A Bee Flies Free

A/N: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR OPERATION BUMBLEBEE PART 2! YE HATH BEEN WARNED!
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The night was young, and so were he and his charge, Raf, who was screaming in a mix of utter excitement and of utter terror. Which one the child's screaming was leaning towards, the scout didn't know, but oh how exceptional it felt to have the ability to transform once again.

Bumblebee didn't care as he did doughnuts all around the Nevada sand within sight of the human authorities. The sand was getting into the nicks and crannies between his armor.

The youngling knew he could clean it out in the wash-racks after a bit of lecturing from Ratchet and Optimus; the words would go through one audio-receptor and out the other in no time.

The scout didn't give a damn at the moment.

Bumblebee could fight alongside his friends and comrades! Oh he could transform!!! He could do anything, the end of time was his only limit.

Starscream was going to receive one well deserved aft-kicking later . . . the scout vowed to place that in his memory-core before he went down into recharge for sure.

"WHOOOOOOOAAAAA!!!!!! BEE-EE-EE!!!!!" Raf shouts as the Urbana 500 puts metal to the pedal and races up a dune. Once the scout is practically flying, a loud chirp of merriment flies from Bumblebee's vocalizer as he transforms mid-air while holding Raf in his servos.

The pair has a rough time rolling down the other side of the dune. Once they reach the bottom of the dune however, the pair was laughing so hard they didn't notice the painful scuffs on their bodies.

"H-hey Bee, how does it feel to be back to 'mostly' normal?" Raf asks his guardian breathlessly, the adrenaline coursing though his veins was intoxicating.

: Primus and the Thirteen are smiling down on me!: whirls the youngest member of Prime's team as he jumps up to stretch out his strained muscle cables. He begins to dance and skip about, kicking up a mini-sandstorm around Raf. The youngling promptly strikes a 'hero' pose whilst his radio clicks on. Immediately "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" is belted out.

Raf can only laugh and boogie along with the yellow scout as the rest of the song plays out. After all, his guardian survived being at the mercy of Megatron's hands; had gotten his T-cog removed, almost died falling off a cliff, and then almost losing his T-cog once again!

"Lucky Ratchet fixed it up," Raf says once Bee lies down on his back, his optical sensors trained onto the starry sky. The preteen then climbs up onto Bumblebee's shoulder and looks up at the velvet sky dotted with brilliant gems. Raf twists himself around to look at Bumblebee. "Don't' forget to thank him when we get back to base."

The Urbana shoots the boy an incredulous look as the former beeps, :What do you think I'm gonna do when we get back?:

Raf could only shrug in response.

The two are silent as they observe the priceless treasure just above them. About an hour later, Ratchet was pinging on the scout's comm-link.

"-Bumblebee . . .-" the irritated medic states.

"-What did I do now Doc?-" Bumblebee replies innocently, realizing that Raf had fallen asleep on his chest plating, curled up under his left servo that improvised as a blanket.

"-It is far past curfew for Rafael, and Jack had to cover for him when the child's mother called,-"
-What excuse did he come up with this time?-

Silence.

"-Ratch?-" Bumblebee inquires, curious. Very few things could render the medic speechless. "-Ra-chet? Do you copy? Ra-chet~?-" he sing-songs, chuckling a bit.

"-Jack had to say that Raf was working with him . . . on a big school project,-" the medic replies, and the scout couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"-Are you finished?-" Ratchet asks irritably once Bumblebee's laughter begins to die down.

"-Oh-oh . . . s-so this time she didn't fr-freak out?-" the scout cackles, remembering what Ratchet had done to the humans' projects for the science hair.

"-No, but I need you to bring Rafael back to base, it's getting cold out there-." A pause occurs and then the medic adds, "-I'll send you a Ground Bridge-."

"-Oh wait, Ratchet!-" Bumblebee exclaims as he gingerly makes sure Raf was in his servo as he transforms into his Urbana 500 vehicle mode.

"-What is it youngling?-" Ratchet asks. There wasn't a trace of resentment in that question, which makes Bumblebee smile.

"-Thanks for saving my spark back in Tyger Pax,-" answers the youngling earnestly. "-If it weren't for you . . . I wouldn't be with you and the rest of Team Prime-."
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In the silo . . .

"-No problem young one, the Ground Bridge shall be put in front of you, and be careful!-" Ratchet chuckles as he pulls down the lever for  Bumblebee to enter though.