A/N: so another double posting. Mostly because I want to get what was a prologue over and done with, and get to the action.

Please review, I'd love to hear your opinions. Even if you just tell me how much you liked Spiderman: Homecoming ;)

Disclaimer: I own them. Totally.

Izzy leaned back towards Hound's leg and yawned. "Whew, I'm stuffed," she groaned. "I don't think I can move anymore. Hound, you'll have to carry me back to my bed tonight." She threw out her arms dramatically.

Hound chuckled. "I didn't think a medium-sized human could eat that much."

"Well, chocolate cake's my favorite."

Mattie smiled. They were all gathered around the bonfire that Cade had lit on the cliff outside the compound, where the ground was rock instead of grass. Mattie had pride of place, sitting on a blanket-covered log with her back to the ocean. It was getting close to midnight.

"So are you ready for your birthday present?" Bumblebee asked eagerly.

Mattie turned towards the large yellow mech sitting on her right. "My present? I thought this party was my present."

Cade chuckled. "No, we got you something. Actually, Bee's been the brain behind it, but we all chipped in. You should go get it, Bee."

Bumblebee grinned, then stood up and walked away from the party. After a few minutes, he came back, carrying a parcel.

"Happy birthday, Mattie," he said softly. She felt her heart skip a beat as she looked up at him.Get a hold of yourself, girl.

"Thanks," she whispered, taking the parcel. She realized it was actually quite big. Carefully, she untied the string, and slipped off the brown paper wrapping.

Inside was a guitar case. She grinned. "Oh, you didn't."

Izzy giggled. "Open it."

Carefully, she undid the clasps and opened the case. Her eyes immediately filled with tears.

"Johnnie," she choked. It is, it's really Johnnie.

Inside the case lay the custom-built guitar that she had brought to the States with her, the curve-backed, maple-bodied instrument her mother had given her for her eighteenth birthday. She ran her fingers over the frets, and the strings, looking for any sign of damage. He's perfect.

"I thought he was destroyed," she whispered, looking up at Bumblebee.

He shook his head. "I thought it was broken at first. The case was shattered. But it turned out it could be repaired. When we learned how much it meant to you, we sent it in to the best instrument-maker we could find, and it just came back last week."

Mattie laughed, drying her tears with the back of her hand. She stretched the other hand out and rubbed Bee's leg. "I don't know what to say. I- this means the world to me." She looked at all the people sitting around the bonfire, took in all the faces, Autobot or human. "Thanks, guys. Thank you so much."

"It was our pleasure," Cade said, grinning widely. "And as I said, it was mostly Bumblebee. He kept it safe from the moment he found you, and it was his idea to get it fixed. The rest of us just helped pay for it."

Mattie looked up at the yellow mech. "You kept him safe all along?" she whispered. He did that for me?

He grinned sheepishly. "You were holding on to it so tightly, I figured it was important to you. I always hoped to give it back to you at some point."

Slowly, with trembling fingers, Mattie eased the guitar out of the case and put the case down. She placed the familiar form across her lap, hesitantly testing the strings. He needs a bit of gentle tuning, but not too bad. She deftly manipulated the tuning pegs, then tried again. There. She started playing Vivaldi's Winter largo.

When she finished, there was absolute silence around the campfire. She looked up. They were all staring at her.

Cade cleared his throat. "That was beautiful, Mattie."

"Aw, Cade," Izzy laughed, wiping away the tears from her own cheeks. "Are you crying?"

"Well, I might be, you little pain in my butt," he laughed embarrassedly. "That was the most beautiful thing I ever heard."

Drift turned to Bumblebee. "Tell me you recorded that."

"I always record," Bumblebee murmured. He was still staring at her. That set off the butterflies in her stomach again.

"You said you call him Johnnie?" Viviane said. Her voice sounded a bit unsteady too.

Mattie nodded. "Yeah. It's a triple tribute, actually."

"Triple tribute?" Crosshairs asked.

"Yeah. Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash and John Dowland. So, Johnnie."

Viviane grinned. "Sounds fitting."

"I don't get it," Cade said.

"Nor I," Drift agreed.

"Joni Mitchell and Johnny Cash are American musicians. Or were, in Johnny's case," Viviane said. "Come on, Cade, you know that. And John Dowland was a medieval composer, wasn't he?"

Mattie nodded.

"Will you play some for us?" Hound asked.

"Play John Dowland? Sure. This is a galliard." She started playing again. When the galliard ended, she continued straight into "Shall I compare thee", singing along with the music.

The last note died after hanging in the air for a while.

"That last one was Shakespeare," Viviane said.

Mattie smiled. "Yeah, sonnet 18. The melody is modern, by a composer named Lindberg. I just think it's lovely."

"It was beautiful," Optimus rumbled.

"Chihuahua," Sqweeks said. Mattie grinned at him.

She looked around at them. "I want to say something." She took a deep breath. "These last three months have been unbelievable. I want to thank you guys for everything – for taking me in, for helping me. For being my friends." She gave a small smile. "Without you, I wouldn't even have seen my twenty-first birthday."

Bumblebee reached out a finger, carefully drying away the stray tear that was running down her cheek.

"So, thanks. I owe you guys – well, I owe you guys everything. And I'm sorry I was ever scared of you," she finished, smiling. "I promise I'm done being scared."

Hound chuckled. "Well, we can't get better thanks than this. I swear, little lady, you make magic with that thing."

Izabella made her way around the fire and over to Mattie, throwing her arms around her. "We are sisters, okay?" The younger girl stared at her fiercely. "We are sisters."

"Sisters," Mattie murmured, hugging her back just as tightly. Then she pulled back and looked at Izabella. "And as your big sister, I'd say that your bedtime's coming up. You're sleepwalking already. Hound, will you take her?"

The mech stood up. "It's my pleasure. Come on, child." He gently picked Izzy up. "I'll see you, Mattie." Sqweeks looked back at Mattie, then followed the big mech into the darkness.

"G'night, guys."

"Autobots, Lennox wants us in the morning," Optimus said, standing up. "Bumblebee, you will take Mattie home, then go recharge. The rest of you will go now."

A chorus of "Yes, Optimus" went around the fire. Cade grinned, and pulled Viviane to her feet. "We can let the fire die down, it's not going to spread here. Good night, Mattie." He walked over and gave her a hug.

Viviane followed with a hug of her own. "I have to leave tomorrow," she said. "But it was fantastic meeting you."

"You, too," Mattie murmured. "Have a safe flight home, okay?"

Soon, it was just her and Bumblebee. The fire was dying down.

He looked at her. "One more song?"

She smiled, picking out the first few chords of 'Out here on my own'. "Anything for you, Bumblebee," she murmured, echoing his words from earlier in the day. "Anything at all."

I think I'm falling for an alien.

Mattie's Music: The four seasons, Winter, Largo (Antonio Vivaldi).

John Dowland can be found on Spotify. I don't actually know which galliard it is that Mattie's playing here, but any one of them should give you a general idea.

Shall I compare thee is also on Spotify. Listen to the one by Bjørg Hasle Aschehoug, it's the closest to what I envision this sounds like.

Out here on my own, from Fame. It's everywhere.