Chapter 3: In Comes Mr. Night

There were many dark days in Bumblebee's life. From battles to leaving his home world to die, from having his vocal processors nearly ripped out to lying helpless in the street while his comrades fought. No, Bumblebee was not a stranger to suffering. Still, sitting as a car in the hospital parking lot, waiting for the Witwicky adults to come tell him news of Sam rated as one of his worst times. It is my fault. I have failed Sam as his guardian. It is all my fault. The self directed accusations kept running through his mind as he stared at the hospital.

A loud, rumbling sounded as Ironhide pulled up beside the yellow Autobot, but Bumblebee hardly noticed. It took him a long time to acknowledge his friend or the human hand on his door. "What happened, Bumblebee?" Lennox asked softly.

His vocal processors felt tight and misused. "Sam saw Mikaela and her new mate at the shopping mall. The new male didn't like the way Sam looked at his female and…and he cornered Sam in the men's room with a knife…Mikaela found them…Sam…he…" That was all the more Bumblebee could say.

"We should find this human and crush him," Ironhide said resolutely. Bumblebee did not doubt that the black bot would do just that without a second thought, and at the moment he didn't have the will to argue with him.

"Whoa!" Ironhide's human commanded with his hands in the air. "You guys realize what would happen if there was a report of you actually killing a human. I heard that the kid is already in police custody. Let them handle this. Right now, we need to think about Sam."

"Hrumph. I believe your human authorities are too soft, but I will not harm him," Ironhide agreed.

"My fault…" Bumblebee muttered ignoring the pain.

"It's not your fault, Bee," Lennox assured him "I'm going to go in there now and see how he's doing. If he's stable enough, I already talked my commanding officers into allowing him to be moved to a more "Autobot friendly" facility. I told them that you would most likely compromise your existence by trying to visit Sam."

In that moment, Bumblebee was more than grateful to have the Army Ranger among their allies. He had always liked the human soldier, but now he could honestly count him as a friend. "Thank you."

The two Autobots sat in silence as they waited for Lennox to return. Of all the Autobots, they were the least communicative and the situation made them even less so. Ironhide's presence, silent as it may be, was still reassuring to the smaller bot. Being near one of his own kind gave him a tenuous amount of comfort.

Lennox, thankfully, did not take long. He strode across the lot with a grim look on his face. The human ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "It's not good. The doctors said that Sam was stabbed at least fourteen times. He has a lot of internal bleeding, and they are pretty sure one of the stabs to the neck, nicked his spinal chord on the left side. They had to re-inflate one lung and they are still dealing with all of the damage to his liver and stomach."

"Will the boy live?" Ironhide demanded. At that moment, Bumblebee could not bare to ask that question…nor was he truly ready for the answer.

"They're not sure yet. The next twenty-four hours are crucial. If he lives that long, he might have a chance. I'm really sorry, Bumblebee," the human said sympathetically.

The world felt like it was shattering. Bumblebee barely heard Lennox say that he was going in to await more information. Ironhide, though physically still present, disappeared from Bumblebee's awareness. What would Earth be without Sam? In the perspective of an Autobot's life, twenty-four human hours is such a tiny amount of time, but to Bumblebee every one of those hours was agony. Somewhere in that space of time, Ratchet and Optimus arrived. He vaguely heard their sympathies and heard them speaking with Ironhide, but all he cared about was waiting on word of his Sam.

In the morning, a very tired looking Lennox returned to them once more. He greeted the new arrivals before beginning his report. "Things are still kind of touch and go. They've got him on a respirator and he's still unconscious, but he's alive. Sam's a tough kid. That said, the doctors don't think it's safe to move him until after he's regain consciousness and breathing on his own."

"A wise choice," Rachett agreed from beside him.

The medic questioned Lennox extensively on Sam's condition, but once again Bumblebee was in his own little world.

Please, Sam, Bumblebee begged. Don't die.

Another twenty-four hours passed, and Sam did not die. Though he still had not awakened, Lennox did report that the doctors were pleased with his progress. Bumblebee's relief was substantial, but he would not be able to relax until he had seen Sam—alive and well.

Lennox left the hospital that evening. He told the Autobots that he needed to sleep on something resembling a bed and call his wife. Ironhide took his human to a nearby motel to sleep. Without his human connection to Sam, Bumblebee felt even more withdrawn.

On the dawning of the third day, Optimus decided not to let Bumblebee sit in silence any longer. "Blaming yourself will not make this go away, my friend," the larger bot said in a matter-of-fact-tone. He expected nothing less than objectivity from their leader, but that did not mean that it was welcome. Unprompted, Optimus continued, "I have considered your attachment to Sam to be harmful to you for some time now. Humans are fragile creatures. They die so easily and live much shorter lives—you must see this. Even if Sam lives through this, it is likely he will be impaired. Perhaps it is best if you leave him."

Anger surged through Bumblebee. "Is that how you thought of me when I was injured? When I was captured?"

Optimus Prime seemed to choose his words carefully. "You know why I was forced to leave you with the humans. As for when you were wounded—no, I would not have left you. You are my friend and one of the few of our kind left. Still, Sam is not our kind. He has the love of his kind to sustain him. Tell me, Bumblebee, will you endure this again years from now, when the boy is old and dying?"

"If I must," cam Bumblebee's weak reply.

"Then so be it. I will wait with you."

"As will I," Ratchet chimed in.

"You don't think I'm going to let you three sit here all sappy on your own do you?" Ironhide asked pull up beside them.

For the first time since Sam had been hurt, Bumblebee realized that he was not alone. He could not ask for more from his friends.

It was late on the fourth day when Bumblebee saw the elder Witwicky male crossing the parking lot. He looked haggard and careworn. It was obvious that the human had scarcely left his offspring's side.

Bumblebee had only spoken to the Witwicky adults on one occasion. After an intense debriefing, they had been brought in to meet the Autobot who would be taking up residence in their driveway. After the initial greetings, the humans had promptly ignored Bumblebee's existence. Sam had told him once that it was easier for them to pretend that he was just a car. The thought of giant, alien robots living among them was simply too much for them to bear.

The man stopped just short of the collection of Autobots. Unsure of the others, he moved closer toward Bumblebee. "He's awake," he said softly. "Sam's going to live."

"Thank the Stars!" Bumblebee said feeling a wash of agony lift from him.

The Witwicky male nodded. "He's not out of the woods yet. He's got some paralysis on his right side, and the doctors don't want to take his tracheotomy tube out until they are sure the wounds in his throat are alright, so he can't talk yet." He let out a sad chuckle. "He can't talk, can barely move, and he still made it obvious that you are the first person he wants to see. We agreed to let Lennox move him in the morning."

"Mr. Witwicky, thank you for telling me this," Bumblebee murmured gratefully.

Sam's father only nodded before disappearing back into the building.

With the knowledge that Sam would be alright, Bumblebee let himself drift into stasis. Tomorrow, he would be able to see Sam."