Putting the TRANS in Transformers!

Bumblebee huffed and flopped down on the couch, arms crossed. He hated getting up early, the fact that he had gotten up early on his own didn't change that fact.

But! He had gotten up so early for an important reason! Vitally important!

He got up early so he'd have time to think. Admittedly, another thing he didn't exactly care for, at least not thinking about serious things! Especially problems! He preferred to just ignore them and hope they went away. This however, was too important of a problem for that!

Because there was something wrong with Sari.

Not like, physically wrong. But just. Off.

He wasn't sure what was wrong. But it was obviously important! Because she had been upset all week!

And he could just ask her,(and he would) but he knew that just asking about important things didn't always work, which is why he had to have a super awesome epic plan of action!

Hence the thinking.

OK. So, when had he first noticed it? Wait. No. Figure out what it was first. Then he could figure out when it started.

So! How was the way she was acting different? He squinted a little harder at the blank tv in front of him and tapped a finger on his arm. It was like. . .she wasn't avoiding him, but like she kept remembering something and then getting all sad and then finding an excuse to go hang out with Optimus or Prowl or Ratchet instead! That wasn't normal!

Not that he was upset that she was getting along with everyone! Especially when she managed to convince Prime to play video games with her. That was actually hilarious! But.

Maybe she was still upset about her dad being missing? Except she hadn't stopped being upset about that, did it change? He had never had a missing parent, so maybe. . .but it just didn't feel right.

Wait.

She never went to hang out with Bulkhead instead. Actually now that he thought about it, it was always when all three of them were together that she disappeared.

Bumblebee huffed sharply and leaned back on the couch.

Well that made things more complicated. He could think of a lot of things he might have done to upset her, but what could Bulkhead have possibly done? He was like-Bulkhead had way more tact than him! Bulkhead was like, amazing at relationship stuff! He almost never upset people by saying something stupid!

Bumblebee groaned, laid own on the couch, and covered his eyes with his arm, one leg hanging off the edge of the couch. This whole thinking through your problems thing was harder than everyone made it sound. And they didn't exactly make it sound easy!

Maybe he was going about this all wrong. Maybe he should just ask her first, and then if she didn't tell him he would. . .

Would what? Bug her until she told him? Let it fester? Neither seemed like good options.

His systems briefly registered a sensation on his head, but he ignored it.

Maybe he could do the whole 'I'm here if you want to talk about it' thing. Except that never seemed sincere to him, and plus it never worked! Well, ok it probably worked, but would it work on Sari? Or would she think it was insincere too?

"Bumblebee? Hey! Are your ears broken or something?"

Ugh, why was this so hard? Friendships were hard, especially newer friendships. He knew what to do if Bulkhead was upset! Because Bulkhead would tell him what to do.

"Uh, Bumblebee? You're kinda freaking me out here."

Maybe he should just ask what was troubling her. That certainly seemed like the easiest solution. But what if it didn't work?

"Oi!" A vague thudding on his forehead. "You in there!?"

And plus! He was the adult! That meant he had to do more. At least, he was pretty sure that's what it meant. The whole setting a good example thing. He was used to being the youngest pretty much everywhere! He had never been friends with someone younger than him, much less a sparkling! This was new! Except it wasn't new, they had been friends for months now.

"-Wrong with him?"

He should have figured this all out by now.

A huff. "He's fine, he's just processing something." A slight pain on his forehead. He weakly waved his arm at the annoyance. He was thinking.

"Processing?"

A snort. "He's thinking. He does this sometimes, it's normal. If he doesn't come out of it by last fueling we'll snap him out of it, he'll be fine until then. Enjoy the quiet while it lasts kid."

Huh, maybe he should sit down to think about his problems more often. Then he would already have figured this out. But thinking always took so long!

His sensors registered the sound of a video game booting up, then tossed it as unimportant.

And he was getting off topic! Helping Sari! What could he do to make her feel better? He had no idea. Because he didn't have enough information.

No! There had to be something! Sari would be up soon. Actually, wait. What time was it?

10:00? Oh no!

"Frag!" He yelled, bolting upright. Frag frag frag! Sari was probably already up! He still didn't have a plan!

He heard a laugh from below him, "Morning."

Bumblebee blinked rapidly, still dazed. "Huh?" He looked down to see Sari sitting on the floor crossed legged, twisting to look up at him. "Oh, uh. Yeah." He reviewed the last few seconds. "Don't say that word in front of Optimus."

Sari nodded. "If I do I'll blame Ratchet." She said, then turned around and continued her game.

Bumblebee frowned. There it was again, not exactly avoiding, but just. . .distant.

Well that was it! He would just do what he did best! Improvise! He righted himself and put his pedes on the floor. "Bet I can beat you!" he taunted, leaning forward.

She turned around to face him again. "Bet'cha can't!"

He leaned forward and grabbed his controller, surely he'd think of something after a few rounds.

---

"Haha!" Bumblebee jumped up from the floor triumphantly, pointing at Sari on the couch. "Beat that!" He said, teasingly.

She laughed weakly. "Yeah. . ." She trailed off, staring at the tv.

Bumblebee frowned. Uh-oh. Now it was happening when it was just him and Sari!

Wait! This was his chance! "Sari?" he gently poked her on the side, "Sar? You ok?" It was a stupid question, he knew she wasn't ok, but he couldn't think of anything else.

She jumped and made a small yelping noise, "H-huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." She scratched the side of her face and gave him a crooked smile. "I was. . .uh, just thinkin'"

Bumblbee hummed and sat down against the couch so he could look at her out of the side of his optics. "It's a bit early to be thinking so hard, isn't it?" he teased. Ok so it was like noon, and he had been thinking just as hard since early this morning, but that was beside the point! "So, what's up?" He continued quickly.

She startled again, was she not expecting him to ask again? Well, maybe normally he wouldn't have. But he was determined to find out what was wrong with her! He could do this!

Her brow furrowed. "Um, well" she said, looking at the tv, which was replaying the YOU WIN/LOSE animation over and over. "You and Bulkhead are pretty close, right?"

That was a . . . weird question. "Well, yeah. Why do you ask?"

Sari bit her lip, "Would you say he's your . . . best friend?"

That was an even weirder question. "Well, yeah. Course."

"Oh," Sari seemed to deflate, pigtails drooping. "I just. I thought I was your best friend."

Oh! Of course! "You are by best friend!" He smacked is fist lightly into his palm. "You can have more than one best friend you know!"

Sari huffed and looked at him, "But in all the movies-!" She started, lips pursed.

He waved a finger at her, "Ah-ah-ah!" he scolded lightly. No way, he was not letting her think something so-so-bad! yeah, that was the word. Bad. "You don't believe everything in movies, do ya'? Besides" he pointed to himself, nose raised. "I'm an alien robot from the other side of the galaxy! Who says I have to act like a human?"

She laughed at that, good! That meant she was hearing him. "I guess you've got a point." She smiled slightly, then looked down at her lap.

Well! He was glad they got that cleared up! Except . . .Something still didn't seem . . .right. He frowned, she still seemed sad. Maybe that wasn't all that was bothering her? "Hey, what brought this on anyway?" He asked softly. "I mean, it probably didn't come outta nowhere, right?" He lightly poked her on the side. "Did someone say something to you? Cause if so they were lying!"

She shook her head. "No. No nothing like that." She frowned and clenched her fists on her knees. "It's just. . .until a week ago I thought you were a kid like me."

"Oh." That. . .actually he wasn't sure what that meant. "Is it. . .weird for a human kid to be friends with an adult?" He asked, tilting his head.

"No." She said. "I don't know, maybe. But that's not-" she took a deep breath and said, "I've never had a friend my age, heck pretty much the only person I had around was my teachers and my dad and he was-he is. always really busy." she lightly tugged on one of her pigtails "So I guess, when I realized you were a grown-up too I was afraid that-" she stopped and looked up at him, then looked down again.

A minute passed before she continued, "That you were just pretending that I was your best friend to not hurt my feelings or something." she finally mumbled.

Oh. Oh! That. Oh no. Poor Sari! Bumblebee shook his head and picked her up to be at eye level; he gave her the most serious look he could muster, all furrowed brows and tight frown. "I'd never pretend something like that! Best friends are too important!" He gently bonked the top of his head against her, making her giggle.

"I-um," he frowned, then continued, "I don't really know what to say to help you believe me. But!" He smiled and closed his optics. "I love you a whole lot! You're my best friend! Heck, you're more than a best friend! You're like, my little sister! And I didn't even know what a sister was until we came here! But that-" he cocked his head to the side, "It feels right, you know? Um and-"

He stopped when he heard a sniffle from the girl. "O-oh, oh no! Your eyes are leaking again. Did I say something wrong?" Frag! he thought he'd been doing well. What had he said?

Sari laughed weakly, "M'not-" she hiccuped. "M'not sad" She wiped at her eyes and smiled crookedly at him, "I'm . . . relieved, I guess. Happy."

Bumblebee relaxed. Thank goodness! He laughed weakly, "Humans sure cry for a lot of reasons, huh?"

She giggled. "Yeah." She gestured for him to bring her closer, so she could hug the side of his face. "I love you too, you big dork!"

Bumblebee vented in relief. Thank goodness! He didn't think he could have handled it if Sari had stayed upset. "So . . .We're good?" He asked. Just to be sure.

She giggled, and snuggled closer to him, eyes closed and smiling. "Yeah. We're good."