Sam didn't know why he kept being dragged on these NEST babysitting operations. He was next to useless and was really just sitting in the recon Jeep the whole time while Bumblebee and the team kicked ass without him.
Bumblebee. That was why. Bringing him along on "Top secret" missions was just a ploy to use Bumblebee on the force. And who could begrudge Bumblebee anything? Big guy needed to get some action every so often to keep the gears running.
So here Sam was, sitting in the backseat of the recon Jeep once again. This time in Daytona, in a covert location just over the bluff from the Daytona 500 track. It was sweltering. He needed a beer.
"Hey, uh, Rambo? Can I hop out and join the civvies for a bit? Since I'm doing SO much for the effort?"
His stoic, geared up commando companion didn't say anything, just kept fixed watch on the track with his heat sensing binocs.
"I'm, uh, just gonna go…" Sam tested the door handle. It was unlocked. "Be back in a few, eh? Won't miss the fireworks."
"Rambo" snorted and didn't try to stop him. Summed up NEST's view of him pretty well. They didn't like babysitting him any more than he liked being there.
The sun was hot on his shoulders as he hiked the bluff down to the track. He could smell the rubber melting from where he was.
"Hey, Bee." He said, walking past where Bumblebee thought he was so cleverly hidden. It was hard for a 2 ton tricked out yellow Camaro to hide behind a could scrub bushes. Bee made a whining sound and began rolling after him.
"Nu-uh. You have your orders from Optimus, I'm going to get a beer." Bee whined again.
"I'll be careful? I won't be anywhere near the Decepticon. You be careful. Don't overheat." Bee bounced and made some funny noises.
"Bumblebee, blow your cover and we go back to college. I'm going to get a beer and maybe get laid or something. I'll be back before go-time. If not, pick me up later."
Bee made a final whining growl and rolled back into his bushes. Sam made a backwards salute and walked over the backroad to the entrance.
"What the hell is that kid doing?" Lennox growled from behind his surveillance gear.
"Probably bored." Epps replied. Not like he does anything on these missions.
"Miracle we haven't gotten him killed yet."
"Miracle he hasn't gotten himself killed."
"Any sign of the target?"
"Nope. But it's here."
"Trying to find a car at the Daytona 500. Like a needle in a haystack."
Sam made it through admissions no problem. Finding a beer wasn't hard either. Finding a place to park his butt while he enjoyed it was another story. He finally found a spot on a pile of spare parts under a tarp that fielded a good view of the track and was reasonably shady. He took a long gulp of his beer and settled in.
Fifteen laps later, Sam was ready for more alcohol and some sunscreen. The Daytona wasn't that interesting. If he wanted to look at cars going around in deranged circles, all he had to do was hang at the hangar some night when Bee got into the superfuel. He hadn't known that gigantic alien robots were capable of getting drunk, but Bumblebee was one hell of a tipsy bot when supercharged.
Sam pulled out his phone and checked his messages. It was foolish to even hope, there wasn't a word from Micaela. It was official, He was out like last week's garbage. He crushed his cup. Definitely needed more alcohol.
"Hey, punk. Ass off the Subaru." A decidedly female voice said from in front of him. Sam looked up to see a tall brunette staring down her nose at him, gum snapping in her mouth.
"Wha…?"
"I said, ASS OFF THE CAR." She slammed a wrench down next to his knee.
"Whoa whoa whoa… Picking up a signal." Lennox said. "Fucker's right in the middle of the crowd and going live."
"Where's the kid?" Epps asked.
"Looking for him. His signal should be… Shit. He's right on top of it."
"Err… This is a car?" Sam asked. "Looks like scrap to me."
"You're cute, kid. Now get up." She grabbed him in a surprisingly strong grip and hauled him to his feet.
"Enemy assailant, this thing is about to heat up." Lennox said.
"This is my car, and I'm going to race it." The Girl said, pulling the tarp off what looked like spare parts. A car was revealed. An extremely shiny car.
"Oh oh oh. I am so sorry." Sam said, backing away.
"You still want to call my car a piece of crap? Zipperfly is the best, and she's gonna race today in the junior league."
"Wow. Um, well, I'm Sam. I like Camaros and not insulting women. How are you?"
"You're cute. I'm Viv." She replied, tossing her long brown hair over one tan shoulder. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to-" The ground underneath them exploded.
"Go go go!" Lennox yelled, watching as the ground erupted right underneath where Sam's signal was coming from.
Sam felt himself go flying through the air, landing hard several feet away from where he'd been standing... where now there was a gigantic -
"DECEPTICON! SHIT!" He screamed. This place was about to get hot. He looked around and saw Viv lying unconscious a little ways to his right. Sam crawled over to her as dirt and pieces of metal rained down on them and people stampeded past. Screamed filled the air.
"You gotta get up, come on." Sam shook Vivian's shoulder. She didn't move. Sam heard the familiar sounds of something transforming behind them, something BIG. He wasn't going to stick around to see it. He hauled Viv up and began to half-carry, half drag her away.
"Wait, my car-" She mumbled, starting to regain consciousness.
"It's a piece of crap right now, a gigantic fucking robot burst out of the ground beneath it." Sam tried to talk and drag at the same time, but then Viv's eyes popped open.
"ZIPPERFLY!" She screamed.
"Forget about the goddamned-" Sam lost his train of thought as a second robot stood up exactly where they'd been before; this one with the same paint job as her car.
"Your car is a transformer?!" Sam shouted. Viv nodded wordlessly, watching as her transformed Subaru decked the decepticon in the face.
"Listen to me, you gotta get her outta there. The army is here, looking for-" Sam gestured at the decepticon "him. And it's gonna get hot real quick."
"The army? Here?" They were knocked to the ground as the decepticon fell on its ass, causing an earthquake.
"Trust me, get your car out of here." Sam said. Viv looked at him, wide-eyed, then turned and began running towards the battling robots.
"That's not what I meant!" Sam yelled. He started to run after her, but he was scooped up by a familiar hand.
"Bee, we have to get them out of here!" Sam yelled at his car. Bumblebee made a noise of assent and roared his engines. When the decepticon looked at him instead of zipperfly, he started running. Sam looked behind them to see Zipperfly punch the decepticon once more, scoop up her owner, and proceed after them.
"Bee, don't hit the people!" Sam shouted as they ran away from the track, narrowly avoiding squashing fleeing race-goers. They cleared the area and jumped the highway just in time for the fireworks.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Sam could hear Viv yelling as they proceeded out of range.
"Bee, get your radio on. I need to talk to Lennox."
There was a burst of static, then Bee got the right frequency.
"Lennox, I have a civilian and her AUTOBOT, repeat, AUTOBOT at the rendezvous point. Over."
"This is Lennox, glad you got out in time, kid. Don't do that stupid shit again. Copy that you have one civilian and one autobot, meet at rendezvous for screening. Over."
"Copy. Over and out."
Sam sighed. Bumblebee switched off the radio and transformed, hopping on a back road to the rendezvous point. He looked back and saw a white Subaru in hot pursuit. He sighed again, still in some amount of shock from what has just happened. He'd had a decepticon erupt from the ground right under his ass, then almost got bombed out of his mind, and helped save a new autobot from destruction. That was what he got for disobeying his orders.
Sam looked back again and caught a glimpse of Viv's white face behind Zipperfly's wheel. Something told him this wasn't over yet.