Chapter Text
“Is that Starscream and Bumblebee?”
Shocked, stunned and more than a little amazed Prowl’s usual disinterested tone had taken on a flavour of disbelief.
“No.” was Ratchet’s curt response. It brokered no argument, no further discussion and most definitely didn’t offer an opportunity for explanation. In the silence that followed the mechs in question had unclasped their servos and gone separate ways, but the image of the newly minted Cybertronian Councilmech and the decorated scout so casually linked hovered in the distance where they’d been standing, unaware of the widened optics that had been locked upon them.
“Don’t you have a patrol to be on?” Ratchet said, not turning from his work.
“Uh yes,” Prowl said, taking the opportunity to scamper off.
As he followed the unfamiliar path through the newly built Embassy, Prowl found himself being less and less surprised. It was painfully obvious now that he thought about it. The reserved Mech found himself stifling a small laugh as he looked back on the night’s his fellow Autobot had shown up late…he presumed he’d been racing again…but now…Oh dear Primus. Prowl stopped dead, unable to move forward until his circuits either dispatched or came to terms with his sudden revelations. Unfortunately for Prowl, that patrol was with Bumblebee…or it would have been, if he’d managed to restart his circuits in time. Mega-cycles passed until Prowl was shaken lightly but another bot.
“Are you okay?” The voice didn’t sound concerned so much as it was perplexed and annoyed that Prowl was blocking the Embassy hallway.
“Oh, no- yes. I’m fine.” Prowl managed to get out. He turned to face the ‘concerned’ bot behind him and froze.
“Aren’t you one of Bumblebee’s friends?” Starscream asked. Prowl could only nod. “Are you sure you’re okay?” The Decepticon’s optics narrowed in suspicious confusion.
“Y-yes.”
“Right, try not to clog up anymore hallways.”
With that Starscream was gone, striding down the corridor as if his he owned the place, which he technically did, without a backward glance at the bot who was still just standing there. Luckily that hallway only lead towards the common barracks so only bots returning from patrols would be passing him by for the next couple hours. Weird, didn’t Starscream have private rooms in the opposite direction?
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The Present
The casual declaration lingered in the air. Bulkhead had meant it as a joke, he’d never expected an affirmative answer. He should have known. They all should have seen it but why would they when it made no sense to look in the first place.
“How-how long?” Prowl stuttered out, not as shocked as he would have been if he hadn’t had the image of them linked servos flashing behind his optics every time he saw either Bumblebee or Starscream.
“A while, I’d expected that someone would ask sooner,” Bumblebee said with a warm smile.
It appeared only Ratchet wasn’t suffering some degree of shellshock.
“Keep your servos off each other in my lab kid.”
A laughing Bumblebee at a table of silent and mildly mortified Autobots was the sight that greeted Starscream as we walked into the common room.
“Can I presume they know?” Was all he asked. Bumblebee nodded optics dancing. Starscream held out a servo and the smaller mech weaved his way through his friends to take it.
“So what news from Cybertron?” Bumblebee asked, taking in the trademark glint Starscream got in his optic after he’d won something. A smirk stretched across his face.
“The Council has finally decided what commendations to give you. There will be a ceremony on Cybertron to welcome in the founding members of the Elite Guard’s Earth Battalion.”
As the Autobot’s celebrated, the bearer of good news and his yellow counterpart slipped away to the calm isolation of the Embassy’s penthouse.