Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

What was it that Cliffjumper said about the rules of warfare? That everything bad that can happen, will? The original quote, if Arcee recalled correctly, had not specified bad things in particular, but when one was playing with the space and time continuum using rudimentary hardware not meant for quantum physics, bad things were an inevitability just waiting to happen.

Except they weren't playing, so Ratchet really only had himself to blame... and the lack of technological advancement of the indigenous species on Earth.

"This tin-foiled, two-bit, unreliable slagged piece of scrap metal! I swear I will dismantle the whole slagging contraption down to atomic particles!"

It was nice not being on the receiving end of these threats. Less fortunate that they were coming over the comms.

Arcee exchanged looks with Bumblebee, who was sitting cross-legged on a rock across from her. Her own exasperation was mirrored on Bumblebee's usually cheery faceplate as he rolled his optics.

What had started out as a simple, stress-free trip scouting for energon mines quickly became very stressful when the ground bridge sent them to some random coordinates before promptly shutting down. Ratchet had been working on building the generator for several months, testing it with hundreds of drones and drone-like objects before allowing the other Autobots to try it in limited range. It had appeared stable and fine, and they had just begun to enjoy its perks until the generator suddenly decided to break down and miss the mark by about several thousand klicks.

"Ratchet, how soon can you get the ground bridge back online?" Optimus's voice finally interrupted Ratchet's one-sided spiel.

There was a short silence. "Not soon, unfortunately. The rusted thing overshot its own range and fried itself. I'll have to replace the whole board."

Arcee groaned. "Guess we're getting back the long way, then."

"Indeed," Optimus said. Despite sounding as calm as ever, there was a bare hint of frustration in that single word, which was the achievement of the year. "Do you know where you are?"

Arcee glanced at Bumblebee, who shrugged. "No," she answered into the comms. "But this is no Jasper, Nevada, that's for sure."

"Our trackers indicate that you are in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Can you confirm?"

As one, both stranded Autobots looked up. A thick canopy of green covered much of the sky, sunlight peeking through the leaves in random patterns with the breeze. The air was filled with mossy scents and natural chemicals emitted by the trees whispering about the unnatural intruders. Birds were calling each other from above, while insect mating calls came from underneath. A small creature shuffled in the bushes, busy looking for food it had hidden under the ground. Sounds of water flow bubbled from a distance.

A desert, this was not.

"With all due respect, Optimus," Arcee drawled, "I think an Earth desert would have fewer trees than this. We're in the middle of some kind of forest."

"So that malfunction put the location trackers out of sync as well. As if I don't have enough to work on already," Ratchet grumbled.

Optimus' sigh was audible through the comms. Now that was an achievement of the century.

"How are you going to get back if you don't even know where you are?" came Cliffjumper's anxious voice.

"I'm sure we'll manage, Cliff. Bee's better at navigation than you are."

Bumblebee laughed while Cliffjumper sputtered. “I get us lost one time—"

'We're in a wilderness somewhere off east,' Bumblebee piped in. 'Took a bit to get any signal, but I'm sending out the coordinates now.'

"See? He's already better," Arcee said as she received the data packet ping. The coordinates were somewhat farther than she was expecting. Then she remembered her crash course on Earth geography and rounded up on Bumblebee. "Wait, are you sure about these coordinates, Bee? That's halfway across the continent!"

'About two Earth days' drive,' Bumblebee said, holding up his fingers. He was disturbingly unbothered, as if he was talking about Earth hours instead of its planetary rotation cycle. 'According to this map from the human database, anyway.'

"Scrap."

"According to my calculations you will be taking at least three Earth days or more," Ratchet warned. "Unless you want to go into stasis from overheating and low energy in the middle of Primus knows where."

"Oh, joy."

Bumblebee ruminated on that. 'Could have been worse,' he said. 'At least we're not across large bodies of water or anything.'

Arcee pressed her hand to her forehead.

"How much extra fuel have you brought with you?" Optimus asked.

They both checked their subspaces. "Enough to last a couple days, sir," Arcee answered as Bumblebee made a sound of agreement.

"Then you best start making your way back now," Optimus said. "Keep a low profile. Do not worry about scouting for energon. Do not enter into unnecessary engagements. Your priority is to return to base whole and unharmed, do you understand?"

Even after all these years, Optimus' commands still held a certain power that made those listening snap into attention no matter the circumstances.

"Yes, sir."

'Yes, sir!'

******

The first couple hours of their return journey was spent trekking slowly through the trees. The ground bridge had dropped them, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere. While that meant that no human would have witnessed two giant alien robots appearing out of thin air, it also meant they had to stay in root mode until they could find an open road. Uneven terrain filled with obstacles such as trees, bushes and rocks did not go well with wheels, after all. The damp ground was doing no favors to their feet either, but that could not be helped.

Bumblebee shared the map he had downloaded off of the human's knowledge database. When Arcee opened the file, she found that Bumblebee had made notes on not just empty gas stations as potential rest stops, but also on different landmarks and tourist viewpoints along the way.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" she accused, trying for a stern voice without really succeeding.

Bumblebee shrugged, unapologetic. 'Can't beat 'em, join 'em,' he said.

That was another old adage of the Autobot Special Operations, and a clear sign that Bumblebee had perhaps spent a little too much of his life at Iacon Headquarters, where it was frequently joked to be the peak of the Autobot's particular brand of insanity.

"Ratchet was right about your survival protocols being glitched."

'That's his opinion on everyone,' Bumblebee pointed out. He paused in his tracks briefly to brush out a leaf that had stuck on one of his doorwings, flicking them in annoyance when the leaf left a streak of mud across his finish. 'And anyway, we don't get vacations or anything. This is our chance to officially skip monitor duty.'

Arcee shook her head, chuckling. "I'm telling Optimus you said that. He'll knock off your promotion for another century."

'Aww,' Bumblebee let out a whine, though they both knew that neither of those would happen. Arcee had long wondered what was really keeping Optimus from promoting Bumblebee, when ranks have become little more than mere formality in such a small team.

When they finally found a paved road, it took all their discipline to stay hidden and wait for an opening instead of jumping straight into the passing traffic and causing a mass human panic. After the last line of trucks shaped like Optimus passed by, both dropped onto the road eagerly, letting out a sigh of contentment once their wheels were rolling on the smooth hard asphalt. Arcee even almost forgot to activate her Sadie hologram, which had been a frequent problem during her first few weeks on Earth.

The road was led slightly southwards, but Bumblebee assured her they were going the right way, pinging back a new map with the updated route accounting for their position.

"Hope I don't regret trusting you for directions the way I did for Cliffjumper," Arcee said. "And that was back on Cybertron, even."

'What did Cliffjumper do, exactly?' Bumblebee asked. 'I've never heard of him being bad at directions. Bad at following them, maybe.'

"Ask him when we get back. I promised not to tell."

'Come on, he doesn't have to know that I heard.'

Arcee just laughed. It was not actually a very exciting story, but Cliffjumper had been so mortified about his mistake that the entire team had never stopped teasing him about it, pretending it had been much worse than it really was. After another half-sparked pestering, Bumblebee dropped the subject, soon tuning into the human radio and softly playing music through his speakers.

The weather was perfect for a good long drive, with just the right proportion of clouds to occasionally cover the sunlight. The forest surrounding them made the air cool compared to the hot and dry deserts around the Autobot base, which was very helpful in preventing their engines from overheating. There were not many human vehicles either, so they did not have to worry much about other traffic as well and speed as much as they liked. The only downside so far was the number of insects she was hitting at the speed they were going. She could only imagine how many insect splats Bumblebee was dealing with, given his larger windshield.

'My map says that we have another couple hours before we reach the next large human settlement,' Bumblebee suddenly said, the sound of his radio dying out.

Arcee did not respond immediately, wondering what that had to do with anything, until she noticed Bumblebee blinking his lights playfully and realized what he meant.

"A race? You want a race?" she asked, coming to a stop at the side of the road. Fortunately, there was no one else around.

Bumblebee pulled to a stop just behind her as well, bouncing a little on his wheels. 'It's been a while, hasn't it? If I win, you have to tell me what happened with Cliffjumper.'

Really, she should have known Bumblebee would not give up so easily. Although, it has been a while...

"And if I win? What do I get out of this?"

'...Your next three monitor shifts?'

"Are you going to explain it to Optimus when he asks?"

Bumblebee made a sound that strongly reminded Arcee of a kicked puppy.

Arcee let her engines hum for a bit. There was something Bumblebee could give her that was of similar value. "If I win, you can tell me what Bulkhead has seen that he thinks human vids are so terrifying."

Bulkhead had return to base one day from his off-duty outside and for whatever reason had been very reluctant to stay in his own quarters alone. It took him almost a week to get over it, with Ratchet scolding him for not turning the lights off when he recharged. He refused to talk about what exactly happened, other than mumbling that the humans had wilder imaginations than he thought. However, Arcee had long since noticed that Bulkhead had particular difficulty refusing Bumblebee.

...though to be fair, everyone had difficulty refusing Bumblebee.

Bumblebee backed up a little. If he was in root mode he would be holding his hands up in mock surrender. 'What makes you think I would know anything about that?' he asked.

"Your reputation for persuasion, or his reputation for being persuaded?"

'...I'm taking that as a compliment.'

Bumblebee hesitated for exactly two seconds before inching forwards until they were side-by-side, his lights blinking. He pinged a set of coordinates marking the finish line, engines revving. 'So, count of three?'

It was just like the old days. Arcee revved as well, anticipation building in her fuel lines as she noted the coordinates on her own map. "You can have a head start."

'Three!' Bumblebee beeped, speeding off immediately.

Arcee followed half a second later, engines roaring as she pushed to catch up to the yellow-and-black bumper. It was as if they were back on Cybertron, racing along the ruined tracks around Iacon, except their home planet did not have so much green and had not seen clear skies in eons. The road was well maintained, with enough twists and turns to provide a challenge. There was a slight upward climb, which Arcee had to admit put her at a disadvantage with her two wheels compared to Bumblebee's four. However, when the climb stopped and the winding road gradually sloped downwards she quickly overtook her competitor with a burst of speed.

Bumblebee gave a startled beep, speeding up as well to keep his lead, his engines whining at the exertion. Arcee responded in kind, pushing further than she had ever dared on this mudball of a planet. With higher speed each curve became just a bit more dangerous, which only added to the thrill. They were both so caught up in the race that they barely realized when several human vehicles they had let pass earlier whizzed backwards.

Then came the sirens.

"Scrap," Arcee hissed, shifting her rearview to see the human police car behind, red and blue lights flashing on its roof. The human driving it was either very brave or very angry, given that the speed they were going at was somewhat reckless for Cybertronians and downright suicidal for a human to attempt.

'We can't get pulled over,' Bumblebee stated the obvious.

Arcee scanned the road ahead, spying a sharp bend at a point that was rapidly getting closer. "Cover, ten klicks ahead!"

Bumblebee's short note of acknowledgement was barely audible through the sirens and the whipping wind. He swerved behind, blocking the police car's path. Arcee kept her speed, leaning dangerously sideways as she made the turn. As soon as the flashing red lights disappeared from her rearview she transformed, flipping over the guardrails, sliding down and taking cover behind a stone that was conveniently placed down hill. Bumblebee's engines roared as well, and a moment later he landed right next to Arcee. The wailing sirens passed above on the road before the police car came to a dead stop with a loud squealing of wheels.

Arcee peered around, briefly worried that the humans did indeed crash. The police car was intact however, standing still and looking confused as much as a sparkless human-made land vehicle possibly could.

"If they call for backup, our drive through this state will become very annoying," she said in a low voice, watching as two humans stepped out, both sporting the same look of confusion as their vehicle.

'I've been jamming their comms since they showed up,' Bumblebee said. 'But it won't work out of range.'

Never let it be said that their scout was untrained. "Hold it for a little longer," Arcee said, one arm shifting to her blaster as she took aim at the front of the police car. The lights on top of it were still flashing, though the sound was thankfully off.

'You're not going to shoot them, are you?'

"Do I look like Starscream? Just try to draw them away to the back of their vehicle."

Bumblebee craned his neck to look over, then picked up a small rock and tossed it all the way across the road, causing a minor landslide on the other side.

Arcee watched as the humans moved further away from their vehicle, scratching their heads and waving their handheld communication devices. Once they were far enough, she took her shot. The plasma blast barely even grazed the car's front bumper, but it did the trick. Electric charges licked over the hood and black smoke started emitting from its engines. With any luck, whatever electronic devices that might have been inside were now destroyed.

There was nothing to do for their handheld communications devices, however.

Bumblebee buzzed. 'I should have learned how to use electromagnetic attacks when I had the chance.'

Arcee folded her blaster away. "Don't even think about it," she said. "Not unless you want to give Ratchet even more spark attacks than you already do. Those weapons are dangerous even for bots who know how to use it."

She took one last glance at the now panicking humans before turning away. "Now please tell me there is an alternate road nearby that we can take before I start finding twigs in my exhaust pipes."

******

They mostly behaved for the rest of the way, staying within acceptable speed and scanning ahead to avoid any more run-ins with the local law enforcement. The monotony of the drive between infinite forests and fields and occasional human settlements was relieved by Bumblebee making a mix out of his radio and a brief stop at some kind of public visitor center to cool their engines down.

When the sun started dropping in the late afternoon, Bulkhead called for a check-in. Apparently Optimus and Cliffjumper had left to investigate a Decepticon activity detected a few hours' drive away from base, which was too close for their comfort.

"It's just me and Ratch' here," Bulkhead spoke in a low voice, as if Ratchet was a Predacon about to rampage at any second.

It was hard to blame Bulkhead however, when the metaphoric Predacon could be clearly heard in the background having a colorful argument with the ground bridge generator. While the exact words were difficult to distinguish over the comms, Arcee thought she heard every possible variation of the word 'slag' available in Main Cybertron. Suddenly, having to drive halfway across the continent did not seem so bad.

'Aw, he's just worried,' Bumblebee said, always the voice of reckless optimism when it came to their resident doctor of doom. 'Tell him we're doing just fine. Enjoying the vacation, really.'

"You go ahead and tell him yourself," Bulkhead grumbled. "I'm not taking one step away from this station only to get yelled at because something he needed got broken again."

"Probably for the best," Arcee said. "When he comes out of his lair, tell him we're going to take a pit stop as soon as we find a good spot to hide. That should cheer him up."

"Have you ever seen Ratchet 'cheer up'?" Bulkhead retorted, though he then added, "but yeah, just give us an update when you can. It's not just him who's worried. Optimus was saying that the cons have been more active lately."

That was a little more concerning, especially given their low energon situation. It was not a safe subject to discuss over the comms, however. "We'll check in soon."

Just then, Ratchet's voice carried over, much clearer and sounding even more irate than before. "Is that Arcee and Bumblebee, Bulkhead?"

"Anyway, good luck with the rest of your shift, Bulk," Arcee said quickly, signing off before Bulkhead could begin to protest. "Arcee out."

Bumblebee clicked off as well. 'I think we left Bulkhead to a bad fate.'

"He's a Wrecker. He'll survive."

Bumblebee's engines buzzed in laughter.

Despite what they told Bulkhead, it was only after dusk had fallen when they finally stopped at an abandoned gas station off the road. After scanning the perimeter to make sure there was no one around, Arcee transformed, grimacing as she stretched her joints. Aside from stiffness, her wheels were burning as if the very rubber was about to melt off. It had been a while since she had rode this hard and long without rest. Next to her, Bumblebee transformed as well, sighing heavily as he hunched over, hands on his knees for support. Steam hissed from his vents as he cycled out hot air. Patting the scout's shoulder, Arcee opened a comm to base to report their status.

It was Optimus who answered this time, approving their decision and once again emphasizing caution. Needless to say, neither Arcee nor Bumblebee mentioned their encounter with the local law enforcement, though Optimus' words of approval and concern filled them both with guilt, much like younglings after causing trouble and trying to hide it.

"While I am certain neither of you need a reminder about this, stay on guard at all times," Optimus said, oblivious to the internal conflicts he had caused with his most gentle and caring words.

"Understood," Arcee said, hoping the strain in her voice would not carry over the connection. Whether it was the Matrix or just Optimus himself, the Prime could often be frighteningly perceptive about his team. She hesitated, curious about the supposed con activity near base but not wanting to overstep or compromise anything.

Bumblebee was a little bolder. 'How are things around base, sir?'

There was a pause as Optimus figured out what Bumblebee was talking about. "There is no need for your concern at this moment," he said. "It was inappropriate for Bulkhead to mention that to you, when your focus should be on returning safely."

Bumblebee winced, doorwings dropping. They failed to recover even after the connection closed.

"Now we've left Bulk to a bad fate," Arcee said.

For many Autobots, facing Megatron alone was more desirable than getting told off by the Prime himself. Where other commanders would get angry, Optimus just got sad. It proved more effective than anything else to make bots behave for a while.

Bumblebee's doorwings drooped even further.

Hidden under the station roof and behind dead pumps, they discussed their plans for the next day over rations, coming to an agreement to recharge quickly and set out before sunrise to avoid traffic.

"We should adjust our cycles," Arcee said. "Rest during the afternoons and move as much as possible at night. It would be safer and we can cover more ground that way."

Bumblebee nodded. 'I'll take the first watch,' he offered. 'You look like you need recharge more than I do.'

Arcee found she did not even have enough energy left to protest.

"Sounds good to me," she said, lying down and getting as comfortable as possible on a dilapidated gas station floor. "Wake me up in three hours. Just because you're younger doesn't mean you don't need to recharge like the rest of us."

The low buzz of Bumblebee's vocoder was the last thing Arcee heard before powering down. Three Earth hours was hardly enough time for a full recovery, but it was enough for her to feel refreshed when it was her turn to keep watch later.

The night dragged on in peaceful silence, broken only by the occasional hooting of owls and distant calls from other nocturnal animals. Compared to his liveliness and chatter during the day time, Bumblebee was quiet in recharge. No doubt his training had kicked in, instinctively recognizing an unsafe environment as his stealth mode remained active even at rest.

Sighing, Arcee shifted position to watch the murky darkness outside instead of the reminder of what the war had done to their youngest generation. She focused her audials on the chirping insects and a faint droning hum.

Wait.

Energon lines running cold, she quietly summoned her blaster, straining to listen.

She had not mistaken—the humming of a small engine coming from above was definitely there, faint enough to be easily missed and all the more recognizable for it.

Laserbeak.

What the frag was Laserbeak doing here? Still as a statue, Arcee scanned the skies, processor rushing. There was no immediate danger and therefore no need to wake Bumblebee, but if Laserbeak was here...

Several long minutes passed as Arcee stayed on high alert, listening for a second engine. Soundwave, at least, was a little louder than his minicon in alt-form, though he could easily just be waiting at a safe distance. Laserbeak continued to circle above with no signs of leaving, sometimes straying away only to return back, as if in search of something. For the first time, Arcee thanked Primus that they were stranded in a place where there were plenty of trees for cover.

There was a light tap on her knee and Arcee almost blasted a hole through one of the pumps. Bumblebee had woken up on his own after all, optics wide and bright. He did not say anything, just cocked his head questioningly. Arcee tapped her audials then pointed up at the sky. Bumblebee crept forward to the edge of the station, staring up as he listened as well. The lenses in his optics wavered, seemingly focusing on something in the distance, though Arcee could not see anything with all the clouds covering the moon. They both stayed that way, neither daring to speak nor even activate their comms as they waited.

After what felt like eons, Laserbeak's hum grew distant until it eventually disappeared.

Chapter Text

"Laserbeak?" Ratchet demanded. "What in the name of Cybertron was she doing there of all places?"

They were back on the road, racing as fast as they could, local speed limits be damned. All traces of playfulness gone this time, replaced with tense alert as they pushed through both the darkness and their own fatigue. It was much earlier than they had planned to leave—barely past midnight, really—but both were eager to get as far from the gas station under the cover of night as they could before sunrise.

"Great question, Ratchet," Arcee replied. "I'll be sure to ask her and Soundwave when we chat over a cube of energon later, shall I?"

'Sounds like a fun party. Can I join as well?' Bumblebee asked, his tone as sarcastic as his vocoder could manage.

"Yes, you can also ask if he would give away their space bridge schematics for us to use," Ratchet growled.

"Did Laserbeak spot you?" Optimus cut in, ending the collective recharge deprived insanity before someone else tried to join in or Bumblebee started making actual plans for the improbable tea party.

Taking the hint, Arcee swiftly went back to business. "No, I don't think we were spotted. She might have been searching for us, though."

'She was definitely looking for something, the way she was circling above,' Bumblebee added. 'But I don't think she knew we were there for sure. She would have been more quiet and careful not to be seen if she did.'

Quite honestly Arcee could not imagine how Bumblebee even saw anything through all the clouds in the dark, but then Bumblebee always had a penchant for spotting things no one else did. He was well known to be distracted by random objects in the distance, which had about a fifty percent chance of being either a hit or a miss.

Neither Optimus nor Ratchet responded for a while. One might hope that the two have finally taken their own advice and fallen into recharge like the rest of the team appeared to be doing, but Arcee knew better. They were most likely having a discussion off comms. She took the moment to scan the skies, as much good as that did.

Optimus' voice returned. "Arcee, Bumblebee, listen carefully," he said. "Ratchet has suggested that the Decepticons may have detected the energy surge from the ground bridge when it malfunctioned."

"With all that testing, it was only a matter of time before something caught Soundwave's attention," Ratchet sighed. Even through the comms, he sounded more tired than usual.

"We will do what we can on our end to keep the Decepticon's attention divided," Optimus continued. "Keep an optic out for any more Decepticons, but avoid engagements unless absolutely necessary."

'Does that mean they know about our attempts with the ground bridge?' Bumblebee asked worriedly.

"It is possible," Optimus replied. "While that is unfortunate, Ratchet is right that it was only a matter of time. The ground bridge was never likely to stay as a secret for long once we started deploying it for missions and evacuations. For the time being, maintain stealth mode. I would also suggest that you find cover during day time and move during the nights."

Which was more or less what they had discussed yesterday, though it was reassuring to get the Prime's support.

"Should we maintain radio silence as well?" Arcee asked. While they had put some good distance from the station by now and their comms were encrypted, there was no such thing as being too paranoid when Soundwave was involved.

Optimus paused, torn between the need for secrecy and his personal wish to maintain contact in case of emergencies.

"Use your best judgement," he finally said.

The drive after closing the connection was filled with quiet tension, made heavier by the weight of Optimus' worry. Neither spoke much, nothing but whipping wind and the sounds of their own engines whistling in the air. The sun had started peeking up behind them at some point, spreading soft pink light through the skies, illuminating the landscape that had changed during the night without them noticing. They had left the mountains far behind and now instead of trees, a wide expanse of fields dominated both sides of the road. Small towns and villages have become more frequent, often visible from the road, and there was overall more traffic as well. While the change in scenery was nice, being so close to human settlements meant little cover and limited their options in case of combat.

As the sun rose higher, the two Autobots were forced to slow down to match the speed of other vehicles, lest they ended up in another chase with the local police with no guarantee of escape this time.

"Have you ever actually been pulled over by the law enforcement on this planet?" Arcee asked Bumblebee, as they passed a flashy red Lamborghini that had been forced to a stop by another police car after driving recklessly at the wrong time.

'A few times,' Bumblebee admitted. He sounded mildly petulant about it. 'Apparently it's illegal if the windows are too tinted. Why is that a problem? I don't see why I have to show my insides to everyone. I thought humans were all very conservative about their privacy.'

Arcee took note of Bumblebee's almost completely dark windows and compared it with other human vehicles. It was not something she had ever thought about before, except for when she jokingly complained about how no one else in the team had to deal with holograms every time they transformed. Bumblebee had his own hologram generator installed since he, too, was often deployed to densely populated areas like large cities. He rarely used it however, preferring to keep his windows tinted heavily enough that no human could notice the lack of a driver in the front seat.

"Ever thought about actually using your hologram?" she teased. "Even for practice?"

A low, sulky blep emitted out from Bumblebee's frame. 'Tried it before. The humans didn't like it. I don't think I got their eyes and hair quite right.' He swerved, dodging a particularly nasty pothole before continuing. 'You have it easier, with that helmet hiding everything that's difficult to simulate.'

Just then, there was a commotion behind. Arcee checked her rearview and hastily switched lanes to get behind Bumblebee. The red Lamborghini from earlier streaked past where she just was, shortly followed by no less than three wailing police cars. Wordlessly, both Autobots exited the road into the nearest resting area, unwilling to get entangled with whatever was going on in the human world, and using the opportunity to take a break instead. Not long after returning to the highway, they found the Lamborghini surrounded by no less than five police cars and its driver properly arrested.

'Reminds me of someone back at Cybertron,' Bumblebee commented. 'Someone always causing mayhem if it was too quiet for too long.'

"Sure you weren't one of them?" Arcee asked.

Bumblebee laughed, though he did not deny it.

It was good that they had taken the rest, however. The sky was now clear with not a single cloud above. While the lack of clouds left no place for any identified or unidentified flying objects to hide, it also meant there was nowhere for them to hide from the sun's heat. The temperature of both the environment and their own internal systems was climbing noticeably faster. They would be needing more frequent rest to avoid their engines overheating too much.

Bumblebee was a little ahead of her, driving quietly. There was something downcast about his alt-form, particularly compared to yesterday, when he had been playing radio and acting as if they were on a fun road trip instead of getting stranded by a faulty ground bridge with no backup within a thousand klicks.

Arcee scanned the empty road. It had been a while since the last town, and the next one was a long way away. Human farms, fields, and settlements had become scarce, gradually making way to arid, deserted terrains that were much more similar to what they were used to around their base. The surrounding flora had changed as well. Trees grew shorter into bushes and shrubs while leaves turned into spikes, indicating the amount of water available in the area. Far ahead in the direction they were headed stood rows of overbearing cliffs and other rock formations. They might still not be close to base, but they had to have passed the halfway point at least.

She called. "Bee! How far do we have left until our next luxury campsite? There was another abandoned station that you marked out, wasn't there?"

'About an hour or two more of driving, maybe. Why?'

"Think we can make it in half of that?" Arcee flashed her lights once, making sure they reflected in Bumblebee's rearview mirrors.

It took Bumblebee a moment to register what she was suggesting.

'Is that a challenge?' he asked. Some excitement not too different from a puppy about to go out and play returned to his frame.

"If you want it to be."

'Count of three?'

"I'll give you a head start."

^{I've Been Driving All Afternoon...}

Bumblebee accelerated without warning, gunning his engines to top speed. Just as before, Arcee followed half a second later, ignoring the burn and prickling on her wheels as she caught up with the scout. They were evenly matched, racing side by side, overtaking multiple human vehicles. One of them gave an indignant honk as they whistled past, though both Autobots were already long gone by then. Compared to the mountains yesterday, the roads here were mostly in a straight line with only minor altitude changes. The main challenges here were avoiding the occasional pothole and other traffic.

Arcee managed to slip past Bumblebee just as they approached a semi truck dragging a trailer that was even longer than what Optimus sometimes brought out of storage. Bumblebee made a low sound similar to a growl as he was forced to stay second until they could pass the truck. He drew up even with a roar of engines as soon as they were past, eventually getting ahead just as they reached the halfway point of the race. Arcee maintained her speed, needing a moment to pace herself before she attempted to retake her lead.

"Bumblebee, Arcee, do you read?"

Ratchet's voice suddenly crackled through the comms, causing both to nearly jump on their wheels to catastrophic consequences.

'We weren't doing anything!' Bumblebee blurted out at the same time as Arcee, who recovered faster, said, "Loud and clear, Ratchet."

There was a brief silence as they slowed to a more reasonable speed.

"I am afraid to ask what it is that you clearly were not doing," Ratchet said in a voice that could vaporize what little water was in the air. "Fortunately I don't have time to deal with that. Good news—I have successfully fixed the location trackers. Pull over somewhere and send me your coordinates so I can recalibrate and re-sync them to your position. I have also reset our encryption cycles so you can use our comms as usual and I can have one less thing to worry about."

They complied dutifully, pulling up at the side of the road and sending Ratchet their coordinates, returning to the road once Ratchet confirmed.

"Ground bridge still offline?" Arcee asked. "Or are we still out of range?"

"Unfortunately the ground bridge still needs more work done before it can be fully operational," Ratchet groused. "I am working on a temporary fix for now to see if we can get you back faster."

'That would be nice,' Bumblebee said.

Chapter Text

There were times when an operation went so out of hand that it started working out in a way no one expected. Like a cosmic Mobius strip, they would find themselves at the very beginning but from a different angle entirely. Fight in a war long enough, and it would not even be that unusual an occurrence either, but the odd sense of being played by Primus himself was not something Arcee cared to ever get used to. Jumping through the space bridge with Cliffjumper to arrive on Earth and find Prime had been one such experience. Now, looking at the hull of the Decepticon warship gave off that same feeling—an equal mix of foreboding dread and jittery hope.

The Nemesis hung around for another half an hour before taking off into the clouds. By then it had become too dark to track the ship, but the Decepticon warship was the least of their interests. A few Vehicon fliers continued to hover for another moment before dropping back down, giving away the presence of some kind of activity going on below. To a pair of infiltration agents with a lifetime of training in gathering enemy intelligence, that was like a poisoned gift begging to be opened, complete with laced ribbons and fancy wrappers.

It was Bumblebee who had been able to convince Optimus to let them investigate the area.

'The Nemesis wasn't just hanging there for no reason,' he argued. 'There has to be something going on down there. It could be another energon mine.'

"There's not much else for them to be doing out here," Arcee added. "And the Nemesis just left. We can't miss this opportunity."

'They won't even be expecting us if Soundwave thinks we're lost. We have to try to get the coordinates at least.'

Optimus just hummed unhappily before giving permission with strict orders that they were to scout only. It spoke parsecs about the state of the energon situation back at base that he was considering the option at all instead of shooting down the suggestion with prejudice.

"Maintain a safe distance," he said. "And keep your comm lines open unless you find Soundwave nearby."

They approached the cliff from the opposite side, driving slowly to be quiet and not kick off too much dirt on their trails, reverting to root mode when the ground became too uneven for wheels. Other tracks—both wheel and foot—appeared as they got nearer, which they used to hide their own tracks. It would not fool anyone who was paying attention, but Vehicon guards were not particularly known for their observation skills.

The cliff which the Nemesis had been hovering above was nothing impressive by itself—just one of the many layered rock formations in the area, similar to the ones that could be found everywhere around their base. It had not even made it into Bumblebee's list of landmarks on his map. It was curved in a steep parabola shape with the two points closing in, creating a small area within that was obscured from outside view. Only the brief glimpses of light that occasionally escaped indicated any kind of activity going on inside. If nothing else, the cons have picked a tactical spot to stage their operation.

Well, Arcee thought as she spied a large sunken canyon beyond the cliffs. It was a little far out but perfect for losing a jet or two in the dark. Two can play that game.

After all, Laserbeak was not the only one who could use darkness to their advantage.

She tapped Bumblebee's arm to point it out to him. Bumblebee gave a single nod, not needing words to understand.

They were now close enough to hear heavy footsteps and low whirring of hover carts. Back pressed against the steeply cut rocks, one hand shifted to her blaster, Arcee strained to listen to the sounds coming from the other side as she crept sideways. Bumblebee was right next to her, similarly flat against the wall, doorwings folded to minimize the bulk on his back. His twin blasters were not out yet, but his fists were curled tight and ready as he kept watch of their rears.

As they reached the edge of the cliff where it started to bend inwards, Arcee crouched low to peek through a nearby shrub. Between the short leaves and spikes, a pair of Vehicon troopers walked out of a hole in the cliff, each holding a glowing energon storage cube which they stacked neatly on the ground before returning back in.

Bumblebee cocked his head with a questioning look when Arcee crawled back to their hiding spot.

She gave a sharp grin. "I believe this is what humans would call a jackpot."

******

Optimus surprised them by giving orders to standby instead of falling back with the coordinates of the energon mine. He did not elaborate on any details over the comms, but if Arcee had to guess, she would say that he was planning on some form of diversion for the Decepticon main army on the Nemesis, leaving the energon mine defended only by low-ranking Vehicons and non-combatant miners. With luck, they would be in and out with no trouble. If Primus was on their side, no one would even be the wiser.

Although, Primus did not seem to be on their side these past couple of days. Even this discovery felt too good to last.

Since it was impossible to approach the brightly lit entrance up front without being seen, they climbed up the opposite side of the cliff to find a way in from the top. It was a risky move—they would be sitting petroducks if a random patrol happened to be passing by and found the two Autobots hanging halfway up on the cliff face. However, they had no choice but to trust the cover of darkness and the obliviousness of the guards. At least there did not seem to be any flying patrols at the moment.

The top side of the cliffs was more stable and flatter than it had appeared from below, devoid of life save for one lone Vehicon who was sitting idly with his back turned. The poor con did not even have time to realize what was happening before his faceplate met Bumblebee's fist at a force powerful enough to leave a crack.

Arcee crouched low at the edge, carefully peering out to the mine entrance and the small group of cons clustered below. Her armor prickled at the complete lack of cover to hide under.

"If there's a Seeker patrol we'll be scrap metal," she whispered when Bumblebee joined her after hiding the knocked out Vehicon's frame somewhere only he and Primus would ever know.

Bumblebee's gaze turned to the skies. 'We're in the clear for now.'

Arcee trusted him.

The energon mine, now that they could get a closer look at it from above, was clearly still in its early stages of development. Its entrance was haphazardly propped up by temporary support beams, one of which was already starting to list sideways. The Vehicons that were presumably supposed to stand guard outside appeared relaxed, looking almost bored as they casually chatted with each other, blissfully unaware that they had already lost one of their own. With the Nemesis gone and no longer bearing down on them like the Unmaker above a smelting pit, the Vehicon guards easily grew apathetic to their jobs.

It was one of the longest waits Arcee could remember since arriving on Earth. She was no stranger to unexpected surprise missions with no preparation and a plan that amounted to 'get in, get out, don't die'. However, patiently waiting on an update that seemed to take forever to come was a kind of suspense that never got easy.

Especially since—Arcee pressed her mouthplates, redirecting the thought. Now was not the time to be distracted.

At long last, the comms clicked on. Ratchet was on the call this time, which meant Optimus was busy with something else.

"Wait for another ten minutes before going in," he said briskly, going straight to the point. "Your main objective is to get the coordinates of other Decepticon mines. Anything else comes secondary."

"Roger that," Arcee said.

"Good luck," was Ratchet's only answer before he quickly ended the connection to avoid their comms being intercepted.

It was the same old dance—distract, then enter. Inspired by their earlier conversation, Bumblebee came up with a rather creative thought of using his hologram generator to draw the guards' attention, giving Arcee an opening to shoot out the power cords to the lights. The plan worked better than they could have hoped for, as some of the cons started blaming a 'creepy looking Earthling that could teleport' for their lights suddenly going out instead of suspecting an Autobot plot going on. These were definitely not one of the more experienced mechs.

"This is not what I meant when I suggested you practice using that," Arcee whispered as they slipped through the largely unguarded entrance in the confused darkness, swiftly hiding behind a thick pillar and piles of rubbles built up from all the drilling underground.

Bumblebee was grimacing, one hand pressed to the side of his head as he followed. 'I think I shorted it out,' he complained.

Arcee suppressed a laugh, rubbing the scout's back instead. That generator was never meant to be used at long range. Ratchet would be so thrilled when he found out.

The top level of the mine was in a similar state of mess to the entrance outside. A small cluster of half-mined energon crystals glowed dimly along the walls, while storage cubes and hover carts were scattered all about. There were only a handful of Decepticons working inside, and they were little better in their apathy compared to the guards outside. While a few stopped to stare at the entrance as the lights returned, wondering about the minor commotion outside, the others appeared disinterested. Those who seemed to be on a break were clustered in one corner, apparently making jokes and playing around. Some of those were rude remarks aimed at the Autobots, but if that was all it took to make their mission a little easier, Arcee would take it.

Despite its early stage, the mine already had multiple levels to it. At the far back was a cylindrical lift leading to the lower levels, hinting that the mine must have been in operation for just long enough for there to be some interesting information to get. It was the most promising news that they had encountered since being stranded. They slipped further inside, darting between stacks of storage cubes and rock rubble, eventually making their way down the lift shaft.

The lower level was empty of Decepticons. There were more energon crystals jutting out, larger and richer in color, ready to be mined. Stacked neatly next to the lift were storage cubes, each of them full of processed energon. If only they could steal even one of those...

Arcee shook her head, pushing the thought away and stepping towards the terminal nearby. Within a few minutes, all the information on the mine was laid out before her, from the layout of the tunnels to the list of miners and guards stationed here. From the numbers she calculated that those who were seen loitering above was indeed the entire crew.

"Finally a good stroke of luck," she muttered.

Her first priority was to set the security feeds of the lower levels on empty loops. Then she pulled out a datachip from her subspace as she settled in to hack into the connected network for more sensitive information. Behind her, Bumblebee wandered off deeper into the mines. Arcee did not comment on it, trusting the scout to be more than capable of handling himself.

Hacking into the larger network connected with the terminal took some more effort, but eventually Arcee gave a hiss of triumph as the terminal surrendered information on all of the Decepticon mines, both ones that were already built and ones that were currently in progress. There was also a list of coordinates pointing to potential energon hotspots and the algorithm the Decepticons used to calculate the hotspots. She set to scrambling some of the data while making a copy of the original into her chip. It would not take Soundwave very long to fix it with all the resources at their disposal, but perhaps the Vehicons would be too scared to report it. Besides, her long experience in Special Operations had taught that any inconvenience to the Decepticons can be considered a win.

Downloading the entire database took time. Arcee kept watch on the security camera feeds as she waited, fingers tapping impatiently at the console. For an impromptu infiltration assignment with no plans, things were going a little too smoothly so far.

She felt a presence behind and whipped back to find Bumblebee holding out a full cube of energon. There were at least ten more in his other arm.

'Found a dispenser,' he explained. 'Drink this one now, and give me your empty ration cubes so we can steal as much as possible back to base.'

Arcee took the offered cube and drank until her tanks were topped off. Then she plucked all the other cubes off of Bumblebee's arms to store them away in her own subspace before exchanging them with her empty ones.

"Don't take more than what you can handle," she said.

'When have I ever?' Bumblebee replied, waving a hand as he left once more.

Arcee did not deign to respond, fiddling with the terminal instead to see if there was anything else more interesting than the slow moving progress bar. Unfortunately, there was only so much she could get out of a terminal in an energon mine.

Finally, the download finished just as Bumblebee returned as well from his pilfering. This time, he had found something else.

'There was a different terminal back there, surrounded with all these drills,' he said. 'There wasn't much data inside, but it still looked important so I copied what I could.'

Arcee yanked her own chip out of the terminal. "What kind of information?" she asked as she started clearing out all evidence of her break-in as best she could.

Bumblebee shrugged. 'I don't really know, but there are complex diagrams and equations that I think Ratchet would enjoy getting mad about.'

"Maybe you shouldn't give it to him out of interest for his fuel pressure then," Arcee replied, frowning at the security feeds. Vehicon miners and guards alike were clustered by the entrance as if preparing for something, which did not bode well for them.

"Something is happening," she said. "We need to get out of here, fast."

Bumblebee went back up the lift shaft first, hanging on the edge briefly to check the coast before launching himself out with a flip. Arcee followed suit, diving behind the large stack of empty storage cubes next to Bumblebee.

Who was wearing a twisted expression.

At Arcee's questioning look, he adjusted his vocoder settings to its lowest volume. 'Looks like we'll be having that energon tea party after all.'

Perplexed, Arcee peered around to see what Bumblebee was talking about and swallowed a curse.

Just outside the mine entrance stood Soundwave, taking in a lengthy, rambling report from one of the Vehicons. It explained why the cons were clustered at the entrance and why they were suddenly so much more alert than before.

Then it became even quieter as the nervous murmurings of Vehicons vanished. It sounded as if Soundwave had entered the mine, having become tired of the rambling report and opting to take a look inside himself.

What do we do now? Bumblebee asked, resorting to signing with hands, as his vocoder had a distinctive pitch with high risk of carrying no matter how quiet he tried to be. Make a run for it?

There was no other option. Arcee nodded once, holding up her hand as she listened intently. On my signal.

Heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed, followed by a lighter, more frantic one as the Vehicon leader trailed behind Soundwave, explaining something.

Three...

"—probably just fallen into recharge somewhere on his own, commander Soundwave. You know how Steve is—"

Two...

The Vehicon faltered into silence, taking the hint that Soundwave was just not interested. Everyone else was quiet, watching as Soundwave strolled deeper into the mine, all anxiously wondering what rumors the spymaster heard and who was going to pay for it.

One...

As Soundwave reached the lift, the two Autobots bailed out, throwing all discretion to the wind as they transformed and raced for the exit. Shouts of surprise and alarm went up the rest of the Decepticons as blaster shots started reverberating throughout the cave. Behind them they could hear Soundwave transforming to give chase as well.

A couple guards tried to block the exit as they approached. Engines revving, Bumblebee accelerated, turning sharply to his side and tackling the Vehicons off their feet. Arcee leapt over him, shifting back to root mode as she spun, shooting at anything and everything that was moving. Then she dropped back to the ground with a roll, resuming alt-form and following Bumblebee out to the open. The Vehicons standing outside the entrance barely had time to react before the two escaped the cliffs, blowing dust off their wake.

They were far from out of danger, however. The canyons that they had spied earlier were farther than it looked, while at least half a dozen Decepticon fliers were chasing them, judging by the screaming sounds of air ripping behind. Pushing her wheels, Arcee tried to radio back base but found only static.

Right. One of those fliers was fragging Soundwave.

Before she could think of what to do, the Decepticon that had been the Autobot Special Operations division's biggest pain in the aft since the beginning of time swooped low, transforming and dropping right in front of Bumblebee in root mode. Bumblebee swerved, barely managing to avoid crashing headlong, but he was thrown off his wheels when Soundwave's swiping claws caught his undercarriage.

"Bee!" Arcee cried out, skidding to a stop as she turned around. However, she quickly found herself surrounded by three Vehicons, their blasters charging up in deep crimson. Behind them, Bumblebee had returned to root mode, jumping to his feet to face Soundwave all by himself.

Arcee spat out a curse and transformed as well. "You cons picked the wrong lady to dance with," she growled, activating her arm blades.

She darted towards the Vehicon closest to her first, keeping him between her and the others as she struck the expressionless faceplate. As her opponent staggered, she brought her arm back down diagonally, her blades cutting into the gaps between the dark armor. The con reeled back, stumbling into his peers as sparks licked out of the wound. Arcee gave them no time to recover, spinning as she brought one foot up, putting all her weight into the kick and sending two of the Vehicons crashing to the ground.

The maneuver, however, left an opening in her stance. The third Vehicon was able to take advantage of it, successfully landing a hit on Arcee's side. Stars erupted in her vision as she tumbled to the ground. She tried to get up, but the con kicked her back, pressing down with his foot.

Slag.

A loud crash rang from nearby, drawing the attention of them both. Arcee's spark skipped a beat as she saw Soundwave pick Bumblebee up by his neck. A pair of tentacles extended out to wrap both Bumblebee's arms tightly, stopping his twin blasters from activating. Panic was evident in the young Autobot's usually brave optics as he struggled against the grip, scratching desperately at the hand holding him, yellow doorwings trembling.

Suddenly, Arcee was back at that assassin ship on Cybertron, with spider webs, and Tailgate—

"NO!" She kicked out the Vehicon's other leg, grabbing the foot pinning her and flipped with all her might, bringing the con down hard as she regained her footing.

Bumblebee was now glaring at Soundwave, fear warring with defiance even as his doorwings continued to tremble. Another tentacle raised out of Soundwave, sharp tips aimed at Bumblebee's neck.

"Oh no, you don't," Arcee snarled. Diving into alt-form, she accelerated straight to Soundwave, who turned halfway, raising his free hand.

He was too slow. Arcee wrenched up her wheels, slamming them with her full weight and speed, leaving clear treadmarks across the Decepticon's back platings. High in the air, she flipped back to root, bringing her blades down at the tentacles and slicing them off as she landed.

Soundwave recoiled, stumbling. His grip loosened, giving Bumblebee enough opening to twist himself free. With Bumblebee out of the way, Arcee started shooting indiscriminately. Soundwave stepped back, raising his arms in defense when the shots tripled with Bumblebee's twin blasters joining in.

"Go, Bee!" she barked, focusing her shots at Soundwave's chest where Laserbeak was docked. "Now!"

Sounds of Bumblebee's transformation and revving engines came from behind. Arcee fired a few more shots before dropping into alt-form and joining Bumblebee, who only then started putting in speed.

It was a mad race, except they were not racing each other this time, but for their lives. Ignoring the sounds of jet engines behind, Arcee tried the radio again to no avail.

"Arcee to base, come in, Ratchet, for frag's sake!"

Nothing. Nothing but static. Abandoning the comms, Arcee concentrated on avoiding the blaster fires coming from behind and not think of those other memories that were threatening to surface.

They were finally by the canyons. The ground dropped in front of them into yawning darkness beneath. Both threw themselves into the chasm at once, transforming mid-air. Arcee grunted as the other side of the canyon cliffs slammed into her, dislocating a shoulder plating. Her claws dug into the hard rocks, sliding down blindly until they caught a ledge to hang on to. She could hear Bumblebee doing the same somewhere nearby, though it was difficult to tell his position.

Breathing heavily, she glanced up at the strip of starry sky visible between the cliffs. Several jets crossed above, casting dark shadows against the stars. Strangely, Arcee suddenly wondered if one of those might be Cybertron.

When the sounds of jet engines faded, she let go, both hands ready to catch herself as she slid the rest of the way down along the cliff walls.

Bumblebee was already waiting at the bottom. The lights of his optics shone briefly before dimming back to stealth mode.

'Think we lost them?' he asked, peering up.

As if to answer his question, a tall silhouette appeared at the edge, horns glinting in the moonlight as it stared down.

"Of course not." Arcee pressed both herself and Bumblebee into a small alcove in the wall, hoping that Soundwave would not be willing to fly into the narrow canyons in the dark.

The tell-tale sound of a T-cog activating told them that Soundwave was absolutely willing to fly into the narrow canyons in the dark.

"Oh for Primus' sake," Arcee hissed as the Decepticon dove straight towards them, forcing them back out of the alcove.

Both dropped to alt-form, wheels straining on the dry ground as they twisted and turned in the maze-like canyons to lose the flier that kept managing to find them no matter how hard they tried.

Their comms pinged, Ratchet's voice finally breaking through the static.

"Arcee, Bumblebee, do you copy?" he asked urgently. "What's your status?"

"Status is we have our objective and we also have Soundwave on our tails," Arcee snapped, wheels skidding as they made another sharp turn, letting Soundwave shoot past before he could adjust. "Could really use some backup if that's possible at all!"

She was not sure how much of that Ratchet was able to catch however, as the line filled back with static. She was not even sure if Ratchet could get them backup in time.

The walls to their sides widened out into a clearing which stretched far ahead, ominously surrounded by sheer cliff faces. It almost looked like some kind of an arena.

Bumblebee gave a sharp warning whistle and veered sideways towards Arcee, pushing her aside. At the same time, a series of powerful canon shots rained down on their sides. This was not the weapon of an average Vehicon. There was only one mech who had that kind of weapon on this side of the galaxy.

Megatron. This night was just getting better and better.

Megatron's dull grey, spiky, ugly flight form, which he had not even bothered to adapt into an Earth aircraft, swooped above them like a hawk that had found its prey. Climbing high up into the sky, he turned in a slow arc, pointing his nose down in the direction of the two Autobots' for another wave.

Arcee moved in a chevron pattern to dodge as many of the shots as possible, hissing in pain as the ground exploded all around her, sending sharp debris into her joints and scratching up her platings. Ahead, Megatron was flying low, coming straight at her, his aim getting more and more accurate as he closed the distance between them.

Time seemed to slow as a barrage of canon shots sailed straight towards her. Just as Arcee braced herself, there was a flash of yellow, and the next thing she knew she was back in root mode, rolling across the ground. Damage reports scrolled through her vision but Arcee dismissed them, standing up frantically to find Bumblebee's alt-form slamming hard into the cliff walls before he was able to shift back as well. He seemed to be having trouble getting up, one hand clutching at his chest.

"Slag it, Bumblebee," Arcee hissed, breaking into a sprint as Bumblebee eventually collapsed, unmoving.

Bumblebee's optics were dark when Arcee reached him. A portion of his chassis had melted off, burnt protoform struts peeking underneath. Hardly able to breathe, Arcee checked his vitals. She almost cried in relief when she found his spark signature. It was weak, but steady.

For now, Arcee thought grimly as she gained to her feet. Megatron made another lazy turn in the distance, now joined by Soundwave as he dove back between the cliff faces. Arcee planted herself in front of Bumblebee's prone form, both hands shifting to a pair of blasters. Her weapons were laughably ineffective against the former gladiator's thick armor, but she was not going down without a fight.

Then she heard something.

A low, deep, gloriously familiar honking of a large ground vehicle sounded from above, growing louder and louder until it echoed across the canyon. A single red and blue semi truck flew off the edge of the cliff, seams shifting apart as it landed straight on top of the Decepticon leader and throwing off his balance.

Optimus stabbed down on one of Megatron's wings before jumping off swiftly, landing on his feet with a heavy thud while Megatron crashed into the cliff face. Then he straightened up, exchanging his sword for his ion blaster and fired at Soundwave, forcing the Decepticon to evade with a roll. Soundwave took the long route around, drawing a wide circle above the canyons to stay out of the range until he could reach his master.

Optimus lowered his blaster, gaze fixed on the two Decepticons as he slowly walked towards his battered Autobots.

Arcee folded away her own weapons, air hissing out through her vents. She crouched down to touch Bumblebee, who stirred.

"Bumblebee?" she called. "Are you online?"

Static spat out of Bumblebee's vocoder as his engines rebooted. Slowly, wincing, he pushed against the ground to sit up with Arcee's help. His optics flickered in pain, then brightened as he spotted Optimus approaching.

Optimus did not say anything. Much of his expression was obscured by his battlemask, though his optics narrowed as he took in Bumblebee's injury. Fists clenching, he turned towards the other side.

Megatron was back on his feet next to Soundwave. Aside from occasional sparks coming out of his shoulder, he did not appear injured at all. Primus was so unfair sometimes.

With a low growl, Arcee took up her position next to Optimus, blades extended and battle ready. She heard Bumblebee struggling to stand up behind as well and for once sympathized with Ratchet.

Across the clearing, Megatron gave that wide, crazed smile.

Optimus took one thudding step forwards, armor platings flaring out as he effectively put both of his Autobots behind him.

The silence stretched on.

Megatron made the first move, sword extended and stance low, gaze fixed on Optimus only.

Before he could charge, however, something else happened.

A spark flashed right next to the Autobots, expanding out to a swirling blue-white vortex hanging on thin air. It was unstable, edge wobbling dangerously, threatening to implode back to a singular point.

Ratchet's voice rang out in their comms.

"Optimus, you have exactly ten seconds to get everyone through that portal!'

From across the canyon, Megatron gave an enraged roar as he started running.

"Fall back!" Optimus ordered, firing at Megatron's direction.

Arcee did not need to be told twice. She slung Bumblebee's arm over her shoulders, who was halfway into passing back out. Then the weight on her shoulders vanished and Bumblebee gave a surprised beep as he was lifted up whole by Optimus.

They had barely jumped into the unstable portal when it started collapsing, familiar interior of their command center forming around them. Arcee looked back through the imploding bridge and caught a glimpse of Soundwave on the other side, red light blinking once in his dark visor just as the bridge closed off.

Completely spent and exhausted, Arcee let out a deep breath as she sank to the floor.

Ratchet did not even have time to properly yell at them. Whatever words of abuse he had prepared died out when he saw Bumblebee in Optimus' arms. Mouthplates set in a thin line instead, Ratchet ushered the scout into the recovery tank in his med bay. He only snapped once when Bumblebee tried to reassure that he was alright, which Arcee honestly could not even blame the medic for.

As much as she would have liked to fall into recharge right then and there in the middle of the command center, she collected herself and managed to get back to her feet just in time to accept a cube of concentrated energon from Optimus.

Sipping the cube and relishing in its extra sweetness, Arcee took note around base, which was oddly empty. "Where are the others?" she asked. "Bulkhead? Cliffjumper?"

"They will arrive shortly," Optimus replied, stepping in front of the main monitors as if he had not just been in a fight to rescue two of his Autobots from Megatron's grasp.

He was right—it was not long before a pair of ground vehicles pinged to request entry in their front entrance, and then Bulkhead and Cliffjumper arrived at the command room with squealing of tires. The two transformed, both their engines running hot as if they had just done a full thirteen lap around the longest track in Six Lasers Over Cybertron. Bulkhead promptly sat on the floor, leaning back so heavily he might as well have been lying down. Cliffjumper was little better, propping himself up against the wall with both hands. Aside from being apparently out of breath, which Arcee did not know was even possible for Cybertronians, both appeared perfectly fine.

Arcee could not help but feel a little annoyed at their dramatics. Whatever they had been doing, they were not the ones who had to drive halfway across the country before facing Megatron.

"You took your sweet fragging time joining the party," she said. "What took you? I thought you were with Optimus."

Bulkhead was incapable of answering, but Cliffjumper waved a hand, still trying to cool his engines.

"You have no idea how fast Optimus was," he said, wheezing. "We couldn't keep up. When he realized Megatron went after you, he fragging flew."

Chapter Text

There was always a little bit of chaos following any kind of enemy encounter or a fight. The chaos mostly happened in the med bay, which explained why Ratchet was chronically in a sour mood. While Arcee thought she was perfectly fine and in no need for recovery in the med bay, Ratchet had different opinions. As soon as Bumblebee was stable, the medic wasted no time tracking her down as well, threatening cosmetic harm by wrench while he fussed over the dislocated plating in her shoulder and her low energon levels. It resulted in Arcee getting stuck in the med bay right next to Bumblebee.

Optimus updated them on the status right there.

"The coordinates you found will be of utmost use for our continued survival," he said. "And according to Ratchet, the file Bumblebee found included information on the Decepticons' space bridge, which he assures will immensely aid in his work on the ground bridge."

Ratchet snorted from his terminal behind Optimus, muttering something about it not being a hard equation to figure out.

"In any case, both of you did well," Optimus continued, more or less ignoring the interruption. His deep gaze bore down on them intensely with the unspoken command to rest and recover.

Arcee was not sure which was worse; Ratchet's angry threats or Optimus' sad deploring optics.

'So I did manage to get a space bridge schematic out of Soundwave,' Bumblebee piped up.

Ratchet raised a wrench in warning.

Later, Cliffjumper and Bulkhead visited to provide more details on their side of the battle.

"The cons were drilling holes in the ground a few hours drive away," Cliffjumper said, lounging against Arcee's berth. "We were monitoring that situation while you were having your road trip. When you reported that you had found the Nemesis, Optimus calculated that the drill site was at the halfway point between base and your coordinates. That's why he allowed you two to investigate that mine in the first place. Me and Bulk actually left to attack the site as soon as he gave you permission to scout. Prime joined us a bit later."

"And then you trashed the place?" Arcee asked.

Bulkhead smashed his fists together. "Wrecker style. Really dragged it out as well, hoping Nemesis would come to us, but all we got was Screamer."

"Yeah, we could see the ship in the distance," Cliffjumper said. "Well, Optimus did anyway. We were getting to your position when Ratchet mentioned that Soundwave was there. Optimus must have been watching the ship because all of a sudden he just—" He waved a hand in a sweeping motion, making a sound like air blowing out of a small hole. "You wouldn't believe someone so big could go that fast, but that's Optimus, I guess."

It took Arcee a couple days and Bumblebee a week to be allowed out of the base and back on light duty. Arcee rather suspected that Bumblebee was allowed to get out only because he had been driving Ratchet insane with his pestering.

Either way, it was nice to be back outside. The ground below was yet to cool down from the afternoon heat, but after being cooped up inside for days, even the heat was not so bad.

'If you ask me,' Bumblebee said, idly dangling his legs off the edge. 'I'd say we got the better end of the deal.'

They were on top of the cliff that hid their base. It was one of Arcee's favorite places around here—one of the few places outside where they could actually relax in root mode. She would often come up here to think or just to be alone.

"Yeah? What makes you think that?" she asked, mostly just to keep the conversation going.

'Well, we got all these coordinates and they only got a picture of our ground bridge so they could try to copy Ratchet's hard work,' Bumblebee replied.

Cliffjumper had returned to the base yesterday after tracking down one of the energon hotspots, snickering as he reported that the Decepticons were starting their own experiments with the ground bridge technology. By the sounds of it, they were not having a very good time with it. According to Cliffjumper, one of their attempts had the ground bridge opening up a hundred klicks up in the sky for a few seconds before imploding, sending a lone flightless Vehicon plummeting to the ground screaming.

"You should have seen it," Cliffjumper had insisted when nobody found this as funny as he had. "It was funnier than it sounds."

In short, downscaling the space bridge technology to accommodate Earth's geographical features and gravitational force was harder than it looked even when all the schematics were available.

Arcee glanced sideways at their youngest member of the team, whose chest still sported grey patches where Megatron's cannons had hit. Her energon still ran cold when she recalled that night. It would take much longer than a week for that feeling to fade. Even after so long, the thought of losing a close comrade still hurt.

"The deal is only worth it because we're all here to joke about it," she pointed out.

Bumblebee's expression fell. His doorwings wilted a little as his hand subconsciously reached up, not to his chest, but to his neck.

Then he shook it off, doorwings back to their usual upbeat angle. 'We'll still be around to joke about it later,' he said confidently. 'Megatron can't stop me from getting that promotion.'

Rolling her optics, Arcee looked away. Still, a warmth that had nothing to do with the heat spread inside her. This was probably why Ratchet tolerated Bumblebee more than he did anyone else.

The sun was starting to get low, painting the sky with a warm red glow. A soft breeze blew over the cliff, considerably cooler now. It would not be much longer before Ratchet started looking for them.

'Say, Arcee?' Bumblebee suddenly called. 'Do you think Ratchet would mind if we did a quick perimeter run around base?'

Arcee's processor blanked out momentarily. "What, now?"

'I mean, just look at that!' Bumblebee gestured at the setting sun. 'What's the point of a sunset if you're not driving into it?'

Arcee stared at where Bumblebee was pointing. Ratchet would mind. A lot. Forget Ratchet, even Optimus would disapprove. He would put both of them on monitor duty inside for weeks.

It was worth it.

"Come to think of it, we never really did finish that race..." she said slowly. Then her gaze sharpened. "Did Ratchet actually clear you for transformation at least?"

Bumblebee waved his hand impatiently, already gaining to his feet. 'Sure, sure. I'm not that crazy.'

"Debatable," Arcee snorted, standing up as well.

After climbing down the cliff from the outside to avoid Ratchet's attention, they dropped to their wheels, facing the red sun, both engines revving in an anticipation that never got old for frames built for speed.

'On the count of three?' Bumblebee asked, bouncing on his wheels.

"I'll give you a head start," Arcee replied. "One last time."

Moments later, they were driving side by side straight towards the sunset, all worries and fears left behind.

It was definitely worth it.