Birthday
Summary: Sam gets a birthday gift from Bumblebee, inscribed with Cybertronian runes. His guardian won't tell him what they mean, but Sam is determined to find out. Sam/'Bee, oneshot
A/N: Plot bunnies ahoy! Unfortunately, only two two of many aren't oneshots. xD Also, note: First attempt at (almost) fluff! Kinda. I mean, it really depends on what you define as fluff... Read on and see for yourself. At any rate, this one I am actually pretty satisfied with...
---
"Happy birthday, Sam," Bumblebee said gently, handing over a tiny box to him. Sam accepted it, smiling and thanking at his guardian and wondering how he had managed to package something into such a small box.
"I got help from Mikaela." Bumblebee answered his unspoken question. Sam nodded, not quite surprised. They may have broken up, but the three were still close friends.
As he opened the box, he found that it was a beautiful sculpture, two thin, intricate beams, like electricity, swirling and dancing around each other. They were made of some metal-like substance, though Sam was quite sure it did not originate from Earth. It was a shining silver, and seemed to glow slightly in the night sky. As he held it, Sam could have sworn they were moving slightly.
Sam couldn't help the smile of pure happiness that spread on his face. Bumblebee must have taken ages to make it. He knew Bumblebee had welding tools at his disposal, tiny ones that could be used to make this. But he also knew that Bumblebee was a more than a little awkward with those tools, and he couldn't help but wonder just how much time had been put into it.
"Thank you," Sam looked up at Bumblebee and the 'Bot felt the warmth of happiness in his Spark as he heard the tone of appreciation and wonder in his voice.
Sam, turning the sculpture around in his hands to get a better look at it, suddenly stopped. Cybertronian symbols were etched into the base.
"What is this?" Sam asked, puzzled.
Bumblebee looked at him and shook his head, smiling.
"...'Bee?" The confusion in his tone was evident, and Bumblebee couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm not telling." The Autobot smirked slightly at Sam.
---
Morning came the following day, quickly passing into noon. The entire time, Sam pestered his guardian for information on what the runes said, and each time Bumblebee refused to answer. Eventually, Sam gave up, resolving to find the meaning of the runes on his own.
He asked Bumblebee to give him a ride to the Autobot base, a request that Bumblebee surprisingly agreed to. They were silent on the drive over. With the time the two had spent together, words didn't really need to be exchanged; they took comfort in each other's presence.
When they arrived, Bumblebee left, saying that he'd promised to take Mikaela on a shopping trip. He agreed to come back at around six to pick Sam up again.
When Bumblebee left, Sam brought the sculpture that he had kept hidden in his bag out. Sam was pretty sure Bumblebee knew he had brought the sculpture along with him, so he had either not cared or was too distracted to notice.
Holding the sculpture carrefully, he walked into the base resolutely. He was determined to get some answers- he had a feeling it was important. To him, at least.
He headed first for Optimus' office, knowing the mech was one of the more likely people to answer his question.
---
"Hello, Sam," Optimus greeted as he entered the office, looking up- or down- at the boy. Sam smiled and greeted him in return, then wasted no time and taking out the sculpture and asking Optimus for a translation.
Optimus stared at the sculpture for a moment, before a knowing smile flickered across his features. Looking at Sam, he shook his head.
"I am sorry, Sam." Optimus smiled at the boy. "I do not know what they mean."
"W-Wha-?" Sam sputtered. "No way! You're the Autobot leader! If you don't know, how could 'Bee know?! Besides, I saw that look on your face! You know!"
Optimus only smiled at him and Sam sighed, knowing it would be futile to get through to him when he was in that mood. He went in search of the medbay, hoping Ratchet would provide an answer. The mech was, after all, a medic, and was better and memorising things than most. He had to, in order to know how to fix every tiny detail in a mech.
Only Ratchet didn't seem to know, either.
"My apologies." Ratchet smirked at Sam, and this time Sam was more than sure that Ratchet knew more than he was letting on. That was his medic smirk! The one that said "I know more than you do, so just do as I say and no one gets hurt."
Sam twitched slightly. Ratchet's look could not be denied. Quickly, he left to find Ironhide, leaving Ratchet. Who was still smirking at him.
---
Ironhide was, at least, a little more, truthful than the other two. He had no qualms admitting that he knew perfectly well what the Cybertronian symbols meant, but he would not reveal them.
"Come on, Ironhide!" Sam pleaded. "Tell me!"
Ironhide shook his head, letting out a sigh. After about five minutes of constant pleading, he activated his cannons.
"Three," Ironhide muttered, glaring at the boy. Sam paled and dodged out of the room.
Ironhide huffed and settled back down for target practice, when a voice floated through the doorway: "Are you sure you won't tell me?"
Letting out a growl of frustration, Ironhide obliterated his target, made of reinforced metal, in three seconds. A new accomplishment, Ironhide reflected, even as his scanners picked up that the human was running off.
---
Six o' clock came quickly, and Sam was unable to find any clues as to what the runes meant. He had been searching all over the base, looking for a note of any sort that would indicate, or even hint as to what the notes meant.
"We have no Cybertronian to English dictionaries in the base, Sam," Bumblebee pointed out, amused, and Sam let out a defeated sigh, wondering what else he could do. Who else was there that could translate for him? He had asked pretty much all the Autobots on Earth...
Sam smirked slightly as an idea came to him. Tomorrow would be, to say in the least, interesting.
---
Sam knew what he was about to do was incredibly risky, but he couldn't help it. For some reason, he absolutely had to know. Hoping Bumblebee wouldn't notice, he bolted out of the house and into the street.
There was a startled rev from behind him as Bumblebee started, but the 'Bot didn't follow him. Sam surmised that Bumblebee thought he had run out for a short errand, and hadn't wanted to disurb him.
Slowing down, Sam began to walk towards the warehouse where Bumblebee and Barricade had last fought.
When he arrived, he found that the mess had not been cleaned up, nor had the warehouse been fixed. The warehouse was in a relatively remote area of Tranquility, so it was reasonable, though Sam found it rather odd. The government was supposed to have cleaned up all traces of the destruction the mechs had left behind.
Searching around, he found what he was looking for: A barely visible shimmering substance in the ground, that glowed every so slightly. He surmised that this was the 'energon' that his Autobot friends had often talked about. Either way, now that he had found it, he could locate Barricade. Quietly, he followed the trail- He knew Barricade would probably be at the end of it. What with the damage Bumblebee had wrought on the police car, Sam had been relatively sure that the mech's self repair systems would not be sufficient to heal all the leaks.
Eventually, he found the police car in a corner of the warehouse. Barricade didn't notice Sam, or if he did, he didn't acknowledge him.
"Barricade?" Sam called out, tentatively. The police car gave a startled rev but didn't move from his spot.
"What do you want?" The tone was suspicous but oddly subdued. Why wasn't he moving? He had been expecting Barricade to at least transform and make some threats... Wait a minute.
"Barricade," Sam said, carefully, "Are you running out of fuel?"
"That and energon." Sam was fairly sure Barricade was glaring. "What in the Pits do you want, fleshling?!"
Now unafraid, Sam walked to the front of the car and removed the copy of the runes he had made. He was unwilling to risk his birthday present.
"What does this mean?" he asked.
Barricade stared at the paper for a while. "...I could tell you, but where's the fun in that?"
"Where's the fun in sitting there all day long without moving?" Sam retorted, and Barricade gave an angry grunt. Sam sighed. "Alright, look. I'll get Ratchet to have a look at you, how's that?"
"He's an Autobot. Why the slag would he help me?!" Barricade growled. Sam rolled his eyes.
"He's a medic. An Autobot medic, but a medic foremost. He told me so. Now, this...?"
Barricade sighed. "Fine. Let me look at it again."
Sam held the paper up in front of the car and there was a slight pause as Barricade looked at it.
"Tell me, fleshling," Barricade spoke in a strange tone. "Where did you get this?"
"Bumblebee gave it to me." Sam answered. "What? Is something wrong?"
"No. Did this come on a sculpture?"
Sam wondered how he knew. "Yes... It had two intertwining electrical-like things..."
"It's..." Barricade said, in a stunned tone. "Surely not..."
"What is it?" Sam was becoming impatient.
"Those words." Barricade focused. "They are primarily used in bondings. Best as I can translate, they mean, "I love you". The sculpture you described... It's one usually used as a declaration of love- Similar to your wedding rings, only we don't actually have 'marriage', and the other must know and accept the gift before they count as a couple. It is incredibly difficult to make and involves putting a little of your own spark into the sculpture."
It was Sam's turn to be stunned now. 'Bee loves me? In that way? ...Spark?!
After a moment, he nodded. "Thank you. I will call Ratchet, now."
He did call, as he walked home, and calmly put down the phone when Ratchet began screaming at him. He knew Ratchet would fix Barricade- It was just the type of mech he was.
When he reached back home, he called out Bumblebee, telling him it was important. When he had ascertained no one was around, Bumblebee transformed.
"Yes, Sam?" he asked, but he only needed to look at Sam to know that he knew. A cold dread filled his spark- Sam wasn't meant to know! Surely one of the mechs at the base hadn't told him? What would Sam say? Would he reject him, like all the stories he had read on the Internet of such situations? He had given it to Sam because he had wanted Sam to have a memento of his love, even if he didn't know it. Sam smiled up at him and the 'Bot almost heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe he didn't know.
"Thank you, 'Bee." Bumblebee froze again- he did know! "I accept your gift."
Accept? Had he found out about the traditions on Cybertron? No, wait, he had accepted?! Bumblebee stared down at his charge in shock, and Sam gestured for him to lift him up. He did, and Sam reached out to touch Bumblebee's face, whispering four words so softly only Cybertronian sensors could hear them.
"I love you, too."
In all his vorns of life, Bumblebee had never felt more joy. And the look on Sam's face told him Sam was feeling the same joy.
And although they didn't know it, their souls were bonding. Organic and mechanical, alien and human, spark and heart- Their love and their souls intertwined and grew.
---
A/N: Some might recognise the similarity of this with LittleMewLugia's 'A Spark For You'. I noticed this several days after posting. At any rate, it has been discussed and settled. Other than possible subconscious influences, the idea and story is my own. Check out her stories if you haven't already, though- She's an amazing writer!