All things considered, it hadn't taken them quite as long as Sam would have expected to clump most of the strewn gravel back into a pile, given Bumblebee's large, mechanical hands. His sound system had gone back to playing music loudly, changing stations from time to time to find songs the large alien robot had taken a liking to in the four years since he'd first come to Earth, disguised as a busted up, old Camaro. They talked amongst themselves quietly, about small things like the new school year quickly approaching within the month and about other things that, considering the recent events of a few months past, didn't seem all that important even though the humans still felt like conversing about, in an attempt to keep up the resemblance of a normal life. And they had almost finished shoving the rocks back together, Bumblebee working to form it into another large pile, when Sam stood straight, stretching his back and looking up at the hot summer sky.
It didn't seem to register on his mind at first, the tiny dot just above the horizon, or even the sharp, high-pitched whine that to any other human was a relatively common sound. Even when he had taken notice of the quickly-approaching object, it didn't strike him as odd; it was, after all, something humans were so very used to seeing that they rarely paid them any attention at all. Never the less, Sam felt himself compelled to point it out, smiling softly to himself as his arm reached up to gesture at the metallic-grey colored object.
"Look, a jet." Even before he'd spoken the words, Mikaela had noticed it, too, and had stopped what she was doing, looking up at it with a hand shielding her eyes from the bright sun. She, however, seemed a little more uneasy about the sight, and it took a moment for Sam to realize why, his years of experience seeing the fighter planes as nothing more then fun flying machines that boys had posters of on their walls overcoming the few sightings he'd had of the large, hulking creature who'd tried to kill him months earlier. Everything about the battle in Mission City was, for the most part, a blur of images and sounds, and most of the recollections of what form each Decepticon had taken on were hazy, hard to remember.
It wasn't long, though, before his own mind picked up on what Mikaela's had already begun to fear, and as Bumblebee stopped what he was doing, his speakers dimming softly as he turned cautious eyes to the fast-flying plane, Sam's form went rigid, his eyes quickly flashing to keep an eye on his robotic friend's posture and reaction to the jet, even if he found his sudden unease a little silly.
Bee, on the other hand, didn't take long before he was walking away from the pile of gravel, every sensor quickly adjusting to focus on the jet fighter as he unconsciously put himself between Mikaela, Sam, and the airborne machine. He sensed no alarming radio signals, nothing to cause him alarm with the signals the jet was giving off, but there was something disturbingly familiar about it, about the hum of that engine as it flew closer and closer, and as it flew nearer, seemed to drop in altitude the closer it got, the energy signals the young Autobot spy registered from the jet translated more and more into the energy signals commonly given off by the very creatures that had six months earlier tried to kill him, his friends, and the entire human race.
He shook his head, his posture going into a light-footed stance, as if he were ready to leap at the slightest sign of trouble, ready to intercept an attack that might come, and the two humans had no problem noticing it as he waved them back. "Sam, Mikaela, take cover, quickly…"
"Bumblebee…?" The young woman's voice asked tentatively, fear etching her words, as if asking him to tell her that it wasn't what she thought it was, even as her and her boyfriend moved to put distance between themselves and their guardian, to take shelter wherever they could, though unfortunately the only place that would be any safer then where they were was perhaps behind the mound of sand, or in the ditch beside the road.
"Just…take cover. I'm not picking up any Decepticon transmissions or communications, but…" his voice trailed off as his optics picked up movement from the not-so far-away plane, and every fear they had was reinforced as he recognized the form of arms and legs sprouting from the bottom and sides of the jet, a familiar form taking shape, canons and another, unrecognizable and new weapon locking into place.
Bumblebee cried out for them to run, instantly beginning to send out a distress signal to Optimus Prime, Ratchet, and Ironhide, telling them where they were, that they had been ambushed, asking for help as Starscream rocketed towards them. He dimly heard the shriek of distress from Mikaela as she and Sam took off running, trying their hardest to get out of harm's way as Bumblebee's own canons locked into place, instantly firing out at the Decepticon. He was upon them in an instant, flying low over their heads, like an eagle swooping down at it's prey, rapid-fire projectile launchers firing at Bee with frightening accuracy.
While the incendiary rounds did little damage to his protective armour, Bee still did his best to avoid the shots, following the attacker with his aim as he watched him turn, making a wide angle back towards them, and once more Bumblebee put himself in between the human children and Starscream, anger coursing through his processor as he tried to shoot down the flying Decepticon. He still remembered who it was that had fired the missile that had cost him his old legs in Mission City, and he couldn't help but take a little frustration at the memory out in the way he roared threats and challenges in Cybertronian at the unfortunately much-larger mech.
He didn't have time to watch where Sam and Mikaela had finally hidden themselves as Starscream took another pass over their heads, but instead of firing at Bee with the rapid-fire projectiles, the other alien fired out with the new, unfamiliar weapon, a large, dark missile-like object screaming through the air at him.
The sound of Sam's voice crying out for him to "watch out" alarmed him in it's close proximity, and in an instant he was stepping forward, moving as quickly as he could to put himself between the projectile and the source of his humans' voices, firing at it in an attempt to take it down before it struck. He was too late, though, and he had only an instant to send another distress signal in the instant he realized it before he felt the ground underneath his large feet explode with the impact of the weapon, sending him careening into what had once been the mountain of sand as a horrible, inexplicable pain tore through his mass. He tried to fight it off, tried to push down the agony in an attempt to climb back to his feet, but every gear and piston in his frame seemed to be fighting with him, refusing to obey his commands, and he could only collapse onto the ground beneath him as the shooting pain threatened to drive him mad. Even as his optics dimmed and he felt his processor losing coherence, he realized that the loud, sharp cries he heard were his own, until the world went black and he knew nothing else.
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Sam had barely had enough time to shield Mikaela with his own body before the dirt and rocks and clumps of earth were raining down around them, the loud explosion causing his ears to ring. He saw for an instant a bright flash of blue light, and it reminded him of the pulse the Allspark had given out six months ago during his race through Mission City. It shot across the ground in an ever-widening arc, and he felt his nerves tingle and jerk for a moment as it rolled over he and Mikaela.
A horrible, familiar sound reached his ears, and he felt his chest tighten in horror as memories of Bumblebee ensnared and struggling against human captors, sobbing in his high-pitched, mechanical way in Mission City after he'd lost his legs flashed before his eyes. Mikaela obviously heard it, too, and in an instant they were both up, crying out to their robotic guardian, finding themselves unable to see through the cloud of dust that had collected in the air after the explosion.
Though they were relieved to hear the sounds of the jet-looking Decepticon's engines receding inexplicably in the distance, Bumblebee's cries ensured that their relief wouldn't last, and they followed it to the best of their ability, clambering over piles of rock and dirt and the metal that had seemingly once been the stunt-ramp. As horrible as it was for the humans to hear their friend's pain, though, it paled in comparison to the horror and dread they felt when it stopped, leaving only silence in it's wake. They cried out louder, the worry evident in their voices, even when Sam found himself stepping into a deep hole, tumbling down into the crater caused by the blast as the dust-cloud began to clear.
He found himself rolling to a stop beside a pale, unconscious form, confusion etching his features as he stared down at a strange, blonde male, naked and laying contorted and half-buried in the paving-gravel and sporting a worrying, bloody-looking patch of hair against his forehead. He cried back to Mikaela as he looked around himself for any sign of Bumblebee, wondering where the man had come from even as his concern for his alien best friend tore through him. His girlfriend's sharp cry of surprise preceded her short tumble after him, and she landed hard beside Sam, her eyes instantly going to the third human.
"Where's Bumblebee??? Who's this guy???" The confusion was evident in her voice, mirroring the way Sam felt, but he simply shook his head, still looking around them.
"I don't know…stay with him, I think he was hurt in the attack. I'm going to go look for Bee!" Mikaela nodded, having enough clarity of mind to untie the long, crocheted shawl from around her hips and drape it over the naked man's form while Sam struggled to climb out of the crater. By the time he had managed to liberate himself from the slippery, crumbling sand, the blinding cloud of dirt had mostly settled, and he turned in confusion, surveying the damage around them, finding no sign of the large, yellow mechanoid alien.
He gaped in confusion, walking down the hill to the highway, looking all around for his friend, and back up, thinking to look even behind what was left of the hill of sand, small as it was. Despite what had happened only moments before, though, the only thing he could find of alien design was the large, black projectile that had caused the damage in the first place. He stood at the top of the crater for a long moment, staring at the landscape around him in absolute confusion, barely even seeming to register the faint moans that had begun to float up to him from the middle of the hole, the soft, pained voice of the unconscious man muttering softly, incoherently as Mikaela looked over him.
"I…Mikaela…Bumblebee…he's not here!" The worry in Sam's voice did little to sooth Mikaela's growing shock, and she looked up at him from below, her own timid voice bringing his focus back to her.
"Sam…I…Sam I think you need to come down here and…hear what this guy's saying…" He blinked in confusion, his eyes falling on the man as he writhed lightly in pain, mumbling something in his unconscious delirium. Sam let himself slide down the crater – much more gracefully this time – until he was sitting beside his girlfriend once more, looking down worriedly at the man and trying to make sense of what he was trying to say.
"What is he -?" He was cut off short when Mikaela grabbed his arm, silencing him quickly, her own head turned to listen to what was being said, as if to assure herself she'd heard what she thought she'd heard. Sam simply shook his head at her, looking from the unconscious form to her, only to revert back to the man in shock when he heard, though mumbled through lips that didn't seem to want to work, his own name, laced with an edge of fear. He listened more intently, his eyes widening slowly with each word that came through clearly enough to be understood, each soft mutter of "run…" or "Sam," "Mikaela," and the most shocking of all what sounded like an attempt at forming the name of "Optimus Prime."
He grabbed the injured man's arm, shaking it gently in an attempt to wake him up, speaking loudly as he saw him jerk in obvious distress, gasping and coming slowly to a tenuous consciousness, electric-blue eyes peaking weakly, painfully from between heavy eyelids. "Hey, wake up! We can't understand you, what are you saying??? You gotta speak up!"
Mikaela seemed almost about to stop him from doing so, afraid he'd do more harm to the obviously already badly hurt male, but paused when she saw a slight coherence in the gaze of the naked man as he glanced around, soft confusion peaking through the pain in his features, his eyes finally landing on the two of them and widening in a strange semblance of recognition.
"Run…Sam…get…'way…run to…run to…Opt'mus…run!" The two stared for a moment in amazement at the human that knew their names, the name of the Autobot leader, but even in front of their eyes, they saw the consciousness slipping away from the exertion of speaking. They tried to keep him awake, tried to keep him from slipping away again for fear that he wouldn't wake back up later, but their efforts were in vain, and they could only look on as he drifted off, his eyes fluttering closed once more.
Sam stared in confusion, his eyes wide, mouth open in shock, but Mikaela looked back at him, shaking his shoulder to get his attention, an ever-increasing alarm showing on her face.
"Sam, you…you remember that symbol, on Bumblebee's steering wheel??? The…one that he has on his forehead, in bright red, right here???" She pointed to her own forehead, and Sam nodded, dimly wondering why it mattered. They'd both seen the symbol, on all of the Autobots, and had learned since they'd come to Earth that it was the symbol for their people, and how in their society it had meant the ideas of "Protect," "Freedom," and the things the Autobots stood for. Mikaela reached down and gently lifted the red streak of hair from the man's forehead, already aware that it wasn't blood that colored the stripe - having searched his head for the wound while Sam looked for Bumblebee - but the actual color of the hair. She looked back at Sam, watching his face intently as she showed him the red coloration as it went through even to the skin, coloring the flesh underneath it in the same way a calico cat's skin holds the same color as the fur over it.
Sam, on the other hand, simply found himself unable to tear his eyes from the very same symbol he'd seen on every Autobot, hidden under the man's hair but obvious nonetheless when one were looking for it, like a bright red tattoo hidden by that bright lock of hair.
"Sam…I think…I think Bumblebee's right here…!!!" He tore his eyes away from the symbol at the horror in her voice, his eyes widening as he met her shocked, confused, terrified gaze, and for a moment he wondered if he hadn't been hit in the head during the attack.
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The distress signal had reached Optimus without warning, sharp and fast, and in the exact same instance, he'd sent the order to Ratchet and Ironhide, ordering them to drop what they were doing, wherever they were, and hurry to aid their distressed comrade. His transformation had taken place in that same instance, and he'd peeled off, roaring down the road towards the location Bumblebee had transmitted, going far faster then he knew was legal in the human traffic system.
Ratchet had acknowledged the order almost immediately, ceasing his search for a suitable place to set up a permanent base camp for the Autobots, and Ironhide had followed soon after, informing his Commander that the human soldier he had taken to hiding with, Captain William Lennox, had insisted on joining him if there was Decepticon trouble involved. He'd become one of the Autobots' links to the human US government, a high-ranking soldier who had been given the assignment of acting as a middle-man between the robotic soldiers and the Military, a direct voice to the Secretary of Defense. He also seemed to hold a heavy grudge for the Decepticons; understandable, considering what had happened to him in the past.
Optimus hated for the human to be involved, uncomfortable with the idea that he was willingly putting himself in a situation where he could be killed in a Decepticon attack, but he accepted Lennox's sense of duty, and knew that if a true Decepticon attack really were occurring, the Military would need to know, if only to be prepared to set up a defensive incase the fight spread to the populated human areas.
He tried to continue the uplink with Bumblebee, tried to get him to respond to his inquiries of status and situation, but quickly found himself frustrated with the lack of response. The distress signal had been sent fully once, but had then been cut short in the midst of the second transmission, causing his worry and his excessive, conspicuous use of speed. It had been 6 months since they'd last seen or heard anything of the Decepticons, and though the others had begun to almost relax and hope that they had finally rid themselves of the threat forever, he had never been able to let himself feel such a luxury. He'd known it would only be a matter of time before they resurfaced and attacked, and if Bumblebee's clipped transmission was anything to go on, then he feared that the war had started once more on the small planet they'd adopted as their new home.
Though he wasn't far from the coordinates sent in the transmission, the radio silence from his young spy and the worry it caused him made it seem much farther then he liked, and he prayed to Primus, that everything was alright as he saw the smoke and dust appear on the horizon, where he feared the attack had occurred. Even through his worry and his rush to arrive to aid Bumblebee, Sam, and Mikaela, though, he couldn't help but register the appearance of a small, single-man F-22 fighter plane, soaring away from the location faster then any human ship could travel.
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Sam shook his head in disbelief at Mikaela's words, the concept so absurd to him that he couldn't even process it in his mind for a long moment.
"What??? No, that's not possible, Mikaela! You know that!" She scoffed at him slightly, looking just as disbelieving as he felt, despite the fact that she was the one who'd said it.
"Don't you think I know that, Sam??? How else do you explain it, though??? Where is he, if it's not Bee???" He stared at her blankly for a long moment, his mind not wanting to accept the ridiculous notion she was putting forth. Yet despite the absurdity of it, he found himself leaning closer to the unconscious man, grabbing his arm again and shaking him once more, though more gently this time.
"Hey…hey, wake up…you gotta…wake up, come on…!" The injured form stirred gently again, though it seemed harder now for him to regain consciousness. Sam felt stupid, everything in his brain fighting what he was thinking as he leaned over closer still, trying to be heard by the blonde-haired man. "You…gotta stay awake…B-…Bumblebee…???"
Just saying it sounded so ridiculous to him, but the figure on the ground seemed to respond more fully to it, his head lolling towards the sound of Sam's voice, and Sam blinked in slight amazement, stealing a glance at Mikaela, who was staring intently at the man. He swallowed hard, shaking his head at the impossibility of it all, and found himself once more looking at the man, saying his friend's name again, and then staring wide-eyed as those light-blue eyes fluttered half-open, looking dimly around for the source of his voice. He didn't know whether to be shocked or to think that he'd finally gone over the deep end of insanity.
Thankfully, he didn't have long to worry about the impending doom of their sanity as the loud and familiar but now-comforting sound of a diesel semi-truck's horn blasted down the highway towards them, and they both looked up in shock, even the eyes of the half-conscious man seeming to widen briefly and try to turn towards the sound before he was out again. The huge, hulking form of that gigantic, red and blue Peterbilt style semi came rolling towards them, transforming as it hit the breaks, and they heard the deep, booming voice of Optimus Prime calling out for them as he looked around the small battlefield, almost stepping in the crater before he looked down to find his foot hovering over the large crevice.
Everything about his posture said that he was ready to take down the Decepticon who had done this, but he seemed to still as he saw the three of them in the crater, confusion etching his mechanical features.
"Sam, Mikaela, what has happened here??? Where is Bumblebee???" Sam opened his mouth as if he wanted to speak, but simply glanced down at the unconscious man before them, confusion and shock on his dirt-covered features as he looked back up at the Autobot leader. Mikaela, on the other hand, seemed a bit more composed, and she scrambled to stand, kneeling long enough to slip her arms underneath the injured man and lift him up off the ground, drawing a sharp gasp and a cry of pain from his lips.
"We gotta find Ratchet, Optimus! Starscream attacked us! He did something to Bumblebee, we gotta fix it, fast, he's hurt really bad!!!" Optimus stared at her for an instant, perplexed by what she said, and he watched Sam stand and reach his own hands out as if to help her carry the small, prone form she held.
"What are you talking about, I don't understand! Who is this new human?" Sam just shook his head at him, looking up at the gigantic mech.
"We don't understand it, either, Optimus! Starscream hit Bumblebee with that thing behind us! When the dust cleared, Starscream was gone, and…and…we think this is Bumblebee!!! We gotta get to Ratchet!" Suspicion and anger sparked through Optimus, but not at the humans. He eyed the injured man they carried, his processor contemplating the different scenarios the Decepticons could have created to attack them that would involve trading a human captive for the Autobot. He couldn't imagine a human willingly agreeing to do anything the Decepticons ordered, but at the same time he couldn't believe that this human was his young soldier.
Nevertheless, he could easily see that the human was badly hurt, and knew that at the very least, he might have answers as to how he got there, and how the entire thing had happened. If he took him to a hospital, he wouldn't be able to find out what he knew, and yet he knew that Ratchet did not have the training to properly administer first aid to a human being. Still, it was the only chance he had, he feared, and despite his better judgement, he realized that if he wanted the full story, he wouldn't be able to take him to a human medical facility.
He glanced once more around them, doing a scan for the small, yellow Autobot who'd sent out the distress signal minutes earlier, and not finding any sign of Bumblebee, transformed, the door to his sleeper compartment swinging open for them, giving Mikaela and Sam a chance to climb in and lay the prone figure on the cot as he raced back to Ratchet. "Come on, get in. Let's hurry." He urged, his voice calm but strained with obvious tension, and as soon as the two humans had made it inside and set down the unconscious man, he had shut the door, racing back the way he'd come, hoping he was making the right decision.