In which Alison confesses her feelings.


The Inner Circle talked together for another two hours, as I explained some of the things I had thought of. A couple were very quickly shot down, but instead of making me upset, they made me glad, that everyone was willing to call me out on things that were too dumb or optimistic. We really only broke up cause the medbay visiting hours were ending, and we didn't want Ratchet to get on Arcee about it. She gave Miles a fifteen minute window to talk to Barricade, and I gave him an encouraging smile before leaving.

The next day dawned with me feeling both lighter and heavier than I had been previously. The fact that the others knew my secret and were willing to help me were huge weights off my shoulders. But now I had no excuse to not talk with Bee and Mikaela about my feelings, and that scared me so much more.

I woke at my usual early time, but lingered in bed watching Mikaela sleep in the faint light. We'd spent a good bit of the night talking more about the meeting, and other things, so we didn't fall asleep till late. She was so peaceful, curled like a cat, a hand up by her chin and her hair draped over her face. I brushed it back behind her ear and rested my hand on her cheek. She barely stirred, just slightly turning her face into my palm. I smiled, and leaned in to give her a kiss, light, but lingering, just taking in the taste of her, the feel of her against me. After several moments, she started kissing back and I pulled away to see her lazily open her eyes.

"Don't wake up," I whispered, sliding out of the bed as gently as I could. "Just wanted a kiss before I got out of bed."

"It's that er-early?" she asked, a yawn trailing into her last word. "Wake me like that when you get back." She reached for the mussed blankets on my side and pulled them closer to her, snuggling back under the covers as she closed her eyes again.

"I promise." I smiled, though it faltered as I wondered if this would be the last time this scene would happen with us. I shook the thought away, got dressed as quickly and quietly I could, pressed another light kiss to Mikaela's forehead, and went out the door.

When I reached Asami, I told her, "Just run me into the ground. Claim it's an endurance thing or something if someone asks, but I want to not be able to think."

Asami gave me an understanding look and complied, running me through some of the harder exercises that we hadn't done in a while, and then taking me on a much longer and harder run than we usually did. By the end of it, I got my wish and was so tired my brain could barely walk a straight line, let alone run in circles around anything.

I collapsed on a bench, catching my breath before I'd have to head inside to change. Asami handed me a water bottle that I accepted eagerly.

"So you're going to work out between yourself, Bee and Mikaela today," she asked me.

I finished gulping a third of the water and nodded. "Yeah. Didn't want my brain to talk me into not doing it. One of my more hated traits."

"That happens to the best of us." She sat next to me. "Want to talk a bit about last night?"

I shook my head. "We'll have plenty to talk about next we meet. I figure we can try for tomorrow night, or Saturday, in medbay again if Arcee can get it free, or in Bee's hanger."

She nodded. "Just let me know and I'll be there."

We finished up our routine, then parted to get cleaned up for the day. Ella had gotten back the day before, so my morning was filled with paperwork and diplomacy lessons. After lunch, Asami ran me through my katas, but sent me off before actually sparring, freeing up a fair bit of my afternoon. I thanked her, and once I got cleaned up again, went to find Bee and Mikaela.

Bee was in the 'Bots' yard, being a training dummy for Ironhide, so I climbed up the watchtower to reach the comm installed up there. "Ironhide, can I steal Bumblebee for an hour or so?"

::Whatcha need him for?:: 'Hide asked. From my position, I could see Ironhide currently had Bee in a chokehold, probably pointing out weak points to the COTA troops before him. Behind him, Chromia, Elita and Jazz were doing the same, with both sets of twins as their assistants.

"A personal project. I need his input."

::Please, 'Hide?:: Bee asked.

::Oh, fine. But you aren't getting out of this so easily tomorrow. Sideswipe! Get over here!:: Ironhide released Bee and sent him on his way with a light shove.

Bee met me at the base of the watchtower. "What's up, Alison?"

"I need to talk with you and Mikaela about something," I said, accepting his servo for a lift to his shoulder.

"Just us? It's not Inner Circle stuff?"

"No, it's- it's more personal than that." I looked away before I could catch more than a glimpse of his gaze. "Mikaela should be in medbay, let's check there first."

In medbay, Ratchet was standing at the monitor console, while Barricade was either in recharge, or faking it to avoid being bothered. A couple medical mechanics were sitting around one of the berths, looking over and cleaning different parts.

"Ah, Alison," Ratchet said as he picked up my entrance. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine, Ratchet. Is Mikaela around?"

"She's in storage, organizing some parts." Ratchet smiled knowingly. "I take it you want to steal her away?"

"If you wouldn't mind." I smiled back as Bee set me down, trying to keep my nervousness out of my field.

He waved me towards the storage door. "Go on. Tell her to write down her stopping point and she can pick it up again tomorrow."

"Gotcha. Thanks, Ratchet."

I headed back to the storage room, chuckling as a couple of the mechanics accused Ratchet of playing favorites. I could hear Mikaela as I came to the door, and frowned at how irritated she sounded. I opened the door just in time to hear her say "Where the hell is it!?" and jump as a wrench hit the door jam.

"Practicing for the twins?" I asked.

She jumped and whirled around, her ponytail smacking her face before she brushed it away. "Alison! Oh no, I didn't hit you, did I?"

"No, I'm fine," I said, bending to pick up the wrench. "You good? I heard you yelling about something."

"Oh, it's nothing too serious. It's just," she motioned vaguely upwards with her hands. "Some parts are missing from inventory, and someone's been taking tools and putting them back without signing them out."

"Anything important?" I asked.

Mikaela shook her head. "It's little parts, more for the jeeps than anything else. Human-made, so it's not like someone's taking anything we got off the 'Cons. Mainly it's annoying, and a bit worrying for if they start taking the bigger stuff."

"You got any suspects?"

"Someone suggested one of the twins, but Skids and Mudflap aren't that type, and Sideswipe and Sunstreaker could just order their own things if they were planning something." She shook her head. "We'll figure it out, I just hope it's sooner rather than later."

"Same here." I smiled at her. "Well, you don't have to worry about it anymore today, Ratchet said I could steal you for the rest of the day."

"Really? Great! Let me just mark down my numbers really quick."

I managed to hold my smile until we left medbay on Bee's shoulders, but I couldn't keep it as he asked, "So, whatcha wanna talk with us about, Alison?"

"Let's go to my office," I said. "I don't want us to be interrupted."

I saw Mikaela give me a funny look out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn't face her. At HQ, Bee sat on one of the 'Bots' benches before using his holo to follow us into my office. Once there, I motioned for them to sit in the chairs in front of the desk. I stood in front of them, trying at first to keep my head up, but I couldn't. I ducked my head, and started wringing my hands together as I took a deep breath to try and steady myself.

"This is not going to be easy for me to say," I told them. "But, it's something I need you both to know, before I do something stupid to tear us apart. I would have said something sooner but I only just figured it out myself." I looked at Mikaela. "I love you, so, so, much, Mikaela. I did when you were just a character on a screen, and those feelings have only grown stronger and stronger with every day we're together. Like, I think of you, and I think of warmth, like warm rain, the kind that invites me to dance in it, or a fire on a chilly night. But," I turned to look at Bee. "I recently realized I love you too, Bee. I don't know how or when exactly, but our friendship became love. You're like the first beat of a favorite song, like the wind that blows the rain around. And when I look to the future, I can't imagine one where I don't have both of you at my side." I ducked my gaze back to my hands, slumping back to sit on the edge of my desk. "That's what I wanted to tell you."

Mikaela and Bee were silent at first, which I had expected. The latter was radiating shock into his EM field like a beacon. But as it stretched out, I got more and more worried.

"So…" Bee started hesitantly, making me look up. "You love Mikaela and me? This- This is real?"

"Well, it's not exactly April Fool's Day." I tried to smile, but it just became a grimace I quickly dropped off my face.

"But- How?" Mikaela looked absolutely astonished, her eyes wide as she looked between me and Bee. "How can you love both of us at the same time?"

"Trust me, I wish I had a better answer than I'm not sure." I ran a hand through my hair, tangling my fingers in some locks pulled over my shoulder. "Polyamory is something I've accepted for years, but I never thought it applied to me. I only really figured out how I feel when Miles pointed it out while I was solving his and Barricade's love problems."

Mikaela gave a mocking chuckle. "Solve his problems and discover our own. Sounds about right." She slumped back in her seat, a hand moving to her forehead. "So what are we gonna do?"

"That's what I hoped we'd figure out here," I said. "I didn't want to try and keep this from you guys, and I hoped, maybe, we'd figure out something that doesn't leave us hurt."

"I have something to confess too," Bee suddenly said, making Mikaela and I look at him. A slight blush had crept into his holoform's cheeks. "I kept quiet for months, cause I didn't want to get between you two, and I had no idea if you would accept me, but I have to say it. I love you." He looked from me to Mikaela, meeting both of our eyes. "Both of you. Ever since Mission City, I think, definitely since Thanksgiving."

Mikaela gave a small gasp, her hand moving to cover her mouth. Mine just dropped open, certainly making me look like a fish. "You love both of us?"

Bee nodded. "I mean, how could I not. You're both so smart, funny, caring. You don't back down from danger, you're so brave. I honestly think I started falling for you when you turned the truck around, Mikaela. And you, Alison, it had to be when you stayed behind after Starscream took my legs. I just didn't know how you'd both react." He ducked his head and rubbed his neck. "I mean, xenophilia isn't exactly common for either of our species, and, well…" he trailed off.

My mind started spinning as a new door of possibilities opened. Before, all I could see was one or all of us walking away heartbroken, with a choice being forced upon us. But now….

"This- this is crazy," Mikaela suddenly said, standing up and starting to pace around her chair. "My girlfriend admits feelings for our best friend, and then he admits feelings for both of us. I just- I-" She stopped and folded her hands in front of her face, closing her eyes. She took a deep breath, and sat down again. "Okay. So. Any other confessions from anyone before we figure out what the heck we're doing?" I shook my head, and Bee shook his. "Okay then. Obvious solution number one: we act as if nothing's changed, even though everything has. And that is probably gonna last a week before something happens, knowing us."

"Oh, come on, give us more credit than that," I said. "We could probably manage a month."

The three of us laughed at the small joke, but it was mirthless and quickly died. After a moment's silence, Bee spoke up.

"I do have a possibility, if you'd both be willing," he offered.

"What's that, Bee?" I asked.

"We could become a trine," he said.

"A trine?" Mikaela tilted her head. "Isn't that a flier-specific thing?"

"Not necessarily," Bee said. "It's most common with them, but there's plenty of others who are in them. For a while, some 'Bots thought Copper, Sides and Sunny were in one from how often they were all together. I mean, it's not like we have to bond, or really can…." He trailed off again.

I crossed my arms, holding my elbows loosely. "How would it work? I mean, how would we work with it?"

"I don't see it beng much different than right now, just, with me being involved in the affection." His cheeks flushed again. "I can use my holo for most of it, if that'd make you guys more comfortable."

"But that's not entirely fair to you, Bee," I said. "I didn't just fall for your holo, I fell for you."

"I use my holo for so much already, it's not a strain to use it like that. And I'm not sure my root mode is exactly compatible."

"Okay, let me lay this out," Mikaela said. "If we did this, then it'd be like me and Alison were together normally, but Bee would also be kissing and cuddling with us. I know I love you, Alison, but I don't know if I can feel that way for Bee."

"We don't have to do it," Bee assured her, though I could feel his field drop a bit from that. "We could do like you suggested and just go back to normal."

"Or we could break apart right now," I added, with a note of finality. "That is still an option."

We were quiet for a minute, all of us contemplating the last option we wanted to take.

"No," Mikaela said. "I don't want that."

"I don't want it either," Bee said.

"Or me." I took a deep breath. "I'm willing to try a trine. I'd rather not be forced into a choice I don't need to make."

"I, obviously, am happy to try it, but if need be, I'll step back," Bee said. "I'd rather watch from afar than get between you too."

"I- I don't know what to think," Mikaela said. "I don't know if I can do a trine, but I don't think we can just go back to normal after this." She stood up. "I- I need time to think."

"Of course," I said, standing and taking a step towards her.

She stopped me with a raised hand. "No. I- I need time away from you two to think on this. I'm not very prepared for this kind of decision right now." She looked at her raised arm, which had the bracelet Bee had gifted her on it. She slipped it off her wrist and set it on my desk, near Bee.

"Do you want me to stay away from Alison?" Bee asked. "I'm sure I can get Copper to watch her while you figure this out."

"No, I- I can't do that. You're her Guardian, you need to be with her. Just… give me time." She looked from him to me, and I could see tears welling in her eyes before she turned and walked out the door, letting it swing shut behind her.

"Well," Bee said after a minute. "It could have been a lot worse."

"Could have been a lot better too," I said, half to myself, feeling tears starting to. I looked at my own bracelet and, like Mikaela, slid it off and set it next to hers.

Bee picked up these signs and ducked his head, a flash of sadness coming from his EM field. He stepped forward and picked up the bracelets. "I'll see myself out," he said, then turned and walked out of the office. Only once he was gone did I allow myself to slump as the tears fell down my face.


Dun dun dun! Shall Alison, Mikaela and Bumblebee solve this problem? Will they get together as a trine, or not at all? Stay tuned to find out!

Not much to say about this chapter, just let me know what you all think in your reviews. And to my American readers, I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, and stay safe today if you go out for Black Friday shopping.

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