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Beauty Within	By : Scienceteacher Category: Transformers > G1 > Slash - M/M Views: 4014 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story

Chapter List
- 15
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- 17
Harsh Truths

Slowly, the alarms went off one by one in Bumblebee’s head. Even before he reactivated his optics, he felt the press of a mech on top of him. His arms still locked down firmly against the rubble covered ground. But it didn’t frighten him anymore! He knew it was Droct, and the black terror never came! Smiling at his small victory over what the cons had done to him, Bee’s blue optics brightened.

He scanned the old mine shaft. The cool, damp air felt good against his armor. The tons of solid stone that seemed to press down all around him, wasn’t oppressive in the least. In fact, it was very comforting, since most of the cons were much too large to ever come down to these depths. He wondered if it might be better to become a miner mech. Perhaps follow Droct around while he searched for new veins of ore. Then he wouldn’t have to fight the cons again. Have to face his fear of Seekers again. Feeling shame begin to course through him, he shook those thoughts from his mind. He was an Autobot wasn’t he? And one day they’d defeat the sloggers. Then mechs like Droct could come back home. Come back to Cybertron where they belonged.

“Hmmmm,” Droct murmured as he slowly reactivated. He felt the yellow mech still lying under him. But there was no trembling of terror to be felt. Reactivating his optics, he found himself staring into the calm optics of his friend. “I’m sorry I forced you to face your fear Yellow. But T’ran said it was the only way.” He shifted as he apologized, freeing Bee’s arms.

Shaking his head, Bee grabbed the mech’s helm and forced him into a passionate kiss. Droct had only done what he thought was best for Bee, and the yellow mech knew this. Now that his fear of being helpless under the weight of another had been vanquished – he loved Droct even that much more. And he wanted the mech to understand this.

A little shocked at first, Droct relaxed as he realized his friend was trying to say that he didn’t need to apologize for it. That the yellow mech wanted to get over it! The satisfaction of helping his friend coursed through him, along with the waves of pleasure that Bee’s glossa toying with his was causing. Finally, the yellow mech freed his lips and lay back against the rough floor. His normal cheerful smile was back on his face.

Rolling off of him, Droct stood up and started to relatch his armor. “Well, at least T’ran didn’t interrupt this time, huh?” he joked. He grinned sheepishly at his yellow friend as he winked.

Nodding his agreement, Bumblebee hopped up to his feet and relatched his own armor. Picking up Droct’s discarded facemask, he casually tossed it to the mech as he began to carefully make his way back towards the main mineshafts.

Chuckling at his silent, but bold friend; Droct relatched his facemask and followed after him. Carefully he picked his way over and around the fallen rocks, as their headlights caused the old shaft to dance in haphazard waves of light.
The sound of the morning shift coming through the mine assailed their audios as they made it to one of the main shafts. Telling Bee to stop, Droct casually reached up to a copper pipe that ran along a crevice between the wall and the ceiling. Tapping a ‘miner’s code’ he told the miner mechs where they were and what they’d found. Then he and Bee sat down and waited for M’ron’s group to arrive.

---

“So you found a good vein?” M’ron’s deep voice asked. He and four other miner mechs stopped and transformed in front of the two smaller mechs. Their helms almost touched the low ceiling.

Droct stood up and pulled the second sample out of his cab. “Um, yes,” he stammered as he handed the sample to the big miner mech.

Taking the sample, M’ron turned his back to the garbage mech. For a few minutes, he and the other miners passed the sample back and forth as they discussed it’s concentration of ore and value.

“So where is this vein located?” One of the others asked Droct. His optics were harsh as he looked at the ugly mech; if the garbage mech weren’t so good at finding them quality veins to work – he’d have absolutely no use for him. And the darned mech was so pathetic and ugly, that the miner really didn’t even like looking at him either. But M’ron would kick any mech’s aft for actually acting on their true feelings about his girlfriend’s pathetic brother, and no one wanted their alt mode rearranged the hard way.

Droct kept his optics on the stone floor. He knew how these miners looked at him. The same way all the mechs seemed to look at him. Ever since the ‘accident’, no one wanted to be around him. He couldn’t blame them though, if he was normal – he might not want to be around a mech like him either. Sighing inside, Droct knew he couldn’t change what had happened, and never in a million years could he ever hope to afford – or deserve – the total structural rebuild that it would take to straighten him out. Nope, he was stuck like this, and he’d grown to accept this fact of his life.

Pointing down the half-collapsed mine shaft that he and Bee had explored, Droct gave them the exact distance and position of the ore vein.

The miners returned to their discussions for a while. Pointedly ignoring the mech who’d found the valuable vein for them.

Bee watched the interaction, seeing the obvious disgust the other miners had for his gentle friend. He could tell that it was only Droct’s valuable ability and the fact that M’ron was dating his sister – that forced the miners to at least treat him with civility. He had no doubts that if it weren’t for those two things, the miners were the type to just kick Droct’s aft for no reason other than his appearance. Just like the garbage mechs would. A deep sadness filled his core as he realized just how truly alone Droct was. And through no fault of his own! He swore that he’d never leave the poor mech, regardless of what he had to do.

“Well Droct, you’ve done well it seems,” M’ron said as he turned back to the timid garbage mech. “Tell you what, since you and your little friend here have searched all night, go to my shack and get some rest. I’ve got a little energon in the storage if you need it.” Without waiting for an answer, he turned back to the group of miners and began to discuss options of how to get to the new vein to start working it.

“Um, thanks M’ron,” Droct stammered to the big mech’s back. Then he motioned to Bee to follow him. They transformed and began the long twisting drive back to the surface.

---

Passing several more large groups of miner mechs, the two small mechs pressed themselves tightly against the side of the shaft, not wanting to cause any trouble for the bigger mechs. Still, several of the miners made very derogatory remarks to Droct. Insulting him openly, since neither M’ron or T’ran were anywhere close. Droct just kept his vocals silent, very used to this type of treatment.

Bee wanted desperately to yell back at them all. He wished he had his gun, and then he’d teach the sloggers to treat his friend with a little decency! But he couldn’t do either. So fuming silently, he followed his friend to the surface. The stinging comments and jokes followed them along.

Finally, the beautiful light from the planet’s star flooded their optics. Transforming, the two squinted in the sudden glare as they made their way towards the miners’ town. A couple of the giant borer mechs passed them. One of them made sure to ‘accidentally’ step too close to Droct; which caused the garbage mech to fall down on the rough rock from the hard hit. The pair of heavy giants snickered at the fun, and continued on their way to the main mine shaft.

Knowing that not even M’ron would stand up to the hundred ton behemoths, Bee silently helped his staggering friend back up to his feet. Now, what little armor the mech had, that hadn’t been dented – was. Wishing that Omega Supreme was around, Bee envisioned the giant guardian teaching those rude mechs a hard lesson in manners.

“It’s ok Yellow. I deserved it. I just didn’t get out of their way fast enough,” Droct explained. His tone of voice indicated that he truly felt that he deserved every bad thing that others did to him.

Bee put his hands on his friend’s shoulders, shaking the mech roughly as he shook his head. The poor mech didn’t deserve to be treated like this! Didn’t he understand that it wasn’t his fault that all these mechs were pieces of slag?

Looking up in surprise, Droct saw the anger on his friend’s face. His core brightened a little, for at least he had a mech that loved him – that got mad when others treated him like this. But if the mech wanted to stay with him, he’d have to understand and accept that this was Droct’s lot in life. There was nothing that could change how others reacted to his deformities. “Yellow its ok. That’s just how it is. I’m sorry you don’t like it, but we can’t change what they think.”

Bee wanted so much to yell at his friend. To tell him to quit apologizing! That he could indeed change the way mechs saw him. Because Bee was an Autobot, his friends could fix Droct. They could make him normal. But he couldn’t talk, he couldn’t tell the mech – yet. Fighting down his anger, he simply nodded his temporary acceptance of the whole situation.

Droct led the way to M’ron’s shack. Bumblebee followed silently behind, still fuming inside about the unfairness of Droct’s life. He couldn’t wait until he could tell Droct that he could be fixed. That he could be ‘normal’, and not have to deal with the continual degradation that he was so used to.

“Hey Droct, find anything?” T’ran’s voice asked as they entered the sturdy shack.

Slowly their optics acclimated to the cool darkness of the interior. T’ran sat casually on a ‘couch’ that seemed to be cut out of the mountain itself. Her back leaned up against the solid stone wall. Unlike the garbage mech shacks, this one was primered against the elements, solidly constructed and without a hint of rust or corrosion. Its roof was solid galvanized steel, and three walls were made up of solid blocks of stone. Only the front wall was metal. And that was thick and solid, the heavy door hung with solid hinges. It was also fairly spacious, with a seating area and a defragmenting area, all in the single room.

Sitting down on a stone ‘couch’ that faced the one T’ran was lounging on, Droct nodded. “Yep, found a real good ore vein.”

Bee settled himself down next to Droct and grinned at the femme.

Looking back and forth between the two, T’ran realized that they’d probably done far more than just ‘look for ore’. Especially when she considered the cocky, slag eatin’ grin that was on the yellow mech’s face. Chuckling to herself, she was very happy that Droct had found this fixer-upper – for he’d turned out to be the best thing for her brother.

Getting up, she went over to the storage area and grabbed some of the mid-grade that M’ron had stashed. Her boyfriend always shared some with Droct when the mech found him the ore he wanted, so since Droct had apparently been successful, T’ran knew M’ron would give him some. Grabbing a little extra, she figured that Yellow deserved some too. And since M’ron seemed to like the little character, she knew it wouldn’t be an issue.

Tossing a couple of cubes at the mechs, she grinned and plopped herself back down on ‘her’ couch.

“Thanks T’ran,” Droct said softly. Taking his mask off, he took a small sip. Relaxing as he kept the energon in his mouth for a while, enjoying the oh-so-sweet flavor of the highest-grade he ever got to taste.

Bumblebee did the same. Amazing himself that the flavor of the lowly mid-grade was so damned – good! Yes, the months spent living off of the lowest grade of energon had made his taste sensors truly appreciate the flavor of mid-grade. And he knew his engine would really run smooth on this stuff. Thinking back to his life with the Autobots, he was truly appalled at how narrowly they looked at the Galaxy. They’d bitch, whine, and moan – if they even once HAD to drink mid-grade! He could imagine if they had to even consider touching the low-grade. Boy, they’d have to peel Tracks off the ceiling if that ever happened!

The muffled sounds of Seeker engines filled the shack. The rumble caused the very floor to vibrate. Bee dropped his energon cube, his optics widening in terror. He felt Droct and T’ran surround him with their arms. Their voices telling him not to be afraid, that he was safe, that the Seeker wouldn’t find him in here. Fighting his urge to black out in terror, he focused on their voices, their optics. Slowly, he calmed down.

With Droct still holding the scared yellow mech, T’ran cracked the heavy door open and glanced outside. Then she shut it again.

“It’s just that blue one. He brought the little jeep to make a deal with the miners,” she explained to the two mechs.

Bee’s optics widened, it was Thundercracker and Swindle out there. And the miner mechs were apparently used to doing business with them! His core filled with outrage over the whole situation. Why would the miner mechs do business with the evil Decepticons? They were supporting the bastards!

Droct sighed as he relaxed against the wall, still holding Bee in his arms. “Well, at least it’s only the two. The other group probably won’t notice then,” he said softly. His voice seemed to be filled with a strange emotion.

T’ran snorted with disgust. “If the damned Autobots would just stay out of it, then M’ron could make a better living and you wouldn’t have – “

“Shut up T’ran, we can’t change the past,” Droct said sharply. His optics glared at his sister.

Bee looked from one to the other with concern. They didn’t seem to like the Autobots. Why? The Autobots were the good guys weren’t they? Well, at least they thought so. He had to know why the garbage mechs didn’t like Autobots. What had they done wrong?
Turning his face up to Droct’s, he shrugged and gave him a questioning look.

T’ran’s sharp optics caught what the yellow mech was asking. “The Decepticons may be a bunch of sloggers, Yellow, but they pay the miners pretty well. They’re one of the richest mech groups. Normally, everything goes smoothly after the deal’s been made. But every now-and-then things go wrong.”

Droct cut her off, “He doesn’t need to know T’ran. What’s done is done, that’s it.”

His sister glared at him, “If he wants to be with you, he sure as hell needs to know!” she growled. “It’s because of those damned Autobots sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong – that you look like you do!”

The ugly mech tensed, glaring at his outspoken sister to just shut up. He didn’t need to be reminded of what had happened, he was reminded every time he walked in public. Though he was normally very meek mannered, he didn’t want his sister telling his little friend about it. “Just shut up T’ran, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Bee pulled away from Droct in shock. He’d never seen the meek mech talk back to T’ran like that. Obviously whatever had happened that involved the Autobots, was very painful and personal. He just had to know what had happened. Looking imploringly at T’ran, he nodded for her to continue.

“See, Yellow wants to know,” T’ran said victoriously. Her optics challenged her brother to stop her.

Droct stood up, and strode to the door. “Fine, tell him. But I’m NOT going to talk about it!” He growled as he stormed out.

Bee watched him leave, still blown away by the amount of emotion that Droct was showing. His core was sinking, for if Droct hated to even talk about the Autobots, what would he think about the fact that an Autobot was in love with him? Would Droct still want him?

T’ran’s fingers on his arms pulled him out of his racing thoughts. She had moved to sit next to him, her optics showing her concern. He turned his blue optics to her, imploring her to tell him what had happened.

“You’ve got to understand Yellow; Droct is still very upset to even think about it. He’s not mad at me or you, it’s just hard for him,” she said quietly.

Bee shrugged, nodding for her to tell him just what had happened to make the meek mech this upset.

T’ran lowered her optics, seeming to stare blankly into the past. “Droct used to look average, Yellow. He was never gorgeous or anything, but he was happy just to blend into the crowd.” She paused, as if trying to decide how to tell what had happened. “We were up at another miner camp. And they were paying Droct to locate a better vein of high quality coal. So he was down in the mine shafts. The miners were outside working a deal with a couple of Seekers and a mech named Mix Master. The Decepticons wanted the higher grade coal to make better energon outt’ve or something.” She paused again, seeming to shudder at her memories. “We didn’t know it, but an Autobot strike force was moving into position. They attacked so fast, that none of us could run away. A dozen miners died in that attack.” A tear fell down from one of her optics. She paused to wipe it away. “One of the Autobots fired a bunch of missiles at the Seekers. They took off, and the missiles went into the mineshaft. When they impacted, they ignited the methane that had built up in the shaft.”

She paused for a long moment, trying to control her emotions. “The shaft burned for days. All of the remaining miners left, because they thought that no one would ever survive that inferno. I stayed in one of the destroyed shacks. I couldn’t leave until I’d at least buried what was left of my brother.” She broke out into a sob, and then collected herself again.

“When the inferno finally burned all of the methane and just the coal smoldered, I tried to enter the shaft. But it was still too hot. I stayed there for days, just hoping it’d finally cool down, but it didn’t. Then, when I was finally going to give up and leave, I heard him.” She shuddered, and Bee put his arm around her trying to comfort her. “He was crawling out, Yellow. He was still alive, but barely. He couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. But he knew the way out. He was pulling himself along with the only limb he had left – his left arm.”

She buried herself into Bee’s chest armor, the memory of her brother’s injuries so painful to her. “There was almost nothing left of him Yellow. His armor was all melted off. He had no face left. His other limbs had been blown off. But he didn’t know how damaged he was, he just knew he had to get out. When I could finally get to him, I dragged him the rest of the way. And using parts from the destroyed miner mechs, I tried to put him back together as best I could.”

She began to sob quietly, “I should’ve let him die, Yellow. For ever since then he’s been treated worse than dirt. He’s had to live as an outcast; even all of his former friends can’t stand to look at him. They just see the ugliness of his outside, and ignore that he’s still the same on the inside. You’re the first one to look past it Yellow. And for the first time – he seems happy.” She looked up into Bee’s optics as she said the last two sentences, her optics imploring him to never leave her brother.

But now that he knew the truth behind Droct’s deformities, how could he ever expect Droct to love him when he found out that Bee was an Autobot? For his faction had been the cause of Droct’s misfortune. Droct’s pathetic life with no friends and no love – other than his loyal sister – and even his sister seemed to think that Droct would’ve been better off dead than have had to live like this all these years. In a way, she had stayed by his side out of sheer guilt for letting him survive that day. Her guilt in forcing him to live like this.

Shame filled Bee’s cores. The shame that the Autobots didn’t pay attention to the innocent mechs caught in the middle. They had always just figured that any mech that did business with the cons was supporting the con’s war against the Autobots. That they agreed with the con philosophy. And they were so, so wrong! Those mechs were just trying to scrape out a meager living. They didn’t care who they sold materials to, just that they earned the pathetic funds.

And Bee had believed the same thing. The same damned faulty belief that these mechs deserved to face punishment for doing business with the Decepticons. And it was because of mechs like him – that gentle mechs like Droct – were forced to live their lives as outcasts.

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Beauty Within