Author's Note: I'd like to apologize for the prolonged absence I've made. I disappeared from this site without an explanation, and I am sorry for leaving my stories unfinished. Hope you guys will understand. Thank you. X - Master Isabella

Bumblebee

It was a seemingly content night at Sam's house.

Everything was peaceful except for the occasional revving of engines or the singing of cicadas. Although Bee felt like he could finally relax, his senses stayed perked, his eyes scanning for any signs of his allies.

Staring at Sam, he knew he didn't want the other Autobots' to know about the kid. Sam wanted - needed - a normal life, which meant that no matter what, Bee had to keep his visit a secret. Prime was the only other Autobot that knew about Sam's existence and his play in the past of Autobots and Decepticons. And since Optimus was somewhere deep in the patches of space, it'd have to do that Bee was the only other one who remembered the Witwicky boy.

"Well, I'm out," Carly announced her retirement to bed. She pecked a kiss on Sam's cheek before turning to Bee, taking into her view the tall figure. She whispered to Bee, out of Sam's earshot and too low for him to hear. "You take care, alright? And never forget you're always, always welcome here." Turning away like her words were nothing, she strolled into the house, glancing back to toss a small, friendly smile to the Autobot.

Sam watched until his girlfriend disappeared through the back door before he glanced up at his old friend.

"I'm glad you're back, Bee," Sam said, echoing the same words Carly had just said.

Bee nodded in reply.

Sam sighed, scratching the back of his neck. It was a little awkward, to say the least. "Listen, Bee. . . I'm sorry. I really am. I don't know what-"

Bumblebee raised his hand and shook his head, heard the clinking of something in his armor. "No need to apologize."

Sam chuckled and said, "Yeah, there is. I abandoned you, and I'm sorry for that. But. . . I'm also not, because I needed a normal life, for a while at least. And I couldn't get that when I was in the middle of a whole other species' world."

Sam sighed. "Don't you see, Bee?" he asked. "It's not that I wanted to leave you or any of the others, it just got so complicated. I couldn't live without some new enemy targeting me. I lived with a big red dot on my back, and so did Carly and. . . you know, so did Mikaela."

Bee raised his hand to stop him right there. "I understand, no need to explain it to me."

"I just want closure, Bee," Sam said dejectedly. "I need to know you're okay without me. I resented myself for leaving you, and then when all that stuff in Hong Kong, I hated it. Just sitting here doing nothing."

"Sam-"

"I'm sorry, Bee." Sam brushed aside hair from his eyes. "I messed up. I'm an idiot, but-"

"Sam." Bumblebee bent down and opened his palm. It was a gesture he hadn't made in a long time, so it came as no surprise when Sam furrowed his brows, questioning whether or not to take it. At first reluctant, Sam sighed and finally wrapped both hands around one of Bumblebee's fingers.

"Yeah, Bee?"

"I forgive you."

Sam's eyes closed, his tense shoulders relaxing like a weight had lifted. "Thanks, Bee." Opening his eyes, he leaned his head back and looked into the metallic face of his old friend. "I hope. . . I hope someone else was taking care of you out there, y'know?"

"There was," Bee said, his thoughts floating back to the Yeagers, to Cade who had so easily kept his secret, to Tessa who felt the same way Sam did, about a normal life.

Sam smiled, then patted Bee's hand, which gave out a loud ring. "Good. Just glad you're alive, Bee." Before the moment could get much deeper, Sam cleared his throat and started scratching the back of his neck. "So you're okay then? When you leave here, you'll still be okay?"

Bee nodded in quick response. He would. He knew he would. He would continue fighting as an Autobot, protecting the human race and waiting for the long-awaited return of Optimus.

"And the Autobots?" Sam asked, still scratching the back of his neck. A nervous habit, Bee guessed. Maybe some of that nervous, awkward, geeky Sam was still left in him, never truly left. It stung, because thinking back to all that had happened. . . It was hard for Bee to see how easily Sam had moved on. His eyes drifted over to the house, where Sam's old bedroom's light was on, Carly somewhere in the house.

"The Autobots are coming," Bee said, averting his eyes, using his radio transmitter. He felt the need to replace it soon, as it sounded like it was starting to wear down, probably from so much use. Stupid radio. If only his voice worked. "I'll be sure. . . they don't come after you."

"What?" Sam asked, eyes widened. "Why would they come after me?"

Bee raised his hands in alarm. "Not like that. . . Like. . . They don't drag you back into. . . this mess."

"Oh." Sam stared down at his feet. "Right."

"I won't let them," Bee said. "After all you have been through, you deserve a normal life."

Sam's smile brightened at that. "Normal's sort of boring, if you ask me. But, Bee, know I won't ever forget all we'e been through. You, the other Autobots. The Decepticons. Everything. It was a huge part of my life, and I'll never forget it. Bee, I-"

Sam was cut off before he could finish by the extremely loud rumbling of cars. The screech of tires as several headlights blinked into the back alley of Sam's house.

"What the hell?" Sam mumbled, backing up until he was at the edge of his yard, close enough to the patio, glancing up at the window where Carly's face had popped through the curtains, eyes all around large. "Bee, what's going on?"

Bee glanced behind him. "It's the others." Stancing his ground, Bee turned to face the fast-approaching vehicles that were already in transformation from their car counterparts into their ordinary form, the metal twisting into complicated patterns until Bee was facing his allies. Facing the very guys he was running away from temporarily.

Facing the Autobots.

They've found me.

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