Chapter Text
It's been a while since Blades has been to the mainland. The last time he went, he still had his carrier helicopter alt mode and lived on Griffin Rock. But now, in the span of a year, so much has changed. When he's not on Griffin Rock, he leads a team with High Tide and Quickshadow of all bots, AND he changed his alt mode and now he's a fragging attack helicopter! Even if it's been a while since he did that, he's still surprised that he chose to do it, even if it was a ‘spur of the moment’ type of thing.
“You almost there, Blades?” he hears Dani comm in. The Space Bridge ended up breaking while he was visiting Griffin Rock (Blades doesn't know the full story, but he knows it has something to do with Blurr and Quickshadow. When he asked Blurr about it, he just said, ‘Our race got too intense, I guess.’), but he already promised Bee he'd visit him the week prior, so he just decided to fly there. It wasn't too bad. It was about a 30 minute flight at his max speed and a one one-and-a-half hour after his current pace. The only one here who seemed to be worried was Dani.
She's been checking up on him a lot since his flight. Something about, ‘It's your first time flying this long of a distance in your new alt mode and I just want you to be okay.’It can be a lot, and Blades has been wondering if this is what she had to go through for three years with him, but it's also sweet how she worried about him so much.
“I'm almost there, Dani”, he replies. “About another five minutes.”
Blades hears Dani let out a sigh of relief. “That's good. Make sure to keep your comm on in case anything happens. I'd hate for you to get hurt without anyone there to help.”
"There will be an entire team of bots there to help in case things go wrong. Trust me, Dani: I'll be fine.”
“Do you have your emergency energon with you?”
“I never go anywhere without it.”
“What about-”
“Dani, trust me, I'm okay! It's not like I haven't been to the mainland and visited Bee's team before. I'll be okay!”
Dani pauses for a bit before replying. “I know Blades. It's just- I'm just worried, is all.”
Blades smiles to himself on his screen in the helicopter. “I appreciate it Dani. Ha, It's weird having you be worried about me now.”
“Things change, I guess”, she comms in. “You almost there now?”
Blades sees the mainland coming into focus. Where Bumblebee is. He feels jittery at that. “Yup, I can see it up ahead!”
“Whoo hoo!” Dani shouts. “I'll leave you to it, then! Tell me all about your visit when you get back!” she says. Before Blades can hang up, Dani says, “Oh, and don't forget to put on your best self for your honeybee!” She giggles and hangs up before he can react.
Blades lets out an embarrassed, muffled groan. Is this payback for all the times he's teased her about Taylor?
Can she really blame him for being excited though? It's been so long since he's seen Bee! He giggles as he thinks of his handsome face plate and shiny yellow finish. It was silly how giddy he felt from those thoughts, but he couldn't help it.
Though, a part of him wonders if it'll be strange seeing him again after all this time. He really hopes it isn't.
*~*
Blades lands somewhere in the junkyard and transforms into his Cybertronian form. Despite the fact that he's been here once before, he still truly doesn't know where he is in the junkyard, or how anyone even finds anything here.
::Bumblebee?:: he comms. ::I'm here now! I'm somewhere near a bunch of beat up cars?:: He looks around the area. ::Honestly, it feels a bit strange seeing them all like this:: he lightly chuckles.
Bee's response is immediate. ::Great! Man, I’m so glad you're here. We're coming your way!::
“BLADES!!” Before Blades can turn around, he's picked up by a very strong and very enthusiastic Grimlock who excitedly pulls him to a hug. Blades yelps at the sudden contact and at how aggressively Grimlock is handling him before bursting out in a wide smile.
“Grimlock!” he shouted gleefully. “It's good to see you too!”
Grimlock holds him out by his shoulders, similar to how you hold a stray kitten. He looks him up and down, taking in his new alt mode. “Woah, Blades”, he starts. He tilts his head questioningly. “Something about you seems different.”
“I got a new alt mode” he beams. “I'm an attack helicopter now! The Rescue Work I've been doing has started to involve more dangerous threats and sometimes even active attacks, so I thought it would be better if I changed it a bit to match.”
“Ohh okay”, Grim replies, though he seems a little disappointed.
“Is something wrong?” Blades asks. It's definitely not a reaction he would expect. Most people in his life were either excited or shocked when they found out.
“Can you still turn into a dino?” Grimlock asks sheepishly.
Ohhhh.
Blades shifts into his pterodactyl form (struggling a bit since he was squeezed in Grimlock's grasp). He spreads his wings in a sort of ‘tada’ motion.
“Does this answer your question?” he playfully asks.
Grimlock's smile grows brighter. “Woo-hoo! Still not the only dino bot around!” he cheers. He pulls Blades into another hug, and Blades awkwardly adjusts his wings to wrap around Grim's head.
He sees a police SUV roll up and transform, revealing Strongarm. “Blades, sir! It is an honor to see you again!” Her speaking is formal, but she is smiling brightly. “Bumblebee has been looking forward to your visit.”
“Really?” Blades perks up and transforms back into his Cybertronian form. “Where is Bee anyways?”
“With Sideswipe”, Strongarm assures. She rolls her eyes. “He had to lecture him about ‘behaving.’” She lets out an annoyed sigh. “I doubt he'll listen, though.”
As if on queue, Blades hears the loud engine of Sideswipe pulling through. He watches as the red sports car does donuts around him before transforming and standing next to Strongarm. He lets out a whistle as he looks Blades up and down. “Didn’t expect the new form, Blades. Looks good on you!” he grins.
“Sideswipe!” he hears a voice call and a familiar yellow and black camaro drives up, screeching to a halt. He quickly transforms into his Cybertronian form. “Don’t drive away when I’m talking to-” he stops talking when he lays his optics on Blades. His optics trail over his frame and Blades stands perfectly still.
It's been a while since they've seen each other in person. The last time was around a year ago, before he was on his new team, and before he switched his alt mode. Of course, he's told Bee about him being leader and his new alt mode over comms, but, this is the first time he's seeing it. He hopes the silence and staring is a good thing.
“Hi”, Bee starts.
“Hi”, Blades replies.
Bee seems to have shaken himself out of his daze and is smiling widely, his face a bit bluer than it was before. He runs up to him and pulls him into a quick, tight hug, which catches Blades off guard and he lets out a yelp. “It’s so good to see you again!” he voices. He pulls away and is still smiling and their faces are still close. He looks him up and down again. “New alt mode looks good on you!”
Blades beams at that. He leaves Bumblebee’s grasp and does a little twirl. “Thanks! Needed a new look, you know?” He lets his own optics trail over Bee's frame because hey, they don't get to see each other often, and he might as well enjoy it while he can. He's shinier than usual, implying he just buffed recently. He sheepishly bites his lip at the idea of Bee buffing himself because he was excited that he was coming to visit-!
He hears Sideswipe snicker beside Strongarm. “Hey, make sure to pick up your jaws off the floor, you two! And don’t forget to wipe the drool off, too!”
“SIDESWIPE!” Strongarm and Bee both shout. Blades’s face flushes in embarrassment and Strongarm aggressively bumps Sideswipe’s arms. Bee looks embarrassed as well.
“Ow- hey! I’m just trying to move things along!”
What does he mean by that? Move what along?
Strongarm groans loudly and grabs Sideswipe by the arm and starts dragging him away. He lets out shouts of protests, but she isn’t letting go. “Grimlock!” she calls. “Come on! We need to do the uhm- the thing I told you about!”
Grimlock tilts his head and blinks. “What thing?”
Strongarm looks more annoyed. “The thing I told you about!” She just groans and glances between Blades and Bumblebee, then back at Grimlock.
“Ohhh.” Grimlock seems to take the hint that Strongarm is dropping and follows after her. He turns to wave at Bee, who is just standing there, face blue and with an angry and embarrassed expression. Blades definitely feels like something is going on, but he doesn't know if he’ll get a direct answer if he asks. “Good luck, Bee!” he waves. Then, then the three bots, then leaves. Both Bee and Blades stand there in silence for a klik.
“So…” Blades starts. “What was that about-?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it”, Bee replies quickly. He changes the subject. “Anyways- It feels like so much has changed since I last saw you. You're leading a team now, right? How's that going?”
“It's going well actually! I mean- it was intimidating at first, and Quickshadow can still be kind of annoying - but, it's good.” He goes on to give Bee a recap of what has happened in the last year, telling him how he got his alt mode and how the other Rescue Bots are doing. Bee listens intently, commenting on the parts he finds interesting and continuing to ask Blades questions about his various stories. It's… sweet. He isn't used to this level of enthusiasm when he talks this long. He's starting to feel less and less worried about them not being a good fit anymore. It ends with them sitting on the ground on their backs as they both continue talking.
“What about you, Bee?” Blades asks. “What's been up with you?”
“Oh, Primus- so much”, Bee replies. “There's the Decepticons, obviously, but, we blew them up on an island-”
“What?!”
“Yeah, I know! Starscream came back for a bit and I got kidnapped by him? Oh yeah- and me and the rest of Bee Team combined-”
“Woah, Bee, slow down!” Blades interrupts. “You can't just gloss over all this stuff!” He leans over to where he's resting his helm on one arm and looking at Bee. “I need all the details. Seriously, you guys combined? Isn't that something Cybertronians haven't done for ages now?!”
Bee shrugs. “I guess I never thought about how weird it was until I said it out loud”, he chuckles. “Though, after you and the other Rescue Bots came back from stasis, I don't think it's that strange.”
“Tch, you're right”, Blades responds. “I guess anything is possible.”
Bee snickers again. “Yeah, maybe.”
They make optic contact for a bit, and Bee looks away with an embarrassed expression.
“Bee? Are you okay?” Blades asks.
“Yeah- just”, he takes a vent in. “I was just wondering if-”
“BEE!” They both hear a voice shout and they shoot up from their positions. So much for alone time with Bee…
“What is it, Sideswipe?! Is it a Decepticon?” Bee gets up, already in a battle stance. Blades quickly follows suit.
“No- Strongarm's calling me names again!”
Bee groans and smacks his forehead with his servo and lets out an annoyed vent. “Just- I’ll deal with this in a minute.” He turns back to Blades and gives him a soft expression. “Teenagers. You know how they are”, he shakes his head. “I better go deal with them before they rip each other's helms off. Oh, and Blades?”
“Yeah?”
Bee grabs Blades's servo and gently squeezes it, rubbing his thumb on the top of it. He gives him a soft and affectionate look as he says, “I'm really glad you're here.” He then transforms into his alt mode, chasing after Sideswipe.
Blades looks down at his servo, then back up at Bee, feeling completely dumbfounded.
That had to mean something, right? He's not being delusional, right? Of course, it could just be Bee being nice, but he isn't completely innocent; he's had some experience before, and he knows what flirting looks like. Could Bee be into him as well?Most of the time, the thought was just a fantasy. Back then, he would've just considered it one, but since that day on Griffin Rock when they defeated the energon eater and Bumblebee's eyes lingered on him with those half-lidded optics, he's been wondering about the possibility of reciprocation, not helped by some of the things Bumblebee has said on comms before and Bee grabbing his servo and giving him such affectionate looks and checking him out-
Or maybe he just watches too many romance movies.
Still, the idea of his feelings being reciprocated brings a shine to his spark.