Special shoutout to everybody who chose to review last chapter; SummerMistedDragon, KarinyStormsong, , FluffyPrime (happy what-I'm-assuming-is-now-belated birthday!), Jessenia22, JessieBWriting, Alice Gone Madd, jynkx, and Steelcode! And thank you to everyone who decided to return and read, as well as everybody whose new and jumping on the train now! Welcome!
Chapter Fifteen – A Little Bee
The doctor over at medical met up with J.J earlier in the morning to go over her records, and just have a chat about how she was feeling in the few months since she'd arrived. He concluded she was a healthy weight, and still of sound mind, though she told him in a joking manner that she questioned that status. He laughed along with her, they covered whatever questions he had left, then he departed her garage with a promise that her stuff would be in soon and she could pick it up in medical anytime next week.
Neil had something to do and he'd already told her that he wouldn't be around for a while unless she called for help, which she was okay with – she could assume stuff around here piled up pretty quickly. The day moved at a normal pace, with Ironhide yelling at some newbie and making him cry, then watching Chromia step in and turn the human against Ironhide and onto her side being the highlight of the morning. But, right after lunch, around one thirty, the sound of a plane coming in caught her attention, pulling her away from the vehicle she was working on right now to stand beside the garage bay door. She leaned her shoulder against the banister there, pulling her rag out from her back pocket to clean her hands off. A giant plane, like the one she arrived in, had stopped moving and the hatch of the plane was descending. Ironhide, Ratchet, and Optimus had all arrived to greet whoever was getting off the plane, and with patient eyes J.J watched as a troop of soldiers walked out, followed by a yellow Camaro, lined with two black stripes down the centre of the vehicle.
A Humvee sped over to the side of the plane, and Will hopped out, looking up at Optimus, then back down.
With shocked eyes, she watched as instead of a driver stepping out of the driver's seat of the muscle car, the metal began shifting, separating, as it began to stand up on its own. With wide eyes, she turned and headed back in to her garage; she'd come to be accustomed to seeing the other Cybertronians transforming around, but anything else? Not really – this place was whack.
Much to her shock, it was another hour or so before she heard somebody pull up outside her garage, and someone called her name out. She looked around the door of the vehicle from where she was, crouched beside the driver's side as she fumbled around with the wiring, and made eye contact with Optimus – well, the human version of him.
"Hey, whats up?" she smiled. "Finally catch up on all your work, or just need another dose of me?"
He chuckled deeply as she heard his boots approach. "Well I can assure you my work is far from done."
She chuckled. "Yeah, I'll bet," She dropped what she was doing as stood. "This about the yellow guy?"
He tilted his head. "I assume you saw him disembark?"
She nodded. "This place is like fantasy island, next thing I know my project car back home is gonna stand up and start talking before I can make it back home to finish it."
He chuckled. "Well, I can assure you it won't. There were no active signatures in your hometown when we showed up, we only accompanied Major Lennox because there was an Energon detector that activated two or three towns over that we couldn't identify, nor were we able to confirm hadn't been a glitch, but right now I'd like you to meet Bumblebee."
She left the Humvee's side to approach the Captain. "That's the scout that Ironhide mentioned, right?"
He nodded as they headed towards the door. "Indeed. He's currently on assignment, guarding a civilian ally named Sam, but he visits us from time to time to check in and submit any reports he has. He'll be here for a few days and then he'll be departing along with me and a small ops team for a matter that I am required to attend to."
She nodded as she reached his side and they walked side by side to the door.
They stepped outside and her eyes landed on a black and yellow robot who was pacing back and forth. Sideswipe was standing not too far from him, his arms crossed as he seemed to bathe in the sun, much more relaxed than the other one, Bumblebee.
The yellow and black striped Cybertronian made some weird kind of sound, almost a warble, then chirped loudly.
"Oh relax Bee, she's gonna love you. Who doesn't?"
He made another weird sound, but when he went to turn and look at his silver comrade he caught sight of her and stopped. He jerked back in shock, whirring loudly in surprise and maybe… worry, then looked at Sideswipe with big blue eyes and made another sound.
Sideswipe rolled his eyes. "You weren't even close to her, I don't think you have to worry about stepping on her," he adjusted his attention to Jess, "Told ya we'd make sure you meet 'im soon. Took a couple months, but…"
Optimus motioned with one hand to the yellow and black one in front of her. "J.J, this is our scout, and the youngest 'bot in our rankings after the twins. Bumblebee, this is our newest addition to the base, J.J."
His eyes got so wide, almost as if he was anxious to see her, and opened a large hand to reveal three fingers and a thumb waving at her excitedly.
She chuckled softly at him and raised an oil covered hand to wave back slightly. "Its nice to meet you."
He made a cute sound that sounded curious then pointed to her arm. She paused for a moment, unsure of what he was doing, but he pointed at her arm again insistently.
"What?" she asked, looking down her arms.
He made a couple whirring sounds, then ran his hand up and down the length of his own arm. She looked down at her arm, then back up at the newbie. "My tattoo?"
He made a whirring sound in excitement.
"He likes your tattoo." Sideswipe interjected.
She looked up at the silver surfer when he spoke, then back over to the newcomer. "Oh, thanks. Uhm, why can't he…?" she asked.
"Talk?" a deep voice finished her sentence as Ironhide approached with Ratchet not far. "If you haven't noticed, Fleshy, we're a little more complex than you humans."
She looked around, somewhat confused as to how their complexities meant this Bumblebee was incapable of speaking normally the way the rest of them did.
"His vocal processor was damaged in battle, and I'm still working on them. Normally, he uses the radio and broadcasting systems to piece sentences together, but his voice box burst not long ago which is why he's incapable of using any form of communication you would recognize to converse with you." Ratchet explained to her.
She craned her neck to look between the two metal men, almost laughing as Bumblebee began nodding quickly and pointing at Ratchet in agreement.
"Oh! Okay, I guess that makes sense." She nodded.
"While he's here today I plan to repair his voice box so he can at least talk with us the way he's adapted and become accustomed to." The CMO explained to her, but he was shooting a pointed look at the yellow Cybertronian not far from him.
Bumblebee made a whirring sound, what sounded like him being disappointed, before he looked back at J.J and made a bunch of chirps.
"He said he's excited to meet you, and he's looking forward to being your friend." Sideswipe translated.
J.J chuckled softly. "Well I'm looking forward to seeing you around, too."
His eyes widened – which she didn't think was possible – and he made a high pitched whir as he clapped excitedly, the sound of metal crushing metal almost hurting her ears.
"Okay, my Med Bay, now." Ratchet ordered.
Bumblebee's shoulders sagged in disappointment, and Sideswipe rolled towards him.
"C'mon kid, lets go." He said.
Bumblebee whirred at him lightly as he turned to follow Sideswipe.
"Could be a groon, or a klik, or an aon – older is older. I'm older, which makes you the kid." The skater said as they departed.
Jess laughed at the interaction, shaking her head, then took note of how Optimus was looking down at her from his holo-thing, a small smile across his face.
"What?" Butterflies exploded in her stomach as she established and maintained eye contact.
He took a slight breath in. "Three or four months ago, that interaction would've scared you much more."
She smiled. "Well once you swallow the fact that aliens are real you guys aren't that hard to get accustomed too."
He chuckled. "I guess not."
She smiled wide up at him, "I mean, I'm sure we were at least somewhat of a surprise to you too, but in my defense you guys are little more startling, you're like thirty feet tall."
"Thirty one." He corrected.
She burst out laughing as she turned and headed back towards her garage. "Well excuse me sir, I'm sure that extra foot does a lot for you."
He chuckled. "Well, you have my thanks, J.J, for meeting Bumblebee. It's an important aspect to me that my team get along with everybody they may be involved with, but their presence isn't always welcome."
She paused at the garage door and smiled softly at him. "Thirty one feet or thirteen feet, every single one of you are always welcome in my garage. Whether its for an oil change or somethings smoking that shouldn't be or ya just wanna talk."
"I appreciate that very much."
X0X0X0X0X0
In the few months that J.J had been gone, it had become quite apparent to both Erin and Harry just how dependent Olly and Atari had been on her presence. During the day, they were normally gone – off with J.J at work and busy being everybody's favourite shop dogs, and then in the evening they'd be with J.J in the garage, chomping on bones or toys, or sniffing out the yard, racing each other around or doing something to keep themselves busy whilst also watching over Jess.
But now, with their young human gone, they just kind of laid around all day. Even when Sully and Hiccupp tried playing, or if the doorbell rang, or even if a dog barked on TV, the two big Greyhounds just laid on their spots on the couch soundlessly, staring out the window as if they thought that maybe she was just running an errand and that she'd be right back to pick them up, despite what logic told them.
It was definitely depressing if you watched it or paid attention to it. They'd gone from being happy, energetic, loosey goosey five year old pups that ran and raced around for no reason except because that was what they were bred to do, hitting as fast as forty-five miles per hour just for fun, to dogs you would assume are geriatric and unable to move due to pain or lack of energy.
They barely ate, didn't really get enthusiastic about anything anymore, they just kind of existed and breathed, and that was it.
So it was such a shock that it almost gave Erin a heart attack when, in the middle of the week, both pups took a break from looking out the window silently to start barking, howling at something that was coming up the driveway.
"Olly? Atari?" she asked loudly as she looked out the door to her office.
Neither of them stopped barking when she called their names, but from the opposite side of the house she heard them jump down off the couch and run to the door that led to the mudroom.
She pulled her hands back from the keyboard as she hesitated, but when the sounds of Hiccupp and Sully barking alongside them started, she stood from her desk and walked out of the room, through the house. Jess's room stayed open by just a crack, enough for Olly or Atari to go in if they wished, but both of them avoided it like the plague, and no one else had tried to go in there.
She walked down the small staircase they had in the house that was only three steps high, and reached the front door. Both Greyhounds were off the couch and instead standing at the window, barking angrily at something outside. Atari had Sully at her feet, and Olly had Hiccupp, both of the little terriers barking despite not knowing what they were supposed to be barking at. Erin furrowed her brows, but opened the door only enough to let her through, and exited the mud room to stop on the porch and look at who was coming.
Down the driveway, a large, blue and red eighteen wheeler semi truck was rolling down over the gravel, a large silver and blue trailer being hauled behind it as it kicked a dust cloud up in its wake. Not far after him, two military style Humvees followed suit.
Her heart seized for a moment, and she bit her bottom lip sharply. "Please, no." she whimpered.
The barking going on in the house didn't stop, but as she finished speaking the door behind her got pushed open as Olly jumped up and managed to use his paws to push the handles in, then both he and Atari ran around the curve of the building and went barreling towards the oncoming vehicles at full speed.
"Olly, Atari!" her voice cracked, but it didn't stop either of them from heading towards the vehicles, running around as to not get hit, and she moved to shut the door.
Sully and Hiccupp had missed the opportunity to exit the house because the screen door had slammed shut in their face, so Erin made sure the door was closed and they couldn't get out, then got off the porch and walked down the pathways towards the driveway.
The large semi truck slowed, then stopped and blocked the way so the Humvees drove around it on to the grass, and parked there. Four men hopped out, two from each Humvee, as tears filled her eyes. Olly and Atari kept barking as they ran around the large semi truck, growling at whoever was in there.
"Mrs Robbins?" one of the men asked as he got out, dressed in an official uniform with the beret to complete it.
"Please tell me she's okay." Her voice croaked out.
He furrowed his brows. "Excuse me?"
Suddenly the driver's door to the semi truck popped open and somebody stepped out. He was almost excessively tall, with dark hair a top his head and tanned skin, and though he was accompanying neatly dress officials, he was dressed in a seemingly everyday outfit. The most eye catching detail about him was his eyes – an electric blue, something that looked like fake contacts.
Surprisingly, both Olly and Atari quit barking upon his exit, smelling his heels as they trotted behind the man, staying right on his tail.
"Mrs Erin Robbins, correct?" he asked in a deep voice.
"Please, just… she's at least still alive?" Erin pleaded.
He smiled softly, reassuringly. "She's better than that. She's making friends, and doing better than we were even hoping for. We couldn't be happier with the degree of her work or her value to the team, and we appreciate the character and attitude she brings to our base. Her personality was more than we could ever ask from someone else."
Erin let go of a breath she'd been holding in, and she let the tears spill over, but wiped them away quickly.
"This was taken yesterday, right around lunch, by one of the men in my ranks. He tends to take his lunch break with her now, and they get along swimmingly." In an attempt to ease her mind, she supposed, the man pulled a phone out from his pocket, and showed her a photo. Jess was standing in what looked like her garage, bent at the hips and leaning her forearms against the edge of a busted up Humvee's engine bay frame. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, and she was covered from the tips of her fingers to the end of her elbows in oil and dirt and grease, but the smile on her face was vibrant and shining. It looked as though she was laughing at a joke the soldier she was hanging out with had said.
Erin took a deep breath in and covered her mouth. "Thank you."
He slipped the phone into his pocket and nodded. "It came to my attention, though, that she was regretting not bringing some things to base. She'd confessed that part of her wanted to bring more things to base when she left but she hadn't thought of making it a requirement in order for her to go. I'd like to make her as comfortable as possible, and to do that we'd like to bring a few of her things back to base. That's why we're here today."
Erin nodded. "Thank you for trying to keep her as happy as possible."
One of the officials that had stepped out of one of the Humvees nodded. "We only want the best for her."
Erin nodded. "So what are some things you're bringing" she asked. "I can help if you're grabbing some stuff from inside."
Olly whined suddenly as he stepped forward, slipping his nose into the man's hand, then he shook his head and sneezed, before sitting down. The man who stepped out of the semi truck looked down at him, then back up at J.J's mom, who smiled widely upon realising what his look implied.
"At least they'll do more than just lay around all day, now."
FIN
Date Started: October 8, 2020
Date Finished: October 9, 2020
Last Edited: January 19, 2020
I hope everybody enjoyed! I'll see you next Tuesday!