Sweet Love Illumination

by The Archer Black

Miko's turning 18 and Bumblebee has a b-day surprise for her - that pretty much wraps it all. Set during "Sugar". Had to re-write this because I've lost the original file I've written. Set in my Beauty of the Beast fan timeline (order of stories on my profile). This is the last story that I allow anonymous comments for - I'd like to be able to reply to people who review.

Sweet Love Illumination .

"(…)Sweet love illumination

Sweet sweet love, elevation

Outside fresh avaricide

But inside our love you'll be alright

Sweet love illumination

Sweet sweet love, celebration

Cop car burn

Reason turn

But it'll bring you up

You'll be alright (…)"– Franz Ferdinand "Love Illumination".

Warnings: Human-Cybertronian romance.

Timing: Post season 2 finale, in my very own Beauty of the Beast Prime timeline.

Rating: T/M

Pairings: Miko Nakadai and Bumblebee.

Disclaimer: Transformers Prime © Hasbro. Story's plot and OC's © me. There may be some OC's that aren't mine – they belong to their respective creators.

oOo

April. Autobot Base Omega-3. Infirmary, late evening.

Ratchet sighed a heavy vent, it was a long day, an intense day, it was a 'Wrecker Lobing Day' and he was now treating the last patient, or rather the last victim of Lob game: Jazz sporting mild but painful case of burst ball bearing in a wrist joint. After he would be finished, he'd call it a day and just go to his quarters to silently loose his consciousness and don't care about anything until the morning. Oh, how he longed for leaving the infirmary, heading to his room, ignore Wheeljack and forget that he had any duties. He just wanted to lay limp on his berth and ignore anyone and anything that would come whining.

And then someone knocked to the door. Ratchet stopped whatever he was doing… there went his rest.

"What is it, Bumblebee?" He called through the door. He knew it was Bumblebee, only two mechs on Earth knocked as if they didn't want to disturb anyone but wanted to politely point to their presence at the door. The first was 'Bee and the second was Optimus Prime.

Optimus Prime was a bit more confident, his knocking was strong and rhythmic. Bumblebee was shier and his knocking was more discreet, softer. Not to mention that Optimus would not bother Ratchet at such late hour unless it was an emergency… and if it was an emergency, Ratchet would know about it much earlier.

"May I come in?" The bleeping of the young Scout could be heard.

"I have a patient, Bumblebee." Ratchet replied. If this would be a true emergency Bumblebee wouldn't bother to knock. And since it wasn't an emergency, it could wait.

"It's okay, he can come in, you're not doin' anythin' invasive or embarresin', Ratchet." Jazz said with level of coolness only he was able to display.

"Oh, fine." Ratchet barked with irritation. "But make it quick."

The door opened and the Scout walked in giving Jazz a quick look.

"Sorry to barge in." He whirred giving Jazz apologetic look.

"It's nothin'." Jazz shrugged to Ratchet's irritation.

"This nothing won't fix itself so stop moving." Ratchet held the injured servo firmly; he needed it immobile to work. "And you, Bumblebee, what do you want?"

"I want you to install me that Size Shifter." Bumblebee stated plainly. "As you promised."

"I said I would install it when Miko turns eighteen." Ratchet reminded the young bot. He was pretty firm about it and it was so for two reasons. One of them was Bulkhead's sanity. The other was his concern about the two youngsters and the fact that Miko was younger than Bumblebee, not only by years but also in both species respective equivalent of age – if Bumblebee was a human he'd be in his early twenties. He'd turn a blind optic that they were intimate ever since they started to date, but it wouldn't sit well with him to just allow them to do everything they wanted. He just felt that they should have some restrictions, at least for the time being.

"Her birthday's tomorrow.1)" 'Bee exclaimed. He was a bit shocked that Ratchet managed to miss it. They were planning a party after all.

"It's tomorrow?" Ratchet froze in place. He could swear that it was still weeks away.

"Yeah, it is." Jazz laughed. "You forgot?"

"No, of course not. Don't be absurd." The Medic shrugged with all his dignity. "The time flies so fast."

"I was thinking that you could install mi ne Size Shifter." Bumblebee returned to the topic. "If you can't today, then tomorrow morning."

"I'm not sure if installing it now is such a great idea, Bumblebee." Ratchet said hesitantly.

"Oh, come on!" 'Bee whined. "You promised."

"Come on, Ratchet." Jazz decided to support the young mech. "You kept the kid on hold for two years now. Don't rip him off now."

"Yeah, I've waited for two years." Bumblebee pleaded.

"Yes, and I know you want it installed because of Miko." Ratchet nodded. "I don't even want to imagine what would happen if Bulkhead walked on you while you're downsized." He added.

Bulkhead came to terms with the fact that Miko was dating Bumblebee and that the two were intimate as much as the size difference allowed. But knowing it was one thing, and walking in on his Charge and his team mate was another.

"Bulk can handle it." Jazz smirked. He was aware of Bulkhead reaction when he walked in on them and learned that their relationship was more than platonic but he would bet that it wouldn't be as violent if it happened again even though the poor mech's sanity would suffer some minimal strain.

"I'd rather be thoughtful about Bulkhead's comfort." Ratchet insisted.

"How about Miko and me?" Bumblebee beeped with anger. "Do our comfort matters?" The Scout bristled his armour and lifted his doorwings at sharp angles. "We've been dating for two years now and for every single thing we could do there is another that we couldn't! Two years and we've never could properly hold hands! Or hug!"

Ratchet paused for a moment. The young mech was usually calm and mellow person; it wasn't every day that one could see him like this. Even if he got irritated it was just a moment and he was back to his friendly self again. But then again, the key words here were 'young mech'. This was not the ridiculously brave youngling that he knew back on Cybertron, this was indeed a young mech, one that was not afraid to demand his rights and need to be respected. Bumblebee was growing up under Optimus Prime's guidance and it showed.

And then there was the whole merit of what 'Bee have had just said. Ratchet was as accustomed of thinking about them as a pair of hormonally crazed kids that he has forgotten that intimacy wasn't just about sex, even in their case. Sure, at first they probably were all about exploring each other and that was to be expected. But then, their relationship lasted for two years now. That was longer than some adults could last.

The Autobot Medic hummed thoughtfully.

"I remain unsure." He said.

"Give the kid a break." Jazz sighed. This was tiresome. "If there was any harm to be done by them havin' naughty time, it'd be done long time ago."

"Fine, fine… Come tomorrow morning and I'll install it." Ratchet huffed with exasperation. "Just make sure that the two of you won't traumatise Bulkhead."

"Thank you Ratchet." Bumblebee's doorwings relaxed visibly. "I'll be here first thing in the morning." With that he left, leaving Ratchet to finish treating Jazz's wrist.

"I still don't like it." The Medic returned to his task.

"There's nothin' to likin' here Doc… "Jazz started and immediately corrected himself. "…tor."

"He's barely an adult and she's… Miko."

"Ratchet, they're a good couple. The kind of that lasts." Jazz shifted slightly in his seat. "You know what I'm talkin' 'bout."

Ratchet only hummed again. He did know what the Saboteur was talking about. The kind of a couple that started early, often in their teenage years and lasted because they were just perfectly matched for each other. It was a rarity but it happened. The thing was that when someone would look and Bumblebee and Miko, they'd never guess that they could ever be a couple, good one or otherwise. But then again – opposites attract, isn't it? And when he thought about it further, he had to admit that it somehow worked between them somehow. He wasn't entirely sure how it worked. Perhaps it was because Bumblebee managed to tone Miko down a bit, make her more focused; and in turn Miko energised Bumblebee, giving him some more edge (and Primus knew that the kid was sharp as it was, he was growing to be formidable warrior).

"I just hope it won't end badly."

"Badly? Nah. Bedlam – perhaps. But not badly." Jazz laughed silently. "Kiddin', just kiddin'." He stated when the Doctor gave him serious glare. "Let the kids grow, Ratchet."

"I've finished." Ratchet closed the other mech's wrist. "Now, scram before I weld your wise-aft to the wall and leave you for the night."

Jazz jumped off the seat and vanished from Ratchet's view.

oOo

Autobot base. The next afternoon.

Jack scratched his head; it looked like they had everything they needed. All they had to do was to set the things and it'd be done. And it wasn't that much work either, they had plenty of space and when one had a bunch of gigantic robots to help, the heavy lifting wasn't an issue… Speaking of which.

"Guys, where is Bumblebee?" The young man asked looking at the mechs that were helping him. He thought that the Scout would be there to lend his helping servo.

"Went away to pick Raf?" Hot Rod shrugged.

"Oh no, he didn't go for Raf." Smokescreen shook his head. "He asked Jazz to replace him."

"Then where did he go? He was supposed to help." Jack huffed. "I would never expect him to bail out."

"He said he had some errands to do." Blaster said from behind his console. "And before you'll ask, I didn't inquire."

"Oh well, we'll have to do it alone." Jack sighed. "We have an hour before Miko'll be back from school."

They started to unpack the crates and set up decorations. With the help of Hot Rod and Smokescreen – both declared party animals – it was going smoothly. It would go better if Bumblebee would be there – Jack thought – but they would manage without him. After all this wasn't the first and hopefully wasn't the last birthday party they would hold in the Autobot Base.

Jack had doubts at first if he shouldn't be with his mother instead of participating, but June insisted claiming that she'd me much more calm knowing that Jack was there, keeping a close eye on the proceedings (namely Miko's proceedings).

They were staging place for the cake, when Jack's phone rang. The young man reached to his trousers' back pocket and answered the call.

"Miko? What happened? You're what! Seriously Miko, of all the days you had to pick up today… Oh… OH… Not good… Really? At least that's clear… you did what? MIKO! When will you ever learn? No, I do get why, and it's pretty justified, but you know that there is 'what' you say and 'how' you say it. You should know better by now. Okay, fine, see you later. Yes, bye now." Jack put his phone back and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Miko called to say that she'll be later than expected. She's in detention. Bulkhead already knows."

"What happened?" Smokescreen asked. Everyone already got accustomed that Miko was prone to get into trouble but it was always interesting to learn how she managed on the occasion.

"You'll ask her when she'll be here." The young man replied not wanting to explain something he didn't exactly fathom himself. "But it gives us more time to set stuff before Miko'll get here."

They have dropped the idea of surprise parties in Autobot Base long time ago, even before the cease fire with Decepticons. It was mainly due to safety measures: surprises were generally not advisable when soldiers living in constant stress were present. Especially if these soldiers happened to be gigantic alien robots with fire arms and edge weapons being parts of their anatomy. After the cease fire became reality they just kept having non-surprise parties. After all by that time everyone knew when everyone else had birthdays (or their Cybertronian equivalents) and with parties being part of the tradition by now, turning them into surprise held little to no sense – everyone knew there would be a party, why pretend to be surprised?

oOo

Miko's school. The same time.

Sitting in detention wasn't anything pleasant even if someone was accustomed to it already. That is why Miko was frowning… though mostly she was angry due to the fact why she ended in detention and not because of the detention itself.

It all started with a new teacher with prejudices. No one really could blame the man, he was young and came from more than just conservative family which meant that original look or behaviour was highly suspicious to him. Miko, who at the time was bordering between punk and goth, was his number one suspect of: a) demonic possession, b) mental illness, c) drug addiction, d) all the above. And today was the day the man decided to voice his doubts by dragging Miko to the principal office and demanding the girl to be tested for drugs.

Miko, being herself, wasn't shy about expressing her objections to not only being tested for drugs but also being accused of using drugs in the first place. And she did so in her own, original style: loud, explicit and creative.

The Principle sighed and explained the young teacher that Miko wasn't drug addict or mentally ill, and that being animated was her normal state; and that no, he couldn't get Miko drug tested just because she didn't look like Church Chorus singer.

Miko's pleas that it was her birthday fell on deaf ears. As much as the Principal understood why she was angry, he did not approve the way she expressed her feelings. The only thing that she could do was to call Jack to tell him she'd be late, Bulkhead to tell him that he'd have to pick her later than planned and text Bumblebee to complain about how life wasn't fair.

Now all she had to do was to survive the looooong hours of boredom. And that wasn't an easy task – the teacher was attentive enough to wake those who would just zone into boredom induced slumber. It was bound to be one long, tedious detention.

oOo

She managed to spend what seemed like eternity but was closer to half an hour when she managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar black and yellow sports car pulling over to the curb just across the street. And then her phone vibrated with a message – luckily she silenced ring and message tones so the teacher couldn't hear if someone would call or text her.

Miko supressed a grin, it seemed like the cavalry has arrived and her jailbreak was pending. All she needed now was a way out. She quickly looked at the teacher to see if he noticed anything but the man was busy with a cross word.

She slightly tapped her fingers on the desk top for a moment, thinking about a way of getting out of the classroom that the teacher couldn't deny her. And then she carefully not beamed when she figured out what to do. She slowly lifted her hand.

"Uuummm? Mr McCormick?" She spoke in her perfected fake-hesitating voice. It was impeccable. "I gotta go" She shifted on her chair.

"Can't you wait for the break?" The man asked lifting his gaze from his crosswords.

"No. It's, you know, a girly thing." She said rolling her eyes. Not that there was many people in the class, but she had to keep the act.

The teacher looked at her and then stood up and peeked out of the window in search of familiar green ATV that usually drove Miko to school and picked her after the classes… and often enough served as her getaway car when she was escaping her detention. There was no such car in sight this time tough. There was a flashy black and yellow sports car, that the teacher had problem with identifying, but it drove away and disappeared behind the corner of the building on the other side of the street.

"Fine, just don't take too long." He agreed and returned to his desk. He wasn't thrilled about letting a notorious detention escapologist but this was a girl and he'd rather not have to explain blood stains to the principle, or what was even more dreadful to the janitor.

"Thank you." Miko jumped to her feet and hurried out of the class.

oOo

The corridors were empty and she quickly found herself on the ground floor's girl's toilet. She wasted no time pulling out her phone to check the message that she received. It was from Bumblebee, but that much she expected. The message was short and read:

[[Waiting for you just around the corner, babe U3U.]]

Miko grinned. He knew how much of detention fan she was and today it was twice as bad because of her birthday so he came to liberate her. That was her mech.

She peeked out to see if no one was coming but the corridor was empty, then she opened the window to see if the coast was clear, which it was. Luckily school's policy demanded the ground floor windows to be unlocked in case of emergency so they could work as emergency exits (especially if there would be shooting in school and someone would try to escape) – something that she could definitely exploit. She knew she would be in detention for a week after this, but she'd regret nothing – 'Bee was worth it.

Climbing out of the window was an easy task, it would be harder to sneak away from the building without no one noticing… especially Mr McCormick who she hoped would be too engrossed in his crosswords to take a peek outside the window and see her dashing to the other site of the street. But that was something she could do nothing about. She'd just have to move fast.

oOo

If she was discovered she noticed no traces of that. It was a smooth run, and just a short pace behind the corner was her means of escape – Bumblebee sat silently at the curb, waiting for her. She grinned and when she approached him, he opened his passenger door for her. She quickly glanced around and got in.

"Didn't expect you here." Miko made herself comfortable but before she could fasten her seatbelt her phone buzzed with 'Bee's reply.

[[Couldn't help myself.]]

Miko was about to say something but she looked outside the window instead and shifted slightly. "Uhh, perhaps you should drive before they will discover that I'm gone."

Bumblebee's reply came in form of his engine coming to life and him driving away discreetly. Normally he'd reeve his engine and go off with screaming tyres, just for Miko, but today he was trying to attract as little attention as possible.

"So, what is it that you couldn't help yourself with?" Miko asked when they were relatively safe distance away from her school.

[[Your b-day surprise. It was meant to be for after your party, but this makes for a perfect opportunity.]] He answered her.

"So, instead of a finishing touch it will be a starting gun?" Her grin turned into naughty smirk, then her phone vibrated with reply.

[[You can say that. At least I plan to start it with bang and then get creative.]]

"Ooouuhh, that sounds naughty." She laughed with joy.

[['Naughty' doesn't even cover it.]] Bumblebee messaged her.

"Now you got me. Where are we going?" Miko shifted herself with excitation.

[[It's a surprise. You will see when we'll get there, babe. Just be patient.]] Bumblebee replied with a text message. And then sent another one to clarify how patient Miko should be. [[It's not far. We'll be there in a moment.]]

"And what shall I do in the meantime?" She asked sinking deeper in his passenger's seat.

There was a pause for a moment when Bumblebee considered all possibilities. [[I'd say 'go creative' but you might just distract me too much.]]

"You bet I would." Miko purred with glee. "But you're right; I don't want us to end up in some ditch. How about instead I will amuse you with some shameless flirting?"

'Bee answered with enthusiastic bleeping which didn't require translation.

oOo

Jasper, Nevada. Fifteen minutes later.

Bumblebee stopped at Jasper's best hotel. He got there in record time but only because he went as fast as he could the moment he was in the clear. Miko of course enjoyed it immensely even though she was literally nailed to the seat.

The town itself was empty for two years now and it showed. The place was slowly devoured by wilderness, the plants grew untamed and whatever was left slowly fell into ruin. No one would come there, not even plunderers, though that was actually the Government and Decepticons' patrols doing. Government set military patrols to maintain the cover. Decepticons simply didn't want any humans near the New Kaon. Both parties politely ignored each other. Bumblebee was only allowed because he was Cybertronian and was on the 'clear' list. And because Vehicons could recognise him easily.

[[We're here.]] He sent to Miko and opened the door.

"What now?" she asked looking out.

[[Get inside. Go to the room 113.2) Your surprise is inside.]] He instructed via the text.

"But it's a human hotel, you won't fit in." She objected. She hoped they would spend the time together.

[[Just go. Trust me.]] He urged her and she reluctantly stepped out, looked back at the mech and vanished inside.

Bumblebee knew that the lifts were broken, so she would have to take the stairs, which in turn would give him more than enough time.

oOo

Miko entered the reception of the hotel. It was large, spacious, all in light wood. It had to look beautiful in its glory days. Now it was dusty. She passed it and went to the lift but then remembered that there was no electricity here anymore which meant that lifts would be down. She would have to take the stairs. The hotel was ten stores high, not counting the ground floor marked as '0', each floor holding twelve rooms – six on each side of the corridor. That meant that she would have to climb to the last floor. For a moment she pondered why would Bumblebee choose to send her all the way up. And then she pondered who helped him with all this.

She was ready to vomit her lungs out by the time she reached the tenth store. She slowly dragged herself to the room marked as 113. It was opened and she walked in. The moment she did she forgot about the tiredness.

It was perfect! Someone cleaned it so it would be free of dust and spider webs. The sweet consisted of two rooms and a bathroom. She wasted no time for the bathroom though; she immediately explored the first room and then moved to the other – which was a bedroom. And a bedroom set perfectly – there was a bucket of ice with what seemed to be a bottle wrapped in a towel. Right next to it stood another bucket, with what had to be cube of energon if the cubic shape underneath another towel meant anything.

She stepped closer to the buckets that stood right next to a king size bed. It was all beautiful but she still missed something – why and how Bumblebee would set it if he could not fit in? She was about to reach for her phone when she felt arms wrapping themselves around her and she tensed but then she saw whose arms it was. And at that moment her phone vibrated.

She picked her phone and opened the message without looking back.

[[SURPRISE! 3 ]]

"How?" Miko wriggled herself from the embrace and turned to the mech. "Wait… Did you actually manage to convince Ratchet to install you the Shifter?"

Bumblebee's optics swirled and he nodded.

"And this, all of this is your doing?" Miko gestured at the room and was met with yet another nod. She sauntered to the buckets and lifted one of the towels. Then she glared at the bottle hidden underneath it. "'Bee, seriously, a bottle of mineral water?"

This time the answer came to her phone. [[There is still your b-day party. If I'd bring you drunken on top of everything else, Bulkhead would have my doorwings.]]

That only made Miko laugh a little. He had a point. She lifted the towel off the energon cube. She was right; it had the soft tint of mid-grade. Her phone buzzed yet again.

[[I'm driving, can't be overcharged.]]

"Sooo… why even bother with it?" She covered both the bottle and the cube with the towels.

Bumblebee's optics swirled yet again and before she knew it he was towering over her. Her phone buzzed.

[[Because I'm going to burn some fuel. And you're going to get a bit dehydrated.]]

"Really?" Miko grin widened. "And how?"

[[Lemme show you.]] 'Bee answered with a message and before she knew it, Miko was on the bed with the mech undoing her boots – which he did surprisingly fast and with amazing ease, given that they were knee high.

"He he. Maybe I should let them know that I was liberated from the detention." She laughed while the first boot hit the floor.

[[They probably already know. The teacher had enough time to notice that you're gone and call Jack.]] Bumblebee texted her while working with the other boot. Then he stopped for a second as if he was thinking about something and immediately returned to unlacing the boot while Miko's phone vibrated yet again. [[But call them anyway; tell them that you may be late.]]

"You intend to keep me here?" Miko asked as her other boot landed on the floor, right next to the first one.

[[You'd have an hour of your detention left by now and what I plan will take longer than that.]] He messaged and liberated her from her top, which flew to the nearby chair.

"Good point." She agreed and pulled her contact list to choose Jack. Before she could call him Bumblebee pulled her short sleeved blouse she wore underneath the top. That much hasn't changed about her, though the clothes were obviously not the same as she wore two years before – she outgrew them already. She gained some height and her figure was tad more rounded here and there, but she remained slim, the difference was that the 'stick figure' was replaced with something that reminded of an elf, or maybe a nymph.

"Jack?" Miko asked when she finally managed to get connection. "He called? Yeah. Bumblebee organised me a little 'jailbreak', he he. No, everything is fine. I know what the consequences will be… but trust me, it's worth it!" She said while Bumblebee focused on her naked stomach, leaving trail of tickling sensation as he went down venting warm air though his head vents, making Miko giggle.

"Stop it 'Bee, I can't focus! What? Sorry Jack. Anyway I call to tell you I may be a bit late." She explained while Bumblebee began to undo her shorts. "No, no, no, don't wait, start without me." Miko instructed while her shorts joined the rest of her clothes and Bumblebee repeated the warm air trick on her thighs, still covered in her dark, striped tights.

"Don't worry, I'll join you later… when I'm done here…" She added and felt Bumblebee taking her tights off, which was hilarious sight given that they were elastic and Bumblebee had to fight them off himself. "Anyway, gotta go. Have fun and don't forget to heat up the party so it is nice and loud when I'll get there." She ended the call and turned her phone to the off-line mode, leaving the Bluetooth on for 'Bee's benefit.

The way things went 'till now she guessed she'd join her own birthday party when it'll be dark already. Not that it was any problem for her. In fact she hoped they could return here for a little 'after-party' as well.

The End.

It happens during "Sugar". The hotel is frequently used by Gavin for his dates but I didn't mention it because it brings nothing to the story.

And yeah, sorry, it might have looked like there would be some smut here but I just couldn't. I still somehow see Miko as her 16 year old self (and I don't do any under-age lemony scenes), even though I mention that she grew. I think I may draw her as her 18 year old self just to 'break the spell' and maybe then. But for now, let your imagination run on this one.

1) That's the trick about ages. The true age difference between Jack and Miko is near half a year (at least in my fics), only because the half includes a New Year, Jack is in older group than Miko. That's just how it works.

2) It has to be 113, otherwise it wouldn't be Transformers.