Chapter 11 - Discoveries.
"Hey Sam, where were you man?. You got in the car, which by the way is a fine piece of machinery that you are now required by roomate law to share with us all, and we never saw you any more until you crawled in this morning.
"Oh and whats the deal with Alice?. You know she's mine so keep your greasy mitts off her". Sam gazed at Leo through tired eyes, his brain slowly working its way through the flood of questions his roomate had fired at him. Holding his hands up in peace gesture, Sam frowned as he noticed a faint glow dancing around his hands. Blinking furiously, Sam looked back at his hands and was relieved to see his hands looking perfectly normal once again, muttering to himself as he did so, "I must be more tired than I thought".
However as he heard Leo's voice still grumbling indignantly, Sam met his friends gaze, an apologetic look in his own brown eyes, "Look Leo, I'm sorry buddy. Family emergency, had to get there right away". Leo huffed, only slightly mollified by Sams apology, "Still doesn't explain the car or the fact you cracked onto my girl". Sam fought back a sudden shudder as he thought back to Alice's insistence to be with him, and he shook his head as he replied to Leo's accusations, "Hey I did no cracking onto anyone, especially not Alice. If anything I was the crackee, and trust me I want no part of it. I have a girlfriend remember, although as I missed our web-date that might be up for discussion as she'll be furious with me. Trust me, you are totally welcome to Alice, she's all yours".
"Good. My territory remember. Still not hearing any explanation for the car though". Sam smiled to himself as he wondered just how to explain 'the car'. Grabbing his bag as they left the dorm room, Sam couldn't help the chuckle that escaped as he answered Leo's final question, "Okay the car is mine, but as we can't have cars on campus I never thought to mention it to be honest. Anyway it kinda belongs to the rest of the family as well, some members more than others". As Sam walked off, still chuckling to himself, he didn't see Leo's confused frown or the set of cold blue eyes that also watched him from the shadows.
Once the class had settled, Sam leant back in his seat and watched the Professor stalk across the stage as he did every lesson. Looking around, Sam smiled to himself; here, surrounded by teenagers just like himself, was where he belonged, not in the middle of another alien war or acting as some kind of ambassador for the Autobots. However thinking about the Autobots brought Sams thoughts back to his late night adventure, and he tried to ignore the small voice that told him if he did as Optimus asked of him, a second war could be avoided, and the guilt that had kept him awake after Bumblebee had returned him to campus flooded through his thoughts as well.
"Welcome to Astronomy 101". As he heard Professor Colan's voice ring through the lecture hall, Sam tried to clear his jumbled thoughts and focus on his class. As Colan charmed the female members of the class, Sam chuckled quietly as he saw the rapt expression on Leo's face. Idly flicking through the pages of his textbook, Sam became aware of a high pitched ringing in his ears. Looking round for the source of the noise, Sam saw that everyone else was watching Professor Colan and that they all seemed unaware of the noise that seemed to be growing louder. Shaking his head to try and clear the noise, Sam winced as a sharp pain lanced through his temple, before he began flicking through the pages of his textbook faster and faster, his now racing mind absorbing the nine hundred and three pages in seconds. Snapping the book shut, Sam thrust his hand in the air, jolting Leo out of his daydream. Looking at his friend in confusion, Leo hissed at Sam under his breath, "Sam dude. Put your hand down, are you out of your mind?. Seriously man, you are such a freaking embarrassment". Unaware of the plea in Leo's voice, Sam's concentration was fixed on the Professor as he continued to wave his hand in the air.
Noticing a disturbance towards the back of the class, Professor Colan turned his attention to the young man who was all but bouncing in his chair, "There are no questions in this class young man, but if you feel it is important enough to interrupt me, then by all means go ahead and share it with us all". Not hearing the nervous laughter that rippled round the lecture hall, and ignoring a final plea from Leo, Sam stood up and hurried to the front of the class. As he stepped up onto the podium, the fierce glare that Colan bestowed upon him should have been enough to deter him but Sam's mind was no longer aware of his surroundings. Focusing on the blackboard, Sam hurried to it and turned it round before he began to speak, "I've read the book and there's a problem. Einstein, sir, is wrong. I mean he's not a total idiot. Energy does equal mass times the velocity of light squared in this dimension.
"But your book doesn't address the physics of the other seventeen dimensions, which if entered can provide access to physical energies that operate on a totally different formulae. Nobody ever talks about the other seventeen why is that?". Sam failed to see the cold look Colan gave him, and had he looked up he would have seen the look of concentration on Alice's face as he began to write on the board in symbols that were pouring from his mind as he began to speak once again, "We haven't even begun to talk about the other seventeen. Clear example, if you break down the elemental components of Energon and assume a constant decay rate and extrapolate for each of the fourteen galactic convergences it took the Sentinel Prime expedition to receive an... echo on its signal you wind up with a formula for inter-dimensional energy increase that mass and light alone can't possibly explain. Come on guys, I mean we learn this in the drone stage".
"Young man, I will not be punked in my own class". Sam blinked as the tone of Colan's voice shook him out of the daze he had been in, and he looked around the room with confused eyes, "What happened?". As Colan continued to make his feelings clear, Sam's confusion turned to outright fear as he looked at the symbols on the board and he blinked rapidly as he tried to remember the last few minutes, and his fear only increased when he could only pick out fuzzy memories. As he heard Colan telling him to leave, Sam didn't think twice before bolting out of the room, unaware of Leo watching him with concerned eyes.
Moments later, Sam reached the college library and found the section he was looking for. Pulling down the ancient book, he felt his heart racing as he gazed down on the title, "The Arctic Grail: An Expeditionary History". Settling down at the table, Sam took a deep breath before he flipped through the pages, whole chapters flashing through his mind once again, before he came to the section he was looking for. The title of the chapter bore the name of his great grandfather, Archibald Witwicky, and as Sam quickly read the whole chapter, his heart sank as he looked at the accompanying photos and saw the reproductions of the 'lunatic' writing his great-grandfather had become obsessed with. The symbols were the same as those he had just inscribed on the blackboard in front of the whole physics class.
"Oh my God...".
A few hours later, his exhausted mind still reeling from his discoveries in the library, Sam could feel a trickle of fear beginning to form through the confusion and his first coherent thought was to ring the one person he knew he could rely on in a crisis, however his panic only increased when he couldn't reach Mikaela. Frantically he dialled her number again and as it went to voicemail for the second and third time, Sam found himself on the verge of a full blown anxiety attack as he made his way through the crowded corridors of the college. As he made his way to the outside area, where he took several deep breaths, Sam did his best to ignore the voice in his head that told him that he should swallow his pride and contact Optimus, choosing instead to ring the other person he could trust, although he wasn't anymore sure of the reception he was going to get from Carly after he'd failed to contact her last night.
Praying that she would answer, Sam tapped in Carly's number and felt his heart sinking as the seconds passed. However his spirits were raised when he heard his girlfriends voice, but he was soon wincing as he heard the coldness in her her tone, "Oh so now you decide to speak to me?". Taking a deep breath, Sam ploughed into the conversation cutting Carly off, "Carly, look I'm sorry about last night, but I can't explain that right now, as something just as crazy just happened to me in class, okay. Something serious. Remember the family history lesson I gave you when we first got together and I explained about my link to the Autobots through my great-grandfather Witwicky, and how he went on his Arctic mission". As he heard Carly's reassuring murmurs, Sam continued, his voice becoming more and more frantic, "Well as you know his giant ice man was our dearly departed Megatron, and he must have got zapped somehow when he activated him, and thats why he started seeing all the crazy symbols, lots of crazy symbols, like writing. Well now I'm seeing them too". Hurriedly mumbling apologies to the group of girls he'd collided with, Sam tried to concentrate on Carly's calming tones, but as he heard the undercurrent of fear in her voice as she mentioned they could overheard on their mobiles, Sam's own fears only increased as he rambled on, hardly pausing for breath, "I'm seeing them too Carly, and there's other stuff that I don't understand. I mean I managed to read a nine hundred plus page textbook in just over thirty seconds, and memorised it all, that's not normal. I almost had a full on nervous breakdown in front of my astronomy class, all but called the professor stupid and then started writing all these crazy symbols on the board before I got thrown out. It's like my brain has been going haywire ever since...". Sam paused as his brain finally made the connection that had been eluding him since he'd begun to suffer whatever it was affecting him.
"Since what Sam, you're scaring me now". Sam heard the worry in Carly's voice but he remained quiet for a few moments, before replying in hushed tones, "Ever since I touched the cube splinter that I found at home when I was packing". A new rush of fear washed over him as he realised that the same shard was currently with his best friend in the town where both she and Carly were located. Fighting to keep his voice calm, Sam took a deep breath before speaking in a low voice, "Carly listen to me. I need you to find Mikaela, and to make sure the shard is safe but you have to promise me that neither you or Mikaela will touch it, promise me". As he heard Carly agreeing to help and to leave the shard well alone, Sam felt a little of the fear lifting before saying a quick goodbye to Carly, hoping and praying that both she and Mikaela would stay safe, though he knew that with Bumblebee there, they were probably far safer back in Tranquility with the shard than he was here on campus.
oOoOo
"Mikaela please... you have to trust me on this".
Throwing her tools down on the bench in frustration, the metallic clangs they caused as they fell from the bench echoing around the deserted garage, Mikaela finally gave up on trying to concentrate on the job she was supposed to be doing as her mind once again wandered back to the words that had been plaguing her since early that morning. As they continued to echo round in her head, along with the memory of the pleading look in Bumblebees optics as he uttered them, Mikaela's thoughts flew back to the events of much earlier that morning.
"So let me get this straight, there's some crazy Decepticon half breed, whatever, onto Sam and you did nothing about it". Bumblebee winced as he heard the questioning tone to Mikaelas voice, and it only increased the guilt he already felt in his spark at leaving Sam behind, and his own answer was quiet when he finally replied, "I'm sorry beautiful... I did all I could in the time I had. She will have worked out that Sam.. is under our protection, hopefully... that will deter her". Mikaela heard the plea in Bee's voice, and she knew how concerned he was from how disjointed the radio clips had been, but the deep rooted fear that had been brewing within her for Bumblebee, Sam and the rest of her family, both human and mechanical, since the loss of the All Spark fragment had only intensified with Bumblebee's latest news. That, coupled with the tiredness that was flooding through her after a restless few hours sleep since Bee's return, had all but killed her earlier optimism and it led to a sudden rush of irrational anger as she looked up into Bee's anxious optics, and her voice was harsh when she finally trusted herself to speak, "How though?. How has Sam got your protection, or any protection for that matter?. He has no idea what danger he might be in, you're here while hes there, and pretty much everyone else is back at base unable to do anything in case some stiff in a suit has a hissy fit.
"So pray tell me Bee, if she decides to go after Sam, who's going to stop her as Sam sure as hell won't be able to by the sounds of it?". Bumblebee felt his spark sink as he saw the undisguised fury in Mikaelas eyes, her raised voice causing an unwelcome ache in his tired processors but Bee understood how she felt. He'd voiced the same concerns to Ratchet on the way back to Tranquility and he was hoping the medic would get the chance to speak to Optimus when their Prime got back to base, as the scout knew Sam needed someone there watching over him. However as he chirped at her apologetically, Bee was unprepared for the wave of uncertainty that tightened around his spark as Mikaela simply shrugged at him and walked towards the door leading back into the house.
Transforming back down to his alt-mode as quickly as he could, Bee rapidly activated his holoform and cut in front of Mikaela before she could reach the doorway, "Mikaela please, I don't have a choice here. I can't stay with Sam without drawing more attention to him, and if you were thinking this through clearly you'd realise that. I already feel guilty enough about leaving him behind, I don't need you making it worse".
"Oh so now it's my fault". Bumblebee sighed, and lowered his own voice which he'd raised in frustration, "That's not what I'm saying beautiful of course it's not your fault. What I meant was I that I have to follow orders, however hard it may be. All I know is that right now, I don't want to fight with you over it". Mikaela heard the pain in Bumblebee's voice, her own voice shaking with emotion as she lifted her eyes to meet his, "I know you have orders to follow Bee, I get that, but you always have a choice. You should have stayed with Sam, or nearby at least. He didn't leave you when you needed help all those years ago until he had to. If anything happens to him...". Bumblebee reached out to hold Mikaelas hand as he heard her voice falter, not only to comfort her but to ease his own aching spark as he thought back to the night he'd been captured, but as she pulled away from him, he felt his holoform flickering in response to the panic that surged through his spark. Fighting to hold onto his holoform, Bee forced air through the vents on his alt mode allowing his spark to slow down, and his voice wavered as he answered quietly, "I have not forgotten what you both did for me that night, I never will. Mikaela please, you have to trust me on this. Sam will be kept safe, I haven't forgotten the promises I've made either". Mikaela hugged her arms around her body, as she knew the moment she reached out to Bumblebee, her anger would melt away as she did trust him with every fibre of her being, but as the anger in her veins was the only thing keeping her fears at bay she was reluctant to let it go just yet, even though she could see the pain it was causing Bee. Slowly she met Bumblebee's flickering blue eyes, and quietly whispered, "I hope you haven't, as if you can't keep him safe then I will as I made the same promise long before you did". As she saw the hurt flare in Bee's eyes, she quickly brushed passed him and made her way into the deserted house before he could stop her again. Closing the door behind her and heading through the quiet of the house, Mikaela hoped that Bee would follow her but as she heard the quiet rumble of his engine firing up, Mikaela instinctively knew Bumblebee was leaving and that thought alone scared her far more than anything else had or possibly could. Quickly running back through the kitchen, Mikaelas heart pounded in her chest as she heaved open the door that led into the garage, making her way to the now opened garage doors, but she was too late and as she watched Bee's taillights disappearing fast in the early morning light, Mikaela sank down on the driveway, quietly whispering her apologies to the rapidly departing Autobot through her tears.
As she returned to the present, Mikaela glanced at her scattered tools and as she realised the sudden anger that had fuelled the harsh words she'd thrown at her Autobot was no more, Mikaela closed her tired eyes which threatened to fill with yet more tears as she rested her head on her arms, uncaring of the dirt and tools on the bench as she did so.
Upon entering the quiet garage, Carly frowned in confusion as she realised Bumblebee was absent, and as she noticed the scattered tools on the floor, her confusion began to morph into fear when she saw Mikaela laying with her head on the bench. Her heart tripping in panic, Carly rushed over to her friend, shaking her shoulder roughly, her voice sharp and urgent as she prayed for a response, "Mikaela. Mik. Are you okay?".
"Bee?". Carly's confusion increased as she heard the plea in Mikaela's voice, and she shook her friends shoulder once again, "Mik, it's me Carly. Bee isn't here. Mik please, I need you to wake up and tell me what's happened, please?". Mikaela finally stirred and lifted her head, her eyes tired and tear stained as she looked up at her best friend, "Nothings happened, other than me and Bumblebee had an argument about Sam, and I more or less told him I didn't trust him to keep Sam safe and he left. Carly, Bee left me". Mikaela felt the ache in her chest double as she said the words out loud, and as Carly wrapped her arms around her shoulders, Mikaela fought back the tears as she tried not to look at the spot by the doors where a gleaming yellow Camaro would usually be standing. Holding onto her friend for a moment more, Mikaela suddenly wondered just why Carly was there and why she had sounded so panicked a few moments ago. Turning to look at Carly, Mikaela saw the worry in her friends blue eyes, and just for a moment she forgot her own troubles as she focused on Carly, "Okay enough of my problems, whats wrong?. Not that I don't appreciate the visit, but there's something wrong. First up Bee gets a call to go see Sam, which by all accounts didn't go well, then you show up with a look in your eyes that isn't exactly relaxed, so whats happened to Sam now, as I'm guessing yet again he's going to be the epicentre of this particular storm".
"So basically Sam is sure that touching the shard is what's triggered whatever is happening to him, and he want's me to make sure that you still have it safe". Mikaela nodded, "Yeah, its safe. It's locked in the office safe, where its been since he gave it to me, though it doesn't make sense that the shard would be the cause. I mean he handled the whole cube during Mission City and he was fine, unless it was the sudden energy burst...". Mikaela paused and Carly instinctively knew the other girl was wishing Bumblebee was here so he could share his knowledge with them, and as she heard Mikaelas heavy sigh, Carly knew her instincts had been right and she rested a hand on Mikaelas arm, "You'll both be fine, every relationship has an argument every now and again, and maybe Bee just needed some space. It's gotta be hard for him Mik, he's trying to keep you safe, keep Sam safe, pretty much keep the whole planet safe all while dealing with all these emotions that are probably even more alien to him than he is to us, and I know you know that Mikaela Banes, so don't you dare blame yourself for this or take it out on Bee when he comes back. He's probably feeling just as bad as you are right now, and he's gonna feel a whole lot worse when he hears of this new development, so lets just make sure that this damn shard is safe so that's one less thing to worry about". Mikaela smiled at Carly, and began to cross over to where the safe was located. However Mikaela frowned as she heard a crash from the rear of the garage, where the safe was indeed located. Looking back at Carly, Mikaela placed a finger to her lips and both girls crept towards the back of the garage, Mikaela picking up a pair of industrial tongs and Carly grabbing a blowtorch, their senses telling them that this was something far more dangerous that the usual rats that occaisionally made an unwelcome appearance.
Sure enough as they rounded the shelving unit, both girls fought back cries of alarm as they saw a small mechanical being, its concentration fully focused on the safe in front of it, the silence punctuated by its determined chattering in what Mikaela recognised as Cybertronian. Motioning to Carly to head round the back of the shelves to the other side, Mikaela felt her heart pounding as she saw the determination in the small red eyes but she'd tackled bigger Decepticons than this one and come out on the winning side so took a deep breath and advanced towards the safe as Carly did the same from the other side.
"Gotcha, you little freak". As Mikaela snapped the tongs around the small Decepticons neck, it chittered loudly in alarm and struggled frantically, however as Carly suddenly appeared with the blowtorch and aimed it directly at its eye, earning her an impressed look from Mikaela, the struggling ceased unlike its high pitched shrieks, asking in a firm voice, "What are you doing here?". As the Decepticon continued to shriek, Mikaela thanked the few lessons Bumblebee had given her in speaking Cybertronian as she questioned him in his own language, before asking him to speak in English.
Shocked by the humans grasp of his own language, the Decepticon known as Wheels searched his databases for the language known as English, and he quickly downloaded it so he could answer the girls request, "Stop the flame, hurts". Carly leaned the flame away, earning her a grateful look, "Thank you Warrior Princess. I come seeking knowledge of the Cube, whatever is left we need for ancient history. I've been waiting for this moment for weeks, my master will be so pleased". Clamping his metal lips together, Wheels realised he may have said too much but neither of the girls were going to let the information stop now, not when the fate of their loved ones was resting on it. Carly leaned in again, the flame of the blowtorch now set to maximum as she neared his eye once more, "Speak or the eye gets it".
"I'm just a lowly drone, I know nothing really. All I need to find is any knowledge of the Cube, one piece was recovered to revive Megatron, and we realised the boy who had stopped him may have more information, please thats all I know, don't hurt me". Mikaela muttered a thank you to the Decepticon, before she threw him into a heavy duty tool chest, slamming the lock shut. Ignoring the indignant cries, her thoughts were focused on the information she had just received and as she looked at Carly, she could see her own horrified look being reflected back at her in Carly's own wide eyes. Suddenly everything fell into place, why the first shard had been stolen, why Sam was suddenly seeing strange symbols and why Bumblebee had felt like they had been being watched at times. As all of this came together in her mind, Mikaela realised that if this all kicked off, it would be another nail in the Autobots coffin and no amount of talking would be able to save them from those who wanted them gone. Mikaela looked at Carly, her blue eyes wide but focused, "We need to get to Sam, he's going to be the key to this. If he's somehow absorbed the Cubes knowledge, Megatron is going to find him, but we have to find Sam first. That way we might be able to keep him safe until help gets there". Carly looked back at Mikaela, her eyes wide and fearful as she realised that this time she wasn't going to just listen to stories of what battles had occurred, "How do we know there'll be any help Mik". Mikaela understood Carly's fear and as she picked up the case, throwing it into the trunk of Carlys car, she looked over at her best friend, "Because I trust that Bumblebee and the other Autobots will know we need help. They've never let us down before, and if that little punk knows Megatron is back on the scene, then you can bet your ass that N.E.S.T will know too". As Carly got into her car quickly firing up the engine, Mikaela shut and locked the garage doors, and as she got into the car, Mikaela hoped that her prayers would be answered and that Bumblebee would indeed once again come to their rescue.
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A/N: HELLO! I am still alive! I am soooooooooooooo sorry that this has taken so long to get out but I have had writers block like you would not believe! Add to that I started a new job after Christmas, still in the same place but in our new preschool so more paperwork but more fun too, there was also the arrival of a new granddaughter, and all the usual winter coughs and colds so not really had the time to settle down and write. But anyway this is the best I can come up with right now, I know there's not much of Bee here other than our couples first argument... Come on, we've all had those really irrational rows with those we love... But he will be back in the next chappie I promise... Also I've kinda changed the movie plot a little here, and added Carly in as want her to be a more rounded part of my TF world. Anyway hopefully the next update wont take as long, though as I'm starting a 2 yr university course next week which will take up one day a week, I'm not promising anything!
Thanks for the patience, much love xxx