Title: Baby Steps

Rating: K+

Word Count: 411

Summary: A wounded Bumblebee has a conversation with Ratchet as the medic is fixing his chassis.

Ratchet knew immediately that he wouldn't be able to fix Bumblebee's voice-box. When the medic broke the news to the yellow scout, the youngling fell into a sea of depression for several days.

From his file-Ratchet managed to get a hold of it after some digging-Bumblebee was one of the lucky survivors of the bombing of the Youngling Centers.

'Lucky' being the general term. Once the younglings were enlisted some vanished into thin air as others went to join the Decepticons. Quite frankly, Ratchet couldn't understand why, unless they were coerced into doing so. The rest were either offline in the line of duty, in a triage facility like the one he was in, or on the front lines as he worked on the young scout.

Beep . . .

"Yes?" Ratchet asked, gazing at the sullen scout. There was much work to be done on the young Autobot. His wings were damaged, but functional. However the rest of the young scout needed desperate repair.

Cracks as long as Ratchet's forearm crossed the scout's grill and abdomen. As Ratchet uses a welder to close said cracks, his optics traveled to the Bumblebee's legs. His legs were dented, especially in his ankle-struts. Bumblebee would need a crutch in order to get around.

"-Uh, Ratchet . . .-"the young scout meekly murmured. The medic paused in his work and gave him an intense look. That prompted Bumblebee to continue, "-will I be able to walk again?-"

Ratchet nodded curtly.

"Don't worry about your legs too much," he reassured the yellow mech. That earned him a meek smile from the youngling. "You'll just need to use a walking aid for a bit, so that your legs won't atrophy. Soon enough you'll be back on your pedes, chasing 'Cons out of our periphery and racing to meet your teammates when they come to retrieve you."

Bumblebee's smile widened just a bit before resetting itself.

"-So . . . I just have to take sparkling steps, right? A solar cycle at a time?-"

"Yes," Ratchet nodded, barely able to keep a smile off his face-plates.

"Just don't get injured while you're here."

The yellow mech raised an optic ridge. "-Why?-"

"Then young scout, since you are under my care, you'll be introduced to my famous wrench. To your helm."

The horrified look Bumblebee had on his face-plates made Ratchet's normally neutral expression quirk up into an amused smile.

'It never gets old . . .'

Notes:

"Blank" is speaking

'Blank' is a thought

"-Blank-" is Bumblebee speaking

Beep is just a sigh or a quiet sound Bumblebee makes.