Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters in it.

A/N: And here is the sequel to 'Little One'. It's not exactly necessary to have read that story before this one, but some parts would probably make more sense if you did. I hope you enjoy!

Bumblebee remembered when he first asked Optimus when he could begin training. He had been five vorns old and Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had just started their training. He had known that he was a lot younger than the twins, but they were his main playmates and once they started training he hadn't got to play with them as much. Add in the fact that Optimus was gone from base a lot more on missions, he had gotten very lonely. To him, training would be the perfect solution. He had been dismayed when Optimus had immediately shot down his idea, telling him that he was much too young to be anywhere near the training room let alone beginning to train himself. After that he had ran into the room that he shared with his father and hid under his berth for two joors until Optimus pulled him out and carefully explained to him why he didn't want him training yet. Bumblebee had understood and hadn't brought it up again until two vorns ago. Even then Optimus had been reluctant to let him, but after a while he finally caved. Missions had been another thing entirely though. Optimus always sent him on the more simple missions, with the same explanation every time: he was a scout and he was still a youngling. Putting his life at stake was not an option. But now that he was in his current predicament, Bumblebee was sure that he was never going to be sent on another mission again.

It was supposed to be another simple mission. He and the unit he had been assigned to were supposed to keep any Decepticons that strayed into Tyger Pax busy until the AllSpark could be launched into space. Optimus was delaying Megatron's main forces in Simfur, but apparently someone had forgotten to tell that to the Decepticon leader. Things had already gone wrong when they had been captured and the majority of his unit had been tortured and killed for information, but now Megatron himself had arrived and was demanding to know the location of the AllSpark.

Bumblebee didn't know if Megatron knew that he was Optimus' son. He had been told that when he was a sparkling Megatron had sparklingnapped him from Optimus and Elita during an attack on a base. No one knew if Megatron had discovered that Bumblebee was his nephew during that time, but they did know that he knew that the youngling, then sparkling, was very close to the Autobot leader. It was because of that, that Bumblebee wasn't surprised that he was the one that Megatron interrogated instead of Arcee, who was the only one besides himself left. He had remained defiant and refused to tell Megatron anything, which ended up costing him his arm. And then when the AllSpark was finally launched, he had been able to stop Megatron from going after it right away, but that had come at a price. His vocal processor had been crushed.

He was amazed that he hadn't fallen into stasis lock from all the damage he had. Though honestly he was beginning to wish he had. At least then all of the pain that was throbbing all over him would fade into oblivion. He tried to move his head to see if Arcee was okay, but even the slightest movement of his neck made the pain he already felt much, much worse. Bumblebee closed his optics and tried to force himself into recharge to escape reality for just a little while.

Ratchet sighed as he and a team of medics arrived at Tyger Pax. Bodies from both factions were littered across the ground and a quick scan showed that there was no way to save any of them. The further along they got, the worse everything became.

"Ratchet, we found a survivor!" one of the other medics called.

Ratchet hurried over to where the other medic was standing and found Arcee bound against a structure. A quick scan told him that she had suffered no major injuries, but would still require some medical treatment for her minor wounds. Right as he was about to help her down, she finally spoke up.

"Help Bumblebee," she quickly said.

"We haven't found him yet Arcee," the medic shook his head.

"He's over there. Help him," the femme quickly replied. It was easy for Ratchet to see the worry in her optics concerning her nephew.

After instructing the other medic to help the femme down, Ratchet headed off in the direction that Arcee had indicated. Only a few feet away from Arcee, was one of the youngling's arms. Ratchet bent down and picked it up before continuing on to see if he could find the rest of him. It didn't take long to come across Bumblebee's battered frame. The medic bent down and placed a servo on the arm still attached to the scout's body, which only caused his optics to snap open. Bumblebee frantically looked around before trying to say something. When only static emerged from the youngling and an expression of pain made itself known on his face, Ratchet examined his neck. What had happened to Bumblebee had instantly become clear. Someone had completely crushed his vocal processor. The damage to it looked very severe and Ratchet wasn't even sure if it would be repairable.

"Is he going to be okay," Arcee asked from behind him.

"He's not leaking too much energon, but that could change when we start to move him. His arm should be a fairly simple repair, but his vocal processor…"

"What about his vocal processor?"

"I'm not sure if it can be repaired, but I won't know for sure until I get him to a med-bay. Arcee, who did this?"

"Megatron," the femme bitterly replied.

"Bumblebee I'm going to put you into stasis. You're safe now youngling."

When Ratchet told Optimus Prime to come to the med-bay the moment he returned to the base from Simfur, he knew something was wrong. The Autobot leader had been concerned when Megatron had not been with his main forces in Simfur and when he entered the med-bay only to see Bumblebee lying on one of the medical berths that concern only increased.

"What happened?" he asked as Ratchet walked over to him.

"Megatron ended up going to Tyger Pax. Bumblebee and Arcee were the only survivors of their unit. She wasn't damaged too badly, but Bumblebee's arm had been torn off and Megatron crushed his vocal processor."

"Will he be alright?"

"His arm was a simple fix, but it will take time for it to be fully functional again. His vocal processor on the other hand," Ratchet just shook his head. "There's nothing I can do to fix it. Bumblebee is not going to be able to talk again. I'm sorry Optimus."

"You did your best Ratchet. I'm just grateful that he is alive."

"I wish I could have done more. He should be out of stasis soon. I think it will be good to have you here when he finds out he's mute."

Optimus nodded his head and walked over to Bumblebee's berth. He gently placed one of his servos on his son's non-damaged arm and sat down next to him. He had come to a realization several vorns ago that to keep Bumblebee safe from danger was going to be a near impossible task with a war going on. But that hadn't stopped him from trying. He had kept his youngling out of the field until both his sparkmate, Elita, and Bumblebee had ganged up on him and pointed out that Bumblebee needed to know how to defend himself. After that he had made sure to mainly send Bumblebee on scouting missions to ensure that he wouldn't be in many battles where he could be killed. Optimus knew that it annoyed the youngling when he was being overprotective, but as both a commander and a father he felt his decisions were sound. At times he really wondered if Bumblebee truly understood why he and Elita were both very protective of him.

They had almost lost him three times when he was a sparkling, before he had even been online for a full vorn. Making sure that the Decepticons did not find out that Bumblebee was the son of the Autobot leader and his sparkmate had been a never-ending struggle and Optimus still wasn't sure if they had succeeded in that. Megatron knew he was close to the youngling, there was no denying that, but had his brother ever learnt more than that, Optimus had no idea. But Megatron had made some comments that made Optimus believe that he had, though that left the Autobot leader unsure why Megatron had left the youngling alive. Optimus decided not to dwell on it and instead let himself feel relieved that he still had his son with him.

A small burst of static brought his attention back to Bumblebee. The youngling was now awake and looking up at him with a mixture of fear and pain on his face.

"You're safe little one," Optimus reassured.

Krzzz.

"I'm sorry Bumblebee, but there was nothing I could do for your vocal processor. It was too damaged for my repairs," Ratchet said as he walked over to the other side of Bumblebee's berth.

A look of alarm appeared on Bumblebee's face as he let out bursts of static repeatedly. Optimus and Ratchet both knew that he was trying to speak – not wanting to believe that he really no longer had his voice. After a few breems he stopped, despair making itself known. The youngling visibly deflated in front of the two older Autobots.

"Bumblebee I know this is hard for you, but everything else is alright. You are still the same youngling without your voice and I know you can overcome this disability," Optimus gently said.

Bumblebee just shook his head. Optimus didn't understand, his voice was a big part of him. He loved to talk and ask questions, and now he could do neither. He vaguely could remember a nightmare he had had a few times when he was a sparkling. In the nightmare there was always an evil mech laughing telling him how he couldn't speak and that everyone was going to forget about him. The thought of everyone forgetting about him had always terrified him. He had never told Optimus or Elita or anyone else for that matter about the nightmares. He hadn't had them since he was a sparkling after all and it seemed pointless to bring it up. But just the mere thought of Optimus and Elita forgetting that he even existed was enough to frighten him to the very core.

"I'm going to keep him in here for the rest of the orn," Ratchet informed Optimus. "I want to make sure that there's no hidden damage."

Optimus nodded and stepped to the side to speak with Ratchet.

"Is there any way for Bumblebee to have some form of communication?"

"He should be able to communicate with you and Elita through your bond, and he may be able to possibly send texts to the rest of us through the comm. I know it won't be the same for him, but it would be better than nothing. I'll tell him later, I think he could use some rest right now," Ratchet said looking over at Bumblebee who looked like he was about to fall back into recharge. "He's had quite the orn."