CHAPTER TWO

Robo-Girl?

***

There was not a sound in my room except for Saphira's gentle purring, as I tried to comprehend what Bee had just said to me.

Bumblebee was watching me carefully, as if I might explode if I was pushed any further.

I couldn't believe what he had just said…not in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined that this could be real.

It was possibly even more startling to me then having the All-Spark within me.

Maybe…

I opened my mouth, and spoke very slowly, to try to understand it better. "My hand…" I lifted it up slowly. It didn't feel any different. "This hand…has robot-parts in it now?" Somehow, saying the words didn't make it seem any less strange.

Bee nodded and then, catching the anxiety that flashed across my face, began speaking very quickly. "It's not as bad as it sounds, El! Ratchet was very pleased with how flawlessly the procedure went! …Well, except for that time when you almost died on the operating berth sorry, sorry!" He apologized when I gasped. I died? "Anyway, your body responded incredibly well to the foreign material," He sounded like he was quoting Ratchet. "Almost as if it wasn't foreign…" He muttered to himself. "Perhaps it means that humans and Transformers are more similar…" Okay, now I knew he was quoting the old doc-bot. "More genetically compatible then we thought…"

"I-it-what do you-how can-wha…!?" I began stammering. My head was swimming with the overload of information. Another blow like that and I might explode – or fall to pieces.

Bee changed direction immediately. "But the mixture of energon, blood and muscle in your hand now," He said earnestly. "Coupled with the bones, circuitry wires, metal and…"

"Okay, I don't wanna know!" I interrupted him. I was weirded out by the horror of the situation, and I was surprised and pleased by how well Bee was handling it. Well, I supposed this was Bee, who was always the first to befriend the human in these things. It wasn't, oh say, Sentinel Prime…

I winced and smiled grimly at the same time, thinking about what Sentinel's reaction would have been like.

Bee grinned. "I knew that would get to you." He said smugly, and I replied by throwing a pillow at him.

"Go downstairs and make yourself useful while I get dressed!" I snapped, and he hurried from the room, still grinning. "Mechs." I muttered, swinging my legs out of bed and rolling my eyes. "Can't live with them, can't melt them down for parts…"

"I heard that!" Bee yelled from somewhere downstairs.

It was my turn to grin. I had hoped he would.

***

I made my way downstairs carefully, with Saphira at my heels, probably hungry but never once complaining.

I was wearing a pair of black denim three-quarter-length pants and a yellow and t-shirt with the words Beautiful Inside And Out on it. It had taken me about fifteen minutes to get dressed, but only because I wasn't used to using a hand with metal in it. The nerves were still getting used to the whole concept, and so was I, but I had brushed my hair and made myself look presentable. Bee's eyes were approving as I made my way into the kitchen, and over to the cupboard to feed Saphira.

I reached for the can of tuna, and my hand shook slightly, well trembled was more the word. I frowned at it. "Is it supposed to do that?" My hand trembled again.

Bee looked only slightly worried. "I don't know…we'll have to ask Ratchet when they get back." He was sitting at the kitchen table like he owned the place, looking completely at ease, as St. Elmo's Fire played on the clock radio in the kitchen.

"Oh…where have they gone?" I asked, as I managed to open the can and pour out the food into Saphira's cat bowl without killing myself.

"Everyone's gone out of town, to make sure the Decepticons have left that base, and to make sure there are no traces left of the energon." Bee said immediately, and I was grateful for his honesty. He wasn't worried about scaring me with that information. "Oh, except for Prowl," He added, as I went into the cupboard for my own breakfast, and emerged with pasta (well, it was more like lunch by now – brunch).

"Where did Prowl go?" I asked, sitting down beside him after I'd poured the pasta into a bowl.

"Umm…aren't you supposed to cook those, El?" Bee pointed out.

"I eat them as they come," I said, biting into a pasta bow-tie with a loud, satisfying CRUNCH. "Now, what's Prowl up to?"

"He's looking for Karr." Bee admitted quietly, and watched me carefully as I nodded, not quite looking at him. "Are you…okay with all this, El?"

I took my time answering – I was finished my strange pasta breakfast by that time, and I have to admire Bee for his patience there. Bee is not known for his patience – that's Prowl's area of expertise. "About as alright as I am with being left behind when my step-family goes to see my Big Nanna." I replied.

"El…"

"I need a coffee." I declared, going over and switching on the coffee machine.

***

"I wonder…if I can still do stuff with this hand…" I said when I'd finished my mocha, and gestured vaguely with my right hand.

"Like what?" Bee asked carefully.

"Like play the piano," I said and then, catching the look on his face, I added: "And, yes, I could before…" I got up, put my cup in the sink, and stalked into the family room. I wasn't actually mad at Bee, I was mad at my step-family – how dare they leave me behind!

I sat down at piano as Bee came in. The piano used to belong to my mother, and the only reason Fran hasn't sold it yet is because the twins take lessons.

That fact is…horrible. But at least it's still here.

I can play the piano – by ear, however. I can't read music, but I glanced carefully at the sheet music in front of me. It still made no sense to me as I sat down.

I began playing Fur Elise.

Bee's eyes widened, and I stopped playing immediately. "No way!" I exclaimed, and quickly switched to something more my own style, which sounds suspiciously like Bella's Lullaby. "That's better." I sighed, and then a strange thought crossed my mind. "Umm…Bee?" I was sure my face was guarded.

"Yes El?"

"Where did Ratchet get the stuff for my hand?" I asked, avoiding calling it circuitry.

It was Bee's turn to look guarded, and he said: "Umm…he had to find a donor, and fast," He added. "Because of the rate your hand was losing blood and muscle..."

I was not to be weirded out this time. "Who was the donor?" I asked, in a level voice. "And it had better not be a Decepticon!" I nearly growled.

Bee's eyes widened, and he looked startled. "No!" he exclaimed. "It was me!" I could tell he wasn't lying.

I also couldn't answer him. We stared at each other for what seemed like the longest time, and then the sound of the phone made us both jump.

I hurried into the kitchen to answer it, with Bee trailing behind me.

"Hello?" I asked when I picked up the phone.

Bee, standing behind me and off to the side, watched me carefully as my tone of voice changed from casual, to startled, to annoyed, to pretend-politeness, to quivering with anger, to frustration, to shock, to defeat and finally back to casual as I said goodbye to the dial-tone. I returned the phone to its hook with a bit more force than was necessary, and turned to face a waiting Bee.

"Your step-mother?" He asked quietly.

I nodded.

"What did she want?" Bee asked, almost angrily.

"She wants me to clean the entire house." I whispered.

Bee's electric blue eyes widened. Clearly, he had not been expecting that, but I knew better. "The whole house?" He asked in disbelief.

I nodded glumly. "From top-to-bottom." There goes my Saturday. I realised.

Bee shook his head. "You're not going to do it, are you?"

I shrugged, opening the back door so that Saphira could go outside. "What else can I do? She'll know if I don't…" I wish the other Autobots were here too, so that they could help me…not that I would ever dream of asking that of them…

"I'll help you." Bee said suddenly.

I looked at him, startled. "You will?"

He nodded. "Sure. I hate cleaning – but you're wor…" He was cut off when I threw my arms around him and squeezed the life out of him.

"Thank you Bee!" I exclaimed. "You're the best guy friend I ever could have dreamed of!"