10th Transmission - Action

[heavyweaponsbot]

[Today finds Ironhide prowling the temple grounds.]

[He's trying to decide whether or not to head inside -- as instructed. Does he go in and demand his cannons back? Or does he stay out here and purposefully ignore the summons in order to make a point?]

[Ironhide ends up standing in front of the temple, his arms folded, and scowling. He has sand in his joints, his chest is aching, and he feels like he's been strung along by their captors. They should have been told about what they were facing. And they weren't -- not one bit. He's extremely cranky, in other words.]

[Approach him?]

Comments

[heavyweaponsbot]

[He thumps his hands on 'Bee's shoulders a time or two, before stepping back. And here is where the massive damage to his chest is likely revealed in all its horrific glory.]

It is... good to see you.

[soldierbee.livejournal.com]

[Yeah, Bumblebee sees that. Is looking at all of that, not bothering to hide the assessment, before looking back up at Ironhide's face (and Ironhide is STILL taller than he is, even though they've both been downgraded, that is so unfair) and lifting the antennae atop his head in wordless question.

What happened to you, man?]

[heavyweaponsbot]

[Ironhide sees that look, and shrugs. He tries to look nonchalant about it -- like having a gaping chest hole is something totally normal.]

Egypt. You saw. Took something big in the chest.

[soldierbee.livejournal.com]

[Bumblebee makes a noise of confusion; no, he did not see. He's been in Sam's garage for two years and he didn't hear anything about Ironhide almost getting gutted.

...ugh, the longer he looks at it, the worse he feels.]

Nnnnoooo...

[heavyweaponsbot]

[Ironhide... blinks. That wasn't the response he was expecting. Not at all.]

What do you mean... 'no'? You were there.

[soldierbee.livejournal.com]

[Bumblebee shakes his head with a distressed sound, reaching out to touch Ironhide's damaged chestplates with just a couple fingertips before backing away. He hadn't. Had not. He would remember something like that beyond a shadow of a doubt.]

[heavyweaponsbot]

[He winces, slightly, but doesn't pull back. He's too confused by this to pull away from 'Bee right now. Fortunately, Bumblebee steps back before anything gets too awkward.]

... But I saw you.

[soldierbee.livejournal.com]

[Bumblebee shakes his head again, frustrated, before initiating a link with Ironhide. Instead of explaining in words, he shares his most recent memory; the tiny Decepticons, Sam telling him that he was leaving, Bumblebee driving off and preparing to contact Optimus.

Encrypted in the memory is the exact universal time when it happened; it really was the most recent thing he could recall before waking up in the temple.]

[heavyweaponsbot]

[Receiving the data... Ironhide sort of looks like he's been punched. Hard -- right in the chest. He stares.]

That was...

[And he just shakes his head, before answering the memory file with his own -- running through the sand, the explosion, and the time stamp.]

[soldierbee.livejournal.com]

[Bumblebee takes a moment to absorb and process the file; error message. Something just doesn't compute. Ironhide has memories of him that he doesn't have of him, but it's clear as day that it happened.

Bumblebee holds up a finger, another hand to his head as he sifts through the data he downloaded from the comm systems. It seemed like occurrences similar to the time discrepancy they're having now have happened before, with organic beings too. So it's unlikely that he's simply glitching; there must be some time distortions involved in whatever wormhole process that brings them to this planet.

He initiates an uplink with Ironhide and shoots of a message.]

I haven't experienced that yet. Your last contact with our Earth must've been from several days after mine.

[heavyweaponsbot]

... How is that possible?

[He doesn't disbelieve Bumblebee. He can't. Even if 'Bee hadn't sent the data, there wasn't any reason for the younger Autobot to lie to him. But this just doesn't make any sense.]

If Ratchet were here... let him figure this thing out...

[Because he isn't a scientist. Or anything like that.]

[soldierbee.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's an isolated incident.

[Bumblebee shakes his head; it's not really important. When the time comes for them to get back home it will be, but the most immediate issue at hand is that Ironhide is filled with sand and that is very, very bad for his joints.

Bumblebee gestures to Ironhide and blares a clip:]

♪♫♪"Car wash! Workin' at the car wash, yeah!"♪♫♪

[heavyweaponsbot]

Oh. Good.

[A healthy dose of sarcasm, there. Just what they needed, more weirdness.

Then he fixes Bumblebee with something of a challenging look -- yes, he's uncomfortable, yes, he itches, but. He doesn't like the thought of this.]

And how do you think you can do that?

[soldierbee.livejournal.com]

[Bumblebee shrugs and makes an "I dunno" sound. He hasn't gotten that far yet.]

[heavyweaponsbot]

... You need a better plan than that.