She refused to sleep on a cot. Her nose crinkled the way it does when she is agitated, eyes lowering as she frowned deeply as she stared at the object. Bumblebee didn't mind Alexis sleeping inside him once more, for it more than just comforted him, but made him feel like he had a purpose, a purpose he was still trying to figure out.
Alexis was focused, determined and deeply troubled as well. The latter she hid well, but occasionally her mask would slip, the exposed emotions throwing him for a loop as he saw the anxiety that was so clearly drawn.
"My parents... what do you think happened to them?"
That was one of the first real potent glimmers of worry that he had heard from her. When Mikaela had been taken away, she had paced for a time and stared at the door, walked a little more, and then lowered herself down on the floor where she leaned against his bumper.
"You know they had an Autobot assigned to your parents. At the first sign of trouble, they would have..."
"So, they know about you guys now. I mean they obviously do, but I... I mean. It should have been me. I shouldn't have hidden things from them, what if... what if... no, I can't allow myself to believe that. I am going to see them again. I have to. I..." Her voice lowered once more as he heard Alexis sigh deeply.
She didn't say much after that, only silently sat there while waiting, thoughts her own as he barely heard words coming out of her mouth. Sentences formed, phrases that the more she uttered, the more they seemed to comfort her. He drifted, listening to the soft whispering as he fell into repair mode.
Before Bee knew it, Mikaela returned. She was thrown into the room and thrust down onto one of the cots. Alexis jumped off the floor and ran to their friend. Bumblebee felt restricted and full of bitterness that was hard to deny. He knew it wasn't his fault. He had been in enough similar circumstances that he knew blaming himself wasn't going to get him anywhere. However, he continued to analyze his actions as he tried to figure out if there was something, anything, he could have done differently.
It was hours before Mikaela finally came to. All the while, Alexis stayed by her and cleaned her up, attending to her newly acquired cuts. Her actions reminded him once more what a capable human being she was even under the most upsetting circumstances. She moved the cot closer, dragging the thing slowly until they were almost right in front of him. He had wanted that, needed that, wanted them all to be as close to him as possible. Bee's spark wrenched and twisted as he thought of Sam, acute sadness taking hold of him as disarray spread through his processor. His mood was brought down to a miserable level that he hadn't experienced in quite some time.
Upon awakening, Mikaela had cried. He had never witnessed that of her. And it didn't help, since he was struggling as well. He was emotionally tied to the humans, deep empathy present. Alexis sat down with her, holding Mikaela as she sobbed into her shoulder, glancing at Bee every now and again, Alexis' own eyes filling to the brim with liquid.
Bumblebee had to remind himself again then that it was useless blaming himself, and fruitless for faulting himself for not being able to find a way out.
At some point, the conversation they had drifted, long gaps filling the room with silence until Mikaela fell asleep. Alexis sat there for several moments until she was satisfied that her friend was resting as comfortably as possible.
That was when she got up, stretched and then cringed as she bumped into a cot that was behind her, eyes focusing on the thing with such an intense hatred that for a moment Bumblebee thought she was going to do something to it. Alexis gained control. Walking past the thing, she bashfully made her way back. He opened his door, her body settling inside him nicely as he waited patiently for her to speak.
"I can't sleep on one of those things, Bee, not that I can sleep. But I really don't want to be out there either. So..."
"It reminds you of last time you were..."
"Yes. It's rather frustrating. I mean, it's bad enough what crap we are knee-deep in right now, but my mind won't stop flashing back. I keep seeing things, seeing people, and I continue to think about Mikey and my mom and dad and..."
"You'll see your family again," he tried to assure her.
"Perhaps. But I am not so sure it's going to be here on Earth."
Bumblebee didn't understand what she meant by that, not really, but she didn't seem to want to expand on that line of thought. Her stomach grumbled and she shifted. Lightly chuckling, she leaned her head back.
"All this and I have to be hungry too. It figures though, you try to get your mind in the right place and your body rebels."
"I have some granola bars in my glove compartment, even a couple of nutritional items in my trunk. I am sure..."
"No," Alexis said rather loudly. She breathed out, hand reaching to her face, fingers folding as she leaned against her knuckles. "I mean. I can't. I don't want to. I just, I don't know. I'm hungry, but rather pathetically the only thing I would care to eat right now is some chocolate. A pound or two would be just perfect."
"I'm afraid I do not have any of that, Alexis."
She smiled faintly, her eyes closing momentarily before they flashed back open. "That's OK. I wouldn't really expect you to. I mean what with no nutritional value and all," Alexis said wryly, a smile flashing quickly until it died on her lips. Her fingers unclenched and moved upwards. She pushed them against her forehead, drawing small circles on her skin.
"Does your head hurt again?"
"No." She frowned, teeth flashing in the dimness as she bit down on her upper lip. "I mean, it hurt earlier, really, really bad, and I have had migraines like that before, usually those can put me out for a long time, yet oddly enough it just stopped minutes after it started and hasn't bothered me since."
He started to speak, but she brought her hand up and silenced him.
"I know, please don't tell me. I know what is doing that, and I hate to say it, but I would almost rather have the migraine instead of those little infestations inside of me, especially because they came from him." Her words faded away and her head turned to the side, hand falling as she stared out his window. "It's not like I ever trusted him. But maybe a part of me, even if it was a very small part of me, was getting used to him. I mean he saved me from Barricade, why do that when..." She stopped again. "You know, I haven't seen that bully of a cop car around here. That just doesn't make much sense does it?"
Bumblebee spoke gently, "That doesn't mean much. He could be assigned to another territory, or if he is back up to his specialty, he could be tracking down someone for Megatron. Do you really want to see him again?"
"No. Just rather know where he is, then not..."
They talked more during the night, Alexis refusing to go to sleep. She was obviously fighting it. Bumblebee tried to protest, tried to tell her to rest, but she refused to listen to him. Eventually, several hours later, she climbed out, walking farther and farther away from him until she was standing in front of the sink. He watched her as she turned the water on. Cupping her hands, she grabbed some of the liquid and brought it to her face. Alexis rubbed the water on her skin, adding some to her neck and arms.
He hadn't even thought about it, but it was rather hot. Bumblebee wouldn't have been surprised at all if the uncomfortable humid temperature was to spite the humans. The Decepticons knew full well that the temperature would wreck havoc on their fragile systems.
Alexis suddenly tensed and Bumblebee knew why. The door opened, and a new Decepticon walked through who looked somewhat hesitant. Seeing Bumblebee in the far corner, the Con straightened up, thin arms wrapping around his chassis. He began to scan the room. At first, Bee thought he was there for him. If he had known what was to come, he would have welcomed it.
The Con walked over to Alexis, who had already turned herself around while watching the red mech approached her. Once more, he seemed hesitant. The Decepticon stared at the human as if he couldn't quite make her out.
The Decepticon didn't bellow or even demand, almost told Alexis politely that she was to follow him. He was a youngling, that was for sure, and new to his post and Earth. The Con was acting under orders, which with the way he was acting toward Alexis, had Bumblebee becoming paranoid to the extreme.
She just stood there though, eyes wide and mouth tightly shut. Alexis shook her head no, a surprising action for the Decepticon in front of her. It took him less than a nano-click before he activated his weapons, a blaster appearing in his hand that was already pointing downward. Not down at her though, but at Mikaela, who was still asleep halfway across the room. Alexis' gaze came onto her friend, then drifted ever slowly to Bee. An imploring look dominated her features, something else as well, a form of defeat that had his systems crashing momentarily.
And then once more she was walking away from him, going who knew where, to see someone, someone he hoped she wasn't going to see. Something came over him, a surge of energy that boosted his levels. He took advantage of it immediately, even with knowing that there would be consequences.
Bee found himself materializing behind her, fingers reaching out for her and grabbing onto her arm as he stopped her. Alexis halted and turned toward him, bewilderment turning to concern.
"Bee, what are you doing? You need to take it..."
She didn't get to finish her words, for Bumblebee's mouth zoomed in and captured her own. Flesh meeting flesh, his lips pressed down gently over hers as he focused on performing the ritual correctly. But he let that uncertainty go, finding himself suddenly somewhere else. Somewhere quiet and peaceful, somewhere where joy was eternal and undeniable love sprung forth in abundance.
The contact ended too soon. His damage caught up with him quickly, so quickly that he didn't know if she responded. The last thing Bumblebee saw after he was thrown back into his Camaro form, and before he was thrust into regenerative stasis lock was Alexis leaving the room, her green eyes full of surprise with her attention only on him.
Alexis hadn't been expecting Bumblebee to kiss her. It happened so suddenly. One moment he was standing near her, the next he was kissing her, and before she could figure out what was happening, his holo-form flickered out and disappeared.
She wanted to let her mind fall, wanted to allow her thoughts to linger and drift in the action. But she wasn't allowed the luxury, her mind shifting elsewhere as she was led away. Again, Alexis walked down the long and rather terrifying hallway. It was brighter than last time. Lights shone down from above and illuminated everything to the extreme. She believed she was being taken to Megatron where more questions would be asked of her, ones that she still wasn't close to wanting to answer.
But then they turned right at the end of the corridor. The Decepticon motioned for her to continue as she slowly walked forward. It was rather strange actually, the Con walking in front of Alexis as she followed him even when they seemed so strangely alone. She knew she could have run, but that seemed too easy and convenient. Alexis didn't think the Decepticon was just confidant in his own abilities of stopping her if she took off and that made her even more uneasy.
They stopped. The red robot moved his palm against a panel and a door slid open. She watched him, glancing at the figure in front of her. He was slightly smaller than Barricade with a tight frame that made her think he was a sports car of some sort, for he shared similar attributes with Sideswipe.
He turned to her, a finger rising, one that pointed at her and then at the room. Yet he didn't budge or threaten her or even demand anything, just waited.
Alexis couldn't figure him out. Why was he being so careful and cautious? He certainly wasn't afraid of her. It wasn't as if she could harm him, yet he seemed hesitant in openly threatening her.
She walked a little farther, curious as to where she was being led. Deep suspicion and other heavy emotions swayed within until she saw the room that looked more like living quarters than anything else, an empty one at that.
Before she could do anything more, Alexis was pushed through the opening, the doors already sliding shut as she sprang back around.
"Where am I?" she yelled, needing to hear an answer before she was shut in. And she got one, the hesitant manner gone as the Con smiled rather wickedly, eyes shining bright.
He didn't answer her directly, but he had no need to with what he said next, "Don't worry, fleshy. Starscream will be back soon. I would watch your step around his stuff though, he is most particular about the state of his belongs."
The doors slid shut in front of her, her heart picking up its pace as she ran forward and pounded on the enclosure that she desperately wanted out of. She yelled things that nobody could hear, but that didn't stop her, her words not ending until her voice grew dim and her throat stung. Turning around, eyes wandering, Alexis surveyed where she was, unable to quench the new feeling that was telling her to hide, even when she knew it would do no good.