Archive of Our Own ^beta

   Bumblebee chirped mockingly at the fleeing Decepticon, amused. He hadn’t put up much of a fight without any backup, even if Bumblebee was alone as well.

   Bumblebee shrugged and started to turn away. It was late and he was on the edge of town, but there was still a chance he’d get spotted.

   Again, he hesitated. He looked back at the alley where he’d encountered the Decepticon. He’d been after something in the alley. Bumblebee had no idea what it could be, but if the Decepticons wanted it, then he probably shouldn’t just leave it.

   At the very least, if Bumblebee had something to bring back to the Silo, it would give Optimus something else to focus on instead of scolding Bumblebee for sneaking out again.

   Decision made, Bumblebee edged into the alley. At first glance, there wasn’t anything unusual. Just some old newspapers and a dumpster filled with human junk.

   But as Bumblebee stood there, he noticed something glowing a dull yellow on the ground. He crouched down for a better look and was confused to discover some sort of blade. It looked human-sized, but he’d never seen anything like it before. Bumblebee reached out to grab it.

   Right as Bumblebee’s digits touched the strange blade, another one whipped out from behind the dumpster and stabbed into Bumblebee’s servo. Whooping in surprise, Bumblebee fell back. He felt a slight tug from the offending blade, then there was a yelp and clatter of metal. The resistance fell away, and Bumblebee lifted his servo away, the blade still embedded in him.

   Bumblebee fell into a defensive stance, but there was no second attack. Small scrapes came from behind the dumpster, but nothing appeared. Bumblebee took the opportunity to gingerly tug the blade out of his servo. It had pierced the armor just enough to nick a fuel line, but the cut wasn’t big enough to concern Bumblebee.

   Bumblebee looked back at the dumpster, his intake drawn in a frown. No bot could hide behind the dumpster, so maybe it was a human… a human with two glowing blades.

   While Bumblebee debated leaving what was probably a human, a small servo reached out from behind the dumpster. It quickly retracted when Bumblebee gave a questioning beep.

   That hadn’t been human. It had been Cybertronian!

   Bumblebee’s optical ridges drew down in further confusion. That was impossible! But at the same time, unless there was a human wearing red armor for some reason…

   His doorwings jiggled in indecision, but the curiosity was too much for him. He leaned back down and easily slid the dumpster to the side.

   A tiny Cybertronian, barely the side of Jack, stared up at Bumblebee with wide yellow optics. Her armor was mostly red, with bits of yellow and black detailing. Two large -relatively- turbines jutted out from her shoulders, both of them raised and angled like she was trying to make herself bigger.

   Bumblebee tilted his helm curiously. There weren’t that many Cybertronians on Earth, but he’d never seen this one. She didn’t have any sigil, either, though the way she had her arms hunched over her chassis made it a little hard to be sure.

   While he wanted to know how she’d been hidden from the Autobots for so long, Bumblebee knew he didn’t really have any way to ask, not unless she happened to understand his manner of “speaking.”

   Just in case, Bumblebee beeped out a greeting. The minibot twitched, then raised herself slightly. Bumblebee gave a cheerful whoop that quickly turned into a quiet apologetic chirp when the bot scrambled backward, as if she could hide in the shadow of the dumpster. Her optics darted between Bumblebee and her blades. A harsh grating sound came from her, and she briefly touched her chassis before lowering her servo and glaring up at Bumblebee.

   Glowing blue streaked her digits.

   Bumblebee beeped his concern. The bot didn’t react at first, then gave a slow, quiet beep that was, as far as Bumblebee could tell, utter nonsense.

   Another Cybertronian without a voice box? Bumblebee’s spark flared, but he managed to keep his anger off his faceplate. The little bot was jumpy enough, and if she flew off, Bumblebee didn’t think he’d be able to stop her.

   Bumblebee shifted on his pedes. The little bot was hurt, so he definitely needed to get her to Ratchet, but how could he tell her he knew a medic? He was also worried that if he left, she’d take off.

   Bumblebee tilted his helm, chirping cheerfully at an idea. The bot mimicked the helm movement, but remained silent.

   Careful to move very slowly, Bumblebee picked up the blade still laying on the ground. The bot’s turbines flared further out and spun briefly. 

   All movement stopped, however, when Bumblebee pinched the blades between two digits and offered them to the bot. She stared at the blades, then Bumblebee, then the blades. Then, moving so fast that Bumblebee jumped, the bot snatched the blades back. Her turbines flared again, but her glare was gone. She pointed the blades at Bumblebee, but he wasn’t worried about her attacking him. Watching her sway, Bumblebee had the sudden sense that she could barely stand, much less fight.

   Bumblebee chirped out an offer to bring her to a medic. He got a blank look in response. The bot’s blades began to lower. He smiled, thinking she was accepting his help, then had to clamp down an alarmed blare when her optics dimmed and she toppled forward. Bumblebee swept a servo down, narrowly catching her before she could hit the ground. The bot gave a low growl of protest, but barely fought back as Bumblebee lifted her. She did manage to keep a grip on her blades, though.

   Bumblebee stared at the little bot and repeated his offer for help. He got a glare and twitch of the blades in response.

   Bumblebee smiled cheerfully, hiding his worry. With her chassis against his servo, Bumblebee could feel how rough her engine was running. There was more Energon on her back. Her turbines started, stopped, then started again. He could feel the strain heating her body.

   Bumblebee chirred a little warning at the bot to stop moving. He got another fuzzy glare in response.

   Bumblebee realized two things right then. One, he wasn’t going to be getting through to the little bot while she was in such rough shape. Two, because of her current condition, she literally couldn’t do anything about Bumblebee taking her to the Silo.

   Shrugging his doorwings, Bumblebee stood up. The bot gave a rattling growl of protest and her turbines whined, but didn’t otherwise budge. 

   Bumblebee had taken only a couple steps when the protests died away and the turbines drooped against his digits. Her blades slipped from her servos, and Bumblebee scrambled to catch them. Angling his servo, Bumblebee felt a jolt in his spark when he saw the bot’s optics had gone dark.

   Bumblebee ran.

   “Somebody’s in trouble!” Miko sang as soon as Bumblebee entered the Silo.

   Bumblebee looked at her, confused, then startled when he saw Optimus and Arcee waiting.

   “Bumblebee, where have you been?” Optimus asked.

   Bumblebee clicked, then held out his servos. 

   “I’m not asking what you found…” Optimus stepped closer. “Bumblebee, what did you find?”

   “Is that a Cybertronian?” Arcee asked, optics widening.

   “Wow, have you guys never seen another Cybertronian or something?” Miko laughed, leaning against the rail to get a look at the little bot in Bumblebee’s servos.

   “Not for thirty years,” Optimus said, his voice barely louder than a vent.

   “Wait, seriously?”

   Bumblebee pushed impatiently past Optimus, beeping for Ratchet.

   “Unless you’re leaking, leave me out of this,” Ratchet said from his workstation.

   Bumblebee beeped more loudly, finally getting Ratchet to turn. Ratchet looked up from his tablet briefly, then did a double-take.

   “Bumblebee,” Ratchet said, quickly walking closer with his scanner still raised in one servo, “Where did you find this bot?”

   At the same time, the little bot stirred. Bumblebee looked down, relieved to see her optics lighting up.

   The little bot took one look at Ratchet approaching and flinched. Bumblebee was briefly glad to have stored her blades away as Ratchet reached out, knowing the medic wouldn’t appreciate being stabbed.

   Except, the little bot didn’t go on the offensive. 

   Lurching backward against Bumblebee’s digits, she screeched, “Don’t let him hurt me!”

   Thought caught off-guard by the little bot actually speaking, Bumblebee stepped backward, pulling the little bot close. Ratchet stopped as Bumblebee curled one servo protectively around the little bot, who curled into a rough ball with her turbines sticking straight up. She trembled so hard that her frame clattered against Bumblebee’s digits.

   “Aw, Ratchet, you scared her,” Miko said.

   “Why does she sound so young?” Optimus asked, stepping around Bumblebee.

   The little bot shuddered. Bumblebee scowled at Optimus and stepped away. Optimus blinked, then looked at Ratchet.

   Ratchet was unfazed. “Where’d you find her, Bumblebee?”

    “A Decepticon had her cornered in an alley,” Bumblebee beeped, most of his attention on the little bot. “She’s hurt.” 

   “Well, hold her still so I can get some scans,” Ratchet said drily.

   Ratchet lifted the scanner again, making the little bot cringe. Bumblebee scowled and turned slightly. Ratchet vented.

   “Bumblebee,” Ratchet said.

   Bumblebee looked between Ratchet and the trembling little bot. He didn’t move. Miko snorted, while Arcee looked at him like he was out of his processor.

   Surprisingly, it was Ratchet who gave in first. “Okay, I won’t scan her. Hold out your servo, Bumblebee.”

   Confused, Bumblebee did as he was told. The little bot twitched and skittered partially up his other arm, as if trying to put as much distance between Ratchet and herself as possible.

   But Ratchet just scanned the little bot’s Energon streaking Bumblebee’s servo, then looked at the scanner. He frowned.

   “I thought that Energon looked off,” Ratchet muttered.

   “What’s wrong with it?” Optimus asked. Like Bumblebee, he probably didn’t see any difference from normal Energon.

   “I’ve never seen such low-grade Energon,” Ratchet said. “If she wasn’t so small, there’s no way she’d be able to operate with this slag. I need…” 

   Ratchet looked up as Bumblebee again shielded the little bot with his servo. He vented, then held out the scanner, making the little bot jump.

   “For some reason, she trusts you, Bumblebee. Maybe she’ll let you do the scans,” Ratchet said.

   Bumblebee looked back at the little bot. At first, he was confused as to why she’d trust him, but not the other Autobots. But then he remembered that he’d saved her from the Decepticon, so maybe she’d decided that meant Bumblebee could protect her from anything that scared her! The thought made Bumblebee stand a little taller.

   “Just get the scans,” Ratchet said flatly.

   Beeping at Ratchet’s impatience, Bumblebee took the scanner. He held it up and raised an optical ridge.

   The little bot regarded the scanner with suspicion, but eventually nodded. She continued to tremble while Bumblebee got a few quick scans, so Bumblebee passed the scanner back to Ratchet as quickly as he could.

   “Thank you, Bumblebee,” Ratchet said, then checked the scanner. He grumbled, seemingly not noticing how the sound made the bot twitch. “A half dozen leaks and she’s extremely low on Energon. There’s no way she’s letting me get close to her with a welder while she’s in this state, though. Bumblebee, get some sealant on those cracks.”

   Bumblebee nodded seriously and went to retrieve the sealant spray. The spray got the same amount of suspicion as the scanner, but the bot seemed too worn out to protest much. 

   Unless either of the other bots or even Miko got into view. Then the bot would burst to life, scrambling to get as far from the others as she could without leaving Bumblebee’s grasp. 

   Scolding the others in chirps and irritated twitches of his doorwings, Bumblebee went to the edge of the Silo to finish patching up the bot. She was a little calmer by the time Bumblebee returned to the others. Bulkhead, having just returned from patrol, was being filled in by Optimus.

   “Done with the patching?” Ratchet asked.

   Bumblebee nodded and put the sealant spray away. He booped worriedly at the little bot drooping against his digits. She didn’t respond to being close to the other Autobots, unless Bumblebee counted the trembling and the fact that she was overheating.

   “Get her to eat,” Ratchet said, handing over some Energon, “Then everyone, give the two of them some space. I need her to calm down so I can do some more tests.”

   The little bot didn’t react to the offered Energon at first, but eventually drank some. Her intake twisted and she turned her faceplate to the side when Bumblebee pushed her to drink more.

   “You might be the first Cybertronian to dislike the taste of Energon,” Ratchet said, earning another shudder from the bot and a glare from Bumblebee. “Don’t give me that look, Bumblebee. It’s an observation. For now, I’m done with… what’s your name?”

   The little bot stared at the Energon container.

   “Yeah, wasn’t expecting you to answer me,” Ratchet said, turning away.

   “It’s Twitch,” the bot murmured, almost too quiet to hear.

    “Her name is Twitch,” Bumblebee relayed.

   Ratchet stopped and looked back at them, making Twitch… twitch.

   “Twitch… it suits her,” Ratchet said, then went back to his workstation.

   Twitch looked curiously at Ratchet, then abruptly huddled back into a ball. Bumblebee nudged her helm with the container of Energon, beeping encouragingly.

   “Not hungry,” Twitch mumbled.

   Bumblebee chirped in disbelief and gave her another nudge. Twitch gave him a small scowl, but drank some more of the Energon. 

   Under Bumblebee’s insistence, Twitch finally drank enough Energon that Bumblebee guessed her tanks were at least close to full. She was more alert by then, but twitchier than before, startling every time someone’s pedes so much as scraped the floor.

   Giving a soft, worried whoop, Bumblebee carried Twitch to the rec room. The other Autobots remained in the main room, but Miko ran along the walkways to settle in the loft.

   Wondering if Twitch would be less scared of Miko since she was much smaller than the Autobots, Bumblebee unfolded his servos enough for Miko to clearly see Twitch. The minibot kept staring at her own servos, digits opening and closing slowly.

   “So, where’d you come from?” Miko asked after several minutes of silence.

   Twitch jumped and looked at Miko. Her intake opened, then she looked back down without answering. Bumblebee and Miko shrugged at each other.

   “Are you an Autobot?” Miko persisted, leaning over the railing.

   Twitch didn’t respond, unless Bumblebee counted her engine running harder. He angled Twitch away from Miko again.

   “Aw, come on, we’re all friends here,” Miko said. 

   Twitch’s turbines twitched.

   “My name’s Miko, by the way,” Miko said. “Since nobody introduced themselves out there. That’s Bumblebee holding you.”

   Twitch looked sharply up, her intake opening. Then she made an odd sort of choking noise, then lurched forward. Bumblebee jumped with a startled honk when Twitch spewed Energon across his servos.

   “Ratchet!” Bumblebee and Miko yelled in their own ways.

   Ratchet rushed into the room, then stopped when Twitch squeaked. Twitch gagged and spat out some more Energon, then slumped against Bumblebee’s digits. Ratchet stepped closer, but stopped when Twitch gave a distressed noise and cringed backward. Bumblebee gently rubbed her back with one digit while staring at Ratchet for an answer.

   Ratchet vented. “She’s probably purging that low-grade Energon from her lines. Bumblebee, she might not want to, but she needs to eat again.”

   Bumblebee looked between Twitch and Ratchet. He nodded, reluctant at another battle of getting Twitch to eat, but seeing the sense of it.

   “But first,” Miko said with a small wince, “Maybe let her clean up first.”

   Getting Twitch clean turned out to be a whole new battle. While she allowed Bumblebee to hold her and kept turning toward him for protection, she didn’t like Bumblebee touching her with the rags Miko had collected. She was half dozing off, but still kicked Bumblebee’s servo when he tried to get to the Energon covering her chassis. Miko then decided to try helping out, since she was smaller and could work more gently than Bumblebee.

   Which was when they found out that Twitch could still fly just fine.

   Bumblebee and Miko stared at the red, shivering ball clinging to the rafters. Energon was still dripping from her armor, and Bumblebee just hoped none of the seals had broken since she still hadn’t eaten again.

   “C’mon, Twitch, I can see being scared of Ratchet, but I promise, I’m harmless,” Miko said.

   A low humming came from above. Bumblebee and Miko exchanged worried looks before returning their gazes to Twitch.

   “Is everything okay?” Optimus asked as he entered the room. He frowned. “Where’s Twitch?”

   Bumblebee pointed while Miko said, “All good, Optimus.”

   “Optimus?”

   Everyone looked at Twitch, whose turbines were fluttering.

   “Oh, right, I guess we never did introductions for the rest of the Autobots,” Miko said. “Though you probably know Optimus already.”

   There was a long silence from above. Bumblebee and Optimus exchanged confused looks, then Optimus quietly left, leaving Bumblebee and Miko debating the best way to get the frightened minibot down.

   “So you gave her swords?” Jack asked several hours later.

   Bumblebee shrugged. Offering Twitch her wingblades had gotten her out of the rafters, at least. Since Bumblebee and Miko hadn’t tried to resume their cleaning efforts, Twitch had settled back in Bumblebee’s servos and had soon dozed off.

   Currently, Bumblebee was sitting with Twitch cradled in his servos. Twitch was a tight ball of armor, just her turbines and sword blades sticking out, and Miko had been cleaning off what Energon she could reach when Arcee had brought in Jack and Raf.

   “They calmed her down,” Miko pointed out.

   Jack just sighed.

   “The other Autbots really don’t recognize her?” Raf asked.

   Bumblebee shook his head. 

   “Hey, check this out!” Miko said.

   Everyone looked at Miko. She leaned away from Twitch’s shoulder armor that she’d been cleaning, and Bumblebee saw there was a sigil under the dirt Miko had cleaned away from the back of the armor.

   “I’ve never seen that one before,” Raf said. 

   Bumblebee tilted his helm to get a better look, then he flinched, a startled honk escaping him. The kids jumped at the noise and Twitch flinched without waking up.

   “Bee?” Raf said questioningly. 

    “Get Optimus,” Bumblebee beeped out.

   Looking confused, Raf left. He soon returned with a worried-looking Optimus.

   “What’s wrong, Bumblebee?” Optimus asked.

   Bumblebee angled Twitch so Optimus could see the sigil. Optimus’ expression briefly hardened, then turned sad.

   “That explains some things,” Optimus said.

   “What? What things?” Miko asked. “Come on, you can’t say things like that and not explain!”

   “It would appear that Twitch has been a prisoner of GHOST,” Optimus said.

   Jack’s brows furrowed. “I thought those guys were a myth.”

   “We’ve had theories and a few clues such as the sigil, but no solid proof that they really existed,” Optimus said. “Until now.”

   “Is it true that they… experiment on Transformers?” Raf asked.

   Optimus nodded. “Depending on how long she’s been with GHOST, it’s no surprise that she’s so jumpy.”

   “But wouldn’t it be humans that would scare her, not other Transformers?” Miko pointed out.

   Optimus’ expression again hardened. “We suspect some Cybertronians willingly work with Mandroid in his experiments.”

   The kids flinched. Optimus gave a small smile.

   “But Twitch won’t have to worry about that anymore, not if we can help it,” Optimus said.

   Bumblebee nodded enthusiastically. He curled his servos protectively around Twitch, silently vowing to keep her safe.

   Twitch slept the rest of the day and through the night, so Bumblebee didn’t have a chance to give her more Energon until the following morning. Not that Twitch seemed keen on eating.

   “It tastes weird,” Twitch protested, turning her faceplate away from the Energon. 

   “How long were you eating that junk?” Arcee asked.

   “Long enough to not remember what real Energon tastes like,” Twitch said, giving the offered Energon a sour look. 

   Twitch wasn’t eating, but Bumblebee was relieved of the small success that Twitch wasn’t panicking when the other Autobots were nearby. 

   Well, aside from Ratchet. She would barely look at him, instead sneaking glances anytime he got near. Assuming Twitch had developed a healthy fear of medics and doctors during her time with GHOST, Bumblebee opted to do his best to keep himself between Twitch and Ratchet. 

   “How can you forget what Energon tastes like?” Bulkhead asked, looking utterly baffled. “How long were you-”

   He broke off when Arcee elbowed him. Twitch, sipping the Energon with a disgusted look on her faceplate, didn’t seem to notice.

   “Twitch,” Optimus said, coming around Bumblebee.

   Twitch flinched, spitting Energon onto Bumblebee’s digits. Scowling at Optimus, Bumblebee started to turn away.

   “I’m sorry,” Optimus said, stepping back and raising his servos placatingly. “I just had a question for Twitch.”

   Twitch stared at Optimus for a moment before slowly saying, “Okay…”

   “How old are you, Twitch?” Optimus asked.

   Bumblebee glanced toward Ratchet, suspecting the question was really from him. 

   “Um…” Twitch fiddled with her digits. “I don’t really know exactly…”

   “Most Cybertronians don’t,” Arcee said easily. “Just round to the nearest thousand, really.”

   Optimus nodded. “It doesn’t have to be exact.”

   Twitch squinted up at him. “Is… hundreds okay?”

   “It will be fine,” Optimus assured her.

   Twitch studied her servos for a few minutes. Bumblebee put aside the Energon while she thought. Finally, Twitch looked up.

   “Five… hundred?” Twitch said hesitantly.

   “Five hundred thousand years?” Arcee asked, her optical ridges furrowed. “I didn’t think there were any Cybertronians younger than Bumblebee.”

   Bumblebee shrugged, secretly pleased to no longer be the youngest on base.

   “No,” Twitch said. Her optics darted nervously around, then settled on her servos. “I mean… five hundred days old.”

   A long, stunned silence fell on the group.

    “I think you’re confused,” Bumblebee beeped, though he’d already figured out that Twitch wouldn’t understand him.

   “She isn’t,” Ratchet’s voice answered Bumblebee.

   Everyone turned to the medic, who was looking, for lack of a better word, haunted. 

   “I suspected it from her scans, but needed confirmation from her,” Ratchet said slowly. “Twitch is less than two years old.”

   “That’s impossible,” Arcee said promptly.

   Ratchet gestured toward Twitch, who started doing her best to burrow into Bumblebee’s servos. Scowling at his fellow Autobots, Bumblebee carried Twitch back to the empty rec room.

   “I-is something wrong with me?” Twitch asked.

   Bumblebee shook his helm. Doing his best to comfort Twitch, he gently patted her helm with a single digit. For once, Twitch didn’t flinch away from his touch, instead choosing to lean against his servo with a small vent. Within minutes, she was asleep again.

   Bumblebee booped softly, worried. Twitch hadn’t eaten much, and she was definitely sleeping too much.

   Not having any ideas on how to help Twitch, Bumblebee carefully sat down with Twitch cradled in his servos. He moved as slowly as possible to avoid jostling Twitch, but still she curled into a ball with a low moan. Bumblebee froze as Twitch rolled from side to side, then grabbed one of his digits when her servos bumped it. 

   Instantly, Twitch pulled herself closer to the digit. Tightly hugging Bumblebee’s digit, she settled down with a vent.

   Though confused, Bumblebee gave a proud chirp at having helped Twitch.

   Ratchet crossed his arms and stared down at Bumblebee. Bumblebee’s optics moved around, avoiding Ratchet’s. He could feel Twitch’s tiny digits clinging to the base of his doorwings as she hid from the medic. Miko watched everything from a walkway above.

   Personally, Bumblebee thought Twitch would’ve warmed up to Ratchet by now if he didn’t have such a habit of looming, not that he was about to tell Ratchet that.

    “She needs to eat,” Ratchet said for perhaps the tenth time.

   Bumblebee nodded. He knew that! He just also knew that Twitch didn’t like Energon! For some reason… she complained that it made her tanks rumble.

   “Twitch, you aren’t going to feel any better if you don’t eat,” Ratchet said, directing his words over Bumblebee’s shoulder.

   Bumblebee heard the small whine of Twitch’s turbines before she appeared over his shoulder. She was scowling and trying to hide her trembling. Bumblebee narrowed his optics and tried to wave Ratchet off.

   Ratchet responded by holding out an Energon cube.

   Nobody moved for a minute, everyone waiting for someone to cave. Bumblebee was pretty sure Ratchet was going to give up and leave, but surprisingly, Twitch flew forward to grab the cube.

   The Energon cube was comically oversized in Twitch’s servos, and Bumblebee reached up to help her steady the cube. Making a face, Twitch gulped down a fair amount of the Energon before backing off. She promptly shot toward the ceiling, seeking refuge among the rafters.

   Bumblebee returned his scowl to Ratchet. The medic met his gaze, unfazed.

   “Once Twitch starts eating on her own, I’ll leave her alone,” Ratchet said drily. He shook his helm. “I still don’t understand how a Transformer couldn’t like Energon…”

   Bumblebee shrugged. They still had no idea on how Twitch had even been born, which Ratchet suspected would answer a lot of their questions. But Twitch was either unable or unwilling to explain where she’d come from, and Bumblebee wasn’t going to push her.

   “When Twitch comes back down, see if she’ll sit still long enough for some more scans,” Ratchet said.

   There was a strange noise from above that reminded Bumblebee of a human gag. But it wasn’t Miko and the other kids weren’t at the Silo, so what…?

   Bumblebee looked toward the noise and found it was coming from Twitch! His optics narrowed in concern.

   Above, Twitch gave one loud gag and lurched over the edge of the rafter. Blue liquid suddenly spewed from her intake and, before anyone could move, splattered down onto Ratchet. 

   Twitch clamped a servo over her intake, optics huge. Bumblebee looked between her and Ratchet, who stood with his arms slightly away from his side and an utter lack of expression on his faceplate.

   Eventually, Miko said, “That looked a little personal.”

   A tiny “sorry” came from above.

   Ratchet looked up. Twitch huddled closer to the rafter, but Ratchet soon turned on his heel and left the room.

   Twitch was more restless than usual that night. She’d started out in the rafters -a common enough napping spot for her- but had later sought out Bumblebee. Her small form tossing and turning in his servos kept Bumblebee from his recharge, but he was more worried about her than his own tiredness.

   Almost like an apology, Twitch had spent the afternoon sipping Energon. Bumblebee could hear how her tanks gurgled, but she didn’t purge a second time. Bumblebee hoped that meant she finally had all of the bad Energon out of her lines and that the pure Energon would start helping her soon, but it didn’t seem to be the case.

   Bumblebee stared down at Twitch. She might’ve been asleep, he thought, as she didn’t react when Bumblebee slowly stood and walked to the main room.

   Ratchet was at his station as usual, going over the scans Bumblebee had gotten of Twitch a few days earlier. Arcee was recharging and Bulkhead was gone, but Optimus stood with Ratchet. Both looked over when Bumblebee arrived.

   “What?” Ratchet asked.

    “It was an accident.” 

   “I know that,” Ratchet snorted, returning to his monitor. “There could be an issue with her tanks… she maybe ate too fast. Her systems aren’t used to proper Energon… but it doesn’t make any sense as to why she’s using so little of it.”

   Bumblebee tilted his helm. 

   “Ratchet, what do sparklings eat?” Optimus suddenly asked.

   Ratchet looked at him like he was out of his processor. “Energon.”

   “I mean, was there a special type of Energon for sparklings? Something easier to process?” Optimus asked.

   The expression on Ratchet’s faceplate seemed to indicate that he’d never considered this possibility, but all he said was, “I never worked with sparklings.”

    “No wonder you scare her,” Bumblebee couldn’t help chirping.

   “Do you know of anyone who has?” Optimus asked.

   Before Ratchet could answer, Twitch thrashed. Bumblebee nearly dropped her before hurriedly curling his digits around her.

   “No,” Twitch moaned, writhing.

   Lubricant squeezed from her closed optics, puddling onto Bumblebee’s servo. Bumblebee beeped worriedly and rubbed her helm, but Twitch wasn’t soothed. Twisting, she cried out louder.

   “No, stop!” Twitch cried.

   Bumblebee looked at Optimus.

   “Twitch,” Optimus murmured. “Twitch, you’re safe here.”

   Twitch snapped upright, optics lighting up with a scream. “No!”

   Bumblebee froze when he saw her faceplate. Lubricant was still streaming from her optics, but it was starting to glow blue. 

   Crying Energon was an incredibly rare phenomenon. So rare that most Cybertronians, Bumblebee included, thought that crying Energon was a myth. Supposedly, it only happened when a Cybertronian was in deep distress.

   Bumblebee beeped, trying to get Twitch’s attention. She glanced at him, the Energon getting thicker, then away.

   “I’m sorry,” Twitch sobbed. “I’m sorry, Optimus!”

   Bumblebee hugged Twitch closer, then realized she’d said. Plus, she was actually looking at Optimus while she spewed apologies.

   “You don’t… have to apologize for anything, Twitch,” Optimus said quietly.

   Twitch frantically shook her helm. She started to reach toward Optimus, then jerked back against Bumblebee.

   “She tried to protect us!” Twitch sobbed. “She tried! But I wasn’t fast enough and Thrash, he-” Twitch made a sound like a hiccup, then whimpered, “I’m sorry!”

   “Twitch…”

   Optimus put out his servos. Bumblebee started to shield Twitch, only for her to lurch forward and clumsily scramble onto Optimus’ servos. She clutched Optimus’ digit, shivering.

   Bumblebee stared at his empty servos, a little caught off-guard for her to go so willingly to Optimus for comfort when she’d barely looked at him for three days. Then he shook himself; there were bigger things to worry about.

   “She tried! She taught us so much!” Twitch continued through her tears. “She tried!”

   “Who, Twitch?” Optimus murmured.

   Twitch hiccuped again, then burst out, “Elita!”

   Everyone froze as the name echoed through the room. 

   Elita? Elita-1? The same Elita who’d been missing for five years? The same Elita everyone assumed was dead, but had never dared to say it out loud?

   Okay, Bumblebee knew of only one Elita, but still!

   “What…” Optimus said slowly, “Do you mean… Twitch, do you know where Elita is?”

   “She-” Twitch shuddered. “She’s gone . She did everything to protect us, but- I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry!”

   Optimus’ optics slid shut and his whole frame drooped. Bumblebee reached tentatively out, unsure if he should try to help Optimus or Twitch. He looked at Ratchet, who…

   Ratchet was leaning against his desk. His optics were dim and his servos hung limply open. He looked more tired and worn than Bumblebee had ever seen.

   “Optimus?” came Arcee’s voice.

   Bumblebee looked over. He wasn’t surprised to see Arcee awake, though Bulkhead had somehow returned unnoticed.

   “She tried,” Twitch cried, helm lowering. “She tried so hard to protect us since the day we were born.”

   Optimus’ optics snapped open and Ratchet straightened. Twitch froze, words breaking off with a squeak at their sudden movements. Bumblebee had a long moment of confusion before it hit him.

    Was Twitch Optimus and Elita’s sparkling?!

   And… wait, Twitch had said “we.” Did she have a sibling?

   Bumblebee didn’t have any way to ask, not that Twitch seemed likely to hear or answer him. She slumped further and further down, still rapidly apologizing.

   “No more apologies,” Optimus said, his voice heavy. Twitch looked at him, intake opening. “No more, Twitch. I’m sure you did everything you could.”

   “It wasn’t enough ,” Twitch spat. She trembled harder. “I did everything they taught us, I fought so hard, Thrash fought even harder, but GHOST, they… they surrounded the farm. Not even Red Alert saw them coming, I don’t think. All I remember is Mom waking us up and telling Thrash and me to take Robby and Mo and to run, but everywhere we turned, there were GHOST agents, then Dad was telling me to fly away.”

   Bumblebee exchanged a confused look with Arcee. Oblivious to her audience’s confusion, Twitch went on, her voice quickening. 

   “But I couldn’t! Not when Elita and Mom and Red Alert and Prowl were fighting so hard, and I could only carry Robby and maybe Mo, I couldn’t leave Thrash behind, I couldn’t! And I couldn’t leave Mom and Dad!”

   “T-Twitch,” Optimus stammered, “Who… who are your parents?”

   Twitch stared at her servos. “Dot and Alex Malto.”

   Silence fell once again, everyone trying to process the deluge of data. Then Ratchet spun back to his computer.

   “Dot Malto, as in Officer Malto, as in Red Alert’s human friend,” Ratchet said. “She left the Transformer war years ago after sustaining severe injuries and retired to Pennsylvania… I’m contacting Agent Fowler.”

   “I saw them,” Twitch said. Energon was still spilling down her cheeks as she spoke, her voice devoid of life. “I heard GHOST agents say they couldn’t contain the Cybertronians… and they couldn’t leave any witnesses.”

   “Twitch,” Optimus said softly.

   Twitch turned her Energon-streaked faceplate toward Optimus. “I saw them all die. I’m the only one who survived. I should’ve died, but they took me instead. Because I was the weakest of us all.”

   An hour later, everyone was sitting in silence. Twitch, drained from her tears and explanation, had fallen asleep, still cradled in Optimus’ servos. Optimus hadn’t moved a piston since then, and Bumblebee remained at his side. Arcee and Bulkhead had spent the last half hour staring at Ratchet as he began pouring over whatever Fowler had sent him.

   Eventually, Ratchet turned from his computer and began filling in the gaps.

   “Officer Malto left the army five years ago after losing her leg in combat. Red Alert continued to fight, but went missing four years ago.”

   Everyone nodded. Bumblebee hadn’t been present for the fight, but had heard about how a dozen Autobot fighters had been scattered and only five had returned to base. The rest had been presumed dead.

   “There remained some contact between Officer Malto and the military until she cut contact almost two years ago. Everything else we know about her, Fowler retrieved from the local authorities.”

   “One year ago,” Ratchet continued, “The Malto family farm burned down. The entire family seemingly perished in the blaze. The locals didn’t believe the fire was caused by the Malto family because Officer Malto had become a forest ranger and the entire family was very careful with fires. Local police investigated briefly before declaring the Malto family at fault for the fire. Any objections were ignored or… stopped.”

   “By GHOST,” Arcee said.

   “Most likely,” Ratchet said. “And that must have been when Twitch was taken by GHOST.”

   Bumblebee drew back slightly, doorwings flaring in horror. Twitch had spent most of her life as a prisoner of GHOST. No wonder she was so scared!

   Optimus rubbed a digit across Twitch’s helm. “Ratchet, what are the chances that anyone survived?”

   “I think Twitch has already answered that question.”

   Ratchet’s statement would have been a little too harsh if his voice hadn’t sounded so weary. 

   Bumblebee woke up surrounded. He blinked as he looked around, wondering when exactly he’d ended up on the floor, tucked under Optimus’ arm. Optimus’ helm was tilted to the side, optics closed. Twitch was curled in Optimus’ servo that was resting halfway on his own legs, halfway on Bumblebee’s. Bulkhead was slumped heavily on Bumblebee’s other side and Arcee sat with her back strut against Optimus’ other side.

   The only bot not in the pile was Ratchet, who sat a little off to the side, his optics still open. Keeping watch.

   When he saw Bumblebee awake, Ratchet stood up. The clattering of his pedes made Arcee stir awake. Optimus started to shift. Bumblebee slid down a little, scowling at Bulkhead, who hadn’t roused and was sliding further onto Bumblebee. It took several kicks for Bulkhead to wake up enough to sit up. Bumblebee shuffled upright again and looked at Optimus. 

   Optimus was awake, but he hadn’t moved aside from moving Twitch out of the way of Bumblebee’s squirming. When he caught Bumblebee’s optic, he silently held out the servo holding Twitch. Bumblebee gently took Twitch, then they both stood. Optimus looked like he was going to say something, then he stopped himself. 

   “Hello!”

   Miko’s sudden yell made everyone jump. Miko, entering the Silo along one of the walkways with Jack and Raf, smiled and looked at everyone. 

   “Why’s everyone so serious?” Miko asked. “Who died?”

   Everyone looked at Optimus when he abruptly turned and left the Silo. Arcee and Ratchet scowled at Miko.

   “That was a little uncalled for,” Arcee snapped.

   “What? It was just a joke!” Miko said. Her eyes widened. “Wait, did someone die?”

   Bumblebee turned and went into the rec room while Bulkhead started to explain what had happened during the night. He didn’t want Twitch to get woken up, not when she’d spent half the night awake. Though Bumblebee was surprised she hadn’t woken up as soon as everyone else did; Twitch usually did.

   Bumblebee looked at Twitch in his servos. Twitch usually slept tightly curled up and holding onto something, usually one of Bumblebee’s digits or one of her wingblades if she was especially tense, but this morning she was completely limp. And she hadn’t responded to being moved…

    “Ratchet!” Bumblebee blared, racing back into the main room.

   Still Twitch didn’t react.

   Ratchet looked sharply over, then snatched his scanner. Without needing an explanation, Ratchet scanned Twitch.

   “Of course her fuel’s low, she was crying Energon last night,” Ratchet said, grabbing some more Energon. “Bumblebee, turn her over and try to get her intake open.”

   “Transformers cry Energon?” Raf asked, leaning over the railing.

   “Very rarely,” Ratchet said. 

    “What about what Optimus said about sparklings and Energon?” Bumblebee asked while he delicately got Twitch rolled over.

   “I’ve been checking my databases all night,” Ratchet said. “There’s nothing in there about sparklings.”

   “How can you have no information on sparklings?” Jack asked. 

   “Yes, but no sparklings have been born for millenia. Information on sparklings wasn’t my priority,” Ratchet said, his dentas grinding. “Besides, the necessary information would’ve been kept in the care centers on Cybertron. Sparklings never left the care centers until they were old enough. There was no reason to take the information elsewhere.”

   Everyone couldn’t help but look at the resident sparkling.

   “Was she born on Earth?” Arcee asked. “And why was she calling two humans her parents.”

   “Everything about Twitch is unprecedented,” Ratchet said, breaking off the questions. “Bumblebee, Energon might not be the best option for Twitch, but it’s all we’ve got. Get her intake open.”

   When Twitch opened her optics half an hour later, Bumblebee kept his excitement to a low whoop with effort, not wanting to scare her. She blinked at him, then sat up.

   Bumblebee watched her nervously. Ratchet had run a lot of scans while she’d been off-line, and he’d confirmed that Twitch’s systems weren’t properly processing the Energon. It worked passably, but Ratchet couldn’t figure out if it was because Twitch’s tanks weren’t fully developed or if she had some sort of damage he hadn’t found yet. Whatever it was, Ratchet had told Bumblebee to just do his best to keep Twitch calm and resting.

   “Where’s Optimus?” Twitch asked.

    “Outside,” Bumblebee beeped.

   Twitch gave him a blank look. Bumblebee smiled apologetically, then turned and left the rec room. Everyone -including Optimus- looked over with visible relief when they saw Twitch sitting up.

   Twitch and Optimus stared at each other for a long moment, then Twitch looked away. Optimus’ optical ridges furrowed, but he didn’t say anything. Bumblebee wondered if he should try to find a way for the two of them to have a private moment…

   “Arcee,” Optimus said, moving toward the exit, “Come on, it’s time for a patrol.”

   “Aw, come on, Prime, it’s still early,” Arcee said, a little dramatically in Bumblebee’s opinion.

   “It’s not that early,” Optimus argued.

   Twitch leaned on Bumblebee’s digits as she asked, “What’s a Prime?”

   Bumblebee wasn’t entirely sure what happened next. Optimus either tripped over his own pedes somehow or he turned his helm while forgetting to stop. Either way, he walked straight into the doorway with an impressive clang that everyone barely acknowledged.

   Twitch shrunk under everyone’s gazes. Even Ratchet had turned away from his computer.

   “What?” Twitch asked defensively.

   “What do you mean ‘what’s a Prime’?” Arcee asked.

   Twitch looked from Arcee to Optimus, then back. “Prime’s his last name?”

   Every Cybertronian’s intake was hanging silently open by then. The kids looked amused.

   “It’s more like a title,” Raf offered, “Of a leader of the Transformers.”

   Twitch’s optics darted to Optimus, then back to Raf. She squeaked out, “Oh.”

   Bumblebee patted Twitch’s helm. Even if he’d been able to talk to her, he really didn’t know what he would have said.

   Then, Optimus laughed. 

   Everyone’s optics shot over to him. Shaking his helm, Optimus chuckled.

   “Elita never was fond of titles,” Optimus said.

   Twitch gave him a hesitant smile.

   “...I’ll bite, what’s she looking at?” Miko asked.

   Bumblebee shrugged. Twitch was sprawled on a walkway at helm height, optics fixed on something above her. When she’d first settled down, Bumblebee had thought she was going to fall asleep, but her optics remained open and occasionally darted as if she was watching something. But no matter how much Bumblebee looked, he couldn’t see anything.

   Twitch rolled her helm toward the pair. “You don’t see it?”

   Bumblebee shook his helm. Twitch lifted a servo to point.

   “See, there it goes!” Twitch said.

   Bumblebee and Miko looked up, but Bumblebee didn’t see anything. He kept staring into the rafters until Twitch gave a low exclamation. This time, Bumblebee saw something move in the shadows. He frowned.

    “It’s just a chickadee,” Twitch said. She sat up. “It’s been flying around for awhile… I think it’s stuck in here. I’ll be back.”

   With no further warning, Twitch flew up. Bumblebee watched as she gently caught the plump bird in her servos, then flew out to the entrance. Halting just at the entrance, Twitch opened her servos and the bird flew away. 

   Twitch, Bumblebee, and Miko stood at the entrance for a minute. Twitch looked oddly solemn.

   "What's wrong, Twitch?" Miko asked.

   "Nothing should ever be trapped away from the sky," Twitch said lowly, then flew back inside.

   The first time Bumblebee left the Silo since Twitch had arrived, there wasn’t any helping it. Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead, and the kids had gotten ambushed by Decepticons and needed back-up. 

   But Bumblebee couldn’t leave Twitch alone with Ratchet. She was still skittish with Arcee and Bulkhead, and even the kids half the time. She had yet to really speak to or hang around Ratchet, keeping a wary distance from the medic, no matter how clearly he showed her that he’d never do anything to her without her permission.

   Finally, though, Bumblebee had to go to the fight. Ratchet had offered to go, but if anything happened to him, the Autobots were scrapped. 

   Bumblebee left Twitch asleep in the rafters, hoping to be back before she woke up. And if not, she tended to stay in the rafters half the time, anyway. She’d be fine for a little bit, surely.

   If the Autobots noticed that Bumblebee was a little more ruthless than normal, well, nobody commented as they sent the Decepticons running and headed back to the Silo. The fight had dragged on longer than Bumblebee would have liked, but he remained optimistic since Ratchet hadn’t called about any Twitch related emergencies. 

   Then Bumblebee entered the Silo to find Twitch, covered in Energon, limp in Ratchet’s servos.

   Bumblebee barely registered crossing the room. While his digits curled gently around Twitch’s frame, the rest of him was ramming into Ratchet. The medic staggered backward, nearly falling, and Bumblebee retreated with Twitch held to his chassis. She was overheated and rattling roughly, Energon still spilling from her intake.

    “What. Did. You. Do?” Bumblebee asked, his words more of a sharp hiss than anything.

   “What did I- nothing, Bumblebee, nothing!” Ratchet exclaimed, hauling himself upright. “She started purging half an hour ago and just now stopped, and only because I suspect her tanks are empty.”

    “Why?” Bumblebee asked sharply.

   “I don’t know!” Ratchet snapped, optics wide and… and his servos were shaking. He repeated in nearly a whisper, “I don’t know what’s wrong with her, Bumblebee.”

   Bumblebee stepped back. He looked at the minibot in his servos, feeling unsteady.

   “I thought Twitch was getting better,” Raf said in a small voice.

   “She hasn’t,” Ratchet said, his voice rough and low. “She’s been stable, but she hasn’t been getting stronger. She’s barely been processing the Energon, and I suspect her systems have fully rejected it now.”

   A moment of silence was broken when Twitch shuddered and gagged, then a thin stream of Energon spurted from her intake. Bumblebee sat heavily, staring down at his tiny charge.

   Dim yellow optics met his. Bumblebee’s spark ached at the lubricant trailing a line through the Energon smeared on Twitch’s faceplate. Her servos and pedes twitched.

    “What can we do?” Bumblebee asked Ratchet desperately.

   Ratchet silently met his gaze, then lowered his helm.

   Then Twitch sat up.

   Bumblebee recoiled so badly he nearly dropped Twitch. While he hurriedly cradled Twitch more securely, Twitch didn’t react. Her optics were still dim as she turned her helm toward the Silo’s exit. She tried to stand, but slipped and fell back down. Bumblebee cautiously put a digit on her shoulder, trying to keep her still when she started squirming. She gave a low, distressed sound.

   With no better ideas, Bumblebee headed outside. Twitch settled as he did, but Bumblebee couldn’t feel any relief, not with her silent and staring.

   Bumblebee stopped outside. Twitch shifted to the left, so Bumblebee started walking that way. He heard the others following, but ignored them for the moment to focus on Twitch.

   After a mile of following Twitch’s gaze, Bumblebee stopped. Twitch started to stand again. Bumblebee tried to hold her still, not wanting her to fall. He still had a small, desperate hope that if Twitch would just lay still, maybe if she ate more Energon, maybe this time…

   Rotors buzzed to life. Bumblebee didn’t react in time, and the next thing he knew, Twitch had flown off!

    “Twitch!” 

   Bumblebee ran after the red-and-gold blur. She was moving faster than Bumblebee had thought possible for her condition, but not so fast that Bumblebee lost sight of her as she weaved through the trees.

    “Stop, Twitch!”

    If Twitch heard Bumblebee, she didn’t react. Bumblebee tried to grab her, only for one of Twitch’s servos to form into a blaster. Bumblebee barely yanked his servo out of the way of getting shot. He stared at Twitch, dismayed, as she flew on. He glanced at the Autobots and kids following him, then ran after Twitch.

   “Where’s she going?” Jack eventually asked after another mile.

   “She’s in starvation mode,” Ratchet said slowly. “The only thing in her processor right now is to find food… but there isn’t any for her to find here.”

   “So she’s going to keep looking until…” Miko trailed off.

   Bumblebee’s processor didn’t want to finish the thought, either, but he knew. They all knew the truth now.

   Twitch was dying. 

   Lubricant spilled from Bumblebee’s optics. He angrily blinked his optics clear, not wanting to lose sight of Twitch.

   Twitch entered a clearing and hesitated. Hovering, Twitch weaved back-and-forth. Her optics ran over the ground.

   Bumblebee stepped slowly closer, raising his servos. He expected Twitch to fall at any second. Fall, and her engines would run slower and slower until…

   Twitch gave a weird sort of hiccuping sound, then abruptly shot off. Bumblebee and the others had to run to keep her in sight.

   They came suddenly to a cliff face, and Twitch didn’t hesitate to dive into an opening in the rock. Bumblebee ran after her. The light on Twitch’s chassis flickered on, dimly lighting a path that steadily wound downward. Bumblebee thought they must have been half a mile underground when he noticed a purple glow ahead. Twitch’s light stuttered off, yet she sped up. Bumblebee charged after her, bursting into a chamber just behind her. He ground to a halt in shock.

   An immense lake of a glowing purple substance lay before him. He’d never seen anything like it before, and Bumblebee was so distracted that he nearly missed when Twitch, without slowing, dove into the liquid.

    “TWITCH!”

   Bumblebee’s blare echoed through the chamber. He heard the others enter as he jumped into the lake after Twitch.

   The lake wasn’t nearly as deep as Bumblebee had thought, only reaching halfway up Bumblebee’s knees. But it was slick, and Bumblebee slipped and fell onto his chassis. Purple liquid briefly obscured his vision. He sat up and wiped his optics, spitting out the strange liquid that had gotten into his intake.

   Bumblebee forgot everything when he saw a dull yellow glow nearby. He scooped up Twitch and sat down, staring at her.

   Twitch’s optics were completely dark. Her rotors had gone still and her engine was silent. 

    “No…” Bumblebee cradled Twitch’s limp form. “I’m sorry, Twitch…”

   “Bumblebee!”

   Bumblebee turned toward Ratchet’s yell. The medic had his scanner out and he was perched on the very edge of the lake.

   “I don’t know what this is; get out!”

   Bumblebee numbly staggered to his pedes. For the moment, he didn’t care about what the liquid was or might do to him.

   And yet… why had Twitch sought out this cave? Why had she dived into the liquid without hesitation? In starvation mode, bots had a singular thought and it was to… find…

   Bumblebee looked back down at Twitch. Ignoring Ratchet’s repeated orders to leave the lake, Bumblebee slowly knelt and lowered his servos until all but Twitch’s helm was submerged in the liquid.

   “Bumblebee, what are you doing?” Optimus asked, looking about to go after Bumblebee himself.

    “Twitch was looking for this,” Bumblebee said.

   “She was looking for this?” Raf repeated. “What is it?”

   Ratchet was about to respond, but all movement ceased when Twitch’s optics flared to life and she sat bolt upright with whoop.

   “What happened? Where are we?” Twitch asked. Before anyone could respond, she looked down and scooped some of the liquid into her intake. She grinned at Bumblebee. “Where’d you find this? It tastes great! I forgot how good this stuff tastes, not like that Energon, sorry, Bumblebee, but that Energon’s awful. You should try this!”

   Bumblebee shook his helm. His brief, accidental taste had been enough for him.

   “Your loss, more for me!” Twitch laughed, then shot into the air.

   “Twitch!” almost everyone yelled.

   Twitch jumped and spun around. “Oh, what’s everyone doing here? And where is here, anyway? Anyone know what this stuff is? Elita thought it was a kind of Energon, but Prowl always said it wasn’t. Red Alert and Mom thought it was just hopeful thinking on Elita’s part that Energon could start flowing on Earth, but, hey, anything’s possible, right?”

   Bumblebee wasn’t sure if it was shock from Twitch reviving or her new rapid-fire speech, but nobody answered. Not that Twitch seemed too concerned as she flew three quick loops of the cave.

   Finally, Bumblebee held up his servos. Twitch thankfully caught on and stopped to hover near him, her grin so wide it nearly split her faceplate. Bumblebee found himself grinning back.

   Ratchet’s optics flicked from Twitch to the glowing pool. Shaking his helm, he put the scanner away.

   Twitch shot around to face him, and everyone stiffened. Twitch stared hard at Ratchet, then shook her helm with a distressed look.

   “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Ratchet, it’s not you, I know not all medics are awful,” Twitch babbled, twisting her servos together. “First Aid was great, he was always so careful and gentle, and-and he refused to do Mandroid’s tests and did his best to comfort us, he tried so hard to help Thrash, b-but it’s not his fault, nobody knew what was up with Thrash’s and my Energon, and he couldn’t make it, he tried, he really did, but when Thrash- when it didn’t work, Silas had him sent away.”

   As Twitch’s speech became faster, Bumblebee tried to get her attention, but she didn’t seem to hear him. He reached up, but was hesitant to grab her and possibly send her into a panic. He looked helplessly at Ratchet.

   “And it- it’s just because Oilslick would- would-” Twitch stammered on, her venting getting louder, her twisting servos almost frantic. “He figured out an Energon f-for me, sort of, but he did Mandroid’s tests and he didn’t care, he didn’t- fighting him just made things worse , but I can’t help it, he was helping Mandroid a-and Silas, and he-he scared me and I-I-”

   Twitch gave a full-body shudder and her rotors abruptly shut off. She landed right in Bumblebee’s arms, startling him, but Bumblebee quickly steadied her.

   Ratchet started forward, then stopped himself with an anguished expression on his faceplate. 

   “I’m sorry,” Twitch whimpered. 

   “Don’t apologize,” Ratchet murmured, quieter than Bumblebee had ever heard him speak. “Bumblebee, Twitch shouldn’t be in any danger now that she’s eaten. I’ll be at the Silo.”

   Ratchet left. Twitch gave another shudder. She was venting hot against Bumblebee’s servos, digits clenching and unclenching and turbines twitching.

   “It’s not his fault,” Twitch whispered.

   Bumblebee held Twitch closer in an attempt to comfort her as he left the pool. Optimus waved for Arcee, Bulkhead, and the kids to follow Ratchet, then he and Bumblebee sat against the wall.

   Gradually, Twitch began to cool down and her twitching slowed. Just when Bumblebee thought she was calm again, Twitch made a sound very much like a hiccup, followed by a sobbing cry. Lubricant spilled from her optics.

   Bumblebee gently ran a digit down her back while he shot Optimus a dismayed look. Last time Twitch had started crying…

   “Wait,” Optimus murmured, “I’ve seen humans do this…”

   Bumblebee raised an optical ridge, but trusted Optimus’ opinion. He waited anxiously while Twitch sobbed, alert for any signs of Energon spilling from her optics.

   Minutes ticked by. No Energon appeared, thankfully, and Twitch’s tears gradually slowed. As they did, Twitch’s frame stilled. Soon, the tears had stopped and Twitch had apparently fallen asleep in his servos.

   Bumblebee threw a worried look at Optimus.

   “I think she’ll be okay,” Optimus murmured, lightly touching Twitch’s helm. “I’ve seen humans cry like that when they’re very distressed. It helps them, somehow.”

   Bumblebee again raised an optical ridge, unable to ask how that applied to a Cybertronian.

   “She was raised, however briefly, by humans,” Optimus explained. “It’s possible she picked up some of their habits. Plus… I suspect she was born on Earth. That may have something to do with it, as well.”

   Bumblebee blinked, then looked at Twitch. How could a Cybertronian be born on Earth?

   As if he could read Bumblebee’s thoughts -or, more likely, he had the same question- Optimus said, “When she is rested… we should see if Twitch is able to explain how and where she was born.”

   It was several hours before Twitch woke up. Though she might’ve been awake for longer, since Bumblebee only noticed when he glanced down and saw Twitch’s optics were open. Her expression was more relaxed, so Bumblebee and Optimus waited silently.

   “Thrash and I were born in a cave like this,” Twitch said after a moment. “It was so pretty that I didn’t want to leave at first, but Mo and Robby convinced us to go to the farm with them. We almost went to town the next day.” Twitch snickered. “Red Alert freaked out when he saw us on the road, because Robby was the only one trying to keep us hidden and the rest of us weren’t listening to him.”

   Twitch looked lost in thought for a long moment, then looked at Optimus. “Elita told me that if I ever saw you and she wasn’t… here… she said to tell you the Emberstone’s on Earth.”

   Optimus’ optics slowly widened. “The Emberstone? That’s… that’s been missing since the Age of Primes. Many Cybertronians think it’s a myth.”

   “It’s not; we all saw it,” Twitch said. “It’s how Thrash and I were born…”

   Twitch lifted her servos and stared at them. 

   “We were… bonded… bonded to Robby and Mo. They and the Emberstone gave us life. Thrash and I could feel them and they… they could feel us.” Twitch dropped her servos against her chassis, her expression oddly serene. “I… I can still feel them now.”

   Bumblebee… understood none of that. Optimus didn’t look any less confused.

   Twitch abruptly sat up and rose into the air. “And they wouldn’t want me to just sit around moping, not when I found the Autobots! Or, you found me.”

   Twitch grinned cheerfully. Bumblebee smiled back. He knew it wouldn’t be that easy for Twitch to recover from the deaths of her family, but at least she was talking and moving now.

   “So!” Twitch exclaimed, flying in a rapid loop, “I want to see everything!”

   “There isn’t much to see besides the Silo,” Optimus said.

   “If that’s true, where are you always going?” Twitch asked. “You always say you’re patrolling, but where? And why? And why can’t I go, too?”

   “We’re looking out for Decepticons,” Optimus said. “That’s no place a sparkling should be.”

   Twitch made an unconvinced noise. “I’ve already been to places sparklings shouldn’t be.”

   There was a beat of horrified silence.

   “Too soon?” Twitch asked.

    “A little,” Bumblebee beeped.

   Twitch shrugged at Bumblebee’s concerned look. “Well, it’s true. Can we go to the Silo now? I’m not hungry now, and I won’t be for another week, if I’m remembering correctly. It’s been awhile since I had real Energon… or whatever this is.”

   Despite her statement, Bumblebee still took an empty case from his storage and scooped up some of the liquid. He suspected Ratchet would want to run tests on the liquid, anyway.

   “Come on, come on, let’s go!” Twitch chirped, flying impatient circles around Bumblebee’s helm. 

   Bumblebee smiled and gestured for Twitch to lead the way. She shot out of the cave, flying so quickly she kept doubling back to urge Bumblebee and Optimus to speed up. They all reached the entrance together, and Twitch finally stopped.

   “It’s huge out here!” Twitch proclaimed dramatically.

   Twitch shot skyward. Bumblebee’s honk of alarm did nothing to stop her, and it wasn’t long before she disappeared among the branches.

   Half a minute of tense silence later, Bumblebee heard Twitch’s rotors seconds before she rejoined them with a sheepish grin.

   “Sorry, I forgot how good it feels to fly,” Twitch said.

   Bumblebee thought that was a very wrong statement for an aerialbot to make, but Twitch kept chattering. 

   “The Silo is good for flying, but there’s all the rafters and walkways to avoid. Could be worse, though, after all, I lived in a barn for a bit, too. Red Alert had dug out a surveillance post under the barn, but it wasn’t that big and he had a bunch of equipment he built in there. There were plans to make it bigger, but, well.”

   Twitch was quiet for a moment, then looked at Bumblebee. “Also, I don’t know where the Silo is from here. Lead on!”

   Though baffled -and honestly a little concerned about how quickly Twitch had changed the topic- Bumblebee started in the direction of the Silo.

   Shortly after, Twitch was flying among the rafters of the Silo’s rec room. The kids were watching her, cheering when she made a particularly sharp turn or a series of loops.

   Since Twitch was more relaxed and talkative with the kids since she’d first arrived, Bumblebee left the rec room. In the main room, everyone was gathered around Ratchet while Optimus wrapped up explaining the very concerns on Bumblebee’s processor.

   “If she didn’t keep casually referring to her time with GHOST, I’d wonder if her memory core was damaged,” Optimus finished.

   “She’s not forgetting anything, she’s trying to figure out how she feels about everything that happened,” Ratchet said.

   “Besides badly?” Arcee asked.

   “She’s coping in her own way.” Ratchet raised a servo before anyone could protest. “I’m not saying it’s the healthiest way, but give her some time. She’s suddenly feeling well enough and maybe safe enough to process a massive amount of trauma for someone so young. Bumblebee, Optimus, I’m sure she’ll come to you to talk at some point, but for now, leave her be as long as she’s not doing anything to actively harm herself.”

   “That’s a possibility?” Optimus asked worriedly.

   “Twitch is a sparkling who was born on Earth,” Ratchet said, sounding tired. “Optimus, literally anything is possible with her.”

   Everyone found out how true that was the next morning.

   “What do you mean you don’t sleep?” Optimus asked as Twitch performed barrel rolls over his helm. 

   “Just that! I don’t sleep!” Twitch pulled up in a stop to correct herself. “Normally I don’t. Not as often as Cybertronians do. Or maybe adults. Nobody was totally sure if it’s a sparkling thing or a Terran thing.”

   “Terran?” Optimus repeated.

   Twitch grinned. “It’s what Elita started calling us, and it stuck. Because we were born on Earth!”

   “I see,” Optimus said.

   Bumblebee raised an optical ridge, wondering how long it would take Optimus to retrieve a datapad and start taking notes. 

   “But Thrash and I slept, I don’t know, once a week or two.”

   “What did you do all night?” Optimus asked for everyone present.

   Bumblebee had assumed that Twitch had gone to sleep, since she’d settled down when everyone else did. Though she still didn’t want her own berth, choosing instead to curl up with Bumblebee.

   When he’d woken up to see Twitch flying around the rafters, Bumblebee had assumed Twitch had been having nightmares. But Twitch had broken that assumption and given everyone questions when she’d declared that she’d forgotten how long adults needed to sleep.

   And now here they were, somehow with even more questions.

   “I spent a lot of time flying around and watching the cameras. I didn’t step a pede outside!” Twitch said, raising a servo like she was swearing an oath. “But it was kind of boring. I know every part of the rafters now!”

   Humming cheerfully, Twitch flew back among the rafters. Watching her, Bumblebee had the suspicion that they were going to have their servos full keeping her entertained.

   “Are you sure I can’t go on patrol with you?” Twitch asked a moment later. “I’ll be careful!”

   “For now, it’s probably best that the Decepticons don’t know you’re here,” Optimus pointed out. 

   “Why not? I can fight,” Twitch said, landing on Bumblebee’s shoulder with a pout.

   “They’d still target you because of your size,” Optimus explained. “And they have more experience than you do, no matter how brave you are.”

   Twitch still looked put out, but didn’t argue further. 

   Bumblebee happily spent the morning with Twitch draped across his shoulder plates, asking questions and apparently not concerned in the slightest that she couldn’t understand him. She nodded along so seriously that Bumblebee almost believed that she could. 

   He half believed it up until the time Twitch pleaded to see Bumblebee’s alt mode. He happily showed her, and Twitch was so delighted it was as though she’d never seen a car before.

   “Dad was your biggest fan, you know?” Twitch said suddenly. “He had a bunch of clips from the TV from some of your fights, and he was always showing us kids. Mom liked to say that she’d use her contacts so you two could meet.”

   Bumblebee transformed back into root mode and looked at Twitch. She met his gaze, then looked away.

    “What’s your alt mode?” Bumblebee beeped, not wanting her to get sad again.

   “Mom did have contacts, lots of them!” Twitch said with a laugh, absolutely not understanding Bumblebee. “She just didn’t use them all that often because the fewer people and bots who knew about us Terrans, the better.” Twitch suddenly pouted. “That’s exactly what Optimus said earlier about keeping me hidden. I guess he’s got a point.”

    “Because he agrees with your mom?” Bumblebee teased.

   “Really, Bumblebee, I expected you to agree with Optimus,” Twitch said with a grin.

   “Hold on,” Arcee piped up from nearby. “You really understand Bumblebee?”

   “Duh,” Twitch said, winking at Bumblebee, who had to work hard to not laugh.

   Arcee looked suspiciously between them. 

   “What’s your alt mode?” Twitch asked.

   “You’ve seen it before,” Arcee said, unwilling to be distracted.

   “But I want to see it again!”

   At Twitch’s persistence, Arcee finally transformed. Twitch moved onto Bulkhead, who transformed without protest. Grinning at her success, Twitch shot over to Optimus.

   Bumblebee glanced at Ratchet, who was at his station and very clearly ignoring everyone. Bumblebee wondered if Ratchet would be pulled into showing off his alt mode. He rarely did it for show, but something told Bumblebee that he’d transform if Twitch asked.

   “Optimus, I want to see your alt mode,” Twitch said.

   “You do?” Optimus asked, sounding amused. “What about your alt mode, little one?”

   “I can’t show you,” Twitch said.

   “Why the secret?” Optimus asked.

   Twitch looked down and fiddled with her digits. “It’s not a secret. I just can’t.”

   “Do you not have an alt mode?” Optimus asked gently.

   Twitch shook her helm. “It hurts when I transform.”

   Ratchet went rigid and Twitch flinched. 

   Optimus looked between them before gently asking, “Did something happen to your T-cog?”

   “I don’t want to talk about it,” Twitch said. “Optimus, can I go look for birds as long as I stay in the Silo’s entrance?”

   “I… yes, go ahead,” Optimus said, reluctantly dropping the T-cog subject.

   “Thanks!” Twitch chirped, shooting off.

   The Autobots stood in silence for a moment. 

    “We can’t ignore that,” Bumblebee eventually said.

   “We will for now,” Ratchet said.

    “But-”

   “Bumblebee,” Ratchet said sharply, turning from his station, “If Twitch’s T-cog is really damaged, the only way to fix it would be to remove it, and do you really think she’s going to let me work on her T-cog? So yes, we’re going to ignore it for now.”

   Ratchet slammed his datapad down on his station and walked away.

   Twitch loved birds. If she wasn’t asking Optimus questions about the Autobots or remiscing about her family to Bumblebee, she was usually perched right outside the Silo. Birdwatching was one of the few times Twitch was ever still and she would shush anyone who tried talking to her while she was birdwatching.

   Twitch knew a lot of different types of birds, and when she spotted a bird she didn’t recognize, she would get Bumblebee and Raf help her figure out what type it was. Bumblebee soon found himself with what felt like way too much bird knowledge, but he didn’t mind since it made Twitch so happy.

   Gradually, as Twitch settled in more, more of the Autobots started getting her bird lectures. Even Ratchet was included, and Bumblebee thought he’d never seen the medic so happy as the day he got a half-hour explanation on the habits of chickadees.

   “Are you sure I can’t come?” Twitch asked Optimus one day as he headed out on patrol with Bulkhead.

   Optimus smiled at the regular -practically expected by now- question. “I’m sure, Twitch. You stay here and see if you can keep Miko from following.”

   “Hey, I’m right here!” exclaimed Miko, who was, in fact, in the process of trying to climb onto Bulkhead’s back where she wouldn’t be immediately visible.

   Optimus gave Miko and Bulkhead an unimpressed look. Twitch giggled as Optimus shooed Miko off of Bulkhead. Bumblebee watched the exchange, amused.

   “How long before I grow big enough to join a patrol?” Twitch asked.

   “Minibots don’t grow much,” Arcee said.

   Twitch pouted. “Then when will I be old enough?”

   “Give it a couple thousand years,” Optimus said.

   Twitch blew a raspberry -another human quirk Bumblebee was blaming on two human “siblings”- and changed the topic. “I’m almost out of my Energon. Can Bumblebee and I go get some more?”

   Optimus hesitated, then nodded. Twitch excitedly spun in a circle.

   “If I can’t go with Bulkhead, then I’ll go with you,” Miko said. 

   “Fine,” Optimus said.

   Twitch grinned brightly. “You sound like a dad again.”

   “I do not! ” Optimus protested.

    “He does,” Bumblebee beeped, agreeing with the assessment Twitch liked to make on occasion.

   Optimus shot him and Twitch a playfully annoyed look. “Just stay out of trouble.”

   “You’re a dad!” Twitch laughed, shooting into the rafters.

   Bumblebee didn’t miss the wistful look that flashed across Optimus’ faceplate. Until recently, Bumblebee hadn’t wondered what Optimus would be doing if it wasn’t for the war. If Elita was still alive. If they were all safely on Cybertron.

   But seeing how soft Optimus was with Twitch and hearing her call him a dad, Bumblebee couldn’t help but think.

   Retrieving Twitch’s Energon -everyone still called it that, even after Ratchet’s repeated statements that it wasn’t any kind of Energon- took two hours longer than strictly necessary, but when Twitch saw a bird she recognized in a nest and wanted to watch it caring for its babies, Bumblebee didn’t say no. Neither did he protest when Miko convinced Twitch to help her construct a “nest” in one of the trees.

   By the time the trio returned to the Silo, Optimus and Bulkhead were back. Miko bee-lined to Bulkhead to ask about the patrol, and Optimus looked expectantly at Bumblebee.

   “We got distracted,” Twitch admitted cheerfully. She pointed to the container Bumblebee was holding. “But we got my Energon!”

   “It’s not Energon,” Ratchet muttered without turning from his station.

   “It’s that or calling it magic cave water,” Twitch said.

   Ratchet glanced at her with a raised optical ridge and slight smile, though Bumblebee wasn’t sure if if it was because of her comment or because she was actually speaking to him.

   “Magic cave water’s more fun to say,” Twitch said, as she weaved in a thoughtful circle. Then she started hovering to say in a serious voice, “Ratchet, I have a question.”

   Ratchet turned from his computer, giving Twitch his full attention. “Ask away.”

   “Um, after we put away my Energon… um, if it’s okay for Bumblebee to be with me…” Twitch stared at her digits, then slowly raised her helm. “Can you look at my T-cog? A-and maybe fix it?”