Bumblebee looked over at Beast Boy, who was crouched in a corner with a hard-shell net over him. He smiled and waved.
They were in the Bat-Bunker. The walls matched the purple on Batgirl’s costume. Bumblebee noted that the room was much darker than the Bee Tree Lab. The lab had always been flooded with sunlight during the day and lit up by voice-activated lights at night. But Bumblebee supposed that Batgirl needed the dark to make her dozens of computer screens illuminate all the better.
“Now that your lab is gone, what’s happening with all your projects?” Batgirl asked.
Bumblebee glanced at one of the monitors. It looked like Batgirl was tracking a storm system.
“Nothing’s going on,” she said glumly.
“Weren’t you working on a new super suit?” Batgirl asked.
Bumblebee walked over to Beast Boy and gave the strands of the net a pull. Batgirl hadn’t quite figured out yet how to release whoever was in her trap. “Is he stuck in there forever?” Bumblebee teased.
“I’d better not be!” Beast Boy exclaimed. “I got places to go, people to meet, jokes to make!”
Bumblebee looked over Batgirl’s shoulder at the 3-D model on the screen. “What are you working on?” she asked.
“Besides setting Beast Boy free, I’m also helping Cyborg create a stronger metal that not only deflects lasers, but then redirects them back to their source,” Batgirl said.
Bumblebee nodded as she tried to build up her courage. There was something she had been wanting to ask her friend. “Say, Batgirl,” Bumblebee began hesitantly. “I was wondering if I could use your lab now and then. But only until mine is rebuilt,” she quickly added.
“What was that?” Batgirl asked. She swiveled her chair around to face Bumblebee.
“She wants to use your lab!” Beast Boy yelled. “Maybe Bumblebee can get me out of here!”
“My lab, the Bat-Bunker?” Batgirl asked. She looked stricken.
Bumblebee felt awful. It was probably too much to have asked. “Never mind,” she said quickly. She was glad it was dark in the room so that Batgirl couldn’t see how embarrassed she was.
“And…awkward silence!” Beast Boy shouted.
“Oh, Bumblebee!” Batgirl said. “I am so embarrassed. I should have offered my lab to you the minute I found out about the Bee Tree Lab being destroyed. What kind of friend am I?”
“Apparently not a very good one,” Beast Boy quipped as he continued to strain against his bonds.
“Bumblebee, please,” Batgirl continued. “I would like nothing more than to share the Bat-Bunker with you!”
A smile lit up Bumblebee’s face. Batgirl would do that for her? As if reading her mind, Batgirl added, “After all, I know you’d do the same for me.”
Bumblebee nodded. That was true. “Thank you!” she said, rushing to give her a hug.
As the girls chatted nonstop about how much fun they’d have working side by side, Beast Boy called out, “Ahem! Hey! What about me? Hello! I’m still here!”
Bumblebee let out an exasperated sigh. “You know,” she said, “you could just turn yourself into something small if you really wanted out.”
Beast Boy’s green cheeks flushed a deeper shade of green. “I knew that,” he said unconvincingly. He transformed into a wasp and buzzed free of the netting. “I just wanted to see how long it would take you to figure it out.”
“What’s mine is yours,” Batgirl said cheerfully. It was the third day of Bumblebee’s sharing the Bat-Bunker. “Take whatever you need.” She returned to the 3-D image of Cyborg with lasers aimed at him.
Bumblebee lingered over Batgirl’s worktable. Everything was neatly organized, unlike in her lab, where her equipment had always lain scattered about. One time when her mom had asked, “Have you ever given any thought to organizing the Bee Tree Lab?” Bumblebee truly hadn’t known what she was talking about.
Though her lab may have looked sloppy, it was anything but that. Bumblebee’s analytical mind cataloged all her equipment, plus the status of her projects and what the next steps were. Everyone knew that when Principal Waller couldn’t find a missing file, her coffee mug, or a recently confiscated super weapon, Bumblebee was the first person she asked to help her.
Bumblebee picked up the hydraulic torque wrench, a handful of titanium cubes, and a small solar vial. “What’s all this?” she asked Batgirl.
“Oh, just something I’m working on for Poison Ivy,” Batgirl replied. “I’m trying to capture sunlight and turn it into liquid energy. She wants to be able to sprinkle it on her plants during overcast days.”
“Sunshine in a jar!” Bumblebee said, tucking away the information. She waved the wrench in the air. “This will do for now,” she said as she powered down her super suit.
Bumblebee needed to conserve energy. With only one super suit, she couldn’t afford to burn it out. Yet it seemed she was doing just that. Her battery pack was draining at an alarming rate and had to be constantly recharged.
As the two friends worked in silence, each on her own project, Bumblebee observed Batgirl. She seemed so confident, like nothing ever fazed her. Even though Bumblebee had felt buoyed when leaving Dr. Arkham’s office, she still had her doubts.