AN: This is my first time trying to write a fanfic so I do apologize if the first few chapters are not great or if the writing itself is not perfect since I edited most of it. Though for the story itself 'Time Out' is really the intro or the beginning to a larger fic that I am planning and will hopefully get to write soon. Essentially Time Out will take place during the series itself and the next story will take place after the end of the series, Time out is also the story in which Bumblebee and the Jet twins start crushing on each other and the next fic will go into their developing relationship in more depth. Any form of review or critique would be greatly appreciated, as well as very helpful.

It was twelve thirty in the morning in Detroit, and the rainstorm that had previously been over the city had finally begun to dissipate, allowing the Detroit night sky to slowly peer through the dark clouds. The city was quiet, save for the noises of still puttering drains and drivers returning to their homes from either late night shifts or visits to various bars. Anyone who was up this time might have been tempted to go out for a late night drive, anybody save for a certain yellow mech who, given the nights recent events was in a relatively crappy mood.

While Bumblebee loved late night drives every once in a while he usually preferred them if he was accompanied by Sari, otherwise speeding down empty highways as fast as possible wasn't as much fun. In the cases when he didn't feel like going out he would have just played video games until he could barely keep his optics open. Speaking of which, recharge did sound good at the moment, especially since thanks to Wasp he spent the better part of the last few hours practically being tossed around like scrap in an asteroid field. Sadly, all three options were kind of out of the question at the moment, well two actually, and one self imposed. Optimus understandably didn't want Bumblebee going outside of the base out of concern that Wasp may try to attack Bumblebee if he was alone again, though since Sari wasn't bunking with the Autobots anymore his late night excursions had gone to an all time low. Besides, why would he want to risk running into a maniac that wanted nothing more that to offline him? Yes Bumblebee was a risk taker, but there was a solid line between being a mech that liked to take risks and being a complete idiot.

He would have gone to his berth to recharge, but while he wouldn't openly admit it to anyone, the return of Wasp really did get to him. Even if he tried he doubted he would have been able to relax enough to fall into recharge anyway, considering his spark was still beating erratically even after the threat had run off. And while video games were as great an outlet as they always were, it was kind of their fault (in a way) that the situation transpired, and maybe somewhat his fault as well. Just maybe. Given this reason he planned on laying off of video games for the next solar cycle or two.

So that left him just idling around in the main room slowly passing time, he was making his way by one of the windows when a realization dawned on him.

"What am I doing walking around in the dark?!" Bumblebee exclaimed aloud while avoiding tripping over an oil can. Had he seriously been so distracted that he didn't realize that the lights were off and spent half a cycle skulking around in the dark?

"Gee, I thought that was Prowl's kinda thing.." he mumbled jokingly as he collected himself.

Speaking of Prowl, maybe one of his nature programs was on? Since Bumblebee wasn't exactly as captivated with nature programs as Prowl was, perhaps watching one of them would calm (or bore) him enough into recharge.

Figuring his optics had already adjusted to the dim lighting considering he never smashed into anything during his earlier walk (he never did trip on that oil can), Bumblebee made his way over. Noticing the remote wasn't on the table he began looking for it, but not before pausing for a few moments to regard the game station warily.

"No way you're getting me this time." He distrustfully whispered.

After the brief show down with the game station he returned to his search for the remote control, which after looking for a few seconds, he found was on the ground near the couch.

"Wow, I'm surprised this didn't get stepped on in that mix-up earlier!" he announced cheerily while grabbing the remote.

'Well at least things are kind of looking up' sitting on the couch he brushed the dust off the bottom of the remote with his servos. After deciding it looked fine he turned on the tv and started channel surfing as he steeled in. 'Maybe it couldn't hurt to see if there's anything worth watching on.'

After watching a (strangely interesting?) news program about old movies for a few minutes he suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of jet engines outside the base and the distinct noise of a transformation, followed by the sound of another transformation after he assumed the first had landed.

Slag! Bumblebee mentally cursed as he immediately turned off the tv, tossed the remote, and climbed over the top of the couch and fell on his back to hide behind it. 'Decepticons?! What are they doing here?' 'They couldn't have found the base could they? Wait, if they did, wouldn't the sensors on the Elite Guard ship pick up their signals?' Even stranger, from his experience decepticons didn't normally go for joy rides around Detroit without crushing or blowing something up…

'What if something's going on?' Bumblebee thought to himself, 'maybe I could just…'. For the next nanoclick he weighed between the options of alerting everybody, and going to the window to check the situation. Finally deciding that the later was less disruptive and had a lower chance at a confrontation, Bumblebee slowly crept out from behind the couch and slid against the wall next to the tv. Never letting his optics stray from the window he turned up his audio receptors as slowly crept over to it, keeping in mind what transpired in the main room earlier. As he got closer to the window Bumblebee noticed that he wasn't hearing any noises outside save for, what sort of sounded like chatter? Reaching his destination he slowly tilted his helm to the side to see what was outside aaannd-

"Hello!" Well so much for less confrontational.

"Gah!" was the graceful response Bumblebee gave towards a smiling face sporting a blue visor as he nearly fell back on his aft from the the unexpected greeting.

"You okay?" Jetstorm asked as he watched Bumblebee recover through the window. Though judging by look Bumblebee gave him and what he thought sounded like cursing he guessed that he couldn't really hear him through the glass.

In the moment Bumblebee spent recovering himself he suddenly felt like a complete idiot as the realization that there were two flying autobots in the city hit him like a brick. In an attempt to keep from further embarrassing himself he recovered and went back up to the window to speak to Jetstorm, Bumblebee already had a good idea of who the other 'visitor' was as he tried to straighten his vocalizer in an attempt to seem like he had totally not just nearly had a full on spark attack.

"Oh it's just you guys! For a moment there I thought that you guys were…"he trailed off as he realized the mech on the other side of the window could not hear him clearly. Jetstorm being the first to realize this had already begun gesturing to the large factory door that the 'bots used to enter and exit the base from

"Oh ah, just a sec" Bumblebee replied. To be honest he wasn't entirely looking forward to having a conversation with Jetstorm and Jetfire at the moment. It wasn't because they were on Sentinel's team, since Jazz was cool but because their first encounter hadn't been exactly… warm and friendly so to speak. Then again, Jetstorm didn't look like he was a mean spirited mech, nor did Jetfire. Continuing his train of thought Bumblebee walked to the controls to open the entrance so that the twins could quickly come in for whatever their business was so that both parties could sooner be on their way.

Though apparently the twins had the same idea of 'sooner' as he did because at the moment the factory door was just halfway open Jetfire had poked his helm under it "Soo… we come in yes or no?" he asked curiously as the door continued to rise.

"Uhh, sure help yourselves." Raising an optic ridge, he couldn't help but notice that they both seemed a little well… enthusiastic about something? When the twins made their way inside the base he closed the entrance before making his way over to them.

"So," starting as he raised an optic ridge skeptically, "What were you guys doing sneaking out there anyway?" Considering he nearly had a panic attack earlier he wanted to know just what their business was.

"Sneaking?" Jetfire replied with a mildly puzzled expression "But we weren't-"

"Oh!" Jetstorm cut in while raising a servo to his helm. "We just check to see if anyone awake!" he finished with a smile.

"If anyone is awake? You guys did see that the lights were off right?" Bumblebee deadpanned.

"… Ex traitor Wasp shot out lights did he not?" Jetfire's answered as he turned back to Bumblebee.

"O-oh yeah..." was Bumblebee's response as he sheepishly looked to the side while fiddling with his servos. 'Wow, way to go.'

"Now that you mention it I should probably find something to-"he promptly shut himself up as Jetfire lifted a servo and produced a small ball of fire in it to illuminate the room. Well that was convenient.

"Or that works too I guess." Looking towards the main room Bumblebee decided to move the conversation away from the door. "I guess you guys can just follow me over there." He directed while gesturing behind himself. Leading the two of them towards the main room he realized he never heard the two of them explain why they were at the base at practically one in the morning.

"So I'm guessing Sentinel sent you guys over here or something? Because if it's a message for Optimus I could probably just tell him in the morning for you guys or whatever."

Doubting that he was getting any recharge he decided that if there was something that their leader needed to know he could just wait until everybody woke up to tell him, just as long as it wasn't something that needed to be told this instant.

"No, Sentinel Prime not send us" Jetstorm answered. So Sentinel never sent them? Then in that case what were they doing over? As the thought crossed Bumblebee's processor Jetfire added his piece. "Yes, brother and I came here ourselves." Ah, so they decided to come over by themselves, now that just left the why. Though first, another vital question hit Bumblebee's processor.

"Isn't Sentinel going to blow a fuse when he notices you guys are gone?"

Lively demeanor never faltering Jetfire this time answered first. "No worry, Mister Jazz say no way Sentinel go outside ship unless emergency. Thanks to rain he really hates wet roads.. also rain too."

"Besides," Jetstorm chimed in "If Mister Sentinel really angry Mister Jazz also say he just give us both angry comm call at best."

"Eh, if you guys say so." Bumblebee responded as he turned his helm to look at the relatively clear sky outside the window. So Jazz knew they were here? He supposed that was okay. Normally he wouldn't have really cared over such details but right now he just wanted to avoid any more trouble for the rest of the night.

Seeing as there was no longer the possibility of a threat or a pressing matter at hand, Bumblebee turned back towards Jetfire and Jetstorm and crossed his arms. "So what brought you guys over anyway?"

They both shared glances before Jetfire answered. "We were both wondering-"

"If we could play video game?" Jetstorm finished while clasping his servos together.

…That was all? "That's the whole reason you guys came over?" Bumblebee confirmed incredulously. The twins both nodded hopefully as Bumblebee stared at them.

"Well," Bumblebee started. Maybe he should turn them down? Besides, he was planning to lay off of games for the next few-

Slag it, "Sure why not?" he finished with a sly grin. Well he never did specify WHO would be doing the playing. Besides it did beat watching nature programs.

As he walked over to the tv area the twins both shared eager looks before they followed him over. Turning on the television he briefly read the title of another news story before he remembered to first turn down the volume so that he wouldn't disturb anyone before proceeding to connect the game station to the tv. After connecting the load screen popped up and the light from the screen enveloped most of the tv area. Seeing this Bumblebee looked back at Jetfire, "You know you can turn that off now right? I think were covered for now."

Jetfire paused for a moment before he looked at his hand and realized what Bumblebee was referring to. "Oh yes!" After extinguishing the aforementioned ball of flame he brought his servo back down.

"Sorry"

"Nah its fine." Bumblebee replied flippantly.

The three of them stood in silence as they watched the screen waiting for the game to finish loading. Moments later the main menu for Ninja Gladiator finally came up.

"Alright," Bumblebee energetically announced as he picked up the controllers. "Who's ready for a round of ninja gladiator?!" he exclaimed while trying to keep his voice down.

"Me!" the twins answered in unison.

"Well that's awesome because…" Bumblebee started as he stuffed a controller into both of the twin's servos, "this is way better as a multiplayer game and I'm kind of feeling out of it at the moment."

Jetstorm and Jetfire were only mildly surprised by Bumblebee's response for a moment before they both grinned at each other and sat down to start the game. Noticing who had which controller, Bumblebee looked over to Jetfire. "Oh yeah Jetfire? You're player one so you'll have to press start on your controller to start the game after choosing your characters 'kay?"

Jetfire nodded his response before he turned his attention back to the tv screen. Huh, so he was going to play as Kaname? That wouldn't exactly have been Bee's first choice, but hey Jetstorm and Jetfire were the ones playing, not him.

Bumblebee spent the next hour and a half with his helm in his servos with his elbows propped on his knees intermediating between watching the tv screen and watching the twins as they eagerly played the game on story mode, which Bumblebee picked specifically because this way there was a play tutorial at the start of the game. For the first half hour he watched the twins get used to the controls for the game while giving out pointers every now and then.

Eventually his optics gradually became more and more difficult to keep open and it was at the point where he was starting to doze off that he was startled back to earth as he heard a frustrated groan next to him. Immediately perking back up, Bumblebee turned to his right just in time to see Jetstorm gritting his denta with a strangely determined look on his facial plates and Jetfire sticking his tongue out cutely while somehow maintaining a serious expression on his facial plates, both of them were leaning towards the screen as they pressed their controllers rapidly to defeat the third chapter's boss.

'Oh hey they're on chapter three already' Bumblebee inwardly thought to himself. Well no wonder they were so serious, chapter three's boss was one of the hardest in the game.

With his amusement growing Bumblebee watched as Jetfire slumped over in defeat and let his controller hang dully from servos as his character was decapitated, only to fist his them and hold them up as he perked back up and leant towards the monitor to watch his brother try to defeat the boss on his own. Looking at the screen Bumblebee found himself unable to look away from the impressive solo fight Jetstorm was putting up. After another minute into the fight he looked like he was winning.

Barely ten seconds later however that idea was shot to the ground. Bumblebee grimaced as he watched Jetstorm groan and bring his hands up in defeat as his character was stabbed and the game over screen flashed. It looked like he had been slagging close to winning too. Suddenly finding himself slyly grinning at the spectacle, he resisted the urge to pry.

And failed. "So, looks like you guys are having fun." He teased while trying to stifle a laugh.

The only response Bumblebee got was Jetfire turning towards him with a pout on his face while Jetstorm continued to stare dejectedly with his visor thinning at the game over screen. So he had been that close to winning? Neither of the two said anything.

Feeling the awkwardness grow as the silence persisted, Bumblebee stood up from his seat while coughing into his servo. "You know if you guys want, I can show you this trick that can help beat him faster.."

Face brightening and determination returning at the idea, Jetfire picked his controller back up and nudged his brother.

Upbeat expression returning, Jetstorm glanced at his brother then towards Bumblebee, "Sure, sound good."

Upon seeing their enthusiasm return Bumblebee relaxed sensing the awkwardness had finally ended. "Alright, awesome!"

'Okay' Bumblebee thought to himself, 'I never said I couldn't help anyone with the game..'

Grabbing a free controller and plugging it in to the game set he went over to where the twins were sitting, "Hey Jetfire you mind scooching over?"

As soon as Jetfire complied he plopped down in his new seat and started a new game from a save point.

"Aw slag!" Bumblebee cursed. Surprised by the outburst Jetstorm and Jetfire both looked at him.

Looking in dismay at the controller, Bumblebee inspected the crack. "Great, add that on the list of reasons why Wasp's a jerk..." he muttered. Well at least the fragging thing still worked.

Curiosity piquing Jetstorm and Jetfire began wondering why Bumblebee and his big green friend (Bulkhead was his name?) disliked the other green mech so much. Jetfire looked over Bumblebee to his brother 'You think we should ask?'

'Eh, why not.'

Jetstorm tapped Bumblebee's shoulder with a finger to get his attention "So, why you so strongly dislike ex-traitor Wasp?"

"Yes do tell, did he replace motor oil to drink with sludge?" asked Jetfire.

"Uhh, no…" pausing a moment Bumblebee decided to change the topic of the conversation.

"It was just uh, a bunch of stupid stuff that happened a while back is all!" he answered while nervously laughing. 'Okay better end this..' he thought.

"So, you guys ready to kick some special slug aft or what?"

Before either of the twins could protest or answer he started the game at the save point and rapidly moved his character forward.

"Hey!" Jetfire protested.

"No cheat!" picking up his controller, Jetstorm began playing.

Now that he had their attention back on the game Bumblebee discreetly let out a breath and began giving instructions. "Now if you want to beat this guy faster there's actually this secret room behind the wall near the third lantern from the-"

Clunk!

Bumblebee onlined to a sudden weight on his helm, and what felt like something weighing down on his shoulder. Slowly onlining his optics, he inspected his surroundings. Apparently he and the twins must have fallen into recharge sometime during the night because that helped explain the now two weights leaning down on him. Lazily guessing, Jetstorm's helm must have slid from its original resting spot because that explained why it was now on top of Bumblebee's own. Shifting his optics to the side it turned out that the weight on his shoulder was none other than Jetfire, who, like his brother was also using him as a pillow. While he was in the process of making these discoveries Bumblebee noticed that his spark had started speeding up. 'Oh yeah, Wasp's back isn't he…' he sleepily thought.

They must have fallen into recharge while they were still playing because his and Jetfire's characters had both died while Jetstorm's character was still running into a wall. He had to admit, he was slightly impressed at the fact that Jetstorm still had a hold of his controller since his and Jetfire's controllers had already slipped out of their servos during the night. Feeling recharge beckon once again, he languidly shut his optics as he checked his inner clock.

'Huh, it's almost 5 AM. Prowl's getting up soon' Prowl…

Bumblebee's optics flew open. 'Oh slag Prowl!'

Optics darting from side to side Bumblebee finally absorbed that fact that he was between Jetstorm and Jetfire practically serving as their pillow.

'Primus if he sees me like this he'll never let me live it down!' Realizing his position wasn't really one that permitted mobility, Bumblebee spent the next second frantically thinking of a way to move from his current position. Realizing he couldn't just get up, he began slowly sliding down his seat on the couch to escape until his back hit the ground. Poking his helm back up, Bumblebee watched as the twins slowly slid down until they simply wound up leaning on each other, apparently never stirring along the way once. Now that he had succeeded in escaping a compromising position, Bumblebee crawled back to his peds and sat on the end of the couch he had occupied hours earlier and relaxed to recharge some more. Looking at the twins one last time he was about to shut his optics when a voice startled him awake.

"Bumblebee? I was not aware you would be up this early"

"Oh uh, mornin' Prowl" Bumblebee greeted in a hushed tone. "Nice uh, nice sunrise out there huh?"

"Yes," Giving a slight smile, Prowl turned to look out the window. "The rain certainly makes the sunrise more vibrant."

"And I see we have guests."

"Yeah, they came in the middle of the night. Would you believe it?"

Visor quirking, Prowl turned back to Bumblebee. "Was there something they needed? Or is there something they need to tell us?"

Facial plating heating inexplicably, Bumblebee tried not to look away. "No actually, they just came over to play some video games. In the middle of the night."

He laughed nervously for a moment while playing with his fingers. "Crazy huh?"

"I suppose I see no harm in that." Turning, Prowl walked over to the controls to open the entrance. As he was about to exit he looked back towards the yellow mech that was dozing off on the couch.

"Oh, and Bumblebee?"

"M'yeah Prowl?" Bee replied sleepily.

"Do try to abstain from video games for a bit, they seem to be attracting guests as of late." Transforming into his alt-mode, Prowl sped off.

'You don't say...' Bee thought sarcastically.

As he got comfortable on his portion of the couch though, he could not help the smile creeping onto his facial plating. 'At least these two are cool though, I should totally introduce them to Sari later.'