Transformers: No Sacrifice, No victory.
Chapter 3: The Talk
Mikaela looked out the small window set in her front door for what must have been the hundredth time that hour. It was dark in the entryway, the entire house actually since her mother and little sister had gone to sleep a while ago. But that was good; it kept her from having to offer any awkward explanations as to why Sam's car pulled up to the house at midnight….without a driver none the less.
She was already slipping out the front door as soon as the first glimpse of yellow and black entered her line of vision, pulling quietly up the street to park discreetly behind neighbor's hedge. Usually Sam would open the passenger door for her before getting in the drivers seat himself, even though the teen would just rest his hands on the wheel and let Bee do the driving while the couple enjoyed some quality time.
It was one of those things that she loved about Sam, one of the chivalrous habits that brought out just how adorable he could be. She hesitated upon reaching the sidewalk, mind dwelling briefly on those things while realizing that even in the short amount of time they had been going out, she had gotten used to being treated with respect, so different than the way it had been with the string of losers that had called her 'their girl' before.
As if sensing her lapse in focus, Bee opened the door for her causing Mikaela to jerk out of her reverie and give a soft little chuckle "Thank you." She murmured before slipping into the seat and strapping in as the door closed by itself and the Camaro pulled away from the curb settling into a cruising speed down the street.
'So I just have to say, where do we go from here baby?
Talk to me now, cus' I really have to know,
where do we go from here?'
After a few moments of static the radio settled on a portion of a song that clearly conveyed the question on Bumblebee's mind. Where did she want to go? Biting her lower lip a bit until it stung she sucked in some air and glanced out the side window Mikaela felt her stomach clench and hesitated for a moment before stealing her resolve. Yes, Sam would be furious at her for telling Bumblebee what was going on after he had asked her for more time to do it himself, but this was just way to important to let Sam wait until he was ready!
"How about the lookout? No one will be around this time of night, so we won't have to worry about anyone coming along or anything like that." Mikaela said almost immediately, she had been thinking about where to have this talk from the moment she had asked the Camaro to steal himself, and their usual hang-out spot just seamed the best place. Bumblebee honked briefly in acknowledgement and took the next turn off that would set them on the road to the remote scenic overlook.
"Um…Bee." She started, unable to just sit silently until they arrived. The engine revved slightly in response as if to say 'yes? Go on…I'm listening' "Have you noticed that Sam….well….that he just isn't acting quite like himself lately?" Mikaela asked carefully wondering if the autobot had noticed anything odd as well, or if it was just her who had noticed the warning signs.
Bumblebee was silent for a moment, mulling over the question and reviewing the behavior of his human as of late. He knew for a fact that something was wrong, Sam just didn't have the same upbeat energy and cheerfulness lately. But of course humans were sensitive creatures and any number of causes from stress to emotional misunderstandings could likely be the cause of unusual behavior problems. Infact Bumblebee would be overjoyed if it turned out to be nothing more than a simple emotional problem brought on by misunderstandings or stress.
Infact, from his research didn't young human couples often have relationship problems from time to time? The Camaro decided to ask a few questions before becoming any more upset over the prospect of something wrong with the young Witwicky.
'I saw the sign, and it opened up my mind..' sounded out from the radio, than..
'Not cheating on you girl, oh no….the love is so true…..' and finally
'Open up your heart, and tell me what you feel…'
Any other time Mikaela would have laughed for two reasons. Firstly even though he could talk now Bee still loved to find songs on the radio to convey what he wanted to say most of the time, and secondly apparently the Autobot thought that she was worried about relationship problems. Like Sam cheating on her or something. Yah, Sam the playboy. At any other time it would have been funny. The Camaro pulled into its usual spot near the overlook and popped the door open.
She quickly unbelted and slit out moving several feet away anticipating the yellow autobot's next move. With the sound of shifting metal and whirling gears and components Bumblebee unfolded into his true form and gave a quick stretch before sitting on the ground in something akin to 'Indian style' and propping his head up in one hand optics focused on the small human in front of him 'Talk to me baby' a sultry man's voice from some late night show proclaimed.
Mikaela felt to restless to sit, so took to pacing in front of the Autobot instead "I don't think he is cheating on me Bee. It's nothing like that at all. I'm scared for him actually….have you noticed that….he's been sick lately?" she asked all in a rush the words spilling out like she was afraid if she slowed down they would stick in her throat "Are you….the Autobots I mean…..are you….radioactive?" she forced out turning to look up at the transformer's face.
Bumblebee removed his hand from under his chin and straitened up, his concern shifting to full blown worry as any hope for a 'normal' reason dissolved. There was a pause than the autobot spoke softly in his own, real voice although it still seemed difficult for him to form certain words with the newly repaired vocal receptors "Radiation is nominal. Not harmful levels." He said carefully optics studding her features carefully "How sick?"
Mikaela bit her lower lip again and then took a deep steadying breath "Well…the part I know about…he's tiered more than usual. At first he was really sick, fever, vomiting, nausea…headaches…stuff like that. We thought maybe it was just the flu or something, due to the stress of the battle it could have been something he caught due to a low immune system caused by all the crap we went through."
She glanced up at the Autobot and saw that the Transformer was silently listening to her, his optics burning even brighter than normal if she wasn't mistaken. Taking the silence as s sign she should keep on explaining Mikaela pushed on
"But even though he didn't show any wounds three days after the battle when we were all up here watching the sunset… remember that? I thought it was a little odd that he would heal up so fast after getting banged up the way he had, but I didn't think about it much then. I was just so happy we had made it through alive. But even though he looked alright…he still got very sick a few days afterwards.
Later I found out that it got really bad for a day or two, he didn't even tell me how bad until I made him, and it hasn't gone away either. Sam just told me that it happens less now. And there are the burns on his hands….I think he got them from the Cube somehow….they hasn't gone away and he still acts like it hurts."
Mikaela stopped and waited for a response, desperately wanting Bee to tell her that it was alright and the symptoms were something understandable caused by something they knew how to handle that would go away soon. She wasn't going to be that lucky…but first Bumblebee had a very important question to ask. "Anything else?" the Autobot said fighting to keep his soft tone steady and the worry bordering on fear that crawled along his circuitry. And the sinking feeling in his core that there would be more distressing information to come, the look in her eyes and quicking heart rate told him so more than any instinct could.
"Well…yes. Today in the park…you saw us running towards the parking lot looking upset remember? And Sam told you he had lost his watch and we had to hurry and get back so I could pack…" Bumblebee nodded in encouragement and as a sign for her to continue. "Well he didn't loose the watch. It just…came…alive and. It attacked us. We were chasing it Bee, you stepped on it without knowing."
Bumblebee quickly grabbed one large foot and raised it so he could look at the bottom of the limb. Running his finger across it before lifting his finger up to the optics and magnifying the view many hundreds of times. Scanning his finger the bot detected traces of Transformer metalics. Quickly he lifted one hand to the side of his head tapping something before lowering the limb "Bumblebee to Prime. Requesting immediate meeting at home point lookout. It's about Sam."
Mikaela was shocked to hear so much speaking from yellow Autobot, that was the most she had heard him say at once. And he was calling Optimus, right now. It was serious than, maybe more than even she had thought. Tears stung the corners of her eyes and her breath hitched as distantly she heard the reply over the com, 'Prime here. Received and acknowledged. Rondavue in thirty minutes. Optimus out.'
Mikaela was a little startled at the immediate response, and only a half hour before they would be here? Bumblebee however was not shocked, he knew his fellow Autobots had taken up positions around the town and even Optimus tended not to stray far from their new human friends. "You did the right thing. Tell them." Bumblebee said reassuringly watching as Mikeala nodded and then looked up at the dark sky brushing the tears from her eyes. With this kind of reaction it had to be bad…very…very…bad.
"Oh Sam…what's happening to you..?" she whispered in a choked sob. But the cold glitter of starlight, and ominous silence from Bumblebee offered no response.
(Notes) Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and those who volunteered to Betaread! For this chapter I used jhvh777 for my beta-reader thanks to him/her this chapter managed to get done quickly. Also I noticed all the stories popping up with similar plots to mine…heh he…it's flattering! Coming soon: The surviving Decepticons and what they are doing right now, and Optimus has a 'face to face' talk with Sam about what he has been hiding. Stay tuned!