Bumblebee swore he was going stir-crazy. All this time spent cooped up inside made his joints itch. He wanted to run. He wanted to race as fast as his systems could handle down that empty freeway that was being built, just like he had done countless times before. Maybe he could pretend he was flying as the wind whipped against his frame.

Alas, those were only mere fantasies. Optimus had confined him to the base for three weeks after last month's nasty screw-up that destroyed an entire block of Detroit. In his defense, he didn't know those barrels were explosive...

So there he was, tracing the edges of his room for the millionth time as he laid sprawled out on his berth. As his gaze reached the fourth and final corner yet again, that annoying itch resurfaced. He couldn't stay there any longer.

Groaning softly, the yellow mech forced himself up from his berth and shook out his limbs. He left his room, eventually wandering into the common area. Prowl was watching something on the television—probably another one of those dumb nature documentaries. Aside from the ninja bot, the room was empty. Bumblebee huffed in slight disappointment.

"Where's Sari? Usually she's hanging around here." He asked Prowl as he kicked an empty can at the wall with his pede.

Prowl didn't bother to look, his gaze glued to the screen which displayed a video of a caterpillar crawling across a green leaf. "She went out with the others." He replied.

"They left? Since when?"

"Ten minutes ago."

"And nobody wanted to tell me?"

"There was no need to. You aren't allowed to leave the base anyways."

Bumblebee pouted. Of course they would leave Prowl behind to make sure he stayed put. He dramatically rolled his optics and kicked the can at the wall again. "This isn't fair! I'm gonna rust before I see daylight again!"

"With that attitude, you will." Prowl muttered, rubbing his chin. The caterpillar had now turned into a butterfly. "Fascinating..."

"How can you watch that junk? Boooorinnnggg."

"Be quiet, I'm trying to listen."

Bumblebee huffed, then threw his head back in frustration. He continued kicking the can at the wall for entertainment until Prowl eventually lost his cool.

"Would you stop kicking that stupid can?! Go entertain yourself somewhere else!" The ninja bot snarled icily, glaring daggers at Bee.

"Fine! It was boring anyways, just like you!" Bumblebee fired back. He scooped up the can in his servo and threw it at Prowl's head before storming out of the room.

He stalked the halls, trying to figure out what he could do to cure his boredom. Frustratingly enough, his mind came up empty. The idea of racing the halls briefly entered his thoughts, but was dismissed as quickly as it had arrived. That would probably earn him a one-way ticket to three more weeks in confinement.

"Ugh, this place feels like a prison!" Bumblebee growled to himself. "Oh, look at me! I'm Optimus! I think I'm the best leader ever! Bumblebee, you are confined to the base until further notice! No going outside unless I say so!" He mocked, Optimus's own scolding voice filling his head. "Yeah, like that's gonna stop me from leaving."

At that moment, he happened to lift his head and caught a glimpse of a vent in his peripheral vision. He paused in the middle of the hallway to look at it. The vent was fairly high off the ground, and he'd need something to stand on in order to open it. It wasn't worth it. There had to be another vent that was more accessible.

Bumblebee darted further down the hall and ducked into a storage room, which had a vent up on the wall. Thankfully, there was already a stack of crates for him to climb on. A sly smirk spread across his face.

"Sorry bossbot, I can't follow those orders."

With a chuckle, he easily clambered over the crates and entered the ventilation system. One of the few perks of being small was fitting into tight spaces.

***

It felt great to use his wheels again. The weather was perfect for a nighttime drive. It wasn't too cold or too hot, and the stars were visible from just about anywhere.

Bumblebee stayed away from the city for now, sticking to roads that were more off the grid in order to avoid the possibility of being discovered by his team. Optimus would definitely chew him out for leaving the base if he got caught.

Key word: if.

An hour into his illegal freedom, he got a little... reckless. Now that it had a chance to escape, all that energy that'd been piling up over the past week or so exploded outwards in the form of adrenaline. He just kept going faster and faster, nearly pushing himself to his limits just for the rush. By the time he finally drained his extra reserves of energy, however, he noticed something was wrong.

He couldn't recognize anything. It was all trees and bushes. How far from the city had he gone?

Bumblebee transformed to get a better look at the land. Yep, still had no clue where he was.

"Eh, I'll just go back the way I came!" He glanced around in confusion. "Uh.. I came from that way, right? I don't remember seeing that tree...or that rock.. Where even is the road??" He slapped his servos on his helm. "Scrap, I'm lost!" His voice echoed through the silent air, scaring a small flock of birds from a tree.

Behind him, he heard a crunch that sent shivers down his backstrut. He shifted his servos into his signature stingers and shakily turned around. "S-Show yourself!" He called in an attempt to sound intimidating, but only succeeded in sounding like a young recruit on their very first recon mission.

Nothing happened. He wondered if his audio receptors were malfunctioning.

Then, a raccoon hopped out of the bushes. It appeared to be carrying something in its mouth.

"Oh! Just an Earth creature..." Bumblebee chuckled, trying to play off his fear like it was nothing as he brought his servos back out. He crouched before the raccoon and tilted his head. "Whatcha got there, little buddy?" He was able to take the object from the raccoon, but it ran off before he could do anything else.

The object was rectangular and flat—far smaller than his servo. It definitely didn't look man-made either. Narrowing his optics, he stood to scan in the direction from which the raccoon came.

"Forget trying to get home, I wanna know where this came from." He mumbled to himself as he cautiously began walking.