On a lazy day at NEST, Sam, Carly, and Bumblebee lounged around in the rec. room. Sam and Carly had been called in for debriefing earlier that day, and now that that business was done with, Bumblebee insisted that they stay until his patrol. So they casually hung out for a while. Though it seemed that the visiting humans were out of the way enough for no one to notice them, one tiny Autobot had become very distracted by the humans. The tiny Autobot rolled behind some furniture and peeked up at the two visiting humans sitting on Bumblebee's lap. What the tiny spy bot didn't realize was that the humans weren't the only ones being watched. Not far away, Wheelie and Brains entered the rec. room as well. They came to NEST with Carly and Sam earlier, and were returning to them out of boredom. The drones weren't really close with any other Autobots except Bumblebee. So they had no one to visit while they were on base. Colonel Lennox's daughter wasn't on base. Usually she could entertain the drones for a while. But seeing that talkative and bubbly Annabelle was no where to be seen, the drones just took a spin around base just to see what everyone was doing. As they took their first steps inside the rec. room, they noticed the spy immediately. Maybe it was because they were relatively at the same height and optic level. Or maybe the tiny spy just stood out to Brains and Wheelie because he was a drone like them.

"That's really Prime's drone?" Brains asked.

"Yeah, Roller." Wheelie comfirmed.

"How come I haven't heard of him? Is he new too?" Wheelie spun his wheels and skated around Brains in the opposite direction of Roller. Brains followed Wheelie out of Roller's optical range.

"No he's not new." Wheelie finally said. "Infact, the story is that Roller's been Prime's drone since the beginning of the war. Maybe even earlier than that."

"Well where's he been since I joined? Being the Prime's drone, you'd think that'd make him real important, right? But no one ever talks 'bout him or ever sees him. What's up with that?"

"Roller's never left Prime's presence onece during the war, unless Prime comanded him to. He was with Prime when he crashed down to Earth, and he's been a member of NEST as long as Prime has. Roller just seems invisible sometimes because he doesn't interact with anyone else except Prime. And he refuses to let any human see him." Wheelie explained.

"But why? What's he got against humans and other Autobots?" Brains blurted.

"Well I don't know about everyone else, but I do know why he doesn't want a thing ta do with any of the medics on this base. I asked Prime about him a while back and he told me that Roller's afraid of Ratchet because he's a flawed drone." Brains gave Wheelie a look.

"How's a drone supposed ta be flawed?"

"See how he's just a cybertronian wheeled cart right now?" Wheelie pointed out. Brains nodded. "That's all he is. He can't transform." Brains was shocked. He stared at Roller for a second.

"He's not a transformer?" Brains gaped. Wheelie's nod comfirmed it.

"He can't transform even if he tried. He's just not capable. And he wasn't created with vocal processors either." Wheelie continued. Brains took a quick look over the couch at the back of Bumblebee's head. (He still hadn't noticed two of the three drones in the room.) Brains thought for a moment.

"So does he talk like Bumblebee?" Brains asked.

"Nah. Bumblebee has vocals. They just don't work very well. Roller doesn't have any at all. So if he 'n Bee were ta talk ta each other, Roller's attempts of beeps and buzzes wouldn't translate the same as Bumblebee's. So anyway that's why he's a flawed drone. And he thinks if Ratchet ever gets his hands on him, he'd rip him apart trying to fix him. Or worse, he'd insist that Prime execute him for being flawed..." Wheelie trailed off. He couldn't believe he let the word 'execute' slip from his mouth. As Wheelie spoke, he and Brains both remembered a time when their Decepticon creators wanted to kill them. For Wheelie, it was when he betrayed the Decepticons for Mikaela Banes. So he never went back to them. For Brains, he was meant to be executed once his purpose as a brain unit was fulfilled. So he ran away. Wheelie hadn't realized it before. But now he understood how much he, Brains, and Roller had in common. Roller was right to worry about being flawed and different. But he was also wrong to judge the Autobots like that. "It's just a trust thing." Wheelie sighed.

Then Brains figured it out. How could Roller trust the Autobots, if he didn't know trust? How could he befriend anyone besides Optimus Prime, if he didn't know friendship? How could he choose good from evil, if he never felt good or evil personally affect him? Brains knew the answer to the last question. If his hunch was correct, Roller made choices between good and evil based on what Optimus Prime chose. If Brains' was right, Roller wasn't reall fearful or shy. He was just doing what his logic sensors and artificial emotions told him to do.

"Wheels? Is Roller sentient?" Brains questioned after a long moment of silence.

"I don't know. But if he is, he sure doesn't show it." Wheelie said. The drones looked up, seeing Bumblebee move on the couch. Within moments, Carly and Sam walked around the giant couch and approached the drones with Bumblebee. "What took ya so long?" Wheelie shouted at Sam and skated up to Carly. Wheelie attempted to weave between Carly's legs, but Carly stomped at him with her heals, and then cowered away to Sam's shoulder. 'Wuss' Wheelie laughed in his mind.

"Just catching up with Bumblebee." Sam answered. Bumblebee transformed into car mode and pulled up next to Sam. But he didn't open his car door.

"Don't you think someone should drive you home?" Bumblebee's radio played slowly.

"You can't?" Sam guessed.

"Its gonna make me late. And that's for sure." Bumblebee responded in the singing voice of a country singer. Sam got it. Bumblebee's duty as an Autobot was separating him from his charge again.

"Alright. We can catch a ride with someone else." Sam said, patting Bumblebee's door.

"When it's time for leavin', I hope you understand." Bumblebee's radio sang. Carly smiled at Bumblebee. She absolutly adored how he spoke through the radio, and always knew just who to quote.

"We understand Bumblebee. It was nice seeing you again." Carly said sweetly. Bumblebee hummed in an 'aawww!' sounding tone, and blinked his headlights once to aknowledge Carly. Then he revved up his engine and took off. Sam and Carly started walking and talking about who might drive them home. Carly wondered who would be available. But all Sam worried about was who was available and safe. He remembered all too well how he once thought it was safe to ride in the passenger seat of the Autobot speed demon, Sideswipe! Carly laughed at his story, and asked him if the Silver Speed Demon and Saitan's Comarro were partners in crime. Meanwhile Wheelie and Brains trailed behind a few feet. They couldn't help looking back at Roller who had moved to continue observing Sam and Carly.

"Y'know what? I'm gonna go talk ta him." Brains announced to Wheelie.

"Okay. But I don't know how much either of you are gonna understand from each other. Hurry back." Wheelie said before transforming and driving to keep up with the humans' walking pace. When Sam, Carly, and Wheelie were gone, Brains looked at Roller and started walking straight towards him. Roller spun around and reversed into a tight corner. Brains stopped a few feet away from him.

"So your Prime's drone, right?" Brains started. Roller didn't speak up.

TBC

Bumblebee's quotes belong to their rightful owners.
Don't You Think Someone Should Drive You Home -by Butch Walker
Something More -by Sugarland
Ramblin' Man -by The Allman Brothers