A/N: Pre:ROTF. I blame rampant plot-bunnies for this one. And hopefully updates will be sooner rather than later. Also, this does include our OC character Elena (as always, please refer to our profile for a working summary/ description of her)

Please R&R! It would make us ever so happy!

~~~Epsilon Pax & Bumbee

Disclaimer: While we reserve the rights to our OC Elena, we other wise have no rights to anything Transformers, a privilege that is exclusively Hasbro's.

It happened so quickly.

Elena blinked repeatedly, cushioning her aching head in her palm as she fought to accept what had actually happened. No threat of Deceptions, no, this time it was pure human failings, an accident.

#

It was the beginning of summer vacation, the semester had at long last drawn to a weary close; Director Elena O'Conner with Master Sergeant Derek Epps in tow, had decided to accompany both Optimus Prime and Bumblebee to pick up Sam and Mikaela for their summer stay at the base. The trip was entirely mundane and lately there had been a blissful lack of Decepticon activity, not a whisper of movement in fact. Thus, taking advantage of such a rare window of opportunity, the entourage had left to retrieve their wayward human teenagers.

Ron and Judy Witwicky had been warm and gracious, as always—though Elena couldn't help but notice the decidedly less than subtle, nervous glances Judy had given both Optimus and Bumblebee when they had transformed and stepped into her backyard; her tidy flower beds had never been quite the same since their first impromptu visit. After several rounds of kisses and crushing hugs from his mother, a more subdued handshake from his father, Sam tossed his duffle bag into Bumblebee's back seat, tucked himself into the driver's seat—not as though he would be actually driving—and they were off to pick up Mikaela.

With her relationship with her newly reunited father still under construction, Mikaela had already said her goodbyes and was waiting for them at the curb in front of her and her father's custom shop. She gave Optimus, Elena and Epps a friendly wave before similarly placing her bags in Bumblebee's back seat and commandeering her familiar place in Bumblebee's passenger's side. Once they had picked up Mikaela, everyone settled themselves in for the long, familiar drive that would take them out of the city proper, then into the open country-side and at last to the well concealed, small military air base that would have a plane ready and waiting to whisk them back to Diego Garcia. As luck, fate or chance would have it they didn't make it out of the city before it happened.

#

Brimming with the excitement of seeing his charges once again, Bumblebee hadn't been able to contain his energy enough to adhere to the recommended speed limits of the surface streets. In between lights, the vivacious Camaro had alternated between gunning his engine playfully as he tail gated Optimus, and making quick lane changes that never quite enabled him to gain the lead. Recognizing the source for Bumblebee's newfound energy, Optimus was content to let Bumblebee have his fun, so long as the younger Autobot didn't endanger any humans or violate any rules of the road of course.

Elena couldn't help the quiet laugh that bubbled up within her as she glanced over into Optimus' side mirror at the bright Camaro; once again revving his engine, Bumblebee was following his leader only inches away from his bumper. "He's like a little kid on the first day of summer!" She observed brightly.

Epps' grin nearly took in his ears, "Where did all that energy come from all of the sudden? On our way over he wasn't like this."

"Bumblebee is merely demonstrating how pleased he is to see Sam and Mikaela again," Optimus explained, "I promise you, such a burst of energy will not last, and once we board the plane he'll most likely go into recharge."

"Like a nap…" Epps smirked, "Yeah, then he'll get all hyper again."

Such had occurred to the Autobot leader, "It is possible."

"At least with Annabelle already back at base, Bumblebee will need plenty of energy just to keep up with her" Elena mused, finding perhaps too much amusement in the situation. Ahead of them, the traffic light turned red, and accordingly Optimus slowed to a graceful stop. Bumblebee however, having followed so close, wasn't as prepared, and had to execute a quick lane change to narrowly avoid colliding with his leader.

"Bumblebee, settle." Optimus cautioned out of a concern for other, oblivious human drivers rather than himself.

Pulling up beside Prime, Bumblebee responded with a serious of chirps and whistles that in Elena's opinion didn't sound the least bit remorseful. But before she could roll down Optimus' window to give a word of warning to Bumblebee herself, the light turned green. With no other cars in front of them, both Optimus and Bumblebee were the first to cross into the intersection—well, almost the first. For just as they began to move forward, from the opposite direction of the traffic signal, another driver ran the red light. The young human driver in a boxy, customized hummer, plowed across the cross walk and directly into Bumblebee. Unprepared and stunned, the younger Autobot could do nothing to stop the momentum; completely undiminished, it carried Bumblebee into Optimus with enough force to send the semi into a skid, nearly toppling the top-heavy big rig.

In the aftermath of the accident, a terrible silence descended upon the scene.

Largely unhurt, Elena was stunned: how could this have happened? A quick look out the window—completely splintered and broken—allayed her fears of Decepticons. Amidst her confusion, she was suddenly aware of strong arms unbuckling her seat belt and wrapping around her: Epps.

"Elena! Are you hurt? Talk to me babe, are you alright?" The heart wrenching concern beneath Epps' voice was enough to snap Elena's wits firmly back into place.

Reaching out to Epps in a similar endeavor to make sure he was all right, Elena nodded, "Yes, I'm fine, I'm fine. Are you ok? You hurt?"

He shook his head, almost unscathed—surprising given the alarming amount of broken glass that littered the inside of the cab—with the ghost of the crash still ringing in their ears and their concern for each other allayed, their focus turned to another. Epps reached out one hand, giving the smooth dash in front of them several solid smacks, "Big Man, are you alright? Optimus?"

Silence.

"Optimus!" Elena swallowed thickly, as her heart plummeted into her stomach. But before they could entreat the Autobot again, several good Samaritans wrenched the passenger side door open.

"Are you two ok?"

"Let us help!"

"We saw the whole thing! Dumb kid was tryin' to make the light!"

Between Epps and the well-meaning passerby, Elena clambered out of Optimus' cab without any difficulty. But as soon as her feet hit the pavement, the same dread flooded into her once again, "Oh my gawd, Sam and Mikaela!" Mentally she knew both she and Epps added Bumblebee to that list, but they were unable to voice their concern for the younger Autobot aloud, not with so many people around. Quickly they darted around Optimus, just in time to see Sam extract himself from Bumblebee's crushed window. Although he was white with something very akin to panic, he was thankfully largely unhurt, and with Epps' help, together they were able to pull Mikaela out as well, who had also suffered only minor injuries. But Bumblebee…

Sam ran his hands through his short-cropped hair repeatedly, his stomach clenching into tight knots, "Oh no, no, no, no, no…Bumblebee…" he paced back and forth before his guardian as he surveyed the damage, unsure of what to do. At least Mikaela was managing to be more level headed; she grabbed Sam's arm, effectively halting his restless and ultimately useless movements, as she simultaneously shushed him with a whispered reminder of national security and pushed him closer to Bee and Optimus and thus out of ear shot from the onlookers.

"You want me to care about national security at a time like this? When Bee is—"

"Sam!" Mikaela snapped softly, "I feel the same way you do, but you can't say their names!" It was only after she wrested a promise not to do so from him that Mikaela turned away from Sam and allowed herself to focus on the grisly scene.

Both of Bumblebee's side windows were completely broken—shards of glass from both his windows and Optimus' driver side window littered the pavement—and his side view mirrors were crumpled. The front left fender and the driver's side door, where the larger Hummer had struck him, was similarly concaved in, a jumble of metal that had twisted on its frame and crushed his front left headlight. All along that side there were long silver streaks: evidence of paint transference from the Hummer as well as areas from which Bee's paint had been rubbed away, exposing the frame beneath. Mikaela chewed her lip as she gingerly placed her palm on Bee's hood, which also bore dents that rippled away from the left side, the center of impact.

Temporarily ignoring Sam and his panicked half formed sentences, Mikaela slowly continued her circuit around Bee. The right side of the younger Autobot, where he had smashed into Optimus was marginally better, but not by much. It seemed, at least to Mikaela, as though Prime had done his best, in the fractions of seconds they had, to utilize the momentum of the impact to carry himself away from Bee in an effort to minimize the force of the crash. Mikaela allowed herself a small sigh of relief, if that had been Prime's intent, she supposed it had worked as well as it could have, for Bumblebee's passenger door had taken minimal damage: there was only one long crease in it from where he had struck Optimus' running board. But there was still enough paint transference—blue, red and orange on Bee's side and bright yellow patches left on Prime's door and fender—to make Mikaela wince.

"Oh no…"Elena breathed in a weary, pained way, causing Mikaela to turn towards N.E.S.T's Director of Communications. In a fashion similar to when Mikaela had placed her hand on Bee's hood, Elena gingerly touched Optimus' crumpled fender, his own headlights likewise smashed; a detail Mikaela had missed in her concern for Bee. So too did Prime evidence scratches and a trail of dents where Bee had knocked into him.

Elena's eyes were watery as she looked to Mikaela, "How bad is…"knowing better than to say Bumblebee's name aloud, she settled for a nod in the bright Camaro's direction, "You're know cars better than I ever will, how bad is it, honestly?" It made Elena's heart ache when her gaze fell upon Bee.

But Mikaela never got the chance to answer, for they were interrupted by an angry shout from Epps as the enraged Sergeant unceremoniously hauled the other driver out of his Hummer, where he had succeeded in cowering all along.

"Oh gawd, he's going to kill him… " As quickly as she could in heels, Elena, with Mikaela and Sam in tow, hastened over to Epps, "Robert! Stop!"

With another curse, Epps proceeded to slam the younger teen—he couldn't have been much younger than Sam when Witwicky had first met Bumblebee—against the side of his garish Hummer. The youth was blanched with fear, and Epps, clad in his fatigues, mid curse and scowl, was indeed an intimidating figure.

"Gimmie one good reason why I shouldn't break you face right now, you punk-ass, stupid little shi-!"

"Because you don't want to be court marshaled for pummeling a civilian, Robert!" Elena hissed as she grabbed at Epps' arm in an effort to stop him from making good on his threat.

With anger setting in at last, Sam crossed his arms defensively, "I say let him do it, he should kick that kid's as-" he mumbled, but not quiet enough to avoid earning a glare, followed by a punch to his side from Mikaela.

"You're not helping," She hissed, "Besides neither of them—"this she punctuated with a jerk of her head in the direction of both Prime and Bee, "—would want us to be like that, it was an accident." Still simmering with frustration and a desire to avenge his needlessly injured friend, Sam wisely chose not to answer.

Luckily for Elena the local police responded not long after she managed to calm Epps down; after all it had been Epps that had made the suggestion she call the local law enforcement when he noticed how suspiciously red and watery the other driver's eyes were. As it turned out, Epps' suspicion had been well founded: not only was the Hummer's driver high, but he also had been in possession of said illegal substance in accordingly illegal quantities. Of course once the squad car arrived it had taken Elena several frustrating attempts to explain to the two accompanying officers that she along with Epps, Sam and Mikaela as well as the Camaro and semi-truck were all protected by N.E.S.T. jurisdiction. For once Epps in his fatigues and glowering expression actually helped, and thus far had kept the officers from asking any uncomfortable questions. Of course even if they had tried Elena would have just waved them off with a "I can't tell you because not only do you not have any where near high enough clearance, but to answer would jeopardize national security" ambiguous answer.

Seeing that, at least for the moment, both Epps and Sam were occupied—both were smugly watching as the Hummer's driver was placed in handcuffs and then tucked into the back of the squad car—Elena retreated away from the crowd, which was slowly but surely beginning to diminish in size at last. She took a long moment to study the still thus far silent Optimus and Bee, before at last deciding to perch lightly atop Prime's fender. Swallowing a sigh, she started to pull her cell phone out of her pocket with every intention of making the one phone call she had procrastinated in making: that is to say she had put off calling Lennox and telling him what had happened because she knew that as soon as she did his blood pressure—which was already alarmingly high—would reach near boiling point. It wasn't that he would be angry, no far from it, rather, she didn't relish adding to his stress level.

But before she even had the chance to punch in Lennox's number, her phone started to ring. Elena gawked at the unfamiliar number that flashed on the tiny screen in confusion. Having followed Elena, and similarly perched likewise atop Optimus' fender, Mikaela leaned over and looked at Elena's cell phone when she caught sight of Elena's look of confusion.

"What's wrong?"

"I…have no idea who this is, I don't know this number."

"Is that unusual? I mean I get odd numbers calling my phone all the time, usually its just telemarketers."

Elena's finger waivered above the talk button, "It is unusual because my cell number is unlisted, in fact the only people who have this number is Morshower, Lennox, Epps, you, Sam and a few of the guys from the base. But I know all of their numbers and this isn't any of theirs."

Mikaela chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment, "Is it maybe Galloway?"

Elena almost laughed, "Oh I hope not!"

Deciding at last, Elena accepted the call and summoned up her matter-of-fact-no-nonsense-tone that not even Morshower dared to tangle with, "Director Elena O'Connor speaking, who is this and how did you get this number?"

A deep and velvety timber that was both gentle and reassuring sounded in her ear with painful familiarity, "Director Elena, forgive me but this was the only way I—"

"Oh-mai-gawd!-oh-mai-gawd!" Elena jerked up as if she had been struck and hastily jumped down from Optimus' fender, turning around and making a placating gestured with her hand towards the semi as if to apologize for something. Not understanding, Mikaela lifted an eyebrow.

"Elena what's wrong? Who is it?" the young woman mouthed quietly, clearly as perplexed as Elena had been moments before.

Thinking fast, and with a quick glance around at the still prevalent civilian bystanders, Elena replied in a half whisper, "Its…its Brigadier General Prime." Her concern for both Autobots once more spiking to their previously irrational levels, she continued as Mikaela took a moment to figure out what was going on—once the young woman did, she was similarly quick to jump down from Optimus' fender with a similar exclamation of "Oh!"—Elena hurriedly spoke into her cell phone, "Oh please tell me you and…and…Corporal Bee are alright! You're both going to be ok right? Are you in pain? What can we do to help?"

To her complete chagrin, on the other side of the line the sound of a gentle, rolling laugh echoed over to her—something she had only heard Optimus do once before, "I am deeply amused at the military ranks you've chosen for Bumblebee and myself. Though I feel I should correct you, as Bumblebee holds a rank far above the equivalent of a Corporal, while I am likewise far above the rank of a Brigadier General."

"You're amused? Oh good." Elena huffed, well he couldn't have been injured that bad if he could still be amused, "Fine then General, happy?"

"Elena, both Bumblebee and I, while we did sustain notable damage, are fine. Though Bumblebee will require extensive repairs as soon as we return to Diego Garcia, he is not in any pain."

"Oh thank goodness, Opti—I mean General Prime—"

"—Elena that is not necessary—"

"—I'm so glad to hear you're both alright," Even while relief swept through her, Elena summarily felt the rise of another emotion: anger, "But why the hell didn't you contact me like this earlier? Do you realize how concerned all of us were and still are? You made us sit here this whole time not knowing if either of you were all right! How long did it take you to realize you could have reached me like this mister?"—Here Mikaela couldn't help but snicker softly to herself; it never ceased to amaze the younger woman how Elena could treat Prime in such a manner and not only avoid incurring his temper but also without sounding completely disrespectful—"I mean I really am relieved to hear you and Bee are going to be ok, but why couldn't you have told us earlier? Did you not realize—"

"Elena, enough."

The quiet thunder in his tone startled Elena into silence. Even though he spoke through her cell phone, there was no diminishing the power of his voice. Apparently, contrary to what Mikaela thought, it was indeed possible for Elena to cross the line with him, "I never for a moment underestimated your concern, however I could not risk contacting you earlier with so many humans around. My calling you would have seemed out of the ordinary and drawn more attention to the situation, particularly so had I attempted to reach you immediately after the impact. However, such a means of communication with you had occurred to all of the Autobots some months ago. In fact Bumblebee has been known to use it frequently with Sam—"

"How can he if he can't talk?"

"Bumblebee utilizes the program that you humans have constructed which enable individuals to communicate through text rather than verbal speech"

It took a moment for Elena to process this stream of information before she translated it into the correct colloquialism, "Oh, you mean text messaging."

"Correct."

"Oh…" Elena hesitated, "How come I was never aware of this? No one told me about this calling or texting ability all of you have."

"It is less of a notable ability and more of a utilization of the channels of communication which humans already have in place. I do not know why you were not informed earlier, especially given how several of your associates have used it before."

"What! Do you mean to honestly tell me that you have contacted other people from the base this way?"

"Yes."

If Elena hadn't known better she would have said he sounded smug.

"In fact the process can be reciprocated," He continued without hesitation, "it is possible for you to reach us through this method as well. In fact I would have thought you would have tried yourself not long after you called the local law enforcement."

Elena's jaw dropped at this, and she managed to stammer, "I…I don't have…your number?"

"Corporal Seeley Stuart does."

"Stuart!" A thus far silent Mikaela jumped at Elena's exclamation, and nervously glanced around at the few lingering bystanders. But Elena paid them all no heed, "Stuart? How does Stuart have your number and I don't?"

"You only need ask, Director. That is how Stuart was able to contact me, he asked for the communication number."

Elena rubbed her eyes with her palm in a restless, irritated fashion, "Who…who else has your…number?"

"Stuart has mine, while Sam and Mikaela have Bumblebee's—"Upon hearing this Elena couldn't help but throw a glowering look at Mikaela who managed a wavering, would be innocent smile—"and Epps has Ironhide's."

"Epps! Epps!" Even from across Bumblebee, the Hummer and the squad car, Epps and Sam both heard Elena's indignant shriek, "Oh you've got to be kidding me." This was not acceptable, not at all.

"I do not jest."

Elena attempted to reel in her temper, "Yeah, I know you don't. But my point is that it is not acceptable for everyone else—"

"—Stuart, Sam, Mikaela and Epps do not constitute everyone—"

"—To know about this, and not me. I'm the damn Director of Communications, I should have known about this first! How is it that no one, not even you, thought to tell me? I mean it's fine that they are able to contact you this way, but it's not alright that I didn't know."

"Director."

Simply stated, the single word reverberated with a tone of finality. It was enough to quell Elena's frustration and instead sober her surface temper. His tone clearly and cleanly said that now was not the time for such things. And, Elena, taking a moment to re-orient herself, knew that he was right. Just like always.

But that didn't mean she still couldn't be ever so slightly petty.

Deliberately turning her back to Optimus, Elena faced Mikeala, who grinned nervously back at her, "Mikeala, you're far more mechanically inclined than I am."

Mikeala eyed Elena warily, as a mouse does a cat, "Yes…" came the slow and reluctant reply.

"Wouldn't you say that these two vehicles have sustained enough damage to affect their driving capabilities?" The question, posed innocently enough, caught Mikeala off guard and caused her to give an automatic answer.

"Well, of course. I don't think Bee should be cavorting around right now, he could risk more damage and it's probably not a good idea if—"

"Elena."

There was a new note of warning in that deep, velvet voice. Even Mikeala couldn't miss overhearing it and at last catching on, immediately swallowed the rest of her words. But the damage had been done, and Elena grinned triumphantly as she called over to Epps and Sam as much as she enunciated into her cell phone, "We're going to need to get a tow truck, for both the semi and the Camero."

At her pronouncement Sam looked as though he had been struck by lightening, while Epps couldn't help but grin.

"Elena, I must object—"

"But General, you're the one who's always reminding us about the importance of safety and how it is better to be safe than sorry." The words came out syrupy sweet, and Elena knew that it was more than a little mean to insist that they tow the both of them all the way back for repairs—it wouldn't hurt Bumblebee, but it would annoy Optimus to no end especially given that he was perfectly capable of driving uninhibited—but she still couldn't pass up the opportunity. The chances for her to annoy a being that was almost always imperturbable were far and few between.

"I do not recall having ever said—"

But Elena didn't let him finish, "Will do General, I'll talk to you back at base." She answered in a clipped reply before ending the call with a satisfying click as she snapped her phone shut. Almost immediately, her phone began to vibrate with an incoming call. Knowing who it was, Elena mildly ignored it, pulling Mikaela with her as she moved to rejoin both Epps and Sam so they could make arrangements for two tow trucks to come and pick up the highly stylized Peterbilt semi-truck and the still-sleek Camero.