You guessed it... More Jazz&Bee fluffiness. I think I'm addicted. Anyway, this is in response to a prompt thrown to me by vixens_shadow


Teddy Bear

“Sorry Bumblebee, but you’re not going to be driving anywhere for the next couple of days,” Ratchet informed the yellow scout. “That stick did a number on several of your alt-mode systems, which I managed to fix, but they’re going to need a while to heal before you can transform and go tearing down roads again.” He closed a panel, dusted off his hands and stood.

Bumblebee looked up at him with sad blue optics. “Two days?! But Ratchet…!”

“No ‘buts’ this time, little Bee. Doctor’s orders. Stay put till I give you clearance.”

“I promised to take Mikaela to the car-show today though.” Bumblebee pouted and Ratchet almost gave in – almost. “She must be so disappointed we wont be able to make it.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” the medic told him. “Your other half is taking care of that. Jazz left earlier to pick her up. Said a promise was a promise.”

“Oh.” Bumblebee didn’t know what else to say.

On the one hand, he was glad that Mikaela hadn’t been let down, and with Jazz, she was still guaranteed a chance to go in. On the other, he’d hoped that Jazz would’ve stayed with him, or at least told him he was going. They were best friends after all and he would have liked to have heard a ‘goodbye’ and seen Jazz off.

As if guessing what he was thinking, Ratchet patted the ‘bot on the head. “You were offline, Bumblebee. He didn’t want to wake you and told me to tell you he’d be back by afternoon.” He then held out a tiny device to him. “He also asked me to pass you this.”

Bumblebee took it and looked at it curiously, trying to recall where he’d seen such a thing before. It was some kind of Earthen electronic device. He looked at Ratchet then. “What is it?”

“My dear Bumblebee, if you have no idea what it is, then I most certainly do not know,” Ratchet replied. “All he said was that he swiped it from Sgt Epps.”

Then it clicked. The gadget was a music device the humans called an iPod, and he remembered Sgt Epps carrying one around with the attached wire plugged into his audio receptors. Jazz had been curious about it from the moment he saw it. It didn’t matter that as Autobots they had the memory capacity capable of holding hundreds of thousands of songs. It was the whole novelty of the human device, being able to see all the songs on the screen and scroll through them just by running a finger over the dial in the middle.

Bumblebee smiled then, glad that Jazz hadn’t forgotten about him. He chastized himself for even thinking it. Of course Jazz wouldn’t forget him. He hadn’t done so in the last millenia, so why start now. Feeling slightly better, he settled down and plugged the device into his audio systems, letting the music Jazz had selected for him help him relax and while away the hours till said mech returned.

Ratchet shook his head fondly at the young Autobot and moved off to tend to work elsewhere….

…. Several miles away at the car show, Mikaela sat in Jazz’s driver’s seat, hands firmly gripping the leather steering wheel and she looked steadily out through the windshield. Outside, a group of males whispered amongst themselves about whether this little girl would be able to handle a car like the white Solstice she was currently sitting in, and if she would even be able to finish the course let alone break the track record time. She frowned and patted the wheel.

“I’m gonna make them eat their words,” she growled. “Let’s show ‘em what we’re made of, Jazz.”

“I’m with ya, lady,” the Autobot replied. “No way am I going down to some European import.”

“Hehe, you couldn’t go down even if you tried.”

“Got that right. You ready?”

“You handle the speed, I’ll handle the steering.” Mikaela’s eyes burned with a fierce determination.

Jazz gunned his engine loudly. “For Bumblebee?”

Mikaela nodded. “For Bumblebee.”

The flag went down and Jazz shot off like a bullet from a gun, leaving a large cloud of dust in his wake. Mikaela turned the steering smoothly as they came to the first hairpin bend without breaking Jazz’s speed, her expression calm and putting Jazz at ease as he practically flew along the course, his friction-retardant surface making short work of wind currents and other resistence.

Before they knew it, the finish line was in sight and Jazz put on a final burst of speed, Mikaela cheering him on as he threw in a drift and came to a stop without even skidding, right in front of the time-keeper. Mikaela let out a whoop of triumph as she unbuckled her seat-belt, opened the door and got out of the car.

“Well?” she asked the man with the stop-watch.

“2.32 minutes,” he conceded. “A new track record.”

“Thanks.” Mikaela smiled at him and went over to the group of boys to collect her winnings, patting Jazz’s hood along the way. “Good ride, Jazz.”

Jazz watched to make sure that the other humans played fair and gave Mikaela her rightful amount. As he watched this, a part of his mind thought of Bumblebee alone back at the base with only the iPod to keep him occupied, and a small feeling of guilt crept up on him for leaving him there. He knew he shouldn’t have, but there was Mikaela to think of, and by coming here he also hoped to find something to take back for Bumblebee that would cheer him up.

The sound of Mikaela shutting his door after her startled him and he jerked forward an inch.

“Whoa, jumpy. What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Nothin’. Just thinkin’ about Bee,” he replied, pulling out and heading back to the main car show. “Kinda feel bad about leaving him behind. Was wondering how to make it up to him, and cheer him up. What do you humans normally do when someone you care about is hurt and you want to make them feel better?”

Mikaela smiled. “I think I can help you out there, Jazz. I mean, I have all this extra money to spend.” She held up a large wad of cash. “I’m sure I can help you find something. C’mon, lets go look at some of the souvenirs for sale.”…

… Bumblebee raised his head at the sound of a familiar engine outside the base and a small smile lit his face. Much as it had been nice to lie around and listen to music all morning, he was starting to feel lonely without his companion there to lift his spirits. Ratchet came in to check on him once in a while, but otherwise it was just him and the iPod.

He heard the familiar whirr and clicks of a ‘bot transforming and then Jazz’s head peeped around the door. Bumblebee’s smile grew at the sight of this most welcome and familiar face.

“You’re back!” he said. “How was the show? Did you have a good time?”

“Oh, was alright,” Jazz replied, standing in the door-frame but not coming in. “Bunch of humans challenged Mikaela and me to a timed race. We won. Broke the track record. Mikaela’s now a hundred dollars richer.”

“That’s wonderful!”

“Of course, she would have been a little more richer than that, but we both missed you so she helped me get you something.”

Bumblebee’s optics brightened at that. “You brought something back? For me?”

Jazz nodded, grinning at his best friend’s expression. “Of course! How could we possibly forget you?” He reached for something that Bumblebee couldn’t see. “She said it’s a gift humans sometimes give to their friends if they’re hurt or sick to make them feel better.”

There was a click of surprise and delight from Bumblebee when Jazz revealed what he’d been hiding and came into the room with a large brown stuffed animal wearing a bright yellow t-shirt with two black stripes on it. The Camaro recognized it as what the humans called a teddy bear. He’d seen Sam give a much smaller one to Mikaela on the girl’s creation day, and had read about their origins and all that, but never did he think he would get one of his very own.

He took the bear from Jazz, noting that his friend’s clawed fingers had not even snagged a single thread, then looked at it with an expression of joy and curiosity. The thing felt so soft to his tactile sensors, and just by holding it in his hands he had already begun to feel a lot better than he had that morning.

“Thank you, Jazz,” he said as the white mech sat at the foot of the bunk. “And thank Mikaela, too. I do feel better now.”

“Glad t’hear it, Bee.” Jazz patted his leg. “So, wanna go outside for a while?”

“I don’t think Ratchet wants me walking around too much.”

I never said anything about walking did I? C’mon, I’ll give you a ride.”

Bumblebee grinned, gave the bear a quick cuddle and set it down before wrapping his arms around Jazz’s neck and shoulders and hoisting himself onto his partner’s back. Jazz straightened with the other mech firmly latched on to him and headed outside into the warm afternoon sun.

“Oh, and Jazz? You know Sgt Epps is going to kick your aft when he finds out you took his iPod, right?”

Jazz only cackled. “He can try, but he’s only going to hurt his foot.”


~END.