An: do not own, wish I did but I don't, Beta'd by Purpleraingoddess
Title: Repairs and Repercussions
Author: Tsumi
Rating: teen
Warnings: violence, possible slash, and possible character death, possible OOC.
Pairings: pending
Synopsis: The battle in Mission city ended the war or did it? What will happen to the Autobots and their new human allies? And what is happening to Sam?
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Part 2: My best kept Secret
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The horrible laughter would not stop. His friends were dying in front of him and he couldn't stop it. Horrible red light washed everything in the color of blood. Where was everyone? He could hear the screams that echoed. Bright pieces of metal stained purple blue littered the landscape. The same glowing fluid covered his hands and clothes, mixing with the red of his own blood.
"Sam!" Were they calling for him now? Where was everyone? All he could hear was the screaming.
"Sam, wake up!" His mother's voice? She hadn't been there.
Brown eyes blinked open and he looked up into a very worried pair of eyes. The dream became nothing more than fragments. Reality finally drifted in. He gave his mother a shaky smile, no need to worry her beyond how much she already did.
"Sam, are you sure you want to go to school today?" Judy asked. "You should talk to someone about these dreams."
He had been sleeping badly since they had been allowed to come home only a few days ago. He had barely convinced her to let him go to school today. His dad had said to let him go, he said he was fine.
"I've talked to the others who were there and the psyh at Sector Seven."
"I know you have baby I'm just worried you take care and come home if you feel you have too."
"Yes, mom, I have other things I have to do," he told her gently. After she left, he sighed, "Though there should be a law against having to go to school after saving the planet from evil aliens," he muttered, watching her leave his room then looking for his clothes.
After a shower and getting dressed Sam grabbed breakfast and went out to the driveway, where the rising sun was just shining on the sleek, yellow Camaro who sat there. As he approached, backpack over one shoulder, the window rolled down and cheery music came from the speakers.
"Goodmorning, Starshine, the earth says hello." The door popped open, letting Sam slide into the driver's seat.
"Good morning, Bee! Come on, we have to get Mikaela and go to school." he told the car, laughing as he got in and settled into the warm leather of the seat, absently yet lovingly rubbing the center of the steering wheel. Bumblebee revved happily.
"Of course," the Camaro answered cheerfully. His voice still held some static, but it was certainly doing better after his encounter with the AllSpark. The sliver Optimus had pulled from Megatron's chest had been hidden and only the Autobot leader knew it's exact location.
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Now that Sam knew he was not just a pretty car, Bee could do things to make the ride much more comfortable for his human. The seat conformed to his body and the radio played happily. The young Autobot was enjoying this slight freedom even if he didn't get much time to hang around with Sam because of the boy's schooling.
They stopped at Mikaela's house and she came out to join them patting Bumblebee's hood gently. He loved the physical attention his human friends gave him; touching seemed to be just another part of their nature. Ironhide had mentioned it to him that Will often stroked his hood and patted the steering wheel while he drove him too.
"Hey, guys," she said, smiling brightly. She looked a lot better than she had the last time they'd seen her, wearing one of her normal short skirts with a yellow, spaghetti string top, decorated with brightly colored flowers. Her hair brushed out so it flowed around her shoulders like black silk, she was gorgeous but Sam felt none of the stirrings he would have even a week before. Part of it would be the nearly dying but he had read things that stated some relationships came from that kind of thing.
"Good morning, Mikaela did you sleep well?" Bumblebee asked, opening the door for her.
"As well as I could." she said, sliding into the seat, letting the door close as she buckled herself in. She checked her makeup in the rearview mirror and smiled.
"Dreams again?" Sam asked. They both had been having bad nightmares. No one ever seemed to talk about the dreams themselves but they were bad enough to keep them awake.
"Yeah," she agreed. She had not had nightmares this bad since the first time her dad had been sent to jail.
"Me too."
"They should go away; Will and the others seem to be having the same problem," Bumblebee said, trying to cheer up his friends. He still had nightmares of the battle in Tyger-Pax some nights.
"Really?" Both humans perked up immediately.
"Yes," the car told them, then revved and headed off for the school, "Ironhide told me after my first real battle that it always happens like that."
"Well, if the veterans can handle it, I guess I can, too." Sam smiled. And Mikaela nodded a little to vigorously.
"That's good, Sam. Besides, you have friends there for you," Bumblebee pointed out.
"I know." The boy replied patting the wheel lovingly, As Mikaela leaned on his shoulder for a moment.
Mikaela smiled, patting his arm then noticed his hands. He had finally removed the bandages the night before and had not let anyone see the remains of the burns.
"Where'd you get the gloves?" Sam's hands were covered with a pair of black leather fingerless gloves, which covered the areas of his hands that had been burned perfectly. Hiding the remaining scars, even if they looked a little odd.
"They're work out gloves. The burns are still there and look kinda weird." He explained.
"Oh." She glanced down at them but he didn't say anything else and Bumblebee started playing a good rock station.
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The reaction of the other students was mixed as they saw Sam get out of the new, sleek, yellow Camaro, followed by Mikaela as he opened the door for her. Miles was the first to respond, after he had run over to look his best friend over after seeing the glares from most of the jocks.
"Sam, dude, where have you been?" he asked. Over a week without any contact had worried him, especially after Sam's call about the Camaro stalking him. He'd been kicking himself all week for not going over there and checking on him and the one time he had the whole house had been empty and the yard torn up.
"It's a long story, Miles," he said tiredly. "I swear I'll tell you." He really had to come up with something to tell his friend.
"I'm sure it is." He looked over at Mikaela and frowned. Had he been ditched for days so they could have some free time? Then he looked at the car and said, "Man, those are not your wheels."
"Sure they are, I was in Mission City and my car got totaled he's a replacement," Sam lied. Miles knew he was lying; they had been friends for years.
"You have to tell me everything," The blonde demanded, dragging Sam from the girl and car, much to their amusement.
"See you after class, Bee." Mikaela whispered, heading for the school.
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School blasted by and Miles had no other chance to really talk to Sam. The whole school knew he had a hot new car and somehow had grabbed Mikaela away from Trent. Sam drove both Miles and Mikaela home, dropping her off first and then Miles.
"Man, you had better not have ditched me for nearly a week for her," he groused, did the radio just laugh? This car had as bad a radio as the old one.
"No, well, you know what happened in Mission City?" he began.
"You were there?" The blonde stared at him like he was nuts. He had been, of course. He had, after all, dealt with Megatron.
"Yeah, well, my parents dragged me out there," he lied. He couldn't really tell Miles he had been there with his car and a group of aliens. Not to mention in the middle of a battlefield and running from the harbinger of Death himself.
"You're lying," the blonde told him simply.
"Damn, Miles, I can't tell you everything, but I will soon," he promised and the engine revved in agreement.
"You'd better." he got out and waved as Sam took off. He watched the bright yellow car drive off, suspicious of something, but not able to put his finger on it.
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Sam was having his own crisis at the moment and his car was not helping much.
"You want to tell him," came from the radio. How well his guardian knew him after only a few days.
"Yeah," Sam sighed and sat back, letting Bee drive. "He's my best friend, Bee. I hate hiding something this big from him." He caressed the seat beside him gently.
"I will ask Optimus. I'm sure he and the others won't mind. It's your government that has a problem with keeping us a secret," he answered, purring at the contact like a cat rather than a car.
"Yeah." They pulled into his drive and Sam patted the hood as he got out. "I have some homework to do. But we can probably cruise tonight."
"Very well." Bee let Sam go up to his room watching him with his scanners.
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Most of the week passed the same way; Sam was busy hanging with Mikaela and Miles in shifts, wanting to tell his best friend the big secret. Mikaela had already agreed that they should tell him. After all, he was his friend.
Friday at lunch, while Sam sat on Bumblebee's hood, eating, Miles finally cornered him. He was for once without Mikaela who was at lunch with her friends.
"Man, I haven't seen you in days and you've spent most of your time with the jock concubine," Miles groused. "We should do something this weekend."
"I have plans," Sam told him then smiled, as bee covertly bumped his leg "Why don't you come with us?" He patted the car's hood slightly.
"I'm not doing some weird threesome with you and the EJC." He frowned.
"That's not what I meant. Come on it'll be fun," Sam assured him, trying hard not to kick Bumblebee when the car let out a slight honk.
"Fine, but it better be," He grumbled, wanting to know what Sam was hiding.
After school the three jumped in Bee and headed to their houses to get things and headed out of town.
"So where are we going?" the blonde asked, bouncing in the back seat.
"Hoover Dam," Sam told him, adjusting the rearview mirror.
"A tourist trap? Why?" He really was sure Sam was playing him now. There was no way they should be going there. There was even a sign saying it was closed for renovations at the exit.
"Well, you want to know what happened, right?" Mikaela asked with a smile.
"Yeah," he answered.
"You'll find out there, I promise," Sam told his friend as they took the exit and the little car took off down the highway.
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Hoover dam looked no different than it had a week before, repair crews were still everywhere and it was closed to the public, but Bumblebee ignored the parking lot and headed for the door to the motor pool. As they rolled in, there was a loud honk and a man who looked a little older then them strode over. He moved like a soldier, he even had the dog tags hanging around his neck. Sam and Mikaela recognized Captain Lennox as one of the soldiers who'd been a major part of Mission City situation immediately. They also recognized Ironhide parked nearby.
"Hey kids," Will greeted smiling. He looked much better than the last time they had seen him. Bee flashed his headlights at the older Cybertronian in greeting while the teens were distracted and got a flash in response.
What are you kids planning Bumblebee? Ironhide asked the scout knowing he was up to something.
Planning what would we be planning?" he asked all too innocently in response.
Miles. The old warrior said simply, the boy was not in the know as the humans said and though he himself had by accident shown himself to Will's wife Sarah he knew the scout knew better.
You'll see. Bumblebee promised.
"Will, I thought they were sending you back to Qatar," Sam said, grabbing the man's hand to shake it.
"They were until Sarah introduced herself to Ironhide and I had to come back."
"I see." Sam smiled. "Miles meet Captain Will Lennox. He was part of what happened in Mission City, too."
"Hi, so who's Ironhide?" the blonde asked, looking the captain over. 'Not a bad looking guy.' Miles thought He certainly seemed friendly with Sam and Mikaela.
"A friend, he's a lot like an older brother to me. So how much are you going to tell him?" Will asked Sam. He had also been under the stress of the secret until his wife had accidentally met Ironhide. Luckily the two got along pretty well. Ironhide had told Will that Sarah reminded him of his own mate.
"Everything," Sam said. Turning back to Miles, he smiled. "Miles what would you say if I told you, your alien and government cover up stuff was all true?"
"I would think you were humoring me like you have since we were five," Miles told him, wondering what Sam was up to.
"What if I had proof?" he asked, seeing Will grin. The older man seemed highly entertained by all of this.
"Like what?" The blonde looked at him like he'd lost his mind.
"Bumblebee, show him," he said, looking at the Camaro who revved happily, pulling forward a bit to nudge Sam's leg before pulling back to the spot he had been occupying. Miles stared at it for a long moment.
"Bumblebee?" Miles began and turned back to the car as it smoothly went from car to larger yellow mech whose head was almost brushing the roof of the motor pool. Luckily Bumblebee was one of the smaller members of the group of Autobots. Optimus could not even stand up straight in the motor pool and both Ratchet and Ironhide had to duck.
Miles stared at the mech. 'I was riding around inside that?' he thought. It made sense. 'The radio seemed to switch at will and the thing had not seemed to need gas the whole week … the gas gauge was always full. He looked at Sam then at Bumblebee again.
"You're an alien? And we were riding around all week in an alien robot? Sam, why didn't you tell me, Dude, that is so awesome!" Miles demanded. He had been right the whole time there were aliens and they were awesome. He couldn't believe he hadn't guessed something like that was up, what with all the cover up about the mission city incident.
"Well, that was not quite my wife's reaction." Will snickered to Mikaela who smiled. "Or mine for that matter."
"Wouldn't have been mine either," the girl said with a shrug. Of course her first meeting with one had been a little violent and dangerous what with Frenzy trying to kill them.
"I believe your first reaction was fear and worry I was going to try and kill you," Bee answered and she made to swat him.
"What should it have been?" Her eyes glittered as she smiled at the yellow mech.
"I did save the two of you from Barricade," The mech told her and turned back to Miles. "Hello, yes, you have been riding around in my interior cavity. My designation is Bumblebee. It is a pleasure to finally speak to you. Sam has been agitated he was unable to tell you."
"But since you are here and know, you should meet everyone else." Sam smiled. He was happy to show Miles everything and every one of his new friends.
"You are an evil kid, Sam, come on." Will turned for the door leading out of the motor pool.
We'll meet you on level 7 Bumblebee. Ironhide commed as he slipped off to see Ratchet.
"Thank you, Will. I will see the rest of you later." The yellow Camaro was back and he drove off.
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Instead of joining his comrades, Bumblebee sent a message he was going to talk to them later and went to look in on the Earthborn, as the newborn bots were being called. They were all in their designated spot except for DewBot.
"Bumblebee," the tow truck greeted.
"Long arm, how have things been?"
"We are well, Ratchet and Optimus Prime have been kind to us, as has Ironhide on his few visits." Longarm answered back. His voice was very calm and he seemed like he had spent a long time thinking about things.
"The humans are odd, though," Landmine, an assault buggy that had been brushed by the AllSpark's power during the battle, answered. "They are," Bumblebee agreed, "but they are also leery of us all."
"But where's DewBot?"
"He has decided since he is a vending machine, he should vend. He is in the Agent's break room dispensing drink." Landmine smirked, he found it funny that the machine did as he wished, the
"That makes sense." Bee nodded. "As long as he doesn't scare anyone."
"I'm sure it will be fine," Landmine answered.
"And the young ones?"
"They are still adjusting. We have lost a few of them sadly, only four remain,"
"The poor things. Do you know why?"
"Not yet, no, we have not figured it out, but we believe it has something to do with size and Batteries."
"I see."
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The teens and Will walked along the corridors, nodding to agents and men they passed. Sam pointing things out like a burger king and the paint ball area, the place was an underground city by itself. As they were giving him the tour, Miles saw something small and silver skitter past, He jumped, but the thing simply ignored him and clung to Sam's leg.
"What is that?" Miles asked, fascinated by the little creature.
"Oh, it's an X-box," Sam said, picking it up, "or it was until it was changed by the fight in Mission City."
"And it likes you?" Miles asked, seeing that the thing freaked Mikaela, too. Maybe there was more to her than the legs and boobs.
"I guess so." He shrugged as it clicked out something and settled on his shoulder.
The continued the tour and Miles watched the thing. It didn't seem dangerous. As they continued the tour Miles was amazed by what was hidden in this underground city. They grabbed lunch at the burger king and as they sat there a man came in. He looked mousy and annoyed as he approached the three teens.
"What is going on?" Reggie Simmons asked. He was still one of the higher ups here, but was annoyed the kids could go over his head whenever they felt like it.
"Oh, Simmons this is Miles. He learned about Bee so we brought him with us when we came to visit the others," Sam said simply.
"Found out?" The man looked at the boy suspiciously.
"Well, come on Sam's car was acting weird. Besides, one day it's a wreck and a few days later brand new," Miles said, catching the look in Sam's eyes.
"Fine, but tell no one. There are procedures," He said simply.
"Not anymore really, with sector seven officially disbanded and Sam, myself and Will are considered ambassadors between the Autobots and humans," Mikaela told him, taking a sip of her soda.
The man stormed off and they exchanged a look.
"Don't mind Simmons, he's upset that new people are learning, but it will be fine."
"I hope so dude, so when do I meet these other guys?"
"Soon, come on let's go find them." Sam dumped his tray. "Will said level seven."
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They found Ironhide and Ratchet talking in the chamber where the cube had been, which in the last week had been made slightly more comfortable for the Autobots. With only two of them actually spending much time there it wasn't going fast since they had no idea when anyone would answer the call. Ironhide was staying with Captain Lennox while Bee of course stayed with Sam, though they did visit and report when they could.
"Hey guys," Sam greeted as if he spent every day of his life talking with giant alien robots. Which these days he did, since one lived with him.
"Sam, Mikaela, this must be the friend Bumblebee mentioned," Ironhide greeted. The large black mech sat close to the medic as said medic was fixing up his area.
"Yes, this is Miles. Miles, Ironhide, their weapons specialist, and Ratchet, their Chief Medical Officer." He introduced the Medic and Weapons specialist.
"Wow, you guys are huge." Miles said staring up at the large black mech. He looked awesome like some kind of walking weapons turret or something.
"Compared to your own race I suppose we are larger than yourselves." Ratchet chuckled, that was not the first response they had expected from Sam's friend. Even if the young human had said Miles was a worse geek then himself. Not to mention the fact the young man was an alien conspirist.
"Where's Optimus?" Sam asked not seeing the Autobot leader.
"He is in Washington speaking with Secretary Keller and the president," Ironhide told him.
"And Bumblebee wandered off a while ago." Ratchet looked at Sam. "Were you aware one of the Earthborn is on your shoulder?"
"Yeah, he's been there for an hour or so. I think I'll call him Halo," Sam said, patting the sliver critter.
"You are creepy, Sam," Mikaela told him, not wanting to be near this little critter.
"He does seem kind of spider like," Miles agreed.
"Fine, you guys stay here, I'll put him back with the others," Sam said, carrying Halo off.
The others exchanged a look then shrugged.
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Sam found Bumblebee with the other Earthborn. His Autobot was having a conversation with Longarm. Both looked up at his entrance, Halo chattered it's greetings to them.
"Hey, Bee, guys," He greeted as Halo chitterd to the others from Sam's shoulder.
"Hello, Sam," Bumblebee greeted, he had been talking to the tow truck quietly. "You remember Sam, Longarm?"
"Yes, it is thanks to you I am no longer a simple car," The tow truck greeted.
"You're welcome, I think." The human replied
"Yes," Longarm nodded. "You should meet the others; Landmine and DewBot. The rest of the smaller ones have not chosen names yet."
"Well, this one I've named Halo." He said, putting the X-bot down to join the other small bots; there were three more who skittered around Sam's feet in an attempt to get his attention.
"I see." The bot's odd purple blue eyes focused on the boy. "I think the others want you to name them, too."
"I'll have to think about it. I should get back; Miles is meeting the others," He told them.
The little bots made their own sounds and clung to his legs for a moment more.
"This might be interesting," Bumblebee nodded to the others. "I should go."
"We will talk again Bee," The tow truck said simply and the other two nodded.
They walked slowly back to the others. Meandering down the large hallways to join their friends.
"They seem like an okay group."
"Yes, though they were created from Earth machines, Ratchet and Optimus have treated them well. They do not feel left out at all."
"Good." He smiled. For some reason he was worried for the Earthborn. He figured it was because like him they had been put into the battle with no warning. They still had no idea if the two Decepticons captured here might get out or Starscream return.
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Miles did not mind the over twenty feet robots; they were kind cool actually. The medic had already scanned him and he listened to Ironhide talk. There were others apparently who would come they hoped. That was why their leader was in Washington to try and find a better place for them than the dam. It was well hidden, but not the kind of place they could expand if more arrived. This was also a place, which gave Bumblebee the creeps, as humans would call it since the little yellow mech preferred to not be here unless he had to.
By the time Sam and Bumblebee rejoined them the four were playing cards, well the humans had the cards and the Autobots were helping.
"That looks like fun." Sam smiled as he joined them.
"Want to play? You and Bee can be a team."
"Sure." The rest of the day went by quickly.