Please note that these characters belong to their original creators as do any songs used in this fiction, not me, this is just my take on what might happen enjoy and let me know what you think.

also i am still trying to fix any mistakes that i might have missed in past chapters (i.e spelling, grammar and so on)

The progress down the stairs was even harder for Sam than climbing them had been, with every step that he took the young Prime found himself reaching out for something to grab hold of. It slowed him to an almost crawl in his foot speed but it was far better than trying to rush and falling down every step between him and the ground. At last Sam made it to the solid flat ground floor, he was relieved that he no longer had any kind of stairs to negotiate between this point and the security office. Sam stepped outside into the fresh air and stood still getting his balance back once more as Bumblebee who had been following at a safe distance walked out of the door and took a few steps away from Sam just in case his jamming field wasn't fully blocking the output of the device. "when your ready sam we can head over to the security office and talk to ironhide about this, I'm sure that he'll want to put the city on high alert after he finds out about this breach in his security" said Bee as he watched Sam trying to keep his balance. Sam just nodded in response as he found an empty crate to sit on for a few minutes. For a second Bumblebee was sure that he had seen Sam's face turn green even though he knew that was impossible for an Autobot. "some leader I am bee, I'm almost ready to pass out over a simple thing like signal feedback" said Sam as he tried to keep him self sitting in one position.

"from my research I know that motion sickness can be a very debilitating condition for humans, the way this thing affected you it's more than likely that it triggered a very similar response in your processors" said Bee gently. "when did you study about motion sickness?" asked Sam trying to keep his mind focused on anything other than what he was feeling at that moment. "it was when we were coming back from egypt on the ship, I was worried that you might get sea sick if we hit any rough water so I studied some medical texts about the subject in case you showed any signs of the condition, after all it was the first time you had ever been on a ship for that amount of time" replied Bumblebee. "and what did you find out?" asked Sam "from the data I read the condition is caused by conflicting information being sent to the human brain, in your case I'm guessing that your processors are having difficulty interpreting the information being transmitted by this surveillance device when your avatar is active and that's what's causing the problem, once you processors clear the conflicting data you should feel fine again and this will have little effect on you so long as you keep your avatar off around it" explained Bumblebee. "so I just sit here and wait until all the bad information has cleared from my system, well at least I don't need some kind of data shot or something from ratchet to fix this, I'm still sore from his last little repair session" said Sam now focusing on clearing his data inputs.

It took more than ten minutes for all the garbled information to clear from Sam's system but when it did only the memory remained and Sam was able to move around like normal once more. Sam looked at Bumblebee's clenched fist and wondered how something so simple had affected him so badly. "ok bee let's get this thing over to ironhide and get rid of it before it causes more trouble for us" said Sam as he transformed into his alt mode. Sam moved away and stopped at what he though would be a safe distance from the troublesome box as Bumblebee activated his Avatar once more and handed the device over to the Avatar. Bee quickly transformed and his Avatar placed the harmless looking box into his trunk. Again Bumblebee made sure that the jamming field was in place and strong enough to block any out going signals from the unit before he got closer to Sam. Now that every thing was ready they both headed over to the security office and Ironhide in hopes of off loading the box on him so they could get as far away from it as possible.

The drive to the office was fortunately an uneventful one, there were few people between them and the security section as that part of the city was awaiting construction. The security off stood alone and some what proud in the unfinished part of Autobot city, the building was built as a squat curved structure that was heavily reinforced with the dull gold alloy that Sam had come to associate with the stronger buildings of the city. The front looked welcoming as Sam approached, not what he expected at all given that Ironhide was spending most of his time there. The doors to the building had been made so that an Autobot could enter with out transforming to pass through them. A useful feature that Sam appreciated as it meant that the box would stay in Bumblebee's trunk surrounded by the strong jamming field that Bee was creating. The inside of the structure was also built so that Autobots could move around in vehicle mode, Sam though that it was probably designed like this to allow any Autobot inside high speed access to any part of the building and a fast entrance or exit should the need arise. There was a kind of front desk in the in the main section of the lobby, a man in what looked like some form of military police uniform sat behind it reading a news paper. The sound of their engines caused the man to quickly fold and place the paper out of sight under the desk. "how can I help both of you?" he asked warmly "we need to see ironhide about some kind of com tapping device we just found" answered Sam. At first the man looked a little shocked about this then he looked more excited than anything else as he said "ok I'll call him he's out right now giving a tour to mr witwicky, I'm sure that he'll want to get back here as soon as he finds out what's happened" the man behind the desk picked up a com receiver shaped like a phone and pushed a few buttons. "to be honest with you this is the first thing we've had to do since we got here, other than just usual patrols that is" said the uniformed man as he waited for a response from Ironhide. After a few seconds he started talking into the receiver "ironhide sir, I have two autobots here wanting to speak with you about some strange device they found" he paused for a few seconds as Ironhide replied.

"what are your names?" asked the man as he covered the receivers lower section with his hand, "I'm sam and this is bumblebee" answered Sam. The officer quickly said "it's sam and bumblebee" then fell silent as ironhide told him who they were and what he should do. "yes ah right away sir" he stammered quickly into the receiver, he ended the call and said "I'm sorry sir I didn't know who you were the news is still filtering down through the ranks, ironhide has instructed me to escort you to one of the waiting areas until he gets back with your farther". "couldn't ironhide have let people think that he was just another autobot for a little while longer" thought Sam. "ok give us the directions" said Sam as he scanned the building for it's floor plan. "I'd best show you the way sir it's only proper given that your a commander and all" said the officer as he got to his feet a mobile com device in hand. The last thing Sam wanted was something like a guided tour on his way to the waiting area "tell you what ,why don't I give you a ride there and back I so we don't wast any of your time" said Sam as he opened his passenger side door. The man was so taken off guard by the offer that he didn't know what to say for a few seconds, "ahh, thank you sir, it would save me from having to walk the whole way there and back" he finally replied. Both Sam and Bumblebee were very glad that they had given this guy a ride as it was a long distance between the front desk and the waiting area for a human on foot.

Sam turned a corner and the officer pointed towards a large glass paneled waiting area on their left "just their sir, I'm sure that ironhide will be back very soon as he's very interested in what you've found" said the officer. Knowing Ironhide like he did Sam thought that "interested" was this man's form of a youthamism used to make the message he had been given sound better. Sam chuckled slightly and the man clutched at the seat-belt that held him in his seat at the movement. "not used to traveling inside an autobot to much are you?" asked Sam as he slowed to a stop just passed the doors to the waiting area. The officer replied "no not really sir, I'm kind of used to a car that doesn't move on it's own when I ride in it" "you'll get used to it over time, I'll take you back now so hold on tight" replied Sam as he sped off back to the main desk. Sam quickly found that his normal driving style wasn't suited to the inside lanes of an Autobot structure, he didn't have any problem making turns or avoiding the walls but it didn't do his passenger any good. As Sam came to a stop the officer got out and steadied him self against Sam's alt as he tried to stop his legs shaking under him. "are you ok?" asked Sam as he quickly performed a scan of his passenger "I'll be fine once I sit back down and no offence sir but I think I'll walk from now on".

Sam headed back to the waiting area and Bumblebee but just as he reached the section the waiting area was in Sam heard a familiar voice yelling out far above the normal level that anyone should have used even when they were angry. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN IT WAS ALL FOR ME, DO YOU EVEN CARE HOW MANY LAWS YOU BROKE DOING THIS", Mikalela sounded ready to kill who ever she was yelling at and Sam could already guess who it was. "YOU LIED TO WHEELIE AS WELL, IF AUTOBOT SECURITY HADN'T FOUND YOU THEN WHO KNOWS WHAT TROUBLE YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN YOUR SELVES IN" yelled Mikaela once more. From the sound of things Sam felt that he would be safer staying out side or better still in the other waiting room with Bumblebee. Sam was about to creep to his way to the other waiting room when the door to the room where the yelling was coming form flew open and Mikaela stormed out her face more frightening than any Decepticon Sam had ever seen in his life. She stopped dead when her eyes fell on Sam's alt form sitting in front of her in the hall way. "sam" she said in a far too normal tone nothing like the one she had been using in the room behind her. Sam was caught a little of guard by the sudden switch in attitude from Makieal and paused as he tried to think of something to say. Finally he said "hi, is that your dad in there or are you interrogating a decepticon for ironhide?" like he wasn't sure that it was her dad getting the third degree. Mikaela smiled gently and replied "it's my dad, do you know where autobot security found him?" Mikaela paused but not for Sam to answer "vegas, that's where, he had almost half a million dollars on him in chips and was being investigated by casino security who were curious about how he was winning so much".

Sam just remained silent as he thought it best to let Mikaela get this of her chest "I mean what was he thinking taking wheelie into a place like that and telling him that the games were just a test of skill" said Mikaela. "now wheelie thinks that he should be allowed to set up a few twenty one games at the shop for some of my dads customers and I don't even want to think about what the casino's will do if they find out that an autobot was involved in taking them for so much money" continued Mikaela as she started winding down. "I just got my dad home and now he's doing things like this, he could land him self in jail or worse if he messes with the wrong people, not to mention what could happen to wheelie if he was caught by someone" the anger Mikaela was carrying finally broke and now she was left with the fear it had been hiding. Sam risked activating his Avatar and pulled Mikaela into a hug as he said "their both safe here and they will be for a while at least as optimus wants anyone who could be a decepticon target here in autobot city, that means the worst you have to deal with is wheelie acting as a card shark with some of the soldiers stationed here and if anything happens he'll have to answer to either epps or lennox about his actions and who got him started in playing cards". Mikaela moved against Sam with a mixture of laughter and tears as she said "well at least I can trust lennox and epps not to bury them in the middle of some desert for cleaning out their troops pockets". "that goes for me and optimus too mikaela" added Sam as he wiped a few tears from Mikaela face.

Mikaela loved this feeling, Sam was here for her, holding her when she was upset just like he had so many times in the past when she need someone close. But this time he was just a friend giving her some support in a time of need not her boyfriend. There was now a boundary that neither of them could cross and she new Sam would never even think about doing it now that he was with Bumblebee. Past longing was starting to taint the moment so Mikaela said "thanks sam, I should get back to my dad before he teaches wheelie anything else that he shouldn't". Sam gave Mikaela one more innocent hug and said "if you need anything call me or bee any time day or night, we're here for you just like always". As Sam's Avatar let go and vanished into a cloud of swirling lights Mikaela though "not like always sam, this is way different than before when you were mine". Mikaela watched Sam drive into the other room to his one true love Bumblebee and let one more tear slide down her cheek in memory of the connection she had lost and missed at times like these.