Bee's whole body jostled as he woke, part of his body off the crate floor. He heard cries of surprise and figured that he wasn't dreaming. He tried lifting his head to see what has happening, but the crate was jostled more and his head hit something hard. He yowled in pain as spots danced in his vision for a few moments. He felt something press down on his back, and after shaking the dots away for a moment, he opened his eyes and saw that Optimus had placed a paw over him, helping him keep still. Bumblebee looked around and saw that all the other cats were jumping and bouncing back and forth as well. He was still laying against Ratchet, but Optimus has managed to stand and place his body over most of them to hold them down. Wheeljack screamed in pain for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth. Bulkhead was also doing his best to keep everyone from bouncing about, his eyes wide and panicked. Bee couldn't see Cliffjumper, only his red tail sticking out from a nest of fur. The young cat frantically glanced over at Ratchet. The white and orange one had his claws dug into the metal floor, which made much screeching noises. His ears were flat and his eyes were narrowed as he grit his fangs. There was another giant jostle that nearly sent all of them flying and Bee heard Ratchet hiss while Optimus groaned.

Finally, after nearly a minute of chaos, the cats all heard a loud crash coming from the truck just before they felt themselves beginning to topple to the side. Bumblebee yowled in fear the second before they all landed in a heap on the side of their cage, hisses and mewls of pain all around. The smell of smoke filled their sensitive noses as another minute of silence passed. Bee heard Ratchet finally sigh, feeling the older cat scuffle to the top of the pile.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked, his blue eyes scanning every cat.

Bulkhead groaned. "I'll be okay..."

"If by alright ya mean bruises everywhere but nothin broken, yeah," Wheeljack told the older cat, his voice strained.

Cliffjumper poked his head out of the pile. "I'm good! Everyone else?" His white horn like ears pricked left and right.

Optimus grunted as he did his best to get up. "I am alright. Bumblebee?" His wise eyes fell to the kitten below him, who was still sprawled out across the cage.

Ow... he mewed, lifting his head and shaking it a little. He felt blood trickle down his ear and jumped, lifting a paw and trying to get it off. What happened? he asked weakly.

Ratchet crawled over Optimus, his back legs dangling over the larger cat, and sniffed Bumblebee. He saw the blood on the side of his head, his expression softening a little bit as he cleaned the small wound. No one answered the young cat and he scowled.

What was that? he repeated, a little louder this time.

"Not sure, kit," Wheeljack said, shaking his head and rusting his fur a bit. "But if I know any better, I'd say it felt like something blew the truck up."

"And Wheeljack knows plenty about explosions," Bulkhead said with a nod.

Ratchet paused from cleaning Bumblebee and scoffed. "Highly unlikely. The vehicle most likely crashed." He resumed licking the kitten's head.

Bumblebee winced a little bit as the cut stung, but he leaned a bit closer to the older cat. What do we do now?

"Not sure, but-"

"Listen," Optimus said, cutting Cliffjumper off. All the cats froze and their ears flew up, lifting their heads a little higher to try and catch the noise. Most of them caught on quickly, hearing the familiar padding of paws above them, claws scraping the metal a bit. Noses twitched as they also searched for the smell of whatever was approaching, but their was too much smoke to make it out. While Cliffjumper, Optimus, and Bulkhead peeked up, their faces a little hopeful, Ratchet scooted closer to Bumblebee protectively and Wheeljack flattened his ears. The little kitten wasn't sure if he was supposed to be nervous or hopeful, though he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be hopeful for.

Suddenly, there was screeching from the truck doors, like the lock was struggling to open. They saw those doors rattle a little bit, causing Ratchet to lay his ears back and hiss, and light peeked in through the cracks. With a loud creaking and crash, one of the doors suddenly flung open, hitting the ground due to the truck's awkward position. Bumblebee jumped, hiding behind Ratchet and only peeking out when he heard someone approaching. Two heads peeked into the truck, ears perked up and listening, followed by a voice.

"Is everyone okay in there?"

"Cee!" Cliffjumper jumped up at the sound of the feminine voice, his face excited as he looked to the smaller of the cats.

A blue and pink female jumped inside, a hint of a smile on her muzzle, though her eyes were relieved and excited. "Good to see you again, Cliff. None of you are hurt?"

"Not severely," Ratchet answered for her, relaxing his muscles as his back fur fell back down. "Just bruised, maybe a sprained paw somewhere."

"Arcee, how did you find us?" Optimus said as he got to his paws, walking to the edge of the cage.

"Ultra Magnus," she said, gesturing to the sky blue and red cat that was padding up behind her. "He found the plans for your shipment and we came up with a plan."

"So the crash was you?" Cliffjumper cried excitedly. "Awesome!"

"Or stupid," Ratchet muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.

The female, Arcee, scowled. "Trust me, I wasn't all for it either."

"Not sure how you convinced Magnus to go with such a plan," Wheeljack mumbled, his eyes a bit hard.

"Took me a while to convince myself," Arcee told him with a flick of her tail. "But we knew that if you made it to the lab, it would be near impossible to rescue you then. There wasn't very many other options."

The other cat, Ultra Magnus, padded up beside her, holding something in his jaws. Bumblebee perked up when he saw that they were keys.

"It is good to see you again, commander," Optimus said with a small smile.

The other cat nodded, setting the key in the lock and turning it with his head. The door opened as he pulled it, opening his jaws and leaving the keys in the lock. "Likewise, Optimus," he said in a deep, steely voice. Bee flinched a little, surprised at how cold he sounded.

Cliffjumper immediately jumped out and tackled the small female, causing her to cry out and hiss. "It's been forever, Cee!"

Arcee groaned and tried to push him off, her thin tail flicking up and down. "Ugh, yes, I know. Get off, Cliff!" She heaved a sigh of relief when he pulled himself off with a laugh.

Optimus looked at the two newcomers. "Have you found a safe place for us to dwell for the time being?"

Ultra Magnus nodded and stepped forward. "We believe so. It is an unpopulated area, where humans never venture, and it is very well hidden away. It will be hard for the others to pick up our scents as well," he explained, his voice professional.

"Then lead the way," the bigger cat said with a nod.

Um... Bee mewed weakly, feeling a bit bad for drawing the attention away from the rescue. Who are they? Where are we going? He lifted his head, wincing when he felt a throw of pain and whimpering a little.

Ratchet looked at him worriedly. "You may be concussed..."

Arcee blinked at him in surprise, not having seen the younger cat earlier. "Who is this?"

Optimus looked over to Bumblebee, then back to Arcee and Ultra Magnus. "This is Bumblebee. The latest subject. He is one of us."

Arcee cocked her head at him a little bit before nodding. "Alright. Welcome to the Team," she said, her voice a little skeptical. Ultra Magnus said nothing, merely nodding to the young kitten.

"These are with us, Bumblebee," Ratchet explained, looking over his head in concern. He sighed when he saw a bump forming. "You must likely brought trauma to your head. I wouldn't advice moving about too much."

Bee was about to protest, his mouth opening to mewl, but he stopped when the older cat took his scruff gently and lifted him up. The kitten winced again as he felt pain flare into his head again, deciding not to argue and relaxing underneath Ratchet's jaws. He gave the others a pitiful look, feeling slightly embarrassed. Wheeljack held back a snicker before he bounded out of the cage. Ultra Magus shot him a look as the scruffy cat passed, to which Wheeljack only returned. The others quickly pawed out of the cage, Ratchet carrying Bee out.

"This way," Ultra Magnus ordered, turning tail and taking off.

"Roll out," Optimus said to the others, his voice authoritative. A second later he was off, following Ultra Magnus and Arcee, who had also begun to run off.

Quickly, the others all jumped out of the truck, Bumblebee jostling a little as Ratchet carried him out. The kitten's eyes widened as he looked around, his heart beginning to latter quickly. There were so many buildings they passed as they hurried away from the truck. Smells filled his nose as the wind blew past him as they ran. Even though he was still, he felt a rush of freedom surge through him. Dozens of sounds rushed into his ears, making him swivel them left and right to catch them. Loud and quiet ones, ones he felt he had heard somewhere, but couldn't remember. This all felt so familiar to him that it sent an excited shiver through him. He tried to remember why, but his head was already in so much pain that it made him dizzy.

"Watch the roads!" Arcee shouted as she paused just before one, cars zooming past.

All the cats stopped where she had paused, their eyes nervous as they watched the vehicles race past them. Bumblebee felt his heart skip in fear, his headache sending a wave of nausea through him. He heard panting and looked around worriedly, noticing that Bulkhead was favoring one paw, looking rather tired.

Are you okay, Bulkhead? he meowed loudly over the noise of the engines. All of the others turned their attention to the big green cat, who chuckled nervously, a little out of breath.

"Aw, I'm fine, Bee," he said, his smile a bit pained.

Ratchet narrowed his eyes but was unable to say anything, his mouth full of fur from Bumblebee's scruff. Optimus stepped towards the green cat, giving him a careful look.

"Do you think you can make it across?" he asked seriously. Wheeljack was giving Bulkhead anxious looks from behind the larger cat, shuffling from paw to paw.

Bulkhead swallowed once and nodded his head after a deep breath. "I've run all this way," he said in assurance. "I can make it the rest, no problem." He smiled big as if to prove it, taking a confident step forward.

Ratchet sighed behind Bumblebee's scruff, blowing his fur and ruffling it slightly. Bee mewed a little whine of worry, scared of the cars and for his friend. The cats all nodded at to Bulkhead one by one, turning back towards the street. Arcee bent her hind legs a little, watching the cars with narrowed eyes, before sprinting forward at a clean break. Cliffjumper bounded after her, his white ears pricked high, and the two of the sprung across the street in seconds. Ultra Magnus went next, his face neutral as he crossed without a car whizzing by him. Optimus hesitated, waiting for a few more of the vehicles to pass, before charging across the road, another car passing the second after he made it to the sidewalk. Wheeljack cast one last look to Bulkhead before running across, yowling all the way, much to Ratchet's annoyance. Ratchet turned to look at Bulkhead, the green cat still a bit hesitant. The older one backed one step, nodding his head and ushering for Bulkhead to go first, sending Bee jostling a little. The bulkier one nodded once, limping up to the edge of the street, glancing both ways carefully. With a sniff, he jumped onto the road, grateful to see that there weren't very many cars in this town. Suddenly, the green one seemed to stumble, tripping and yowling in pain as he tumbled on the gravel, rolling a little. He lifted his head and shook it, blinking as he grit his fangs in pain. Bee cried out when he saw another car zooming his way, feeling Ratchet tense and shout behind the mouthful of fur. Bulkhead's entire body tensed and he sprang onto his paws, jumping across just before the car hit him, his tail nearly brushing the bumper. Bee had heard the others cry out and hurry over to the cat that now lay panting on the sidewalk in shock. 

That was close.., the kitten mewed. He tried to turn his throbbing head to see Ratchet, but wasn't able to couldn't make it out. He could feel the medic relax slightly when they saw that Bulkhead was alright, but he his muscles were still stiff as he watched the road. Bee's heart felt like it was about to explode as Ratchet breathed in deeply through his nose and crouched, ready to pounce. The kitten held his breath as the older cat leaped out onto the road. 

His heart stopped when a car horn screamed into his ears.

~

SMASH.