Notes before reading:

This is for flashbacks;

This is for the present.

It had been a boring, bad day. The Autobots in  Iacon's base, the biggest of the ones still active, were mostly going to do shifts or recharge. Splitflame walked out of the med bay. Or, to word it better, ran out. Ducking to avoid a wrench flying to his helm. It landed in front of him with a loud clank. The young seeker grabbed it and ran for his life, trying to get out of the range of death. A orange, grumpy death who had his reign in the infirmary.
The aspiring medic didn't stop until he entered the energon storage. Just wanting to hide among others in case Ratchet the Hatchet decided to go after him.
"Primus." he vented heavily and looked around before realizing only two other bots were sitting on chairs, staring at him over their cubes, their blue optics wide. His wings twitched in awkwardness, and he sat down, not really knowing what to say. Looking down at his servos.

Suddenly though someone spoke up, his voice sounding timid. It was the yellow youngling, who had stood, though Splitflame realized that only when a servo was placed on his shoulder.
"You look like you saw a ghost." he said, "something happened?"
Splitflame just looked at him, then at the white and blue praxian who was just watching them.
'Ratchet... " he muttered softly, and he could not say more, his voice drowned by the groan coming from the sitting guy.
" Rest in peace." he said "before you come to your inevitable death coming from the Wrenches' Lord , want to have a sip of high grade? At least you won't feel the pain coming."

Splitflame gave him a glare, grumbling. Who was even this guy? Did he know how strict Ratchet was with drinking?
" Oh shut it Smokescreen." the other mech interjected  before Splitflame could "so when he finds him drunk, it will be worse. That's not a good idea. First thing what is your name and what did you do? Maybe we can help you fix it, we are both free. I am Bumblebee and that foolish jokester is Smokescreen, we saved our afts from Optimus' and Ultra Magnus' wrath a good number of times. We can get you out of trouble. "
Splitflame looked at the two, confused on how two bots he had never talked to just wanted to help. But he didn't have much to lose, after all. Right?

" I accidentally let fall the last vials of anesthetics." he said in a faint whisper " we don't even have enough resources to have the scientists make them."
Bumblebee and Smokescreen looked at each other, the yellow mech gulping nervously. Bots came in often horribly injured. Needing surgery. No anesthesia? It would be a disaster. Smokescreen rubbed the back of his helm and grumbled softly.
" Well there is no place where we can find other supplies?" he asked quietly "at least some for the time being?"

Splitflame opened his mouth to deny and probably even  make some sharp comment on this Smokescreen  really living in another world. But then he closed it as his optics sparked.
'There are some hospitals which were abandoned at the start of the war because under attack." he said quietly " often the bots who fled were in a hurry as they were neutrals and afraid. If we find one of those there is a good chance that we could find some medicines. Maybe they could find some anesthetics too. "
Bumblebee's voice sounded as soon as Splitflame finished talking, and was slightly higher pitched, so full of excitement:" I have some old map of pre-war Cybertron! Optimus gave them to me!"
Splitflame's wings twitched, and his optics fell on the map as soon as Bee gave it to him. A smile immediately appeared as he saw the closest of the ones which had not been already checked by divisions of Autobots.
" Here. " he said firmly pointing at it "Let's go there. Tyger Pax."

Splitflame walked with those two he had just met, not really paying much attention to Bee talking about how they had to be quick before someone noticed their absence. Smokescreen snorted:" Oh come on Bee. It's really not that complicated. We go in, look for medicines, take them and go back. We are almost at Tyger Pax too."
But Bumblebee continued talking, his voice a bit irritated and high pitched. Splitflame heard it in his audio receptors like it was nagging at his processor. Always more insisting, always higher...

" Soldier, that's not we asked you. We don't have all day. " a voice interrupted the seeker, and he barely looked up, the voice of the scout still there, in his mind. He shuddered, his optics clouded as he stared at his servos quietly.
"what happened after you arrived to Tyger Pax?" another mech asked, and his tone was softer. Almost kind, understanding.
"Tiger Pax..." Splitflame muttered as his optics shut and he shuddered. He didn't want to continue. Only wanted to close his optics and cry, but those voices weren't going to stop. He didn't even realize to be talking as his memories flooded him again.

Tiger Pax.
Roads once bustling with life were empty and silent. Splitflame shuddered slightly, but wasn't backing down now. He needed to fix his mistake. His wings twitched uneasily as he walked through the streets, looking for the hospital. When they saw it further away he started running, his optics focusing on everything that moved.
"Come on guys." Smokescreen called out suddenly and the young medic spun, watching him rush for a big building with still a huge cross on a wall. He immediately followed, eager to get out of the mess he had caused. Maybe if he found something useful he would even increase their medicine storages.

"We didn't ask for your defense in a tribunal soldier. Save your pathetic excuses for the martial court. " a white and black praxian said staring at the rambling youngling, who had just stopped talking and started trembling, hugging his knees.

"Talk about what happened in the hospital. ' the officer continued" and don't stop to ramble about it being "just an easy thing" that casually went wrong. It does not matter. "

That place was so dark. Splitflame tried to adapt his optics  but it was really hard. Even the light coming off their chassis didn't help that much. He frowned deeply, glancing at Bumblebee ahead of him as he was a scout and was more used to walking in the dark.
" If either of you find anything don't touch anything. ' the medic said" call me. If It Is something dangerous, it's better I look at it first. "
The tall youngling continued walking through the halls, looking around. Hoping they would find something.

Splitflame didn't know how long he had been walking without finding anything useful. Even his friends were silent. That silence, the darkness around him, he felt like buried alive. His wings twitched begging for him to take off, to join the sky floating above the planet. But he could not. He had to continue searching.

His thoughts were interrupted after an indefinite amount of time. But not by the voice of his friends. A screech tore his audio receptors apart, like claws of a horrible beast. Splitflame froze, terror filling him.
-flee.- a voice shouted in his mind, and the young mech felt his legs obeying. Running blindly, without knowing what was the right route for the exit. He just knew he wanted to put as much distance as he could between him and that screech.

When Splitflame saw a light ahead of him, he cried out in happiness and relief, almost not feeling the last feet that separated him from freedom. The dim light of the moons of Cybertron was the best thing he had seen in all his life.

"Splitflame! You are okay!" a voice called out, and he turned, facing Smokescreen, covered in dust but grinning happily. The young seeker just ran to him, hugging him tightly, as relief flooded him.
"I heard that horrible screech and I fled! I am glad you are okay." he said grinning. His smile then started dying down though as he looked around.
'Wait. Where is Bumblebee? " he asked quietly, and felt his new friend stiffen in his hold.

" Bumblebee? Bumblebee! Where are you? "

Only silence replied to their voices. Was he still inside? Did something happen to him? Splitflame knew they should go back inside, but he was terrified. He watched Smokescreen run back inside, yelling for him to follow. He just watched. Watched, still, as other bots started coming over, getting inside after the two younglings.
Not even the shouts of a mech asking him something made him stop staring at the black jaws which were the entrance. He just stared, frozen, as he felt someone try to drag him away roughly, and had the possibility to finally see someone emerging from that dreadful place.

Optimus Prime hurried outside, holding a yellow mech.
Or at least, he should have been yellow. He was covered by a sticky, sickening blue fluid, coming out of where his mouth had been. Splitflame could only look at his face for a moment as the leader of the Autobots passed beside him. He felt his legs become weak and collapsed, covering his optics with his hands. He didn't hear the noise of a jet leaving the hospital over his own sobs as he was about to take his blue optics with his own servos. But it would be useless.  The picture of a horribly slashed, destroyed mouth was burned in his memory.
He could only scream.

The bots from the military commission who was investigating on what happened that night had to drag that youngling out, to be sedated. The young medic was screaming and wailing, blind to every try to reassure him. Even Prowl was frowning, in pity, as he watched Ratchet inject heavy sedatives in his apprentice. When finally the young mech was passed out, and Ratchet picked him up with a frown, the two looked at each other.

"They only tried to help." Ratchet muttered softly "he didn't deserve that interrogation. You were cruel. And that Smokescreen got back in the Elite Guard with no problem at all. "
For the first time the Third in Command of the Autobots had to agree in his processor. But he replied anyway:"Smokescreen came back to help Bumblebee. He tried. Splitflame didn't. He just fled and remained paralyzed."

Ratchet glared and grunted:"Sometimes instinct takes over Prowl. There is no good or bad. There is only fight or flight."

Word count: 1772
Author's note: okay! That's my entry! Thornful-Roses I hope you like it, I didn't put any trigger warning because I refrained from writing down the torture Bumblebee went through, though it was actually a idea that I had at first. To put everything clear, yes it is my personal interpretation of why Bumblebee ended up in Tyger Pax and Megatron made him become mute.