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It had been a normal day in Jasper, Nevada. Well, at least for Raf it was. He woke up and got ready for school, avoiding crashing into his siblings as they did the same. Managed to fight the crowd to get his teeth brushed and snag one of the good cereal bowls for breakfast. Then Bumblebee picked him up for school. They talked on the way. Nothing really to note of. Then once Raf got to school, it was just that, school: history, STEM, Algebra II, PE, and English I, the general.
It wasn’t until after school that the day took a turn.
“Awwww…. Did the baby forget to bring his swimsuit?” Vince mocked as he turned tail and ran.
He left Raf soaked to the bone. The bully seemed to love tormenting him when he wasn’t going after Jack. Since Jack had to run to work after school quickly, that meant the Latino boy was the target of the bully’s prank. Today’s prank was getting a five-gallon bucket of water tossed on you. Raf barely had time to clutch his bag to protect it from most of the hydrogen and oxygen-bonded liquid.
“What happened?” Bee asked as Raf turned the corner to meet up with the Autobot scout. “Does it have to do with Vince running off just a second ago?”
“Yeah, but it is okay, Bee,” Raf smiled, hearing the angry tones in Bee’s beeping. “None of my stuff got damaged, and I always carry an extra pair of clothes on me in case I need to crash at base.”
Bumblebee grumbled but didn’t argue as he lifted his passenger door for Raf to enter.
“Actually, I should probably change before we get to base, for Miko doesn’t see and try to go all Wreaker on Vince. I can only really do that in the back.”
“No problem,” Bumblebee said as he switched to opening the back passenger door.
Raf quickly climbed in, unconcerned about himself as Bee pulled from the school’s sidewalk. He got to work quickly. He unbuckled the very front part of his backpack. Inside was an old long-sleeved black shirt with a UFO and a pair of grey sweats. The outfit was mostly supposed to be a last-minute sleepwear if he was going to be spending the night at base, but they could easily work as lounge wear, given the circumstances.
The boy peeled his sweatshirt and vest off first. Water dripped into Bee’s interior as he pulled it over his shoulders. Raf realized he would have to apologize after he finished. Kicking off his shoes, he slipped off the soaked jeans and tossed them onto the floorboards. They would be less of a problem down there. The sweats soon replaced the wet jeans.
Raf reached for the long-sleeved shirt when Bee suddenly slammed on the brakes. As the scout’s tires cried against the asphalt, Raf nearly flew into the passenger seat. The boy quickly braced himself, thinking a con had just found them. However…
“Where did you get that?!” Bee yelled from the counsel.
Raf blinked, reorienting himself. “What?”
“Your arm!”
Raf’s heart dropped. Bee was talking about it, wasn’t he? Fire raced up his arm where the mark was. The Lichtenberg scar spread out from just above his right shoulder out towards his elbow, reaching his wrist and further up, coming past his shoulder. He stumbled as he yanked the shirt over his head and slid his hands in, covering the mark.
“Raf,” Bee’s voice warbled.
“When Megatron shot you during the whole Unicron stuff,” Raf mumbled. Tears began welling up in his eyes. “It just didn’t show up until after Unicron was defeated.”
Raf could still remember the sounds of energon fire as Bee moved to avoid the barrage of shots. Then, Bee had gotten hit. He had swerved, sending Raf into his door. The Energon shot must have had some electrical charge. It was the only way Raf could explain how hitting the door infected him with dark energon until Ratchet stabilized him. Raf shuddered. He had come so close to death that day.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Bee asked, starting to move again on the dessert road.
“Optimus was missing and I was fine, you know,” Raf nearly choked.
Yeah. Like, Raf was fine. It wasn’t like he still had nightmares of Megatron peering over him. Didn’t sometimes had the phantom pains of when Bee had been hit, and in turn, him. Of course, Raf didn’t feel want to burden the team with what had happened, especially with Optimus missing at the time.
It was no problem, though. He was grown. Raf had stared down giant robots and broken into military grade bases all the time. Raf could be strong and deal with it on his own.
“I just…couldn’t find the time to bring it up,” Raf muttered.
Bee turned from base, comming to Ratchet that the two of them were going to drive around a bit. Bee didn’t force Raf to talk about it like the boy was expecting. Instead, Bee asked how his classes were. Raf couldn’t help the small smile on his face as he pushed what happened that day behind him. He told Bee about having to jog half a mile in P.E and the formulas they were going over in Algebra. Bee listened intently and added where he could.
Soon, everything began falling back into its steady rhythm.
Raf knew that there were some injuries that would never heal. Scars that would never fade like his own. He was just going to have to live with them. That was something that came with being part of Team Prime and the centuries-long civil war.
Raf still wouldn’t have it any other way.