Cade

Cade Yeager stared out the window of his two-story farmhouse as he watched his young seventeen year-old daughter sit on the dry grass. His head was a jumble of thoughts. Tessa was, and always will be, his reason for living. She was everything to him, even when she didn't listen or got angry at him. It was all the time that he wondered how he could keep her safe. Cade didn't want his daughter to lead a sheltered life, but one where she was protected and still did things that many teenagers did. He already knew that he couldn't shelter her against Shane. . .

Cade shut the blinds before he left the house behind and headed towards his newly built barn. On the way there, he passed the small stone that was almost like a gravestone, but with nothing buried underneath. It represented his friend, Lucas, who had died during the war.

The barn was painted red, like most barns were. It wasn't the kind of red that strained your eyes when you looked at it, but a deep red that had the look for a farm. Inside wasn't the wreckage it had been before he had bought the truck that had turned out to be Optimus Prime. Joshua Joyce had made sure that Cade was fixed up with good technology and the right tools to continue his creation of new inventions. The back of the barn was an empty space, when or if any Autobots decided to come and stay.

Optimus Prime had left the other Autobots, leaving Hound, Crosshairs, Bumblebee, and Drift to protect Cade and Tessa Yeager. But after several weeks of staying at the Yeager farm, the four Autobots had left; they had disappeared. Two months later, Cade hadn't heard a thing from them. Perhaps they were off fighting crime, or back in hiding. Cade didn't know a thing about where they went, or if all of them were still alive.

Cade sometimes wondered if they were ever to come back. He would be satisfied with knowing they were still alive. The young inventor felt somewhat responsible for the Autobots. They saved him; he saved them, but then what? He still felt like they deserved something else. They saved Chicago, and maybe even the world.

Cade Yeager fell into a chair, slouching his back and shoulders. He was tired; lately that was all he ever was. Whether it was because of his nonstop inventing and building, or something else he didn't know. Though it was a possibility that Cade was having lack of sleep.

The flickering of the barn lights interrupted Cade's thoughts furthermore, and he stood from his chair. The lights flickered once more and he started moving towards the door, slow and steady.

Things like this didn't happen very often. In fact, they didn't happen at all. So it was all strange to Cade as he made his way to the barn door and slid outside. At first Cade Yeager didn't see anything, but as his eyes adjusted to the darkness - only the light of a half-moon to guide him - Cade realized that what was going on wasn't a storm, or anything else an imagination might stir up. No, this wasn't anything ordinary.

This was the doing of a Transformer.

A nearby Autobot, or Decepticon, must have hit a power line, because before Cade Yeager knows it, all the lights in the barn and the house shut off within seconds.

Cade thought about running to the house and checking on his daughter. She was obviously inside; her spot by the fence abandoned. But Cade felt it better not to tell his daughter that a robot alien could be nearby, whether it be friendly or not. Hopefully she was sound asleep, not to where she would wake up and notice all the lights having burnt out.

Cade spun around several times, looking for any signs that an Autobot or Decepticon or Dinobot was heading his way. He saw nothing, and began to put aside the idea that the Autobots might be returning to the Yeager family. As Cade turned to go to the house, something fell to the ground in front of him; something so big that it shook the earth beneath Cade Yeager. He himself fell to the ground, putting his arms up as a sort of shield.

"Holy sh-"

Cade didn't finish his words. Instead, he looked up at the Autobot that was only inches from him; an Autobot that was familiar. One that transformed from a robot alien into a familiar-looking 2014 Camaro. . .

In front of Cade Yeager was Bumblebee.

"Cade jumped up from his spot on the ground and walked closer to Bumblebee, squinting his eyes to make sure that this was really happening. He didn't know whether this were real or just a dream; an illusion.

"Bumblebee," Cade said, "what are you doing here?" He glanced around Bumblebee and everywhere else. "Where are the other Autobots?"

"It's. . . only me," Bumblebee said.

Cade's heart dropped for a moment. Were the rest of the Autobots dead? He thought to himself. Or were they still alive? Just not with Bumblebee. Cade didn't want to ask, afraid of the answer that awaited him. What if the answer wasn't good? What if the rest of the Autobots were dead? Many questions pounded against Cade's mind.

"I come alone," Bumblebee spoke through the many channels, "the rest have not come with me."

"Why'd you come alone?" Cade questioned.

"I can only trust so many people." Bumblebee said, his voice changing. "The others do not know I have left. They'll notice sooner or later. . . and I want to be gone by then."

"Be gone? Where are you going?" Cade wondered if Bumblebee would follow the path of Optimus Prime, or at least leave planet Earth.

It seemed as though the yellow Autobot hesitated. He bent down on one knee, and with another moment's hesitation, he spoke.

"There's someone I need to see."

"Who?"

"Someone important. You should know in case." Bumblebee said. "I trust you not to tell anyone else."

Cade thought about it. Bumblebee trusted him to not say anything to his daughter, to the other Autobots if they were to ever return, or to anyone else who might need to know. It was hard to think that he would have to keep a secret from Tessa who had been through it all with him.

"Why me?" Cade looked up at Bumblebee. "Why just me?"

"You saved the Autobots." Bumblebee announced. "I know that you're our ally, our friend. You're someone I can trust."

Cade nodded and said, "maybe one day you can tell me where you're going. . . or who you're going to see?"

"Maybe one day."

Cade didn't expect for Bumblebee to turn into his car form and back up. Cade watched as the yellow Camaro kept backing up, and with a few final words, he sped off into the night.

Cade Yeager went to bed that night thinking about Bumblebee and whoever he needed to see. If it was that important that Cade couldn't tell anyone, he didn't know if he wanted to protect such a secret. But was it really that complicated? Was it really that secretive? Cade decided that whatever the circumstances, he wouldn't tell a soul about his short conversation with the Transformer.

There's someone I need to see.

The words lingered in Cade's mind until he slowly but surely fell asleep.