I apologize for the delay. I had a lot of things come up at work and just did not get a lot of time to write on this the past week. Plus, believe it or not, this chapter just did not want to get written. Like pulling teeth, actually. I hope it is acceptable, though I know it is on the short side.

Warning: some sexual content mentioned in this scene (nothing graphic, just, well... If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. The characters and events in this story are purely fictional. Any resemblance to actual Autobots or their human allies is coincidental and completely unintentional.


"What!"

Sam's cry from inside the house spurred Optimus back into motion. /Ironhide, get Ratchet up./He commanded, ignoring the black warrior's muttered grumblings.

/Dude, I don' think the kid can see. It be dark as all get out in there! Man, that blows./

Optimus covered his face with one hand as he turned back to the house. /Jazz, discontinue any human adolescent translation matrixes immediately and wipe the files. Now./ He would not have his second in command on Earth sounding like that./Ratchet, Ironhide: provide the humans some light./

Bumblebee shook his head as he focused back on Sam's dwelling. The boy's room lit up as both Ratchet and Ironhide switched on the headlights now recessed within their chest plates.

Sam, however, was not very appreciative. He ran to the window closest to Ironhide.

"Hurry." Ironhide prompted curtly.

"What's with the light?" Sam seemed close to hysteria, apparently unfazed by Ironhide's innate gruffness. Not that Bumblebee was surprised. If Sam could stare down the walking tank when his cannons were pointed at him, why would he be intimidated now?

Sam was waving his arms. "Turn off the lights. Tell him to turn off the light." He gestured toward Ratchet then made a loud huffing sound before disappearing back inside.

/Dude. What's up his cra...?/

/Jazz!/

/Right, Boss-Bot!/

Movement inside the house caught Bumblebee's attention again. He interrupted his superior officers. /Quiet! The parents./

Thankfully it worked. All the Autobots froze.

"Sam?" A female voice came from just outside the room Sam and Mikaela were in. "What's going on?"

"His door's locked." That was the voice of Sam's father. Then he spoke more loudly. "What have I said about locked doors in my house?"

/Perhaps we shoulda stayed where tha boy first asked us to./ Jazz murmured over the comm. At least he was back to sounding normal.

Optimus only grunted in agreement as Sam's father started counting, though he could not discern what purpose that might serve.

"Why are you so dirty and sweaty?" Sam's mother demanded after the offending portal had been opened.

"You know… I'm a teenager. I'm a child. I'm supposed to be."

"What's with the light?" That was the boy's father.

"What light? You have a light right there." Bumblebee could tell Sam's tension was increasing. Considering how stressed the teen was already, the yellow scout was not sure how much more his delicate biological systems could tolerate. "You can't do this. You can't just barge in here. You have to knock first."

"We knocked." Both parents chorused.

Bumblebee glanced at Ironhide's questioning look and shrugged. How was he supposed to know what was going on with these rather unpredictable human creators?

"No, you were yelling." Sam's heart was beating much faster than was healthy. "This, this is repression, what you're doing right now. You're… uh… you're ruining my youth."

/We don't have time for this./ Ironhide grumbled again, busily scanning for a reappearance of that faint Decepticon signal.

/Patience, Ironhide. My impatience is what lead us to this unfortunate delay./ Optimus reminded his weapons specialist. Like the great leader that he was, Optimus did not hesitate to admit his mistakes. /We must not make matters worse./

Before Ironhide could reply, something changed in Sam's voice that brought all the Autobot's attention back to the conversation inside the house. "Do I mastu… No! Mom! I don't Masturbate. Ew."

"Judy, no. That's a father-son... thing."

The Autobots glanced at each other as Sam's mother kept talking as if she had not heard either of the males. "You don't have to call it that if it makes you uncomfortable. You can call it… 'Sam's Happy Time.' Or 'My special alone time with…'"

/What are they talking about now?/ Optimus asked, not sure whether to be intrigued at the unusual conversation or concerned at the continued delay.

Bumblebee buried his face in one hand, though whether it was in embarrassment or an attempt to keep himself from laughing, none of the other Autobots knew. At their clueless expressions, Bumblebee wordlessly sent the others the same data pack he had sent Optimus then sent all of them instructions on what subfiles to look at. All this took only a handful of seconds.

Their responses were nearly instantaneous and almost simultaneous.

/Oh, my./ Optimus blinked.

Jazz almost glitched. /Ew, gross./

Ironhide shook his head. /Ugh. Seriously?/

/Fascinating./ Ratchet's optics flickered slightly as he accessed the Internet for more technical data.

The occupants of the house had grown relatively quiet. So, Optimus chanced a quick look inside. And came face to rump with the adult male he assumed to be Sam's father.

"Oh, parents." He drew back quickly. Too quickly. As he brushed the side of the building, the whole structure shook.

"Earth quake! Earth quake!" A male voice wailed in abject terror. Sam's father.

A glance back in the building showed Optimus that the adult was now crouched in a small porcelain tub. How is that protective action for a quaking of the ground? He thought briefly but then the human was unfolding himself and Optimus drew back just as Sam's father started stumbling toward the window.

"Quick, hide." He commanded his soldiers.

With a grunt, Ironhide pressed himself against the segment of wall next to the window he had been shining the light in. Ratchet did the same. Bumblebee ducked down and then ducked under the porch, wincing as his doorwings brushed the delicate lights hanging from the beams. Thankfully none of them fell. Tallest of them all, Optimus backed himself against the building, almost bending over backwards in a relatively useless attempt to make his loud blue and red paint scheme blend in with the brown bricks and shingles.

Jazz darted first to a section of wall only to glimpse Sam's father approaching that window. He ducked down and hurried out of the line of sight. "Hide, where? Man – O – man. No. Damn…"

Thankfully, the human was not looking down where Jazz had crammed himself awkwardly into a semi-concealed space. He was looking at the fountain Optimus' had inadvertently crushed. "Would ya' look at that. Destroyed the lawn. It's gone."

Optimus wanted to apologize to the distressed man, but an acute sense of self-preservation prevented it. He did not know what the human could have done to him, but he suddenly did not want to find out. Bumblebee had definitely been right in his judgment call not to reveal himself to Sam's parents. For a moment, though he feared he might have to in order to save his life as the human leaned precariously out the window.

The man withdrew his upper body back inside.

All of the mechs relaxed slightly as the humans started talking amongst themselves once more.

"The parents are annoying. Can we take them out?" Ironhide grumbled quietly, one of his cannons spinning to life.

Optimus gestured sharply especially when Ratchet almost bounced up and down muttering agreement. "Ironhide! You know we don't harm humans. What is with you?"

"I'm just saying… It's an option." Ironhide looked down.

Optimus narrowed his optics; suddenly realizing it would be wise to get his Autobots away from this quickly deteriorating situation. Their presence had done nothing but complicate matters. It was rather humbling to realize Sam – an adolescent organic – had been right to ask them to stay hidden from the beginning.

"Autobots, fall back." Optimus transformed back into his alt-mode and was quickly followed in that transformation by the others.

Without igniting his engine, so as to avoid drawing yet more attention, Optimus led the small team down the road several blocks away and to a location secluded enough they could transform back into their base-modes.

They were close enough to keep sensors on the boy and could respond if he needed help, but far enough away not to cause additional problems. Surely the two youth would be able to finish their tasks in a more efficient manner and would themselves calm down. Perhaps this mission would not be so easy to complete as Optimus had first assumed.

… … …

Things did progress more smoothly once the humans were left to themselves and their own devices. At least at first. It was Ironhide who detected the caravan of approaching terrestrial vehicles while the others were still trying to watch Sam's progress, though now from a safe distance.

Optimus considered the vehicles from their hiding place. "I see nothing to be concerned about they… wait. They are stopping at the Witwicky's"

Bumblebee watched, concerned as a swarm of human males, all in black suits, scattered around the dwelling, apparently scanning it with some type of primitive hand-held scanning equipment.

"Is it possible," Ratchet commented, "that they possess the means to detect our recent presence?"

"Surely not." Ironhide gave the low-pitched electronic equivalent of a grunt. "We have seen nothing indicating anything near that level of sophistication."

"Then why are they pointing their devices at the exact place Optimus was standing five point eight two of their earth minutes ago?"

Bumblebee's damaged vocal processors let out a jumbled mess of electronic gibberish as he saw the men in black suits take the entire Witwicky family and Mikaela out to their waiting vehicles, their arms cuffed behind their backs.

He instantly compared what his visual sensors were telling him with the files in his memory banks from Sam's recent arrest to know Sam was in trouble. He relayed that information to the others.

"This is an internal human problem." Optimus looked down at the smaller Autobot. "We must not involve ourselves or interfere in the internal affairs of other species, Bumblebee. We have not been invited to do so."

Bumblebee calmed himself and transmitted copies of the relevant files that he had downloaded concerning Sector-Seven. /Sam still has the glasses. Sector-Seven are the ones responsible for incarcerating Sam's grandfather. We cannot know what they will do to him, I believe his life might be in danger./

The others were silent for a moment as they reviewed the files, then Jazz spoke. "Bumblebee's right. Without tha glasses, the odds o' succeedin' in findin' the AllSpark decrease exponentially. We have yet ta detect the Cube's signal."

Optimus considered their options then nodded. "There is something else. It seems more likely that this is happening because of our presence. If that is so, we must act to correct the misfortune our actions have unintentionally caused."

The other Autobots nodded in agreement.

"Optimus," Ironhide interrupted again, never having removed his attention from the unwanted visitors. "From their current heading, speed and the extrinsic configuration of the road system, I extrapolate that they will be at these coordinates in six point one eight minutes." The weapon's master looked at his leader. "We should be able to intercept them at that location." He sent the coordinates.

Optimus ran his own computations and nodded. "I concur. Autobots, roll out."

En mass the convoy of unique vehicles collapsed in on themselves only a second before they pulled onto the street.


I know, maybe it is just me, but this chapter seems a little awkward. Like I said, this was like pulling teeth, so between all the screaming in pain and inane wailing, its is bound to be a little awkward. As always, please review.