splitting thunder less than a nano-klik later. When the lightning cleared, the glow from her jetpack had disappeared.
The sight silenced the three bots as they stared in horror at the sky.
Less than a second later, the silence was broken by the sound of familiar pedes booming across the pavement.
Bumblebee watched helplessly as Blitzwing leapt into the air and transformed into his jet mode, blasting towards the spot where the light was last visible. The sudden rush of air that followed after his take-off made the minibot shiver, but he was too focused on the retreating shape of the triple-changer to notice.
The sight of his boyfriend quickly diminished to a red glow, albeit a much stronger one than Sari’s was. Without warning, the light broke its upward climb to dive terrifyingly close to a skyscraper. At the last second, it pulled up and was briefly distorted as Blitzwing presumably flipped around to begin his return flight to the base.
Optimus’s voice broke the trance that had momentarily overtaken Bumblebee.
“Ratchet, I need you at the main entrance, now.”
“I’m already on my way there. What in the Well of All Sparks is going on out there?”
Despite the pounding rain, Bumblebee could hear the old bot’s voice echoing out of the entryway.
With a grim tone, Optimus replied, “Sari was just struck by lightning.”
There was a pause, then Ratchet burst out of the building. “Where is she?” he demanded worriedly, optics frantically scanning the area.
The other two bots pointed at the rapidly approaching ex-con, who close enough that they could all see him flying in his robot mode.
The triple changer landed with a loud THUD . His hands were cupped around what Bumblebee hoped was an unharmed Sari.
Holding his breath in anticipation, the minibot leaned in with the rest of the team as the flier uncovered his precious cargo while hunching over to shield it from the rain.
Still in robot mode, the techno-organic was clearly unconscious, barely taking up the palm of his servo.
The autobots breathed a collective sigh of relief when they saw that, save for a charred jet pack and a couple scorch marks, she was unharmed.
“She’s unresponsive,” Blitzing stated in a monotone voice. Someone unfamiliar with his mannerisms might interpret his expression as apathetic, but Bumblebee could read the tightness around his mouth and the small crease in his sculpted brows. The ex-con was worried. Very, very worried.
“Bring her inside, now!” Ratchet barked.
Obeying without question, Blitzwing quickly carried the girl inside with Bumblebee and Optimus close behind. At Ratchet’s command, he set the human on the floor just inside the warehouse and the medic got to work.
They were soon joined by Bulkhead and Prowl, who anxiously watched with everyone else as Ratchet checked Sari’s vitals.
After removing the blackened jetpack and running a diagnostic scan, the medic pulled a small towel and some sort of tiny medical kit from his subspace. Using the towel, he carefully but thoroughly dried Sari’s upper half.
“Umm, doc-bot?” Bumblebee spoke up, only to be hushed by Prowl.
“What is it, Bumblebee?” Ratchet responded tiredly as he opened the kit and pulled out two impossibly thin pads with connecting wires. He placed them on Sari’s chest with surgical precision.
“Is Sari okay?”
“She’s still breathing but her heart is beating irregularly and she’s in danger of going into cardiac arrest,” he explained patiently, gesturing towards what Bumblebee had mistakenly assumed was a medical kit. “I’m going to have to reset it using this defibrillator. It was built for humans but we’ll just have to hope it works on Sari while she’s in her robot mode.”
Bumblebee frowned. That sounded serious.
Before he could ask what a ‘cardiac arrest’ was, the medic shouted, “Clear!” and activated the machine.
Sari’s body convulsed once then returned to its previously motionless state.
Everybot waited with bated breath as Ratchet leaned in to check her vitals once more. The focused, calculating look that he always had when treating a patient melted away into one of relief.
“She’s stable.”
There was a noticeable change in the atmosphere as all of the bots in the room relaxed at the news, sharing relieved glances with each other.
Surprisingly, Blitzwing was the one who spoke up first.
“How did you know how to treat her?” he asked with a curious tilt of the head.
Ratchet flashed him a suspicious look before relaxing with a sigh. “When Sari first joined our team, I researched human first aid and gathered some supplies so that I could properly treat her or any other human in an emergency. I haven’t really used it to do much other than administer the occasional band-aid and offer cold medicine to the kid, until now.”
“Is she going to be alright?” Optimus asked with noticeable concern.
The medic stored the defibrillator in his subspace. “She’ll be fine. Lucky for her, it looks like her jetpack took most of the blast. She might feel a little weak when she wakes up but she should recover quickly. Sari’s far more durable than any other organic on this planet, so I wouldn’t worry too much, especially since it doesn’t appear that she sustained any injuries from her fall.”
“Nice catch, Blitzy,” Bumblebee praised, slapping the mech’s arm in a friendly gesture and attempting to relieve some of the lingering tension in the room.
The triple-changer gaze flickered to the other bot, then returned to Sari’s vulnerable form.
“Is she going to return online soon?” he questioned flatly.
Feeling a little offended at being ignored, Bumblebee folded his arms with a huff but listened carefully to Ratchet’s response.
“I don’t know,” the medic said with a resigned headshake. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“What happened?” Prowl asked, his normally stoic faceplate tainted by concern.
Optimus shifted uncomfortably. “We had a…disagreement.”
Without going into detail regarding the subject of their fight, he explained the events that followed: Sari storming out, the storm itself, the lightning strike and Blitzwing’s rescue.
“What did you say to her that made her so mad?” Bulkhead asked while nervously tapping his servos together.
“That’s a private matter,” the team leader responded professionally. “Sari can share the details with you if she so chooses but that will be her decision to make. Although, I think it would be best if you waited until another day to ask.”
Just as he finished his statement, the techno-organic in question stirred. All optics were fixed on her small form as she struggled to push herself off the ground.
Ratchet stepped in, gently guiding the girl to a sitting position. “Easy there, kid, you just had your system rebooted.”
Sari shook her head, then switched to her human mode. “What happened?”
“You were struck by lightning and I had to use a machine to restart your heart.”
“Oh.” She blinked a few times while absentmindedly rubbing her chest. “That explains why I feel all tingly.”
“Tingly?” Blitzwing questioned softly, before his faceplate spun to Hothead. “TINGLY?”
Just then, Bumblebee noticed his partner was shaking. Not from the cold, but from whatever emotions were boiling within his processor. The minibot reached out to place a calming servo on his boyfriend’s chassis, but was ignored as the latter loomed over the techno-organic.
“WHAT IN PRIMUS’S NAME WERE YOU THINKING?” he shouted furiously. “IS YOUR PROCESSOR FAULTY? WERE YOU TRYING TO GO OFFLINE?”
Sari shrank away from the triple-changer and the other autobots took defensive positions around her.
“Take it easy, Blitzwing, she’s still recovering,” Optimus said with his hands held up in an appeasing manner.
The ex-con rounded on the leader while defiantly baring his dentae. Bumblebee’s optics were immediately drawn to his signature tooth gap and he scolded himself for being so easily distracted.
“I AM HER INSTRUCTOR,” he shouted authoritatively, glaring down at the shorter mech. “I WILL DISCIPLINE HER AS I SEE FIT!”
Without waiting for a response, Blitzwing redirected his attention to the increasingly ashamed half-human.
For the next five cycles, the triple-changer thoroughly chewed Sari out for her poor choices while the other autobots uneasily spectated in the background. Every time she tried to defend herself she was verbally shot down with a, “You were the one who begged me to teach you,” and a, “I trained you better than this!” or similar phrases. Eventually, she could do nothing but sit there and take the scolding while looking more and more like she desired nothing else than to melt through the floor.
Meanwhile, Bumblebee uneasily studied the other autobots’ faceplates as the ex-con admonished Sari. Bulkhead just looked uncomfortable, Prowl was difficult to read, and Optimus and Ratchet appeared conflicted on whether they should step in or not. The minibot worried that Blitzwing would receive his own talking to (that he would certainly not take well) when he finished with his tirade. However, judging by how they allowed him to continue scolding the teenager, the scout figured he was in the clear.
Finally, Blitzwing calmed down enough to switch to Icy, although a smoldering anger still burned behind those red optics. “As punishment for your reckless behavior, you are officially grounded: no more flying for the foreseeable future.”
Sari gaped at the ex-con. “You can’t do that!”
“I can and I am.” he answered calmly as he reached out to the tiny being with an open servo. “Hand over your upgrade.”
After glaring at the massive hand next to her for a few seconds, the teenager reluctantly retrieved the damaged jetpack from where it rested near Ratchet. She handed it over with a rebellious scowl. “Fine, you can have it. It’s not like it matters, I can just ask my dad for a new one.”
“I will speak to Professor Sumdac and inform him of this incident,” Blitzwing calmly responded after storing the item in his subspace. “I doubt he will build you another jetpack once he hears of your careless behavior.”
Instantly, Sari wilted as every trace of rebellion left her body. “But-but what about our lessons?” she pleaded with shining eyes.
“I will be giving you flight safety lectures until I’m confident you’ll never do something this foolish ever again.” Blitzwing stated emotionlessly, unmoved by the sorrowful display. “If you can prove you deserve them through good behavior, you can eventually earn back your flight privileges.”
“That’s not fair! It’s not like anything bad really happened! I’m fine!”
With a mechanical whirr, Hothead returned and he snarled at the smaller being. “ONLY BECAUSE I CAUGHT YOU! IF I WASN’T ALREADY NEARBY YOU WOULD BE NOTHING MORE THAN A SMEAR ON THE PAVEMENT! I WON’T ALWAYS BE THERE TO SAVE YOUR STUPID SKIDPLATE, SPARKLING!”
Flinching at the harsh words, the tears already brimming in Sari’s eyes spilled over. Embarrassed, she quickly wiped the salty liquid away before hiding her face in her hands.
Bumblebee reacted by slamming his elbow into Blitzwing’s side.
Despite his thick plating, the triple-changer let out a pained grunt and glared at his boyfriend while holding a defensive servo over the injured area.
The minibot returned the glare just as fiercely. Sure, Sari had made a bad decision and sure, Blitzwing probably had the right to yell at her for it, but he didn’t have to rub it in anymore! He tried to convey that message silently with his optics before jutted his helm meaningfully in the distressed girl’s direction. She had resumed her robot form and was curled into a protective ball on the floor, her shoulders shaking softly as she tried to stifle her sobs.
After taking in the pitiful sight, Blitzwing’s gaze softened and he switched to Icy once more.
“I apologize,” he stated regretfully, for the first time appearing aware that there were other people in the room. “Perhaps that last outburst was overly harsh.”
“You think?” Bumblebee muttered, despite feeling somewhat proud of his boyfriend for apologizing in the first place.
Blitzwing shot him a glare that the minibot shamelessly returned.
Then, Bumblebee raised his eyebrows and flicked his optics at Sari then back at Blitzwing in a manner he hoped said: make it right.
Finally, the triple-changer returned his attention to the half-human. Her face was still buried in her arms but she had stopped crying. His expression softened another fraction and he slowly dropped to one knee so he could better address the significantly smaller being.
The impact of his knee was not silent, and when she heard it hit the concrete Sari jolted, glancing in the direction of the sound with alarm. After she realized who the offending limb belonged to, she deflated and slowly craned her neck skyward to miserably meet Blitzwing’s gaze.
The mech in question glanced at Optimus, then refocused on Sari before speaking in a more humble tone. “As your instructor, some of the blame falls on me for this. Clearly I failed to properly inform you of the dangers of flying in a storm and of flying when emotions are high. I would like to apologize for that.”
Blitzwing paused and Bumblebee could practically see the gears grinding in his processor as he debated on saying something else. The yellow scout readied his elbow, prepared to repeat his previous jab if his boyfriend started being too insensitive again.
There was no need, as what he said next was something that Bumblebee and probably the rest of the team would agree with.
“However, if there’s one lesson I would like you to remember from today, it’s that you need to be more careful,” the triple-changer insisted, his voice taking on a sense of urgency. “Even if you don’t care about your own safety, there are others that do. At least stay safe for their sake.”
Those words seemed to impact Sari. She sniffed, then switched off her mask.
“It’s not that I don’t care about staying safe, it’s just-” her voice cracked and she furiously scrubbed at her eyes.
After taking a moment to compose herself, she continued. “It’s just that I didn’t think anything would happen. I already have so many new rules to follow, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to break one just this once.”
This time, Prowl cut into the conversation, to everyone’s surprise. “Our team has made a bad habit of breaking rules, so it makes sense that we may not have set the best example for you to follow.”
At that, he gave Bumblebee a special look that he pretended not to notice by innocently studying the ceiling.
The ninja-bot redirected his attention towards Sari, speaking with a stern yet gentle tone. “There are times when it is beneficial and even necessary to act outside of the limits that have been set for us. However, there are consequences that must be considered with each unique situation. Blitzwing’s rules are in place to keep you safe. I would advise you to follow them.”
A quiet settled over the group while Sari considered his words. Finally, she switched completely out of robot mode, settling into a more comfortable sitting position. Then, with her gaze flicking between the triple-changer and the floor, she spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
With a whirr, Blitzwing’s face was split by a familiar eccentric grin. “And I’m Blitzwing, but you should already know that, silly.”
There was a beat, then Sari’s eyes widened in realization.
Outraged, she rose to her feet, pointing an offended finger in his direction. “I said, ‘I’m sorry,’ like an apology, not like I was telling you my name! Plus, this is an old joke, you’ve already teased me about it before!”
But the much larger mech took no notice of her argument as he stood, raising a contemplative servo to his chin. He tilted his head this way and that, as though he was attempting to solve some great dilemma. “Wait, does that mean you’re always ‘sorry’? Do you even need to apologize? You’ve been ‘sorry’ since your own creation!”
Before she could protest further, he crouched down and gave her a cheerful grin. “If that’s the case, then I have no choice but to forgive you!”
Without warning, he switched to Icy.
“Just don’t ever do that again,” he commanded, leveling a strict but not overly-harsh glare at the young techno-organic.
Dropping her angry posture, Sari squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze but nodded in understanding. “Okay.”
Finally, Blitzwing stepped back, satisfied by her show of remorse.
Previous fire gone, girl tiredly looked around at the other autobots with a resigned expression.
“Are you guys going to yell at me too?” she asked sulkily.
Bumblebee stepped forward to reassuringly mess with the girl’s hair, to her great displeasure. “Nah, that’s not my job. Besides, the whole thing looked pretty sicc, especially when Blitzy saved you, so I’d call that a win.”
His comment earned him a smile from Sari and a smack on the helm from Ratchet. The minibot yelped and rubbed his head but didn’t otherwise protest the treatment, having already expected that sort of reaction from at least one of his other team members.
“Don’t encourage her,” Ratchet scolded before chipping in with his own thoughts. “I was going to share some choice words once you’d fully recovered but lover boy here beat me to it.”
“Excuse me?” Blitzwing exclaimed with an offended scoff but everyone ignored him when Prowl spoke up again.
“Everything that needed to be said has been said,” the ninja-bot stated before exiting the room.
“The punishment is fitting,” Optimus added thoughtfully. “And I think Prowl’s right. I don’t see any need to drag this out any further.”
Sari stared at the Prime for a long moment before her expression twisted unpleasantly and she looked away with a huff. He appeared saddened by this but didn’t press the issue.
As a result, Bumblebee made a mental note to talk to her later when the weight of her near-death experience wasn’t hanging over them anymore.
Still sulky, Sari turned to Bulkhead. “Are you mad too?”
The gentle giant smiled down at her. “Me? ‘Course not, I’m just glad you’re okay. Still want me to drive you home?”
Sari grinned in response. “That sounds great.”
“Not so fast, missy,” Ratchet cut in. “You’re coming with me to the medbay. Now that your teacher’s done yelling ‘atcha I have some tests I’ll need to run before releasing you home.”
“But I feel fine,” she protested, taking a defiant step towards Bulkhead. However, immediately afterwards she stumbled and all the bots present moved to catch her, the closest being Ratchet.
He raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. “You were saying?”
“Okay, I might still be a little dizzy,” she admitted with a shaky smile.
With that, the autobots dissipated, Optimus returning to his room and Bulkhead lumbering after Ratchet and Sari to keep her company in the medbay.
Knowing how much Blitzwing hated medbays, Bumblebee decided to stay with his boyfriend, although he did briefly consider following them.
“So, how long are you planning on keeping Sari grounded?” he asked curiously as he walked over to the TV to shut down their console, no longer in the mood for video games.
Shrugging, Blitzwing replied, “Only for a deca-cycle or two, less if she demonstrates true remorse for her actions and a willingness to respect the rules I’ve set for her. I’ll have to discuss that with her creator.”
With a playful smile, Bumblebee cheekily poked the other bot’s cockpit.
“Aww, look at you going soft for a human,” he teased, knowing that if it was up to Ratchet or Optimus the punishment would have lasted much longer.
“Half-human,” Blitzwing corrected. Then he seemed to fully process what Bumblebee had said.
Straightaway, his faceplate switched to Hothead and he roared, “I am not going soft!”
“Are too!” Bumblebee gleefully insisted.
“Am not!”
“Are too!”
The phrases repeated until Blitzwing whipped his servos out and captured the minibot, holding him tight against his chassis.
“Take it back!”
“Never!” Struggling to escape the simultaneously iron yet harmless grip his boyfriend had on him, Bumblebee kicked his legs out but was unable to reach the ground to his unending chagrin.
“Take it back now or else you lose your walking privileges for the next deca-cycle with Sari!”
“Walking privileges? What does than even me-” Just then, the image of Blitzwing carrying him around like a human child with their favorite toy crossed his processor. Freezing in place, Bumblebee turned around in his partner’s arms to study his faceplate. He couldn’t seriously carry him around for a whole deca-cycle, right? Then again, the war-forged triple-changer’s endurance levels were ridiculously high.
There was no sign of a bluff on Blitzwing’s face, so the scout relented with a sigh.
“Fine, you’re a big scary fragger that doesn’t like organics.”
“And don’t you forget it!” the ex-con threatened after he released his prisoner.
After putting some distance between them, Bumblebee turned to readdress his boyfriend. “You’re a big scary fragger…and a total softspark!”
With that, the minibot shot out of the room, cackling gleefully.
“That’s it, your aft is mine!” Blitzwing declared as he followed close behind.