Wow, you guys are awesome. Just a heads up, I generally use different style texts for languages, which is impossible here, so for now: "=is anything spoken in Scout=" ... cool?

Ugh, re-update, the perfectionist in me made me look, one last time... shoopid cut-outs in the thing. Is now fixed... I hope. It is late, and my laptop is almost dead. Whatever mistakes are my own, so without further ado-

Chapter 2 - Well, Fancy meeting you here

(BPOV)

Bumblebee sat in Sam's garage. Bored out of his processors.

He didn't have anyone to talk to, nobody to chat with him. Sam was a good human, but he really wasn't the type to stand around, talking to a car. Which irked Bee to no end, but he'd asked to remain with Sam. The sun came up again, and an explosion of sounds and voices came from the house.

"First day of school!" Judy sang brightly.

"Last year of school!" his father added.

"That I can do," Sam snorted. "counting down the days until you can rent my room out?" he asked his father.

"Come on Sam, you've got one more year of high-school and an awesome car, I'm expecting some reasons to ground you!" his father muttered, evidently out of earshot from his mother. Bumblebee couldn't help but snicker at that.

Personally, he was trying his best to not get his hopes up. He and Sam had been cruising the streets for the past two months, of course they'd only admitted they were both looking for Mikaela last week.

"She'll probably turn up for school..." Sam had stated quietly, unsurely.

Privately, Bee didn't really think so. If Mikaela was this good at hiding, she'd probably stay hiding. Everybody had a reason to hide. Which meant he needed to get to Prime, he needed to find her. This was the last day that he was going to stand around waiting. If she didn't show, he was going to go find her.

"Morning Bee!" Sam grinned, sliding into the driver's side. Bumblebee chirped and started his engine, flicking the radio on.

"Goooood morning, good morning!" Bee played the song cheerfully.

Sam drove as tentatively as ever, finally pulling up in front of the school and swaggering in, nodding to students as he went.

Then, of all people, Mikaela walked down the sidewalk.

"Mikaela!" Sam bellowed, running toward her and hugging her. She smiled at him and Sam pointed to Bee with a grin. Mikaela grinned and walked toward him.

"Bee," she murmured, running her hand over his fender.

"You're back!" Bee played the soundbyte cheerfully. "We were worried about you!"

"I am," she smiled. "I gotta go, but I'll drop by and we'll have a right chat, okay?"

That was possibly the best sentence he'd ever heard.

(MPOV)

I walked up to the school and jumped as Sam bellowed my name, running and dragging me into an enormous hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" he muttered. I smiled at him.

"The bots?" I murmured softly.

Sam grinned and proudly pointed to his car.

Bumblebee. My heart swelled as I looked at him, walking over and running a gentle hand over his fender.

"Bee," I murmured, smiling at him.

"You're back!" Bee played the bytes gleefully. "We were worried about you!"

I couldn't stop the smile at the bot's kindness.

"I am," I smiled at him. "I gotta go, but I'll drop by and we'll have a right chat, okay?

"Good," Bumblebee beamed at me. I didn't really know how I knew he was beaming at me, but it was a good feeling, to have him want to see me.

School was school, as usual.

The teachers were familiar, nodding to me.

"Mikaela!" one of the girls shrieked. "Where the hell were you!?"

"Last minute trip to Montana," I smiled. "Went up to visit an uncle."

"Why the hell didn't you call!? Or e-mail!?" she demanded.

"Didn't have any internet," I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Barbaric up there, that's what it was. I didn't mean to blow you guys off, I'm sorry."

The girls eyed me for a long moment before nodding cheerfully.

I settled back into the routine and smiled at Sam as he held Bee's door open for me.

"Still living in the same place?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," I murmured. "Do you mind if I stop at your place, though? Hide in your garage for a little while so I can talk to Bee?"

"You got it!" Sam grinned at me. I relaxed in the seat with a smile.

Sam of course, dragged me into the house first thing, showing me off to his parents. I smiled and made polite conversation for a little while.

"Oh please say you're staying for dinner!" his mother stated cheerfully.

"I can't, I'm sorry," I stated gently. "I need to get to work fairly soon."

"You work?" Mr. Witwicky asked with a grin.

"Well, yeah," I said shyly, looking down. I glanced at the clock on the wall and smiled at them. "It was nice to see you again, I'd probably better get going, I'll see you tomorrow?" I looked at Sam with a smile. He grinned at me and showed me to the door.

I promptly made a beeline for the garage.

"Hey Bee," I grinned at the bot as he transformed in the garage, grinning at me.

"We missed you," he said quickly. "Everybody's been crazy worried about you. Where were you?"

"I..." I started and looked down. "I had to run, Bee," I said softly. "Not from you guys, I just... I had to get outta there, you know?"

Bumblebee nodded sagely and tentatively reached forward. I smiled and stepped into his hands, letting him pull me to his chest.

"Really missed you," he played softly.

"Missed you too, Bee," I murmured.

"When you get back?" he asked.

"Two days ago," I murmured. "I'm sorry I didn't come visit, I didn't know if... if you'd still be here."

"I'm here... you wanna ride?" he asked gently.

"No, I should probably walk, it might freak Sam out a little if a known car-thief absconded with you, hey?" I smiled at him.

He chirped a laugh and lightly set me down.

"See you tomorrow, Mikaela." he played softly.

"Kae," I murmured.

He looked at me curiously.

"You're a friend, Bee," I smiled at him gently. "Call me Kae."

Bumblebee promptly transformed and revved his engines up.

"Bee, where you headed?" Sam's voice asked over the radio.

"Drive Mikaela," he played cheerfully.

"Okay," Sam chuckled. I laughed softly and slid into the driver's seat.

Bee handed the controls over and I drove to the new job.

"So what happened?" Bee asked curiously.

I sighed.

"There..." I started softly.

"Kae?"

"My instincts took over, I had to run. They had morphine going into my veins, even at the hospital, Bee. My body doesn't handle that stuff. I had to get to safety."

"But you're back now!" Bee stated cheerfully. I smiled.

"Keep a secret?" I asked with a grin.

"YES!"

"I spent two weeks detoxing off of the crap the hospital had in my veins, and the rest of the two months banging my head against the wall. Ultimate decision, I came back here, find Sam, I figured if I could find him I'd find you guys." I told him gently.

Bee looked at me incredulously.

"You came back to find us!?" he chirped incredulously.

"I wanted to make sure..." I murmured softly. "I needed to be sure you were okay."

"Kaaee!" Bumblebee chirped, his seat squeezing me slightly in a hug. "So you got back when? How do you already have a job? What do I tell Prime and Lennox?"

"Well, I got back two days ago, lost my old job, which is alright, the boss sucked anyway, so I picked this one up. Nightshift."

"Nightshift?" Bumblebee played my voice back.

"Yeah, well I'm not exactly allowed to say that I was abducted by aliens and unconscious for a few more days," I laughed softly. "This is the only job I could get on short notice like this. So here I go."

I patted the dash gently and smiled.

"Thanks for the lift, Bee," I murmured.

"Anytime." he chirped.

(BPOV)

Bumblebee watched as the femme began walking toward the doors.

"Hey Kae?" Bee murmured, hoping she could hear him.

"Yeah Bee?" she asked curiously.

"Time you get off shift?" Bee asked curiously.

"You sure you wanna come pick me up?" Mikaela asked worriedly. "Shouldn't you be recharging then?"

Bumblebee rolled his optics.

"Time you get off shift?" he played again. "If I didn't wanna, I wouldn't offer."

"Five," she smiled.

Bumblebee sat behind the restaurant Kae had driven to for a few minutes. This was not a good area. There were a lot of bad humans around here, far too many places for them to hide and sneak up on Kae.

Kae.

He liked that name. It was fast, he could say it even with his vocal processors still acting up. Bumblebee sighed and drove back to Sam's.

In his garage, he contacted his Prime.

(OPOV)

Two months went past.

Optimus walked toward communication central and looked at the newly promoted Major Lennox. Evidently they kept their titles in the fully formal position, which was rather stilted, in his opinion, but that was neither here nor there.

"Major," Optimus said quietly, "I have a request to make of you."

"What's up Prime?" the Major asked curiously.

"I was hoping to speak with Mikaela Banes, the femme who protected the cube to the best of her abilities."

Will seemed to sag into himself.

"Miss Banes was ordered to return to her life," Will said quietly, looking at Optimus. "She's done a brilliant job of it, she's completely off the grid. I don't honestly know where to start looking for her... Still."

"None of us do." General Moreshower added in a stunned tone.

Optimus nodded sadly then straightened as Bumblebee sent his weekly transmission.

::. Mikaela's back!.:: he sent cheerfully.

"Bumblebee? Report!" Optimus ordered aloud, putting his scout on speaker.

"Nothing's happening over here anymore," he sent calmly. "Sam and Mikaela are back in school, I'm worried about her though."

Optimus jumped.

"Mikaela has returned? Is she alright?" he asked worriedly.

"She's tired," Bee said sadly, "I don't think she's had a proper recharge since she's woken up. She's still picking up the pieces of her life and restarting."

"Restarting?" Will asked curiously.

"She's not allowed to say that she was kidnapped by aliens for three days and then unconscious for two more. Lost her job." Bee reported with a snort. "Says it's for the best though, she didn't like her boss anyway. She got back from wherever she was two days ago, right in time for school."

"And that explains that," Will murmured. He straightened and looked at General Moreshower on the screen. "What are the chances of getting financial aid to her, so she can go to college or something?"

"Well, we're already sending the boy, pretty sure we can send the girl," the General chuckled. "We'll see if we can stop by in her area to talk to her."

Optimus rolled up in front of the small trailer that was listed as Kae's home. It had taken the Military another month to get around to letting him go. He'd been quite irritable about that, but he'd played nice, and finally, finally, he was here. Optimus surveyed the femme's housing unit. There was gravel instead of grass, and even in the dark you could see the faded quality of the paint. It was clean though, tidy for all that it was run down.

"This place needs some serious work," Will murmured, hopping out of Optimus' cab and going to knock on the door.

::. Nice to see you in the area, Sir.:: Bumblebee sent cheerfully.

Will hopped off the front porch and tapped on a few windows. He walked back to Optimus.

"I don't think she's here," Will said with a frown. "It's almost midnight on a weekday, where on earth is she?"

Optimus scanned the trailer and found it completely empty.

::. Mikaela is not in her home!.:: Optimus transmitted to his scout. ::. There is nobody here!.::

::. Kae lives alone now.:: Bee shrugged ::. She's at work right now.::

"Bumblebee reports that Mikaela will be at work right now," Optimus rumbled quietly.

"Nightshift!?" Epps whispered in shock.

::. Here, I'll show you where.:: Bumblebee said quietly, there was the sound of the scout starting up his engines and quiet voices.

"Bee, where you headed?" Sam's voice whispered over a radio.

"Check on Mikaela," Bee replied, cutting soundbytes together.

"Mkay," Sam yawned. Bee began driving.

Ten minutes later the cheerful yellow Camaro drove slowly past Optimus, he got into gear and followed his scout. They drove for another ten minutes and parked behind a restaurant. The lights in the front were dark. Bumblebee beeped his horn quietly.

Optimus focused his scanners on the building and found a human Femme walking toward the door. Bumblebee turned on his speakers and began playing a song quietly.

"Where'd you go, I miss you so, seem's like it's been forever, that you've been gone..." he cut the soundbyte as Mikaela opened the door, kicking a wedge into place and drying her hands on a towel pushed through the strings of an apron.

"Hey Bee, what are you doing here this late? You should be recharging," Mikaela scolded quietly. She looked up in surprise as Optimus idled forward somewhat.

"Optimus," she murmured respectfully, nodding to him. "Epps, Lennox, how have you lot been?" she asked with a tired smile.

"Better than you by the look of it," Lennox stated worriedly, "why the hell are you living alone? You go to school still, why aren't you in bed?"

"You play the hand life dealt you," Mikaela shrugged, "how's your baby girl doing?"

"Just fine," Will grinned, "and we've got some good news for you, government's sending you to college, so you shouldn't have to keep working night shifts."

Mikaela stared at the man for a long moment and began laughing wryly.

"That's very generous of you guys," she said softly, "but I still need to pay the taxes on our place, now what's wrong? I highly doubt the leader of the Auto-bots would show up to award me a scholarship."

Epps and Lennox stared at her in shock.

"Joys of being a criminal," Mikaela snorted, "you learn the world quickly, now what's happening?"

"I had hoped to get some time to speak with you," Optimus rumbled quietly, "make sure you had recovered properly from fighting."

"I'm just fine, Optimus," Mikaela murmured softly, reaching out and running her hand along his armour gently. "It's a blessing that Bee's still around though, thank you for allowing him to continue to be Sam's guardian."

Bumblebee straightened somewhat on his tires. Mikaela glanced at her watch and sighed, "I'm sorry, I should probably be getting back to work."

"Anyway Mikaela, here," Lennox said quietly, handing her a phone in a box. "Unlimited calls and texts, courtesy of the military. The sim and numbers are already in there."

"And so you can find me if you need me," Mikaela finished for him with a wry smile. "I appreciate it, thank you."

Will grinned and patted her shoulder.

"I'll come pick you up, what time are you off shift this time?" Bee asked, cutting soundbytes together. Will frowned, evidently trying to understand the rapid soundbytes.

"Bee, you shouldn't have to keep ferrying me around, it's not that long of a walk," Mikaela stated, rolling her eyes.

"Aaww, Kaaeeee!" Bee whined. "I'm coming to pick you up if I have to sit here all night, what time do you get off sis?"

"Five, just in time to get my homework done and catch a couple hours rest," Mikaela sighed. "Remind me to change your oil when we get to Sam's, little brother." she reached up and rubbed her face tiredly, glancing at the restaurant.

"The hell are you doing, Mikaela?" Epps growled. "High school and nightshift don't mix! You should be sleeping right now!"

"Yeah, well," Mikaela sighed, looking at her feet. "If they manage to let dad out of prison I'll have my backup again. But for now I'm on my own. Following orders though," she snorted. "I'm in school and acting normal."

"S'not right," Epps growled.

"Hah, not right, or fuckin' fair, life ain't fair," Mikaela shot back at him with a snort. "but on the plus side? I now have a future to look forward to." she held up the scholarship. "Now, don't bother about me, I'll survive. But I gotta get back to work."

"We'll get out of your hair," Will stated softly. Mikaela offered him a smile and patted Optimus' hood.

"You have the number, yes?" she asked with a smile, looking at him and holding up the box.

"I do," Optimus rumbled in relief.

"Good," Mikaela stated quietly, "Be safe you guys." she gave his hood one final caress before walking back into the restaurant. The door closed softly behind her.

The soldiers stood in silence for a long moment.

"She walks through this neighbourhood?" Epps finally exclaimed.

"I don't let her anymore," Bee piped up, quickly cutting the soundbytes together. "She had a scooter, but Barricade stepped on it."

"Are you alright guarding the two of them, Bumblebee?" Optimus asked worriedly, "do you wish backup?"

"I'm alright Sir," Bee chirped cheerfully, "I can take care of Sam and my big sister."

(BPOV)

Bumblebee drove back to Sam's parent's house and parked. He dropped into his recharge for a minute and started back out again with a sigh. Recharging wasn't much good when all he saw was horrors. He thought for a moment and grinned, sending a text to his sister. She had a phone now.

"Hey K! You got Bee'd!"

He waited for a moment and snorted at her response.

"Just so long as B doesn't sting me"

"Never!" He protested gleefully.

"Why aren't you recharging little brother?"

"Can't sleep."

"Chargefrights again?"

"...Yeah..." Bee admitted, embarrassed. He jumped when his big sister's phone activated, her voice ringing out softly over his speakers. Singing to him. She had such a sweet voice, he wanted to teach her scout, just to hear the language in her voice.

Bumblebee didn't even notice as he dropped into his recharge cycle, lulled to sleep by his sister's voice.

He came online with a start, noted the time and quickly turned his engines on.

"Where you going Bee?" Sam whispered over the radio.

"Pick up Mikaela," Bee replied, using a recording of Sam's voice.

"Kay," Sam yawned, Bee rolled his optics. His human was nice, if a bit lazy, always sleeping. He gleefully onlined his holoform and drove to the restaurant, pulling into the back and beeping his horn softly, then playing their code soundbyte.

This was a bad neibourhood, he'd made her promise that she wouldn't open the door unless she knew it was him. In moments, his sister staggered toward him, yawning and plopping into the passenger seat.

"Hey sis!" he played the soundbytes cheerfully.

"Hey little brother," she murmured, almost half asleep.

"See? Now aren't you glad I'm coming to pick you up?" he grinned at her.

"Yeah, well, keep me awake little brother," she yawned, shaking herself awake again. "I gotta get my homework done."

"Kae you need sleep!" Bee groaned, driving back toward Sam's.

"No, I need to do my homework and change your oil," she smiled at him.

"You can do my oil tomorrow." Bee snorted.

"Or I can do your oil today and spend tomorrow waxing your armour," she shot back at him. Bumblebee was hard pressed to maintain his argument at that.

"Prime has officially designated me as your guardian as well," Bee shot at her. "I'll be remiss in my duties to keep you awake!"

"You're showing off, Bee." Kae snorted.

"You know it Baby," Bee replied, grinning in spite of himself. His sister laughed, and the flirting game started back up right where they'd left off. He pulled into his garage and Kae got out, automatically reaching for the oil-pan and sliding it under him even as she set her homework on the table beside them. It was a matter of minutes for Bee to eject the oil from his system, he made sure to only put enough carbon in it to make it black, he was keeping it for a special occasion now.

Kae had quietly confided in him, she couldn't afford to buy a dress for prom.

Bee, was all over that.

"I'd swear you were burning your oil rather than the gasoline for the amount of carbon you keep putting in it," Kae murmured.

"I'm not!" Bee snorted. "I wanna teach you scout," he added with a grin as she finished topping up his oil and closed his system back up again.

"Okay, but just so you know, I suck at languages," his sister grinned back at him.

"Drone-shit," he snorted. "When you're talking in Mandarin in your sleep you rock at languages. =Sister=, means sister."

"=Sister=," Mikaela parroted him in a thoughtful tone. "So what does =Little-Brother= mean?"

"You just called me little brother," Bee said in an awestruck tone.

"Can I call you that?" she asked in a small tone, turning to look at him shyly.

"Anytime =Big-sister=," Bee murmured, transforming and reaching to hug her.

"How am I your big sister?" she asked with a low laugh, even as she wrapped her tiny, really gentle arms around his neck struts.

"I'm pretty sure that in the place where size doesn't matter, you're bigger than me," Bee murmured, onlining his vocal processors, he wanted to say it with his own voice. He offlined them quickly to cut the static.

"Aaaw Bee," Kae murmured, hugging him a bit more tightly before he released her.