Hard Love

Author's note: I've been meaning to do a Transformers fic for a while now, so here it is. Please read and review por favor.

Humans were so fickle. So untrusting. So scared. Not all of them, Optimus reminded himself as he stared over the miles of trees. Captain Lennox, the soldiers of NEST, Mikaela, Sam…some humans were different, and he was sure that there were more, but the majority of them…so incredibly scared.

It was fear, the Autobots decided, that led the United States government to their decision. The Autobots could remain on Earth, fighting along side human soldiers incase the Decepticons were to return, but only under one condition. One condition the Autobots did not rejoice over. Any civilians who knew of the alien visitors had to have their memories erased. Of course, the idea sounded ridiculous at first. There was no such technology to erasing memory. No human technology, anyway. When the Secretary of Defense told the Autobots to do it, that's when they realized they weren't kidding around.

Optimus sighed as he turned his head back to glance at the college town. The town where Sam had been living a normal life for nearly six months now. Six months since the Fallen had arrived on Earth and tried to destroy the sun. Bumblebee now resided with Sam, and loved it. He had always been the bubbly, fun-loving Autobot, despite being a soldier, and with Sam, he was acted like some love-sick puppy. Optimus never counted on the silly soldier getting so attached to someone that was intended to be a mission and nothing more. Who was he to judge, though? He adored Earth as well. Sure, the human race was primitive, and they didn't handle situations as well as other species he'd encountered, but they were compassionate. Many of them, he'd come to know, were selfless, and that was a rare trait in any being.

---

"Okay, okay," Sam said, waving his arm around and tapping his fingers against his laptop. "How does this sound? 'Astrology has not only guided the world to certain beliefs and religion, but the idea that we might not be alone in the universe as well' ". He looked up at the large robot for approval, his eyebrows raised.

Bumblebee nodded and the X-Files theme song began to play from his voice receptors. Sam rolled his eyes and let his head fall back. "My essay's due in two days, Bee! If that doesn't sound good, then I don't know what to do!" Staring back up at the sky, his eyes followed a shooting star and he smiled. "Did you see that? I've never seen a shooting star before. Maybe astrology's actually on my side."

He suddenly lost his footing and scrambled back to his feet, turning around. It was Optimus. Sam sighed, relieved, and said, "You really need to make a less startling appearance. And land in front of me."

"I'm sorry," Optimus apologized. "It's growing dark, Sam. What are you doing out so late?"

"I'm nineteen," Sam replied, his eyebrows furrowed and his smile stiff. It always bothered him how the Autobots treated him like a little kid. Didn't saving the world twice boost a sense of maturity just a little bit?

"I know," Optimus replied. "I was concerned about you having to wake up early. Your classes start early, don't they?"

"Yah, I guess." Sam shrugged, lost for a comeback. His classes started at eight, and he usually woke up to Bee calling him. He still didn't understand how the sneaky robot had hacked into his phone to play Tiny Tim every morning. Sam could even turn his phone off and it would still ring.

He picked up his laptop and backpack and stared back up at the sky one last time. "Ready Bee?"

The voice of Spongebob came from the yellow robot. "I'm not just ready. I'm ready Freddy." With that, he morphed into his secret-identity, the camaro that all of the male students envied, and started playing music from the radio.

"Sleep well, Sam," Optimus said, nodding his head. "Good luck on your assignment."

"Thanks!" The human waved to him as he got in the car. "Aw, Bee! Not Michael Jackson again! Can't we listen to something else?" The station changed and Sam groaned even louder. Bee had started blasting Spanish rap music.

Optimus watched them leave and when the camaro got too far away to see anymore, the Autobot leader lowered his head and shook it slowly. "It has been an honor, Sam Witwicky."

---

"You look great tonight," Sam said, collapsing on his bed with his laptop. He pretended to sniff the screen. "And what's that you're wearing?"

Mikaela laughed from the other side of the country. "A new perfume. Got it from Target. Sunflower…something…you like it?"

"Smells great," Sam replied. "So when do you think you'll be able to move up here?"

"You ask that every night," Mikaela pursed her lips, but her smile broke through anyway. "I told you, my Dad's brother is coming down in one month and then I'm free. No more caretaker for a reformed criminal." She sighed. "So how's Bee?"

"He's great," Sam said. "Still upset over MJ's death, though." He rolled his eyes. "He doesn't even know who Michael Jackson is. He just knows he loves Thriller."

"He has good taste," Mikaela giggled. "I'm so jealous of him, though. He gets to spend so much more time with you than I do."

"Oh, don't feel so left out," Sam teased. "I mean, the sex is great and all, but he can't cuddle like you."

"Shut up!" Mikaela laughed. "Anyway, tell Bee I miss him too. Can't wait to see him. I'll jam to Michael Jackson with him. We'll have a party."

"You do know that I'm not going to pass that message onto him," Sam shifted on his bed. "I don't want him stealing my girlfriend."

"Well I don't want him stealing my boyfriend," Mikaela teased back. "Anyway, I have to go. Dad needs the computer to check on some social security stuff. Good luck on your essay."

Sam groaned. "Please don't remind me of the essay," he muttered, still smiling. "Okay. G'night. Tell your dad I said hey."

They signed off and Sam closed his laptop. He didn't know why the essay was bothering him so much. He'd gotten most of it finished, after all. Just something didn't seem right about his research. About the words he'd written to describe astrology. After his encounter with the Transformers, nothing about space, or even life in general, seemed the same.

---

"I'm sorry, Bumblee." Optimus looked away after he told the smallest Autobot what had to be done. "If it will help, I will do it for you."

Bumblebee raised his hand to stop him, and stared out into space. The stars were beautiful. Of course, he had never given one thought to stars before he arrived here on Earth. After all, stars were just balls of plasma-nothing special, he thought. Things changed after he and Sam used to go to the edge of town, near the lake where the stars blanketed the sky. They would sit and stare at them, and Sam would talk about anything and everything imaginable. That was the magic of the plasma balls. They were so mysterious to humans that they made them open up. They softened them. They made them happy, and Bumblebee loved it when Sam was happy. So even though the stars meant nothing to him, he listened to Sam talk about his childhood- staring at them through a telescope, seeing them in a totally different way than he did.

"So you wish to do this yourself?" Optimus seemed to understand.

Bumblebee nodded. He wouldn't do it tonight. He would wait until the following evening. He wanted just a little more time with his best friend. His boy.

---

"Bee, where are we going?" Sam asked, staring out the window. He didn't mean to sound so cranky, but he had used most of his afternoon and evening to finish up his essay. "We've been driving forever."

"You'll see," a random voice on the radio replied and Sam rolled his eyes. He drummed his fingers against the door and said, "I'm really tired, Man. I have a ton of homework left to do, okay?"

Bumblebee slowed to a stop and the door opened. He jerked slightly so Sam rolled out of the car. The boy stood up, dusting the seat of his jeans off and looked around. "The cliffs?" He looked up at the car, which had transformed into a robot. "What? Are you going to push me off because I didn't want to go out earlier?"

Bumblebee sat down, causing the ground to shake slightly, and Sam stumbled. He stared over to the cliff's edge, and then walked over to the robot, his hands jammed into the pockets of his back jeans. "Something wrong, Bee?" He asked, his voice growing quiet.

A song started to play from the robot. A song Sam didn't recognize, and he wasn't sure if he'd even heard it before or not. The lyrics started off talking about growing up, and Bumblebee lowered his hand, his blue eyes glowing. Sam walked over and was a bit surprised when the robot scooped him up and lifted him onto his drawn-up knees.

And I recall the gentle courtesy you gave me as I tried
To dissemble in politeness all the love I felt inside
And for every song of laughter was another song that cried
This ain't no easy weekend, this is hard love

Sam didn't say anything. He just listened to the music coming from his alien friend. Beneath him, the robot was warm, and he didn't seem like a machine in any way.

It was hard love, every step of the way
Hard to be so close to you, so hard to turn away
And when all the stars and sentimental songs dissolved to day
There was nothing left to sing about but hard love

Sam jumped a little again when he felt Bumblebee's hand slide under him once more and move him closer to his chest. Closer to his spark, his system that mirrored a human heart. It hummed loudly, and warmly.

So I loved you for your courage, and your gentle sense of shame
And I loved you for your laughter and your language and your name
And I knew it was impossible, but I loved you just the same
Though' the only love I gave to you was hard love

Bumblebee raised one of his fingers, and Sam turned to look up and at his face. He placed his whole hand to the finger, and he felt his heart pounding and his hands starting to sweat. He knew something was up, something wrong.

So I'm standing in this phone booth with a dollar and a dime
Wondering what to say to you to ease your troubled mind
For the Lord's cross might redeem us, but our own just wastes our time
And to tell the two apart is always hard, love

The finger moved from Sam's hand to his face, gingerly brushing against the boy's sweaty forehead. Sam tried to pull away, but Bumblebee held him closer with the other hand, the finger becoming warmer.

"Bee?" Sam grunted quietly. "What are you…?"

So I'll tell you that I love you even though I'm far away
And I'll tell you how you change me as I live from day to day
How you help me to accept myself and I won't forget to say
Love is never wasted, even when it's hard love

He suddenly felt heavy, sleepy almost, and he suddenly saw images flashing through his head. The beat up Camaro, driving Mikaela home, his car standing up, meeting Bumblebee in his alien form, coaxing Mikaela to get in the car, Sector Seven taking Bumblebee…

Yes, it's hard love, but it's love all the same
Not the stuff of fantasy, but more than just a game
And the only kind of miracle that's worthy of the name
For the love that heals our lives is mostly hard love

Bumblebee felt his eyes welling up with fluid as he ran his entire free hand over the boy's face, and then the human's confused expression became blank and he blinked slowly, finally closing his eyes and collapsing forward, completely unconscious.

The End?

Absolutely NOT!