Author's Note: Wow, the response to the last chapter was awesome! I'm glad so many people are happy about the inclusion of Chromia. Like I said, I had no idea who she was until I looked up Wiki facts, and her character seems to fit what I needed for the story. I appreciate the positive feedback from everyone, and a big thank you to Dream's Abyss, who's doing a wonderful job pointing out my careless flaws for me. I sincerely appreciate it. :) Also, you'll notice that the dates on this chapter and a few of the following ones don't match up with my posting dats. I finished these chapters at work (way too much downtime, so I write chapters on blank receipt paper…which is fun and sort of pathetic), and then typed them up when I had free times when the weekend is over. Just in case anyone is confused. :) I thought I'd make you all happy and let you know that Chapter 15 is finished, as well...just needs typing and mild rivising. (And it's LOOOOOOONG!) And on that note, here's the next installment, again much earlier than I expected. Enjoy!

Dance with the Devil

Chapter 14

By Morgan O'Conner

"So he just blurted it out like that?" Mikaela asked, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, basically just, 'My car is alive'," Sam affirmed. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, agitated. "It's too much of a coincidence, an Autobot winding up with Miles of all people."

"Are we sure it's not a Decepticon?" Mikaela looked worried. "It would be the perfect plot for Starscream, having one of his recruits so close to you…so close to someone who's already a friend of yours."

It was Bumblebee who replied. "He called his car Chromia. She was – is – a well known Autobot, a close friend to many of us here on Earth. We always assumed she died on Cybertron."

"But why hasn't she contacted any of you?" Sam asked.

"It's possible that she was badly damaged, and simply hasn't been able to. Or that she's simply waiting for the opportune moment. If she has been guarding your friend, it would have been difficult for her to get away and still keep him unaware."

Sam snickered. "Yeah, you'd know all about that, huh Bee?"

"Indeed," the 'bot sniffed. "Humans are clearly more observant than we initially gave them credit for."

"Some, at any rate," Mikaela agreed, slanting a pointed look at Sam that he chose to ignore. "And hey, I have a random question. She? There are female giant robots from outer space?"

"We do not have 'males' and 'females' in the same way you think of them. Humans have given themselves these titles to distinguish each other for reproductive purposes. Cybertronians came into being through the Allspark, not through natural reproduction. However, there are those of us that are 'feminine', just as there are those of us who are 'masculine'. Females were always very rare on Cybertron, though."

Mikaela nodded thoughtfully. "So do you guys have relationships?"

Sam struggled not to sink down into the seat, knowing that both Bee and Mikaela would pick up on the motion. He focused very steadily on the road instead.

"Yes," Bee said after a moment. "Just as we are capable of friendship, and the Decepticons are capable of fierce hatred, so are all Cybertronians capable of love. Of course, as we do not procreate as organic life forms do, bonds are not formed based on gender. And when one spark is drawn to another, that bond is there for as long as the two sparks still have life in them. One does not 'fall out of love', so to speak."

Sam swallowed as quietly as possible, trying desperately to think of a way to change the subject. Stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it, stop it, stop it, stop it… The mental chant did not help, but luckily that was when they pulled up to Mikaela's house.

Of course, that was not to be his saving grace either as she said, "Hey Sam, can I talk to you inside for a minute?"

"Sure," he replied, warily climbing out of the Camaro. He ran a hand along the hood, saying quietly, "Be right back, Bee."

The inside of Mikaela's house was exactly the opposite of what you'd expect. Clean – immaculately so – and done up in varying shades of pastels in every room, it was sparse, but also warm and inviting.

Usually.

She led the way to her room, then promptly turned on her heel, arms crossed, to stare at him. He gulped.

"What's bothering you Sam?" she asked in her no-nonsense voice. "You've been weird since lunch, and it's not just about Miles."

"It's nothing, 'Kaela, really," he tried, knowing it was fruitless. She simply raised an eyebrow and motioned him to sit on the bed. He did so after a moment, dropping his head onto his hands. "The world hates me," he muttered.

Mikaela giggled a little and sat next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "It doesn't. I promise. Now come on, what's up? I'm worried about you."

He sighed and lifted his eyes to hers. "Look, 'Kaela, I don't really think it's anything you want to hear about, and I'm trying really hard not to think about it myself, and….just…damn it. It's just something Barricade said that I can't get out of my head."

She stared at him for a long time as he dropped his head back onto his hands, her eyebrows scrunched up in though, and then a look of dawning illumination passed over her features. "Oh," she said softly. "I get it." She drew her arm away, but made no move to get up. "He must have made a comment to get under your skin. Something, probably, about Bumblebee. About how he feels."

Sam's head jerked back up, his eyes wide, his mouth gaping. "How the hell -"

"I'm a girl, Sam. We know things," she interrupted him with a grin, which quickly faded at his expression. "What? What did I say?"

"If you see it too, then it means Barricade wasn't making it up just to get a rise out of me."

Mikaela's gaze softened. "You were really trying to convince yourself of that? Sam, I thought you were observant." She was quiet again, just for a second, and then her eyes narrowed. "But that can't be all this is about. You were a little out of it this morning and when we found you last night, but something happened specifically between lunch and our last class that put that look in your eye."

"You're not going to drop this, are you," Sam asked, his tone utterly defeated.

"I can let it go if you want me to," she replied gently. "But if it's something you want to talk about, I can also listen."

He stood up, started pacing. "I never thought about it. I mean, hell, until ten minutes ago, I never even considered that Autobots had relationships, y'know? And Bumblebee is my best friend, but god, I never thought of him as anything else. Not until Barricade… And I tried to let it go, I really did. I mean, yeah, he's protective of me. But he's my guardian, he's been that way since day one. And sure, okay, he watches me all the time…but again, guardian. It's what they do." His hands were moving almost as fast as he was talking, his steps increasing their speed. One, two, three steps one way, pivot, one, two, three quick strides the other way, repeat.

"I couldn't forget what Barricade said, not with a super-advanced, half-Cybertronian database in my head, but I tried to let it go. It wasn't worth making things awkward with Bee to keep worrying about it. And then today, I was with Miles, and he mentioned, in passing, the stupidest thing, about when I jokingly told him that my only true love could ever be my car. I said it yesterday, before Barricade ever entered the picture, I said it sarcastically for God's sake, but then today, he looked at me and said that wow, I really hadn't been joking, and what the hell, Mikaela?" He stopped, exhausted, hands at his sides and staring at her with an expression that was so lost she wanted to cry for him. Instead, she stood and wrapped him in a hug.

"It's okay, Sam, of course your confused. You have every right to be, this got thrown at you way too quickly." She rubbed his back soothingly for a second before he pulled away.

"Why aren't you more upset?" he asked miserably. "We broke up, like, two months ago, and god knows I'm still not completely over you."

She smiled a little, better now at ignoring the tiny stabs of pain in her heart. "Do you want my real, totally honest, nothing held back answer? You might not like it."

He nodded slowly, unsurely. "Tell me."

"Because you were in love with Bumblebee long before you were ever in love with me. And I saw it then, just as I see it now. The difference is that back then, you were still destined for a human life, a human relationship." Her tone turned only the slightest bit bitter. "And now you're not."

"'Kaela…"

"No, don't apologize." Her eyes were getting misty, and damn it, she hated acting like such a girl. "I didn't say it to make you feel bad, I only said the truth. We would have been awesome together, before all this happened. But you were right to break things off, it would only hurt both of us eventually, and I know that. Your life has gone beyond a simple human relationship, Sam, and your future now can lie with the other person you love."

"But I don't…I didn't…"

"You weren't ready to acknowledge it back then. That doesn't mean you didn't feel it." The lost, wounded puppy expression hadn't left his face, and she reached out a hand to take his, noticing that it was ice cold to the touch. "Sam, do you remember those first days? When we first met Optimus Prime and the rest, and we were running from Sector Seven?"

"Of course I do, not something I'm likely to forget," he said, bitterly remembering the whole ordeal.

"Do you remember underneath the bridge, when Bumblebee first caught us, and then the agents took him down with their insane weapons?"

He shivered and nodded. "Yeah…" he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Do you remember what you were feeling when they took Bumblebee away, when they shoved you into the car and you didn't know what was going to happen to him?"

He'd taken it for overwhelming friendship. He'd shoved a government agent to the ground, had wanted to kill all of them for hurting Bee. The devastation of failing had been so intense… God, he's been so blind.

"And then later," Mikaela continued. "We were in Mission City, and Bee handed you the Allspark. You wouldn't leave him."

"I remember…" Mikaela had been the one to save Bee, and she'd done it for him, he could see now. Because losing Bee after all that might have destroyed him. He dropped heavily, simply collapsing to his knees to the ground, eyes unfocused as they remembered everything about that insane day. As he remembered every feeling, every wild thought that passed through his mind as he tried everything he could to protect his friend.

His protector.

His Bee.

"Oh, God," he whispered, and then Mikaela was on her knees in front of him, wrapping him in a tight hug, telling him quietly that it would be okay, that she would do everything she could to help him deal with this.

"It's okay, Sam, I promise."

"Oh God, Mikaela, I'm an idiot." He was physically shaking, tremors wracking his body, his weak human body, and he couldn't seem to stop, and it was the first time he had ever actively wished he had a reason to transform. "I'm so sorry…" She shouldn't have to deal with this, shouldn't have to deal with him, and she knew this was hurting her, it had to be, because a small part of him was dying inside at the thought of losing her forever. But another part, a part steadily growing larger and stronger, was feeling right for the first time in what felt like his whole life.

"Don't be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong." She pulled back, cupped a hand over his cheek. "I'll be okay. We'll both be okay. All right?"

The shaking had subsided, just a little, so he allowed himself to nod hesitantly.

"I've kept you a very long time," she said. "Bee's going to be worried if you don't get back out there."

"What are the chances he hasn't been listening to everything going on?" Sam said with a resigned sigh as he pulled himself back to his feet, his movements still not quite steady.

"I made him promise not to."

Sam froze, stared. "He…You…"

"He doesn't know anything that's been said in this room, only that I wanted to make sure you were all right, and it was something you wouldn't be able to discuss with him so close. So he promised, as long as I promised to make sure you were all right." She appraised him silently. "He's not going to like the shaking. You want another second to steady yourself?"

"No…no, I should be -"

Hybrid.

"- fine." Sam sighed. "Can't catch a break at all today, can I? It's Barricade." Have you made a decision yet?

I have deemed the Autobots' condition to be acceptable. When would they like to meet to discuss it further?

Sam was ridiculously grateful for the growling voice in his head, as it did more to steady him than anything else could have. I'll let them know what you said, and get back to you when they've discussed an appropriate time and place to meet with you.

Do not try my patience for long, hybrid.

Sam grinned at Mikaela. "He agreed."

"That's the best news I've heard in a while," she said, letting out a long sigh. "Now get out of here before Bee comes in to destroy me for kidnapping you. You'll want to let him and the others know what's going on anyway, and to tell Optimus about Chromia."

"Will you be there tonight?" Sam asked as he reached the front door.

"If you want me to be," Mikaela replied, her voice even.

He turned to look at her. "No matter what, you're a part of this team. And you will always, always mean the world to me, friend or otherwise."

"Then I'll be there," she said with her own special smile.

He nodded and turned to leave again, then spun back once more as she grabbed his hand. "Sam, no matter what, I can't ever regret it. Getting in that car with you. I never will."

He smiled back, squeezed her hand once in response, and was gone.

Chapter completed on February 6, 2009