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Disclaimer: I do not own the characters but this plot is all mine.

After relinquishing control to this new driver, Bumblebee found himself being driven into the nearby town's shopping area; alive and buzzing with pedestrians. The woman drove cautiously along the busy streets; not seeming perturbed by the number of stops at crossing lights and hordes of shoppers. They eventually pulled up along a quaint, outdated bookshop wedged between two modern buildings, each standing several floors taller than it. A metallic sign was hung above the door with the words 'Nell's Book Corner' scrawled across it in white paint.

The contrast between the buildings caught the autobot's interest and he found himself curious about the kinds of books inside. Whether there were vintage books with war tales or medieval battles. His passenger on the other hand wasted no time to get out and make her way into the shop. Her movements indicated that there was some degree of familiarity with the business place; either she was an avid reader who frequented the shop or perhaps the owner. Whoever she was, Bumblebee was glad she was well away from him to check in with the other Autobots, including Hound.

As soon as he switched on his comm. link Optimus Prime's voice came through to him.

"Bumblebee. Come in, Bumblebee. Please report your status."

"I'm here, Optimus. Reading you loud and clear." Bumblebee answered, swearing internally. He truly hoped Optimus didn't need him for a mission right at this time.

"Bumblebee," Optimus's tone stretched the Autobot's name out indicating that he was bothered by the lack of feedback. "We have been trying to contact you for over ten minutes now but your comm. was turned off. What is your location? Is there a situation that we should know about? Do you need backup?"

"No situation here, Optimus," Bee replied. "I - uh - switched off my comm. to ignore Hound's singing and forgot to turn it back on. I promise that it won't happen again. I'm sending my coordinates to you now."

Optimus hummed like he suspected a lie, but he accepted the bot's explanation. "From now on maintain all communications, Bumblebee. The decepticon Berserker recently broke free from a military holding facility and was last spotted twenty cyber-klicks from your current position. Be on the alert and call for assistance to bring him in."

"Got it, Optimus. Bumblebee out." The yellow autobot groaned as he attempted to contact Hound for the first time since they parted ways. "Hound, you there?"

"Hound here. I guess Optimus finally got a hold of ya to tell ya about that escaped 'con, huh?"

"Yes, but where are you with that car and what did you tell Optimus?"

"I got the car to Cade's new place and he agreed to repair it. Should only take a couple o' hours."

Bumblebee sighed in relief. "Thank the AllSpark."

"Indeed... I told Optimus and the others that I left ya to come in for a check. Felt like I got a fluid line leak or something. But with this 'con on the loose I'm thinking of rejoining ya. By the way, where's the human?" Hound asked.

"Right now she's in a bookshop. She could be coming out anytime soon. It's pretty busy with people out here; busier than usual."

"Today is Small Business Saturday," Hound stated as a matter of fact. "Sales everywhere too."

"And how do you know th-?" Bumblebee began asking, but stopped when two forms emerged from the rustic doors. "Scrap! Forget that, Hound. She's coming back with a passenger. Get out here to help keep an eye out for the Berserker."

"Ha! Not a problem. I've been itching for months to pound one of 'em 'cons."

"Thanks, Hound. Will catch up with you as soon as I can. Bumblebee out."

The woman was accompanied by an older female appearing to be in her late fifties. There was also a striking resemblance between them. Both had high, defined cheek bones and dark; deep-set eyes. Their relation was undeniable.

"Danielle, Honey, won't you think about it? the older woman said as they approached the Camaro. "For me, your dear mother."

"Ma, for the thousandth time, no."

"But after your accident I just thought -"

"No," Danielle said cutting her mother off. "You're not gonna bring this up anymore. You're not allowed to use my accident as an excuse to have your way, like you used dad's accident to get a divorce from him."

Her mother's lips plunged to give a pained expression. "Danielle... how could you say that?"

Upon seeing the other woman's face, Danielle immediately regretted her statement. "Look, Ma. I know that you're scared for us and you don't want anything bad to happen to me, but this is where I want to be and there's nothing that you can say or do to change my mind. Okay?"

Her mother ducked her head and grumbled, "You're just as stubborn as he is."

Danielle smiled crookedly and pulled the woman into a tight hug. "I know, Ma and I will always love you. But I'm running late so I gotta go. Bye." She released her mother and slipped into the car before she could protest.

Danielle pulled off with Bumblebee leaving her mother standing at the curbside waving forlornly.

The Autobot was glad it was this one passenger and not two of them. He couldn't imagine having to listen to their mother-daughter bickering. He was praying to the AllSpark for her to stop off at home for him to go hunt the escaped 'con. Instead they were travelling to the outskirts of the town where population numbers dwindled. She steered the Autobot on to a road which led to an interstate highway and after a few klicks, branched off on to another unfamiliar stretch.

'Where are you going?' Bee wondered. He decided to transmit his new coordinates to Hound when the woman rammed her heel down on the brake and brought them to a screeching stop.

'What in the name of Cybertron!' Bumblebee's attention was quickly drawn to the titan mass in their path. Berserker was standing in the middle of the neglected road and he bent over to look into the Chevy.

"Your vehicle reminds me of that autobot Bumblebee," he told the tiny driver before dropping his fist on Bee's hood.

'Scrap!' Bumblebee cringed inwardly as Danielle's scream cut through the air.

The Autobot remained calm hoping that the deception would bypass them believing that he was just another human's car. Danielle however, had already thrown Bumblebee's gear into reverse and floored the accelerator. Bee was taken by surprise as they sped away from Berserker in reverse. In spite of her fear, her control of the muscle car was executed near flawless and Berserker stood up in shock.

"Hey! Get back here!" the deception shouted, sprinting towards them in pursuit. "I'm not done chatting with you."

"Oh God, no," the woman cried spotting Berserker's advance. She mashed down on the brake, locked the steering and allowed the Camaro to tailspin 360° until they were facing forward. Then she floored the accelerator once more to get away from the decepticon.

Bumblebee had to admit that he was impressed by her driving skills, but for the sake of survival he had to take back total control of his vehicle mode. Berserker transformed into his vehicle mode and was gaining on them.

"Call 911!" She suddenly yelled in the direction of the dashboard causing the Autobot to wonder if she was speaking to him.

"Call 911, you stupid, useless phone! I'm being chased by a giant alien. Call 911, call Dad, call 911!" Danielle banged her palm against the pseudo MyLink screen. "No, no, no! This is not the time for Bluetooth to stop working. Damn it!"

This time Bumblebee spoke up, "Hang on, Danielle. I'll get you out of here. Optimus, Hound, I have a real 911 situation here. Berserker is on my tail and I have a human civilian with me. Sending our coordinates your way. We're headed north towards highway 41."

Optimus responded instantly on the comm. link. "We're on our way, Bumblebee. Hound will be there first for he is the closest to you."

"What's happening?" Danielle asked; her palms were sweaty against the steering. "Who are you?"

"Don't worry. I'll explain everything to you later; after we get rid of this sociopath. I just need you to hang tight, alright?"

The woman barely nodded and tightened her fist on the steering wheel. She glanced up at the rearview mirror in time to see Berserker launch what looked like several missiles into the sky. They arched overhead forming streams of white smoke and descended toward the road ahead.

"No!" She grabbed the steering and tried to yank it to the left, but it rotated to the right, smarting all ten of her fingers. "Agh! What the -!"

The ground exploded on impact from the mini-missiles, spewing a cloud of black debris like an erupting volcano.

Danielle screamed covering her face and head with her arms. The daring Autobot's tyres burned against the asphalt as he tried to veer away from the storm.

The momentum of the sharp turn propelled them into the path of the would-be Decepticon who was careening towards them.

"Scrap!" Bumblebee swore, realizing that a full-on impact with Berserker in vehicle mode could possibly kill his passenger. With his options limited, Bumblebee transformed into his primary form, held the howling woman protectively in his hand and tried to flip over Berserker.

"Woohoo! An Autobot!" Berserker hollered in celebration at revelation of the yellow Autobot and somewhere mid-rotation he figured out the other's intention. Acting quickly he launched into the air; transforming into his natural mode to body-block Bumblebee's roll.

A loud boom echoed through the atmosphere when the Autobot's back collided with Berserker's face knocking him back, and while he was falling to the ground Bumblebee twisted to point his armed hand at the 'con's chest and fired a shot. Berserker's energon light flickered off as his body landed with a thud on the road; and Bumblebee next to him.

Shocked by the force of the collision, the Autobot remained motionless on the ground staring up at the sky while Danielle wriggled out of his hand. The woman stumbled around like a disoriented drunk and her ankles bent at agonizing angles each time the heels failed to stay upright.

After a few attempts to steady herself, she managed to find Bumblebee's head and dropped to her knees beside him. She slapped one hand against his face to get his attention.

"Hey, you. Wake up. Wake up for Christ's sake. I need my car back," she croaked.

The 'bot's optics followed her, but his only response was a groan.

"You tried to kill me! My own car." She slapped the Autobot once more and used his chin as support to push herself up. "I need to get out of here," she mumbled while attempting to walk, but her legs wobbled and sent her sprawling on the ground. "Damn it!"

The sound of another approaching vehicle caught her attention and she instantly took cover behind Bumblebee's arm.

A large olive-green vehicle pulled alongside the fallen Cybertronians and transformed into a giant, humanoid form. "Naw, Bee. Don't tell me I'm too late. Yer can't go out just like that, Bee. Can ya hear me?" Hound knelt beside the young Autobot and started to assess his damages. "Yer in shock, I suppose. Ya didn't even leave a little bit of Berserker for me do some crushing."

Bumblebee groaned and moved his arm to reveal the hiding Danielle. She shrieked and threw her arms up in the air saying, "Please don't hurt me!"

"Oh calm down. If I wanted to hurt ya, you'd probably be dead already," he corrected her. "Tell me, what happened to him?"

Danielle glanced from Hound's menacing form to Bumblebee and back to Hound. "He – uh - crashed into the crazy one with the missiles and I think he shot him. Everything happened so fast, I couldn't say for sure."

"Are ya certain he wasn't hit by a missile?" Hound rolled Bumblebee onto his side to check his back.

"No, we weren't hit by any," she replied.

"Good. At least I don't see any evidence of it. Alright, Bumblehead, time to stop yer whining and get up." He pulled the protesting Bumblebee up into a sitting position and patted his metallic head. "Come on, snap out of it. We need to get ya back to the base."

"Hound, the stars; they hurt so much," Bumblebee said to the older 'bot, trying to remain steady in the upright position.

"Yes, yes. They do that sometimes," Hound responded in light. "What'd ya say we get out of this joint, uh?'

"Hey, hold up. What about me?" Danielle piped, struggling to maneuver around Bumblebee's legs. "Isn't he my car? I still need to get home."

Hound's thunderous laughter rumbled out of him at that. "He is not your car. He's an Autobot that just happens to look like your vehicle," he clarified.

Danielle opened her mouth again to say something but was interrupted by a red and blue truck rolling on scene. Like Hound it came to a halt and transformed into an even bigger robot. The woman staggered back in awe of the alien's commanding presence.

"What is wrong with Bumblebee? Is he severely hurt?" Optimus asked Hound, surveying the area.

"Not from what I can see externally, but according to the human, Bumblebee took a pretty hard hit before taking out ole' Berserker here. He should be fine once we get back to the base."

"I see." Optimus, "And what about you, Miss? Are you injured in any way?"

Danielle was caught off guard by the direct address and stammered somewhat. "No, I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

"And where do you wish to be dropped off?" Optimus continued.

"I - I live in the Valley, but can any of you tell me where my real car is? Since it's clearly not him." She gestured to Bumblebee who suddenly looked a little more alert than before.

"Uh – about that," Hound muttered anxiously. "It's in Cade's shop for repairs."

"Repairs?" Danielle frowned. "What repairs? Why did my car need to be repaired? It was fine this morning. Wait, how long was I driving…Bumblebee? Who is Cade? And how did you get my car there in the first place?" She demanded.

Hound shifted nervously and moved to help Bumblebee up. "I can't answer all that right now. We need to get Bee to triage STAT."

"Answer the question, Hound," Optimus urged, stopping the Autobots in their tracks. "I am curious to know the answers myself."

"It had to be repaired because of the damages," Hound replied unwillingly.

"Damages he caused actually," Bumblebee added.

Danielle gasped in horror. "What damages?"

…..

-End-