Hey everyone! I'm so, so sorry that this took so long! It's been an incredibly busy week and yesterday was my birthday! So this is my gift to you! A super long chapter! Hope you all enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think! On my profile are the sketches that inspired the looks for Alise and Ratchet so please check them out!
As always, I own nothing!
~Mel
Alise woke up to a gentle light shining on her face coming from one of the windows in the Witwicky's garage. Opening her eyes slowly, she was welcomed by the bright light and it brought a smile to her face. It was a sign she was still alive. Moving slightly, she felt the surface she was lying on and grinned. She remembered exactly where she was. She looked up.
Staring out in space above her was her Bee. They were still propped up against the wall of the garage and Bee was supporting her with one of his hands against his chest. He wasn't looking in her direction, instead towards one of the windows in the garage, looking as if he was deep in thought. Alise knew he probably had a lot on his mind. She unintentionally shifted in his hand a little and she cringed. Her back was now in a good amount of pain. The movement, however, alerted Bee that she was awake and not realizing she was in any pain, he quickly looked down at her and a smile graced his face.
"'Good morning, Gil,'" Bee voiced happily to her. Alise laughed gently at the movie quote.
"Mornin', Bee," she said drowsily. She tried to sit upright, but was hit with a bullet of pain in the stitched up part of her back. She let out a hiss and Bee chirped worriedly at her. She gave him a forced grin. "Looks like we both have some recovering to do, huh?" He nodded at her and stroked her back lightly with his right index finger. Despite its massive size, the feeling was comforting and she smiled at the change of reaction.
Looking around the room, she saw a small, fold-out table seated next to Bee with a tray of food on it. This consisted of a short stack of chocolate-chip pancakes, five strips of bacon, an orange, and a tall glass of OJ. Her stomach growled.
"Damn," she whispered, still looking at the tray. "That looks good."
Bee was confused at her comment at first, but he followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at the food. He chuckled at her and delicately took the tray with two of his finger, lifting it to her. Taking it immediately, she thanked him and drove into a strip of bacon. It was all still warm.
"Mmm," she said, quickly devouring the piece. She leaned against Bee's warm metal "Where'd this come from?"
"'Sam's (static) mom (static) brought it in a few (static) minutes ago,'" Bee clarified, gently playing with a long lock of her hair with his finger. He smirked down at her. "'Sam (static) saw you (static) come here last (static) night (static) so she brought (static) it in.'"
Alise paused eating for a moment to blush furiously. She laughed a little. "Oh." Bee chuckled at her once more.
She ate in silence for a few more minutes, quickly finishing off the bacon, three of the pancakes, and half of the orange juice. When she felt full, she rested the tray on her lap and snuggled her back into Bee. Closing her eyes, she placed her cheek against his chest and sighed. A purr came from Bee and she smiled at his reaction.
"So what's happening today?" she asked him, not opening her eyes or moving her position.
"Rat-tchet's is coming in a fe-ew hours," he told her, knowing it would be simpler to use his real voice. "He's go-oing to fin-nish my legs. Ot-her than that, I-I don't kno-ow. What were you think-king?" he added curiously.
"Not sure, actually," she told him, looking up at him. "I don't know what to do from here." She laughed. "We found Sam, and Megatron's down for the count. What now?"
Bee chuckled but had a thoughtful expression on his face. "It seems t-too easy."
Confusion crossed Alise's face. "You think something's gonna happen?"
"I-I do-on't kn-now, bel-lle." After he said think, he started to cough violently, shaking Alise a bit in his hand. She had to hold up the tray to keep anything from slipping. When he finished, she looked up at him and frowned.
"Okay big guy, no more of that," she told him. "Ratchet would beat me if he knew I was letting you talk so much." He gave her a smirk.
"'He wouldn't get close.'" Laughing, Alise rolled her eyes and kissed the metal on his chest.
"Okay, Casanova, let me down," she said jokingly. He complied.
"'Where're you off to?'"
"It's time to start the day, Bee," she said brightly with the tray of leftovers in her hands. "I want to call Mikaela. Hopefully she has some clothes I can wear. Can't be walking around in this all day, can I?" She gestured to Mrs. Witwicky's pajamas she was wearing. Bee laughed lightly.
"'Guess not.'"
"Yeah," she said with a smile. "I'll be right back!" Bee gave her a chirp before she walked out the garage door.
It was a bright, sunny day and Alise knew it must have been later in the morning. The light hurt her eyes at first, but they quickly adjusted. She reached the back door, but paused, not exactly knowing if she should just go in or not. After knocking on the door three times, she slowly opened the door.
"Hello?" she called in. There was a short pause before anyone answered her.
"In here!"
She knew it was Sam who had responded and his voice was coming from the kitchen. Walking into the house through the living room, she glanced at a clock that was hanging on the wall and it read that it was 9:30. She also noticed that Mrs. Witwicky wasn't lying when she said the night before that the Sector 7 agents had tracked mud through the house. The carpet in the room was ruined with dirty footprints. Stepping around them, she walked into the kitchen.
"Hey, morning!" Sam cheerfully said upon her arrival, giving her a smile. She laughed.
"Mornin'," she responded, and she gave him a hug. "Your mom's too sweet. She didn't have to make me breakfast."
Sam laughed. "Don't worry about it. She doesn't make it often, but when she does it's great." Alise agreed. Suddenly, a smirk appeared on his face. "I saw you sneak out last night. So what were you two doing in there last night? Hmm?"
A blush furiously appeared on Alise's face.
"Sam!" she yelled, embarrassed. "I can't believe you!"
"It's a simple question, Lise," he said slyly, raising his eyebrow.
She rolled her eyes. "Nothing of what you're thinking." She paused and then sighed. "I couldn't sleep. Mission City kept coming into my head."
Sam's smiled faded and he lowered his eyes, nodding understandingly.
"I know what you mean," he said grimly. "I woke up around 3 this morning screaming. I had a dream that Megatron was still..." He sighed. "It was probably better you weren't in the house. I scared the shit out of my parents." After he spoke, Alise caught the look of shame in his eyes.
"Sam, we're not soldiers," Alise told him reassuringly. "What we did, what you did, was something that never should've been asked of us. And yet here we stand. And you have nothing to be ashamed of." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're a hero and you saved a lot of people. It's over. At least for now." It was her turn to grin slyly. "Plus you got a kick-ass bodyguard car out of it."
Sam looked at her and smiled. "Yeah. One that I have to share with you."
Alise scowled at him and punched Sam in the shoulder, making him pretend to be injured. "Hey now! No need for violence!"
She ignored his previous comment and gave him a small grin. However, her smiled dropped.
"While the may be true for now," she said, "you'll have him all to yourself soon enough. I'll have to go home eventually."
Sam noticed her change in demeanor and frowned. "Is that a bad thing?"
Alise shrugged.
"Bee and I didn't exactly meet under great circumstances," she started. "Long story short, I tried to stop my town of trigger-happy rednecks from shooting at him. When they didn't listen to me, Bee grabbed me and we ran off. Three days later I'm in the middle of an alien war with you and Mikaela." She laughed, but looked down. "I don't know how they'll feel about me coming home without a scratch. Well, that's not exactly true," she added, gesturing to her back. Sam laughed in agreement.
"Lise, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like," he said honestly. "It's the least I could do for you bringing Bee to me."
"Thanks, Sam."
They stayed in silence for a short moment.
"Ratchet will be here later," Alise informed him. "Bee told he's coming to finish fixing his legs."
"Sounds good."
"Okay. And may I ask a favor?"
"Of course."
"Is Mikaela coming over today?"
Sam nodded. "She was going to come over in like an hour. Something up?"
"No," Alise laughed. "It's just, as comfortable as your mother's clothes are, I was wondering if she could bring over something for me to wear for the rest of the day."
Sam laughed and shook his head. "I'll give her a call. I'm sure she could find something."
"Thanks, Sam."
He nodded. "Want to go out to the big guy? I'm sure he's feeling lonely out there."
Alise smiled brightly. "Of course!"
Mikaela arrived an hour later with a few sets of clothes to last Alise a few days if needed. She was grateful to her friend that she had brought them, but the clothes were a little more revealing than Alise was used too. The outfit that Mikaela had picked out for her for the day was a tight, gray skirt with a white blouse and she wasn't accustomed to showing so much of her legs. When the two had emerged from the main house after she was done changing, she had received an amused look from Sam because he knew she was embarrassed. Bee, however, had only stared at her as she walked in, making her blush. She didn't look bad (in fact she looked great), but she felt exposed and put on display.
The three stayed in the garage with Bee for many hours. Sam and Mikaela were sitting together in the middle of the garage on a blanket, Mikaela on his lap and Alise had taken a seat in her familiar spot on Bee's shoulder. She had taken up running her fingers along his 'skin,' while she was propped up against him.
The four alternated between talking, laughing, napping, and just sitting in each other's presence. They didn't need to be saying anything for the small group to be comfortable. All they needed was for them to be together, and they felt that the time was well spent. The only time their own little bubble of peace was opened up was when Mrs. Witwicky had come in with a plate of sandwiches for lunch. Alise noticed how she spent a moment too long with her eyes on Bee. She knew she was still a little wary about him, but had ultimately accepted his presence pretty quickly.
"She cooks when she has a lot on her mind," Sam had clarified, taking a bit into one of the sandwiches. Alise nodded, understanding, and she hoped she wouldn't feel this way for very long.
Around 4'clock that afternoon, the four heard the sound of a vehicle driving up to the house. Sam had gotten up to investigate, and when he returned, he had a certain soldier by his side.
"Epps!" Alise greeted when he walked in. Epps looked up to see her on Bee's shoulder and laughed. Bee set her on the ground and she walked over to him and embraced him. "Did you come along with Ratchet?"
The large soldier smiled and nodded. "I thought I'd talk to you guys about what's going on in person." He chuckled. "But we better get Ratch in here first. He's very impatient. Bitched the whole way over here about the 'infuriating traffic in human roadways.'"
Bee let out a hardy laugh, leaning over a bit as he did so, and sounded a confirming chirp. Then there was a voice from right outside the garage doors.
"I can hear you from out here," Ratchet said. The response made all the occupants of the garage burst out in laughter. Sam and Epps walked out to make sure no one was within sight of the garage before they opened the large door for Ratchet to go in. He pulled in, in his vehicle form and Bee had to tuck himself into the building further so that they could both fit. When they closed the door behind them, Ratchet transformed slowly, making sure not to hit the ceiling or break anything. There was hardly enough room for Bee alone, so the two large bots in the room made for a tight fit.
"So where's Lennox?" Sam asked Epps as Ratchet got to work on Bee's legs. The humans in the room had taken seats on the blanket in the middle of the room that Mikaela and Sam had previously been sitting on.
"He's heading home," Epps said happily. "Ironhide is giving him a ride. He's gonna see his little girl for the first time. He's so excited."
"That's great," Mikaela said honestly. The two others humans nodded in agreement.
"So what's the news?" Alise said next after a moment. Epps turned to her.
"Sector 7 has most defiantly been disbanded. Keller made the announcement last night. As for the Autobots, it looks like they're here to stay." This was received with excited looks from the other humans in the room. "We're trying to establish some kind of Special Forces to incorporate them into the military. Will and I got promotions, too," he added proudly. "I'm now a Master Sergeant, and he's a Major."
"Congrats," Sam said. Epps laughed hardily.
"Thanks."
"Do you know where you'll all be going?" Mikaela asked.
"Well, we're not certain, but we don't think we'll be on American soil," Epps explained. "They're talking about possibly moving us to Diego Garcia. It's a base in the Indian Ocean. That's the most logical option."
"Sounds like a plan," Sam commented. Epps nodded at him and then turned to Alise.
"And I have a message for you," he said with a smile. Alise (and Bee from behind) gave him a confused look.
"From whom?" she asked.
"My friend and yours, the French National Assembly."
Alise's eyes widened. She had almost forgotten about her act of heroism at the convention center.
"Really?" she said disbelievingly. "What do they have to say?"
"Well for starters, they're a little more than grateful that you saved their asses," Epps said chuckling. "I was told to tell you, that you've made some new friends and that they are in your debt. I think you're going to be getting some lovely gifts in the near future."
Alise was a little taken back. When Epps told her back in Mission City that they would owe her, she thought he was just kidding.
"I don't want anything," Alise told him. "I'm just glad they're okay."
Epps laughed once more. "Even so. You saved their lives. If they want to be generous, let them. It's the least that they can do."
Alise sighed, but nodded. She honestly didn't want anything from the delegates. Their safety was enough for her. She never liked being the center of attention and she hoped they wouldn't do anything to cause a scene for her.
The four humans spent the next hour discussing the plans for the possible move to Diego Garcia. During their discussion, Mr. Witwicky had walked in, almost having a heart attack at the sight of another large robot in his garage. After he had calmed down, Sam introduced him to both Ratchet and Epps. Mr. Witwicky tried to be as polite as possible, but he had to leave shortly after his arrival. Alise felt sorry for him. He was obviously flustered and needed some space to process this new bit of information.
When Ratchet had completed Bee's legs, he gave him the diagnosis to stretch them daily and try and use his vehicle form when he was able. He also gave him some kind of Cybertronian pain medication and a liquid that apparently served as a type of food source. When Bee was taken care of, Ratchet turned to Alise.
"How are your wounds healing?" he asked her.
"They're okay," she told him. "It's getting a little sore though." At this time, Bee's eyes glowed at her and a look of concern returned to his face.
"On a scale of one to five, how bad is it?"
Alise thought for a moment. "Around three, more or less."
Ratchet nodded. His hand transformed into a small needle and he bent down towards her. "Hold out your arm."
Alise complied, trusting the medic. He gently took her arm and pressed the needle into her skin. Alise scowled a little at the feeling, but kept her mouth shut. She felt a liquid enter her body, and then as quickly as she felt it come, the feeling disappeared. Ratchet finished and then retracted the needle, his hand turning back into normal. Immediately, the soreness Alise had been feeling disappeared and her hold body felt different; more energized, healthier.
"What I just gave is a strong concentrate of human pain medication," Ratchet explained. "It should last you a little more than a week. When the pain starts to come back, simply take a prescription of acetylsalicylic acid and it will cease."
Alise gave him a look of 'what in the hell?.' He quickly searched the World Wide Web for a more common term for the drug. "Aspirin?"
The confusion drained from her face and she laughed. "Sounds good, Ratch!"
He nodded at her and turned away, putting away his tools. She looked up to see Bee smiling at her and when their gazes caught, he gave her a chirp. She laughed, and reassured him that she was fine. When Alise turned back to the group of humans, and noticed Epps looking curiously at her with a grin on his face.
"What's the deal with you and the big guy?" he asked. "I know he's Sam's guardian, but you two are a lot closer."
Alise laughed. "I met Bee before we met Sam," she explained. She got up and walked over to Bee. He smiled and placed a hand out to her and she climbed on. He lifted her to his shoulder, and she sat down. "He saved me and my friends from a Decepticon the night I met him."
"Really?" Sam questioned. "What happened?"
Alise smiled and she propped herself against Bee's head. "My friends and I were walking in the desert during a party. My friend Tono said a meteor landed on his property and we hiked out to find it. When we were there, the cop car Decepticon appeared and started to chase us. I got thrown into the air and Bee caught me."
A sound clip of a baseball game came from Bee. "'Will he catch it? It's going, going, going... Into the mit!'" Bee made a catching motion with his hand and smirked at her.
"Wow, Bee," Mikaela said disbelievingly. "You really know how to make a first impression."
"'I am a golden god!'" he sounded next. Alise laughed and rolled her eyes, lightly elbowing his neck. He chuckled as she did this. Then she continued.
"Then he started to fight the thing and it ran off. That's how we met," she said, looking at him fondly. He smiled back at her. "Then my whole town came with their guns. I tried to tell them Bee wasn't dangerous, but they wouldn't listen to me. Then Bee grabbed me and we ran off." She chuckled. "Now that I look back at it, I don't know what I was so worry about." She turned to Bee. "The bullets would probably be about as useful as a Nerf gun."
Bee shrugged a little, enough to make his point, but not enough that Alise would fall off.
"'With me (static) yes, but (static) not with you,'" he voiced. "'I was (static) more worried you would (static) get hit.'"
Alise was about to laugh but then she remembered the night more clearly, and more specifically Sal, her friend who pointed a gun at her. "With Sal?" she asked softly.
Bee nodded in confirmation, an angry look crossing his face. Alise's face dropped and a feeling of sadness entered her.
"Who's Sal?" Epps asked.
Alise turned sadly to him. "He was one of my best friends. When the town came he was leading the group." Alise had to stop for a moment to catch her breath, tears threatening to surface. Bee noticed this, and he brought his hand to her and started to gently stroke her body with his finger. She took some comfort in the action and continued. "He was only trying to help, but he wouldn't understand that Bee wasn't going to hurt me. When I wouldn't move out of the way he pointed his gun at me." Her voice grew quieter when she said the last words.
Everyone paused to look at her, even Ratchet. Epps's face grew hard and so did Sam's. Mikaela had a slight look of shock on her face.
"Maybe I should call him," Alise mused. "I should talk to him."
Bee let out a hard chirp that made her jump. She looked over at him with a look of shock on her face.
"No, Alise," he said. Ratchet looked at him disapprovingly for using his voice, but he didn't pay any mind to him. "He al-lmost-t hu-urt you. Yo-ou can't-t jus-st-"
"Bee," she interjected. "He needs to know I'm okay. For all I know he's still looking for me. It's not like I'm meeting with him, were just talking. He's over a hundred miles away. He can't do anything to me."
Bee looked at her for a moment and then let out a sigh. He gave her a soft look. "Ok-kay, belle. Just-t be careful with what-t you say."
She smiled at him and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Of course, Bee."
He let Alise off his shoulder. Mikalea gave her her cell phone to use and she gratefully took it. Walking over to the end of the garage, she stared at the phone for a moment before she got up the courage to open the flip phone. Then when she did, she took a deep breath and started to type in the familiar number. Everyone watched her as she did this.
It rang four times before Sal picked up.
"Hola?" came a groggy voice through the phone line. Alise's heart skipped a beat at hearing his voice and she stayed silent for a moment. Then she spoke up, her mind switching to Spanish.
"Umm, hi."
The phone line was silent for a moment. And then it went blank. The dial tone started to sound. Alise took the phone away from her ear and stared at it blankly, her heart starting to break. Did her old friend really just hang up on her so coldly? She turned to the group who all were wearing confused and saddened looks on their faces. Then in her hand, the phone started to ring. She recognized the calling number and she quickly answered.
"I guess I deserved that," she told him in Spanish.
Sal didn't answer for a moment. When he did, however, his voice was emotionless.
"Where are you?" he asked her hardly. The sound felt like a slap to the face to her.
"California?" she said, her voice sounding more like a question than an answer. She heard him sigh roughly.
"Alise," he started, but then he abruptly stopped. Then he continued in a rage. "What the hell is WRONG WITH YOU! Do you have any idea what you've done to us? To me?" He paused for a moment and caught his breath. "I was trying to find you for three days! I called the state police, the FBI…! I was waiting to hear back from a damn Phoenix television station!" He gritted his teeth.
"On day four, I got a call saying they found your purse in a warehouse. Of course at the time I was worried sick. Then as I thought about it, I realized something. You didn't have you purse at Tono's party, which means you had to have gone home first TO GET IT! Then I went and found your damn note on the counter. Then I stopped caring."
Alise jumped at the tone he was taking to with her. All the words he spoke were like physical punches in the stomach and Alise placed her hand over her heart. The voice was loud through the phone and it could be heard by the others in the room. She looked over and gave them a disbelieving look before she answered.
"Sal, I'm sorry," she said softly. "But please listen to me. I had to-"
"No."
Alise paused. "What?"
"No. I'm not going to listen. I'm done with listening." He paused angrily. "No. I'm done looking for you or caring about you. Because wherever you are, you seem perfectly content with yourself. So don't bother coming back. You have no home here. Not anymore. Try and you'll be sorry."
Alise felt as if the air had been ripped out of her. She couldn't feel anything. At this point, she didn't even bother to reply in Spanish.
"Sal, where am I supposed to go?" she asked him desperately, the tears falling down her face, her hand gripping the phone fiercely. She saw the group in the garage from the corner of her eye. Mikaela and Sam had shocked looks on their faces and Epps had actually stood up with a confused look on his face. Ratchet looked sadly at her. Bee's face was none of these things. His had a fierce look of anger that made Alise cringe. Sal returned her question.
"I don't know, and I don't care," he told her uncaringly. "Goodbye, Alise. Have a nice life."
"Sal, please-"
Her plead was never heard. By the time she had even gotten the words out, he had hung up the phone again. Alise stood there with the phone to her ear for a moment in shock. Then she dropped the phone, and then to her knees. She put her hands on her face and started to weep.
"Alise!" she heard members of the group call out. She also heard a sharp chirp from her Bee. There were then arms around her, and she looked to see Mikaela hugging her. Sam and Epps were in front of her. She let out a cry before she spoke.
"He- he told me I couldn't come back!" she choked out. "He said I'd be sorry if I tried!"
Mikaela held her close as she let the tears flow. She felt someone rubbing her back with their hand for some sort of comfort, but she felt none. Alise continued to sob.
She had nowhere to go. Her home didn't want her back. She had already lost her family, and now she had lost the only other people she'd ever known.
She heard someone kneel next to her and Mikaela and she felt some more arms grab her tightly.
"Come here, Lise," she heard Epps say and she let him pick her up and start to carry her. She looked up to see that Epps was bringing her over to Bee, whose face was a mixture of rage and sadness. When they got close enough, Bee held out his hand and Epps placed her into it. Bee brought Alise to his cheek, holding her close as she cried. Through her tears, Alise looked down at others in the room who were all looking at up at her.
As she saw them, she realized something. They were her family now. Them, the Autobots, Lennox, the soldiers. They were the ones who she had survived a war with, the ones who stuck with her. Them and Bee. And they would be the ones to stay with her.
This was the only thing that gave her any comfort at the moment and she stayed in Bee's hand until the tears subsided.
