Adaptations of Love
By Winged Dreamer and Nightmare
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Author's Notes: A little insert because we can. Think of it as a relevant drabble.
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Chapter 01.5 (Interlude)
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One week.
It seemed like such an infinitesimally small amount of time to him and yet, at the same time, it felt like an eternity at this point. But then, his entire sense of time was skewed now, wasn't it? Just one human week…
Already the separation was unbearable. Oh, he could function. He could operate like he always did, following orders with the usual precision. He was just… distracted. Spacing out, as the "twins" kept calling it when they caught him staring into his own memory banks for just a glimpse of Sam. Bumblebee made a sound that was the Cybertronian equivalent of a forlorn sigh and swallowed the last of his latest ration of Energon. He got more of it than the others at least for right now while he was expending so much energy in experiment after experiment and test after trial after test. Ratchet and Wheeljack would be expecting him in the research hangar soon both as eager as he for the completion of the project that had called him away from his duty to his human charge but for their own reasons. Ratchet wanted the experiments over with so that he could stop worrying about Bumblebee getting blown up by his interface-partner or vise versa. Wheeljack wanted the experiments completed so that he would have the answers to the questions posed. And Bumblebee himself? He wanted the experiments to reach completion so that he could speed back home and be there when Sam returned. According to Wheeljack as of last night, however, that wasn't going to happen because Sam, his family and Mikaela were going to be brought to the Autobots' new home base for a tour. That meant that Bumblebee would just have to sit tight for another two weeks before seeing Sam again. Irritating, but doable.
Two more weeks…
It was going to be a long, long fourteen human days.
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Sam tossed and turned on the overly large motel bed, trying his best to stay quiet about it so he wouldn't wake up his parents. But once again he just. Couldn't. Sleep.
Frustrated, he slipped out of bed and padded over to the window. A small tug on the heavy curtains pulled them aside just enough for him to spot Chromia sitting out in the parking lot, looking for all the world just like another family van among the other cars. It hurt to not see Bumblebee sitting next to her, resting in the Autobot version of standby mode, patiently waiting for Sam to wake up so they could spend another day or hour or even minute together.
It only took a couple minutes of searching to find the room key in his mother's purse, then another couple to dig out his brand new digital camera from his backpack. Quiet as a shadow, he slipped out into the parking lot. A light touch to Chromia's door popped the lock and he climbed into her driver's seat, comforted a little by the welcoming warmth in the fabric at his back. At least she understood how much Sam hated to be separated from his best friend. Most days, Sam was convinced that his parents didn't quite understand that their "cars" were indeed alive with just as broad a range of emotions as any human and just as intelligent, if not more so.
Folding his legs beneath him, Sam turned on his camera and slowly went through the almost thousand pictures he had taken in just the past ten days since they'd arrived at the Grand Canyon. He deleted the few really bad shots, but the rest he kept, wanting to have as many as possible to show Bee when they got home. Already Sam was thinking of how to tell Bee about everything he saw, all the people he'd met, how much they needed to go back so Bee could actually see for himself all the things in the pictures… all while Bumblebee listened with rapt attention, always eager to hear Sam's stories.
Now even more lonely than he had been a few minutes ago, Sam turned off the camera and ran a light hand over the steering wheel. "Hey, Chromia. Do you mind if I sleep in here tonight?" She may not be Bumblebee, but she was still his friend and infinitely more understanding than his parents.
The radio softly clicked on, searching for only a moment before finding the right song. "Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes. And save these questions for another day…"
Sam smiled and stroked the wheel again. "Thanks, Chromia." He leaned the seat back and curled up on his side. This time, he fell asleep almost instantly.
TBC…
Song Credits:
"Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)" by Billy Joel