Chapter 5

Two weeks had come and gone since Bumblebee’s capture. Two weeks of living underground, in stunningly beautiful mines that seemed to never end. Two weeks of being under Megatron – or Blitzwing’s – watch near constantly.

It had been the strangest two weeks of Bumblebee’s life.

Megatron had lived up to his word; the warlord never forced himself on Bee in any way, but he never lost his status as unequivocal leader of the Decepticons. Bee wasn’t allowed to explore the mines by himself, which had at first rankled the young Autobot. Megatron talked all that slag about not wanting to hurt him, and yet he wouldn’t let him up to the surface for any form of escape.

So the little bug snuck away one night, in a feat he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to pull off again. Somehow he made it out of the berth he shared with the warlord, transforming and driving through a tunnel he was sure led to the surface. It went through many twists and turns, the tracks eventually fading away into nothing as the tunnel came to an end. Disgruntled, Bee turned around, and attempted to go through yet another tunnel.

A few hours of this passed before Bumblebee realized that he was hopelessly lost. He had thought he knew where he was going, but that was before he got a small dose of vertigo – was he even driving up towards the surface anymore? He eventually transformed, leaning against a wall and trying to catch his breath.

How long did he have until morning? What would he do when Megatron realized he was gone? This plan would have only worked if he had found a way out, back to his friends; trapped here was a guarantee to incur the Decepticons’ wrath.

Again, he found himself cowering in the dark corners of the mine, plating dirty and thoroughly exhausted. The air had gotten sharply cooler in the next two weeks, but that was only a guestimate of the surface world. Down here in the mines, closer to the Earth’s core, it was always warm. Normally he had no problem cooling down, but he guessed he had gone further into the mines than he had thought, because he wasn’t cooling down at all.

Somewhere along the line, he must have passed out, because the next thing he remembered was hearing a deep rumble from above him and blearily sitting up from his position sprawled on the mine floor.

(Though he would later deny it, he brushed off the sound at first, because he thought it was just Megatron trying to wake him up.)

He looked up, hearing the sound again, as his spark pulsed hotly in fear. He couldn’t tell if it was coming from beneath him or above him, but he knew he wasn’t in a safe place when he saw and felt small rocks shifting and falling all around him.

Cave in.

The next thing he remembered was a large servo yanking him out of his unintentional trap, before he was tucked against a cold chassis and blasted out of the mine. When he dared to look up against the rush of wind, he saw none other than Blitzwing.

He tried to forgive himself for the small voice that knew him being “recaptured” – really, he was saved – was a good thing.

They arrived back in the main area of the compound, where Megatron, Black Arachnia, and Lugnut stood waiting. Embarrassment flooded Bee’s frame as Blitzwing landed, setting the Autobot down over the Decepticon insignia on the floor. Obediently, the German mech backed up, leaving Bee virtually defenseless.

The smaller mech looked up at Megatron, suddenly feeling foolish. Already, levels higher from where he had been, he found that he could cool himself off much more efficiently than he had been able to previously. Dirt smudges covered his plating, marring the bright yellow shine. He stood, almost trembling, in the face of so much disappointment and stupidity. It was a position he had found himself in multiple times at the Autobot base, but…that had been among friends.

Not among enemies. Or, whatever the Decepticons were at this point.

It scared him to think of his uncertainty.

“Now,” Megatron began, his voice commanding attention from everyone in the room. “Do you understand why you are not to leave without supervision? These mines are dangerous and unstable. The humans that made them abandoned them shortly thereafter; they’re only half formed at best. You’re lucky Blitzwing was still here, or else none of us would have been able to get to you in time.”

While his words were neutral, the message was still clear. It was only by luck’s will that Bee had survived his predicament.

“B-but what about her? She’s small, she could have gotten me,” Bee insists, pointing to Black Arachnia.

The femme, taken aback at the boldness of the Autobot, bared her fangs and hissed lowly, only to cut off the sound at Megatron’s glare.

“Black Arachnia has better things to do than retrieval of a young mech who cannot listen for his own safety. And where you were in the mines was too small for Lugnut and I to get to you,” Megatron counters, half his attention still on the femme who had dared to step out of line. When it was clear she had gotten the message, he turned his gaze fully back to Bumblebee.

“You disobeyed, Bumblebee. And we could have lost you. I could have lost you. Do you see now why the rules stand?” the warlord implores, kneeling on one knee to get closer to Bumblebee’s height.

The young Autobot nods, optics downcast. He felt utterly humiliated at the turn of events, and could only speculate why Megatron had defended him in the face of Black Arachnia’s anger. “Yes, Sir, I understand,” he muttered.

Megatron then nodded, took Bumblebee’s servo, and led him back to the leader’s washracks to once again clean him. Never again did Bumblebee try to make a break for it.

He had learned his lesson.

A few days later, he had been driving within the mines, just to give himself something to do. He wouldn’t do well being cooped up inside; for the sake of anyone around him, or for himself, Bumblebee needed to be kept as busy as possible.

Black Arachnia followed him, making sure he stayed in the wide and secure tunnels while she crawled above him in her alt mode.

Until he decided it had been a good idea to race.

Suddenly taking off – albeit, back in the direction they had come, so the femme wasn’t too worried – Bumblebee sped off, laughing as he heard the delicate pin pricks of the thin spider legs on the rocks fade away. He had surpassed her once more, and it made him smile.

When he got back to the main area of the compound, he transformed, walking while cheering for his minor victory. Granted, he never told her exactly where the finish line was, but it had given him an excuse to push 100mph for the first time in a long while, and the rush of speed had done wonders for his attitude.

While he was celebrating, however, he wasn’t watching where he was going, and ran right into none other than Lugnut.

Immediately fearing for the worst, Bumblebee jumped away from the one optic’d mech, unsure of what to do. Would Lugnut tell on him for running from Bee’s appointed supervision? But it was a race! Albeit an unannounced one, but still a race!

What happened instead, however, shocked both Bee and the recently arrived Black Arachnia.

Lugnut fell to his knees, praising the younger mech in that normally obnoxious voice of his. “ESTEEMED MATE OF THE GLORIOUS LORD MEGATRON! PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR STANDING IN YOUR WAY! PARDON ME, MY MAGNIFICENT MASTER! HOW MAY I SERVE YOU?”

He continued to ramble on, much to the discomfort of Bumblebee. “U-uh…Lugnut? What are you talking about?” he asked, but his vocalizer was much too soft to be heard over the loud, grating tones of the purple plane.

Black Arachnia, meanwhile, was horrified. She yanked Lugnut up from his kneeling position, a feat she only managed due to her disproportionate strength, thanks to her organic half. “Shut up you blubbering idiot, you’re making a fool of yourself!”

“B-BUT NOT FOR THE MATE OF THE GLORIOUS LORD MEGATRON!”

“Lugnut, wha–”

“Lugnut.” The fourth voice to join them, dark and familiar, was laced with an emotion Bumblebee couldn’t identify. “I don’t recall asking you to grovel at Bumblebee’s peds. Get up and do your work.”

The massive seeker stood, torn between choosing his alliance to Bumblebee or to Megatron – should he listen to Megatron, he wouldn’t give up his possible place as a Sir – since Starscream would undoubtedly be the Chancellor. But if he listened to Bumblebee – as in, refuted Megatron’s orders by not obeying, then it would guarantee his placement as the mate of a Sir.

But…Bumblebee hadn’t yet taken his place as Megatron’s mate, so refusing Megatron would be the ultimate sign of disrespect…

Lugnut pretended not to notice Black Arachnia’s silent seething as he obeyed his rightful Master.

“Y-YES, GLORIOUS LORD MEGATRON!” he replied, before continuing on his path. Black Arachnia looked up at Megatron, biting back a hiss of irritation and embarrassment at Lugnut’s behavior.

“I apologize, Lord Megatron. I didn’t mean– ”

“What was he talking about, calling me his Master?” Bee interrupts, optics narrowed in confusion. “That’s normally what he calls you…I mean, I knew he had a few circuits scrambled, but mistaking me for you?” The younger Autobot snorted as Black Arachnia and Megatron looked down at him. The warlord didn’t seem as amused as the Autobot was – in fact, he seemed a cross between anger and frustration; and was that a bit of jealousy?

“Bee. Follow me, please,” Megatron hissed between gritted denta, though his tone didn’t carry malice towards the little yellow bot. “Black Arachnia, you are dismissed.”

The spider femme bowed accordingly, before transforming and walking away, her spider legs delicately moving through the air, allowing her to effortlessly creep up the tunnel and continue her journey towards where Lugnut had gone.

She wasn’t one to let things lie too easily. Megatron almost pitied the conversation he knew the two warriors would have.

Almost.

It was because of the incompetence and oversight of those two warriors that led him to having this conversation much too early for his tastes. So they could make each other suffer as much as they wanted – he had his own conversation to have.

As he turned back toward the tunnel leading to his quarters, Megatron heard Bumblebee slowly begin to follow him, pedsteps just a bit too scared for now. When the tunnels grew darker, however familiar they were, the Autobot skittered a bit closer, enough that his EM field brushed against Megatron’s.

It was only after weeks of conditioning that the warlord was able to stop the satisfied purr from rising within his chest. Conditioning and no small amount of nervousness.

This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have so early. And once he began to tell the Autobot that, it was as if he couldn’t stop.

“I must…apologize, for Lugnut’s actions today. He’s not normally so…expressive, shall we say, to anyone but me. I fear his thoughts and perceived notions of the current circumstances have led him astray. He wasn’t within his rights to address you as such,” he began, lacing his digits behind his back.

Bumblebee moved from the doorway to sit on the berth, looking up at the pacing warlord with a nervous glance.

“And I fear, due to his actions, that you have questions. Questions that I’m not sure I want to give the answers to…but I promised to be honest with you – within reason – and this is part of my promise to you. I cannot allow any misconception about his words to cloud your judgment of me, and while I sincerely hope that your time here has not been as awful as I’m sure you believed it would be, I’m not sure I could keep you from perceiving this information as you will.” He was speaking faster now, his normally calm voice betraying his anxiety.

The younger mech leaned back on the berth, watching the warlord talk on, talking in circles it seemed. And as he spoke in circles, he moved in circles, shoulders rigid and hands tightly clasped behind his back as he paced in front of the berth. “Megatron, I can’t understand you. Can you please, just…calm down? Sit, or something? You’re making me nervous.”

Without stopping his speech, Megatron sat beside the smaller mech, continuing on in his needless apologies and explanations of things Bee didn’t care to understand. Stuff about Knights, Codes of Honor, and mates – all things he thought were made up. Just parts of history that were as uncertain as myth.

What did capture Bumblebee’s attention, however, was how quickly Megatron listened to his demand. Curiously, Bee reached out and touched Megatron’s servo, putting his much smaller servo over the tightly clenched fist.

Megatron’s words slipped away into nothing as he looked at the bright yellow servo, in direct contrast to his black and gunmetal grey plating.

“…wanna try to say it a bit slower?” Bee asked gently, keeping his hand still, lightly resting on Megatron’s servo. He was scared of his bold move and what repercussions it might have, but he knew he had to do something to stop the rambling.

“…I’m afraid I don’t have much to say. Other than he was out of line.”

“And you have said that. Multiple times.” Bee smiled a shy smile, genuine though. “And if that’s it…I don’t think you have anything else to say. Correct?”

Megatron takes some resolve from Bee’s smile, and allows himself to take a steadying breath. “No, Bumblebee. That is not correct. I…did you hear what I was saying earlier, about the Knights?”

Bee blinks and shakes his head, almost taking his servo away from Megatron’s grasp. The further the distance between his body and the warlord’s when the warlord eventually lost his temper, the better. But before he could move, Megatron trapped his servo between his, looking into the smaller mech’s optics.

“It’s all true. I…I speak from personal experience. The Knights are all but dead now, thanks to your Magnus. Your team mate from the Ninjas…he knew of this too. He had his own battles to face, but only as an associate of the Knights. He never was one. And neither was his partner, Jazz.”

Bee felt his spark stutter to an almost complete stop. Jazz and Prowl?! They were with the Decepticons? Had been partners with them?!

“There is only one Knight left who knows of the proper teachings of Knighthood. His training was cut off before he could be formally inducted, however, due to an attack from the Magnus.” Megatron steeled his voice and resolve, before continuing his story. “He is the only one with the proper training to become Head Knight, and to lead the Knights out of the darkness in which they were forced by the Magnus. But he can only do that with a proper mate. He needed someone who could be taught the proper ways of being a Knight…what it means to be a fair and equal leader. Someone who didn’t buy into the old ways, and could still be taught. He needed that with a complimentary mate.”

Megatron looked up at Bumblebee, softly concluding. “He is me. And that ideal mate is you.”

Before Bumblebee could even respond, the warlord left the room in a flash of grey, leaving Bumblebee stunned in his wake.

 Bumblebee sat in silence for a few moments, thinking it all over.

Megatron hadn’t gone against his promise in the beginning. He had treated Bumblebee fairly in his time there, and – as he remembered from his time in the tunnels – he only enforced rules when they were for his own safety. He didn’t force himself on Bee, though he could have at any time, and Bee felt…safe, around him.

Relatively speaking, he could be a much worse predicament. And Megatron had taken the time to explain – albeit a bit rushed – but to explain why he had chosen the racer; a question that had haunted Bee since he was first captured.

How he felt about this new information…he did not know.

Later that night, Bumblebee finds himself recharging alone. It seemed the fear of rejection that had made Megatron leave had kept him away for longer than just the moments after his revelation.

Bumblebee almost hoped for a night alone, but naturally fate would not allow him that small amount. The warlord returned, cautiously, searching to see if Bee was in fact in recharge. The racer feigned recharge, and soon the warlord entered, sliding into the berth with a soft sigh.

Both lost in the realm of recharge, Bee and Megatron unconsciously sought out comfort. The smaller mech pressed himself against broad gunmetal grey chest plates, twin sighs of pleasure escaping. It would take a while longer, but they were already making progress.