A Spark of Life
Chapter Three
Sam got out of the wheelchair before Simmons could move it, and backed off behind his Mom.
"0h no, oh nononononono! You're not draggin' me off somewhere so you can poke me and prod me and experiment on me, oh no! you ain't takin' me or my friends to replace Megatron now he's gone! You can just forget that!" he said. Bumblebee gave a warning growl and edged forwards.
"I'm sorry, Sam, you misunderstand me." said Simmons. "This isn't something I will do whether you like it or not, this is something I am asked to offer you, and you can choose whether you accept our very generous offer-or not. C'mon kid, what do you think we're gonna do to you? Freeze you like we did NBE-1, or your yellow friend NBE-2 over there?"
"I have to admit, it crossed my mind, and not just fleetingly. And his name is Bumblebee!" said Sam.
"Okay, okay kid, here's the deal. We take you and your parents and your girlfriend and your alien friends if they wish-the medic would be handy-to our secret facility and monitor your change. We can make sure that you get the right balance of nutrients, and we have state-of-the-art facilities in case your organic and mechanical systems become incompatible, or if the mechanical tries to take over before it's ready. Or if you want, I go away and leave your care to the hospital-although from what I hear, they're not happy about the nutrients. I'd say it's only the Cybertronian technology that's stopping you from getting poisoned!"
"So let's say I accept your offer." said Sam suspiciously. "I get a hopefully reasonable trouble-free transition, but what do you get out of it?"
"All the data we gather while easing you into your new form, Sam." said Simmons.
"And when my transition is over? You'll let us all go?" he asked. Simmons nodded.
"Of course, Sam, you and your Autobot friends are friends of the States now. We have explicit orders not to harm or imprison any of you."
"Sam, I think it would be a good idea." said Ratchet. "Even if we took you to the Autobot base, there is little I could do to aid you if an essential organic component went down. If I'm there with you-no Bumblebee, there's no need for you to go-" Ratchet said as he noticed the little Camaro begin to shake with fear "-the human doctors and myself can work together, giving you a much better chance of coming through this alive and intact. Simmons has promised not to harm or imprison anybody-" and here he glanced at the shivering Bumblebee again "-and has promised to allow your friends and family to come as well."
"You would be housed in quarters nearby, free to come and see Sam any time you wanted to." Simmons assured Judy, Ron, and Mikaela. He looked at Ratchet. "If you chose to come, we could set up somewhere for you to stay when not working."
"I am willing to go if Sam chooses to," said Ratchet.
"I will too." said Mikaela.
"That goes without saying for us." said Ron, and Judy pressed her lips together, and nodded.
"So-it's up to me, is it? Great!" said Sam, the last word dripping with sarcasm. He stood, and turned to Simmons.
"How can I trust you to keep your word?" Simmons quirked an eyebrow at him.
"If we had wanted to simply take you and your friends here, we could and would have done that by now. We have the capabilities, you know. We are asking because we want this to be a co-operative venture. It is so much easier when people work together, don't you think?"
"Okay, okay, I'll come!" said Sam, who hated the way Simmons was able to outmanoeuvre him.
"Good! You'll need to go back to the hospital for a few hours, while we get the paperwork so we can spring you, and transport to get you there-the humans, at least." said Simmons. "Don't worry, it won't take too long and in the meantime, take this." He gave Sam a pouch of fluid. "Well, drink it up, it'll give you some of the metals you need. Even if the hospital withholds the drip, that should keep you going till you're with us." Sam didn't waste any more time, and drank it.
Bumblebee spoke up with a very small voice. "I'm sorry, Sam, I'll c-come with you if you w-w-want." Sam shook his head.
"No, Bumblebee, I'd be happier if you could stay by the house and keep an eye on you. Let people still think it's being lived in-make your holoform appear to walk in and out or something." Sam wasn't about to expect Bumblebee to come with him, his capture and subsequent treatment at the Hoover Dam had made him understandably nervous of Simmons and S-7. Anyway, he knew his mom would be happier if the house was kept an eye on if they were to be away for any length of time.
They went back into the hospital, leaving Ratchet and Bumblebee to talk some more, and Simmons' instinct had been right-Sam's drip was removed by the doctors once he was back in the hospital. They had rightly blamed Sam's skin colouration on the metals he was being given, but made the wrong assumptions about why. They spent the time in the hospital packing the few things they needed there, although Bumblebee took Ron and Judy home to pick up some stuff they might want or need at the secret location, and then brought them back.
Simmons and his people turned up, and in an amazingly quick time got Sam signed and released over to them, with his parent's signatures and Sam's own signature on the consent forms, and they were quickly whisked out.
"Wait!" said Sam, and he ran over to Bumblebee, leaning forwards over Bumblebee's hood and stroking it lovingly, embracing the front of the car, leaning in and planting a grey-lipped kiss in the centre of his steering wheel, sitting down in and running a hand down his seats, stroking his dash. Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath of Bumblebee's interior scent, which was composed of polish and leather and something indefinable and likely Cybertronian. Then he planted another kiss on the steering wheel centre, and then he got out, closed the door, and stroked Bumblebee's roof.
"Okay, bud, you head home and look after the house, huh?" he said. Bumblebee transformed without warning, picking Sam up and holding him against his face. Sam stroked the smooth metal, noting how similar some parts of his skin were in colouration to Bumblebee's. Then Bumblebee put him down, used one finger to gently smooth down his hair, and then transformed back into car form.
"Goodbye for now, Sam." he said. Then he abruptly pulled out and drove off, trying to ignore the tearing pain he felt in his Spark as he drove away.
Simmons led the quartet of humans to a car with blacked-out windows, and let them in. He told Ratchet to follow in vehicle form, and pulled out, Ratchet following behind.
It would be a year and a half before Sam returned to his parents home.