First year of college was over, meaning that I now had summer vacation to look forward to. Sam had already gone home as he'd finished earlier than me and his parents were planning a trip to Europe again, wanting to try Paris again and this time not get kidnapped by Decepticons. My stuff was all packed up and ready to move out, however when I went outside to the parking lot in front of my halls, I was surprised to find not only Bumblebee but Ironhide and the twins too. "Guys, what are you all doing here? Did you come to help me move my stuff?"
"Sure thing…had some time on our hands…figured you could use the help." Bumblebee answered me and I grinned at him happily.
"Well you were right about that. Hey Ironhide, thanks for coming."
"Optimus said that you would need assistance and we have not been called to a mission, so we are here to transport your belongings back to base." He informed me rather stoically in true Ironhide fashion. "Though these twins are frying my wires with their constant noise. Please, shut them up before I shoot them." Laughing with amusement I gave Ironhide's hood a hearty pat before telling the twins to tone it down since we were in public. I could hear their argument even with their windows rolled up. They complained but I warned them that if people start to look at them weird, it's because two cars were talking with each other with no drivers inside and it would be on their heads if they got found out.
That seemed to do the trick so I began to ship my stuff downstairs. I loaded up Ironhide's truck first since he had the most room, securing down the boxes with some cables before throwing a cover over the top to keep my stuff from getting wet or dusty before then bringing the rest down. I just about managed to pack everything in one go, shuffling things around and using up all the space I could find without overcrowding the guys until finally, we were done. "Alright, looks like we'll manage with one trip after all. We good to go?"
"Let's get this show on the road!" Bee chanted before switching for some tunes. Giving a laugh I climbed in and Bumblebee led the way back home, telling me all about his last mission in Mexico as best he could whilst I told him about how my exams had went and how I was going to move into an apartment next year with a bunch of other people. Bumblebee always liked hearing about college so I made sure to not miss out any details. We got back to NEST base by dusk, pulling into the Autobots' private hanger and I jumped out.
"Babe you're back! You gotta save me, I'm begging you please!" Wheelie yelled and flung himself on my leg, making me jump in surprise as he tried to climb up off the ground. "They're using me for target practice, I got dents in my butt!" Looking up at me with desperate imploring I reached down and picked him up.
"What are you talking about? Who's 'they'?" Trembling in my arms he slowly turned and pointed to a group of guys lingering at the bay doors, holding their weapons against their bodies. "You mean them?"
"They been shooting blanks at me since yesterday, I can't get any peace and quiet anywhere! They always find me, it's driving me crazy!" He complained and my face fell into a harsh scowl, glowering across to them but they were already walking away.
"Okay, you stick with me then Wheelie. They won't bother you if you're with me." I promised him and set him up on my shoulder before starting to move all my stuff. Jazz was away with Ratchet on a mission and Optimus was also elsewhere, which meant it was just us. Bee helped me move my things after I'd pulled everything from his trunk, picking them up and putting them neatly aside so that they wouldn't be in the way. "Thanks again guys, I really appreciate you doing all this to help me."
"No sweat, nothing ain't too good for the boss's little girl, ain't that right Mudflap?"
"Yeah that's right, nobody won't mess with you while we're here, you one of us now." Mudflap agreed and I smiled at them both and patted their hoods affectionately. Wheelie stuck to me like glue for the rest of the evening and even when I went to sleep he snuggled under the blanket with me. I didn't mind his company, I actually quite liked him because of his spunk. As I slept I felt Bumblebee close by and he softly drew the blanket further up my arm to keep me warm, hushing anyone who made too much noise. He really was the sweetest thing.
It was another few days before everybody got back and to my surprise, Optimus brought some newcomers with him. We all gathered forwards to meet them, myself being perched on Jazz's shoulder as a red Ferrari and an older model car. Optimus transformed first, standing upright and stepping aside as the other two followed suit. "Autobots, our numbers have grown as has our strength. Our new brothers in arms, designation Dino and Que." He introduced and I tilted my head slightly. The Ferrari Autobot looked awesome with bladed scythes on his arms and his doors standing upright on his backs similarly to Bumblebee, curious eyes glancing around whilst remaining ready to react to danger. "Welcome to earth, we are glad that you are here with us."
"I say, this is all quite fascinatingly remarkable. Though these machines are quite primitive and are in desperate need of attention." The other Autobot, the one who looked more like a mad Einstein than anything else, was already absorbing data of all the machines and weaponry around him, taking in every detail. "Oh! I see you even have one of these homo sapiens as a pet, might I run some tests to gather more data?"
"Huh?" Realising that the crazy scientist was referring to me, I balked in alarm. "No way! I'm not a pet and we're called humans! I am not something for you to experiment on!" After a rather nerve wracking introduction and long winded explanation as to who I was, Que seemed satisfied and didn't ask to probe me again. Dino settled in rather quickly, becoming friendly with Sideswipe and Jazz who all started to spar together so I stayed well out of the way with Bumblebee, hanging out with him in his bunk until Ratchet called for me.
"If you would come down from there little human, I have something that you should see. In fact, everyone should probably see this." He informed me, standing by his private workshop so I jumped down and descended the stairs as the Autobots gathered before him. "In response to what happened in Egypt, I believed it necessary to try to duplicate the event which caused Helen here to transform. Helen, if you please." Politely stepping aside I glanced up at Ratchet then walked into his studio where he switched on the lights and instantly I saw a large body which was spread out upon his operating table.
"Ratchet, what in hell's name is that?" I asked, a little floored.
"I have been working on creating a new body for you to try and transfer into at will. Of course it took some time, but I believe that it should finally be ready for you to try. There is a possibility that this will not work and all my labours were for nothing, but I was curious." Ratchet explained to me, kneeling down so that he could talk to me directly. "Would you like to at least take a look?"
"Alright, yes please." I agreed a little hesitantly, uncertain of how I felt about this. Ratchet lifted me up and carried me over so that I could see the body's shell more clearly. There were no distinguishing features on the face, though I noted how the parts were rather mixed and matched. It looked as if it had been put together from several different pieces. "Um, Ratchet? Where did you get all the parts for this?"
"I reused the recovered parts from the Decepticons we defeated." Instantly I rejected the idea of trying to transfer my consciousness into this thing. That was a Decepticon body, made from Decepticon parts. I couldn't use it, I didn't even want to try. "Do not worry, it's just scrap. They are not Decepticons any longer, so this is just reused metal."
"Ratchet, are you certain that this is a wise choice?" Optimus questioned with a deep tone of uncertainty, sensing my distress. "We do not even know for certain how Helen was able to transfer herself in the first place. I do not wish for her to come to harm."
"Right, and why should she be made to take over that pile of Decepticon parts? You'd be turning her into something we've fought to kill!" Jazz agreed, dead set against the idea. Suddenly there was arguing and Ratchet protested that it was worth trying to find out if I could do it. Everybody argued and argued, voices growing louder until finally Optimus ordered for silence. The quiet grew, becoming awkward and I wanted to figure out a way to satisfy everyone and of course, I did not want to hurt Ratchet's feelings so I decided to come up with a compromise.
"How about I try with ordinary vehicles first?" I suggested and everyone turned their attention to me. "It worked with the chopper in Egypt, so I should be able to manage it again. If I can get used to somehow transferring myself into another place without anything going wrong, then we can try this." Gesturing to the body behind me, I then looked up at Ratchet. "I don't want your hard work to go to waste, so I'll try it, though I don't exactly like the idea of using something that used to be a Decepticon."
"Thank you Helen, I appreciate you being honest." Ratchet nodded to me, even giving a small smile as he put me back down. "We should speak to the humans about this. They will want to know what we are up to."
"Agreed." Optimus said sombrely so I placed a hand on his foot to reassure him, giving a confident smile. Before I knew it I was being presented with a huge array of vehicles and the entire testing hanger had been cleared in order to give me room. Lennox had agreed to this experiment though I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to work. I mean, how did I even do it in the first place? All I remember was me screaming in my head that I didn't want to die.
There were cars, trucks, tanks, all kinds of vehicles and I looked at them blankly. "Anybody got any ideas or advice?" I asked but was met with silence. "Figures. Alright then, let's try this." To start I walked up to a car, looking at it with a frown before placing my hand against the hood. I felt stupid, standing there with my hand against the car whilst everybody watched but I stuck to it, trying to clear my mind, command my consciousness to go, tried to push it away but nothing worked until finally, I pulled back. "Yeah. I got nothing." A collective sigh of disappointment echoed around me and I blushed in embarrassment.
"It is not vital that you succeed so do not feel discouraged." Optimus said to me kindly as a quiet hum of bustle and chatter resumed. "It is your decision on how you proceed, none can make it for you. Just be cautious, do not bring harm to yourself, or to others." He warned me before turning and leaving, everyone else also going about their own business though Bumblebee stayed with me, making soft sounds of concern as a means to ask me if I was alright.
"I'm fine big guy, it's no real loss. Maybe if I understood how I did it in the first place I'd have more success." Bumblebee nodded his head in agreement and played some songs of encouragement before transforming and letting me sit on him with my legs crossed, frowning and contemplating as I stared at one of the cars in thought.
"Sup babe?" Wheelie said as he came to keep me company, climbing up Bee's wheel until he too was sat on the hood with me. "What's going on in that brain of yours?"
"I was just thinking about what happened back in Egypt. It was rather terrifying and I kept on falling over these huge feet but it was kind of cool at the same time. I mean, somehow I managed to pass my consciousness into a completely dormant and inactive helicopter and bring it to life. If I could do that again whenever I wanted to, I could be of much better use to you guys than just being a liability." Bumblebee suddenly growled with his engine and lurched forwards, making me squeak and quickly grip on for balance as his radio blared at me.
"You are the…the furthest thing from…being useless…that I ever did see!" He told me sternly as he continued working through the audio. "Don't ever let me catch you…beating yourself down…like that…again."
"But it's the truth Bumblebee, the only reason I'm still alive and in one piece is because of you guys. If I didn't have you all taking such good care of me then I'd be toast." I argued with him so he gave a sharp whistle of his alarm in response, something along the lines of a humph. "Come on Bee, don't be mad, think of it this way. If I weren't such a defenceless little human then I wouldn't need you and Jazz watching my back so often, then we wouldn't get to hang out like we do. Isn't that a good thing?"
"Well…you make a good point." He relaxed a little, giving a throaty purr of his engine which tickled me as I was sitting right on top of it.
"Besides you ain't as helpless as most of you humans. Not as mean either, even that other chic was crazy, the one who torched my damn eye." Wheelie said, fiddling with it unconsciously so I tapped his hand away.
"Don't tug at it or you'll pop it back out again. Leave it alone."
"But it itches!"
"Stop it!" After wrestling with Wheelie to make him stop prodding at his eye I walked with Bumblebee through the base back to our own quarters. Some of the soldiers murmured to one another when I passed and I caught snippets of their conversation. Apparently some of them weren't happy with a random civilian just living in with the Autobots like it was normal and even Lennox brought it up at one point, asking if I had any plans to go home. "Nope, if I ever see my parents' house again it would be way too soon. We don't get along." I'd told him before walking away.
I guess I was pushing my luck a little, living on base the way I was so I searched around for an apartment nearby or in the city, however I wasn't entirely sure I was going to be able to afford it considering I had to afford college too. That's how I ended up getting a job. I worked from seven until five every day except Saturday and saved up so I could afford a place after college whilst simultaneously house sitting for a couple who were away for the entire summer, meaning I also had a place to stay. The guys seemed to miss me being away all the time because when I'd come and visit them on Saturdays, I'd be flocked with Autobots wanting to know everything that had happened in the week and I'd stay up with them, talking and tinkering away at things before crashing.
Usually Jazz or Bumblebee would take me home, however one week when I had been blessed with an entire weekend I stayed over the night but I still felt shattered and I'd fallen asleep on Bumblebee's shoulder whilst we were watching a movie. Thankfully he'd noticed before I could fall off and quickly caught me, tucking me up in my own little corner and placed a blanket over me. It became routine, work most days, visit on weekends or in the evenings and this seemed to work much better as I didn't get so many looks from the soldiers, though Jazz had a thing or two to say about my reasons for not living in with them.
Even though we couldn't go on our annual cross country road trip, this was still pretty cool and I came back year after year and for every vacation I could, always checking in on them and making sure that everyone was okay. Before I knew it I had graduated and I moved to Washington along with Sam and I rented my own dingy little apartment which was old, desperately in need of a new paint job and had a crappy boiler but hey, that's how it's supposed to be when you're fresh out of college. Life, so far, was good.