A/N: This story takes place in my own Transformers continuity, which blends chunks of preexisting lore together. Most of it will be revealed gradually over the course of the story, but it is worth noting that most of the events of Bumblebee happened in this continuity, because it was a good movie and Charlie is going to be important.

Chapter 1

Nate should have known something was wrong when he woke up in the middle of the night to find his entire body ached.

It wasn't just that his joints ached, or his skin was irritated, or his stomach hurt. No. Every part of his body felt sore at exactly the same time, both inside and out. It wasn't enough to be actually painful, but he'd be damned if it wasn't really uncomfortable. Nate squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the discomfort, his still half-asleep brain trying to process what could possibly be wrong with him. But even as he sat there, the aching began to recede, and in just a few seconds the discomfort was gone. Nate opened his eyes again, breathing a bit heavier than usual, trying to figure out what had just happened and why. As far as he knew, it wasn't normal to just have everything ache at once, and then be fine a few seconds later. Had he done something to himself last night? He furrowed his brow as he tried to remember everything he'd done last night. He'd done work… watched some Netflix… ate dinner… the usual. Nothing that might have caused him to suddenly wake up and hurt all over. He'd exercised earlier in the day, but that wouldn't have caused everything to hurt.

After a few minutes of staring at his bedroom ceiling, racking his brain to find a cause for the brief discomfort, Nate came up empty. Well, he decided, if it happened again, he'd call a doctor, but if it didn't, then it must have just been some weird… well, something weird. Turning over onto his side, he closed his eyes and pushed the strange discomfort out of his mind.

He was asleep again within minutes.

/

When he woke up in the morning, around 8:30, Nate felt fine, and he quickly brushed the weird event from last night out of his mind. His morning went as it usually did: get up, use the bathroom, get dressed, head downstairs and have breakfast. At 25, Nate had only been out of college a few years, but he'd quickly established a simple routine upon moving into his house that he'd deviated very little from ever since. As he sat down to eat, he opened his laptop to check for anything important. No new work emails, thankfully; he had enough projects already without his boss asking him to do another one, or worse, come into the office physically. Recent pandemic aside, there was something that just felt oppressive about the office building, and he was infinitely grateful that he and many other employees at the tech company he worked for were allowed to work from home. He exited his email and went to review his pre-existing assignments, making sure he remembered everything he needed to do. As he went into his web browser, a couple news articles popped up, and he pointedly ignored them as he went directly to his Google Drive to review his notes. He rarely paid attention to the news these days, as he found it just served to depress him most of the time. If he really needed to know about something that was happening, he'd likely hear about it from one of his friends or coworkers, and then look up anything they didn't tell him himself once he knew what he was looking for. More often than not, this meant Nate was the last person in his (admittedly small) friend group to know when something happened, but he didn't particularly mind that; it was a small price to pay for being able to avoid the myriad of depressing stories about people dying or being screwed over by something or another.

Finishing his breakfast, Nate put the dishes in the kitchen sink, then opened the front door and walked to his mailbox to check for anything. As usual, it was mostly junk mail - nobody he knew really bothered with physical mail anymore, except his parents, but that was only on his birthday, and that had been several months ago. He sifted through the envelopes idly, knowing already they'd all just end up in the recycling, then turned back towards his house. It was a pretty nice house for his first one; it was small, but since he lived on his own that wasn't too much of a problem. It had two bedrooms, one he used as storage, a pretty nice open concept ground floor with a kitchen and living room, and a garage on the right side with an inner door that led right into the living room. He wasn't much of a car nut or a mechanic, but he liked being able to put his car inside somewhere. It meant he didn't need to worry about his car being stolen or damaged by leaving it outside. Of course, it wasn't like anyone would particularly want to steal some matte gray Toyota model from five or so years ago, but it being in the garage gave him one less thing to worry about. He didn't particularly care for the car, but it would still be annoying to have to buy another one.

As he walked back to the house, something in the sky caught his eye. He looked up to see the moon, still visible in the morning sky, but something seemed… off about it. He squinted at it as he tried to figure out why he felt like it was weird, and he noticed it seemed more… metallic than usual? It was more silvery than white, but maybe that was just a trick of the sunlight? After a moment, he shrugged away his confusion and headed inside, trying to ignore the feeling that something was weird here.

He went back to his computer, he opened it up again. As he opened his browser again, he clicked on the URL bar to type in the link to his work website, but before he did, he noticed something strange. One of the search suggestions was "Autobot". His brow furrowed as he noticed the term. That was a Transformers thing, right? He didn't know that much about the franchise, just what the two sides were called, a few of the character names, and that the Michael Bay movies were shit. Why is that a trending search term? He thought. Maybe a new movie was coming out? But then wouldnt the franchise name also be trending? He shook his head. He didn't have time to ponder the mysteries of the Google search algorithm; he had work to get done. So without further delays, he typed in the website link and got to work.

/

Late in the afternoon, as he was wrapping up the second project of the day, Nate got up to take a break just as his phone began to ring. He picked it up and read the caller ID: Jared Wellard. He gave a small smile and shook his head. Jared was his best friend, though because of recent events they hadn't seen each other in a while, with the last time being a couple months ago to get coffee together. He'd met Jared in high school, and they'd been lucky enough to go to the same college together. Now they both lived in New York State, in a town just a couple hours drive from Manhattan. Still smiling, he answered the call. "Hey, Nate," Jared's voice came over the phone. "How's it going?"

"It's… going," Nate replied. "Just stood up to take a break from work. What's up with you?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked. Listen, I'm calling because - well, you know Brad, that rich guy I roomed with back in NYU? Well, he just invited me to a party he's having at some night club in Manhattan next week. Supposed to be a really nice place."

"Sounds nice. What's the party for?"

"Honestly? I already forgot. But he said I could come and bring one guest with me. So I wanted to know if you'd wanna come with?"

Nate shook his head slightly as he listened. "I… I'm not sure," he said after a moment. "I dunno. Maybe. You know I don't like those kinds of parties."

"Yeah, but I already told him I'd come, and it'd be way more fun if you were there with me."

Nate thought a bit more. "Can I get back to you on this? I don't wanna just say no, but I don't know if I can say yes." Jared's voice came back casual. "Yeah, sure, take your time, Nate. It's still a week away. Just don't forget, or I might have to show up at your house the night of and drag you along." Nate smiled again. "Yeah, I bet you would. I'll let you know when I've decided, ok?"

"Alright, Nate. See ya later. Bye." And with that, Nate ended the call. He sighed as he put his phone down, and pondered Jared's request. A party, huh? He didn't really like big social gatherings, but he also didn't want to leave Jared hanging when he wanted him to come along. He shook his head again. It was something he'd have to think about for a bit. For now, though, he headed over to his couch, and sat down to watch something. Maybe he'd rewatch Stranger Things again….

/

Nate sighed and rubbed his eyes as he leaned back from the laptop. The clock in the bottom corner of the screen read 7:26. He'd been working over two hours past when a normal workday ended. He sighed and shook his head. He needed to learn to keep better track of time. Well, fortunately, he'd just finished the third project on his list. He emailed one of his coworkers to let them know it was done, along with a copy of the code to be compiled, and with that, he shut off his laptop. Sighing again as he stood up, Nate headed over to the kitchen and opened the fridge to see what he had to work with for dinner. His heart sank a bit when he saw how empty the fridge was - a water pitcher, some juice, some fruit, and some cheese. He made a small groaning noise and shut the fridge. Looks like he needed to go shopping. He got his shoes on and grabbed his keys and a light jacket, then headed out the door. The grocery store was only a couple blocks away, so there was no point in driving there; it'd just be a waste of gas. Nate took a deep breath of the summer air as he shut the door behind him. It was cooling down now that the sun was setting, and he was glad he'd grabbed his jacket as he began walking down the block towards the store.

About half an hour later, he exited the grocery store, bags in both hands, and began heading back towards his house. As he walked, he looked up at the now fully dark sky, and saw the moon again. With a bit of confusion, he noticed it still looked metallic. He'd never seen it like that before. Was it some sort of weird meteorological event? He shrugged internally and kept walking. He'd probably missed something about it on the news or something. Well, since no one seemed to be panicking or dying, it didn't seem to be anything concerning. Maybe he'd look it up when he got home. He pushed it out of his mind for now and kept walking. As he crossed the first street, he shivered slightly, despite his jacket. It was a bit cold for June, even with the sun down. And people say climate change isn't real, he thought jokingly to himself, though in reality he knew there was probably a much less extreme explanation for the temperature, and he entertained himself by trying to imagine different possibilities. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost missed seeing the glint of yellow in the next alleyway he passed, but just as he stepped past the opening, the sight registered with his brain, and he stopped walking. Backing up a few steps, he peered into the alleyway again.

Sitting in the alleyway, the front end facing him, was a yellow sports car with black detailing. It looked brand new, shining like it had just come off an assembly line, and the model looked like one from this year, last year at the latest. It was, to put it bluntly, a sweet ass car. Nate whistled as he stepped closer to the alley and looked at the car. He'd never seen this car before. Had someone just bought it recently? And why was it parked in an alley? His shock wearing off, he cautiously glanced around, looking for anyone who might be the owner of the car. But as far as he could see, no one else was nearby. It seemed, for all intents and purposes, like someone had just parked the car in an alleyway and run off. Concern grew in his stomach. Was it a stolen car? That might explain it. He looked around again, as if expecting an owner to appear out of thin air. Looking back at the car, he pondered what to do about it. He could call the police; that would be the smart thing to do. But if he called them here, and just stood here, there was a chance whoever had taken the car could come back, and then he'd be in trouble. Still being cautious, he slowly approached the car, walking up to the driver's side door. He could have sworn he felt like someone was watching him as he did, and if he didn't know any better, he'd have sworn it was the car for lack of any other options.

He stopped by the driver's side door and tried the handle. To his surprise, it was unlocked, and, furthermore, he discovered upon inspection that the keys were still in the ignition. Looking around one more time, he carefully got into the car, placing his grocery bags on the passenger seat. He'd drive the car back to his house, he decided, and put it in the garage. That way it would be less likely to be stolen again. Then he'd call the police, and hand over the car. Nodding at himself to dismiss any concerns he had over the plan, he shut the driver's door and started the car. The engine growled to life, and Nate might not have been much of a car nut, but even he could tell that the engine was in excellent condition from the purring noise it was making. As he placed his hands on the wheel, admiring the car from the inside, he noticed something placed on the button for the horn: a symbol reminiscent of a mechanical face. An Autobot symbol. Nate rolled his eyes at the symbol. Some teenager must've stolen the car and though it'd be funny to put that there, he though. He shook his head gently, then put the car into drive and pulled out onto the street, angling towards home. As he drove, the feeling of being watched remained, and he tried not to feel like the symbol on the wheel was staring at him. It's just some sort of sticker, put on as a prank, he told himself. It's not actually an alien car from a dumb action movie. Or a show. Or whatever else Transformers has been over the years. But the feeling didn't go away, and Nate decidedly kept his eyes on the road for the next few minutes.

/

A few minutes later, the garage door clanged shut, and Nate turned to view the yellow sports car once again, now inside the garage instead of his Toyota, which he was pretty sure would be fine sitting in his driveway for one night, if even that long. Hopefully the police wouldn't take too long to show up once he called them. Before he called them, though, maybe he'd take a bit longer to admire it. It wasn't like he was planning to keep it at all, the least he should be able to do for finding it would be to have a few minutes to properly be wowed by it. He'd already been surprised by just how good it had felt to drive, though that might just be because he wasn't used to driving cars anywhere near the price that this one likely cost. Might be a good thing to try and save up for, he thought to himself. Definitely wouldn't mind having a car like this. He placed his hand gently on the car's hood, his touch almost reverent, and he thought he might have felt the car vibrate ever so slightly at the touch, but he told himself he was imagining it. Moving around the car, his eyes once again fell on the Autobot symbol attached to the wheel, visible through the window. I should probably get that off before I call the police, Nate thought. I'm sure the owner will appreciate it. Coming around to the driver side door again, he opened it and leaned into the car. He grabbed the decal and attempted to pull it off, but found, to his surprise, that it wouldn't budge. "What, did they superglue this on here?" he muttered aloud. Grumbling, he got out of the car and headed to the corner of the garage. The garage was mostly empty, as Nate used the spare bedroom for storage, but he did keep a single table in here, on which was placed a toolkit his father had gotten him for his birthday a couple years back. He'd never really used it that much, but now was as good a time as any to break it out, he figured. He grabbed the flathead screwdriver from the kit and headed back to the car. He placed the head of the screwdriver on the edge of the symbol, and began trying to wedge it underneath. "Come on, damn you, come off," he muttered. What the hell was with this thing? It couldn't actually be part of the car, could it?

Suddenly, the car engine rumbled to life, and Nate gasped and fell out of the car in surprise, landing on the concrete floor of the garage. He got to his feet, screwdriver still in hand, and stared at the car, wondering how he'd managed to accidentally turn it on.

Then the car started to change. Parts of the car spread apart and came back together in different places, some disappeared, some new ones appeared out of nowhere, all of them moving with a noise of whirring machinery and humming metal. And then, only a few seconds later, crouching in his garage, in place of the yellow and black sports car, was a humanoid robot of the same colors, towering over him even while sitting and looking at him with blue, mechanical eyes which managed to convey a mixture of curiosity and annoyance despite the lack of any other recognizable facial features.

It was, unmistakably, Bumblebee.

There was an extremely awkward and tense few moments of silence, where Nate could only stare in openmouthed shock at the robot, and during this time the annoyance in Bumblebee's expression gradually faded, leaving only the curiosity as he returned the human's stare. Then, just when it seemed like the silence was going to drown the two of them, Nate spoke. "Nope," he said numbly, the single word all he could manage to say. And without saying anything else, he dropped the screwdriver on the floor, turned to the inside garage door, and walked right into the house, leaving a suddenly confused Bumblebee watching him through the doorway. Nate, acting almost on autopilot, walked upstairs, entered his bedroom, and fell onto his bed, not even bothering to change clothes or otherwise get ready for bed.

He stared at the ceiling for a very long time, refusing to think about anything, especially not the implications of what had happened in the garage, before he finally fell asleep, leaving the world and the questions it had just given him behind, if only for a little while.

It was going to be a long day tomorrow.