As I walked along side Bumblebee, (Well, walked is a loose term. I basically had to jog to keep up with his long strides), I caught snippets of Sam and Mikaela's dialogue. Neither of them could take their eyes off the approaching behemoth as they talked.

"What is it?"

"It's a robot. But like a… Like a different, you know, like a super-advanced robot. It's probably Japanese. Yeah. It's definitely Japanese. She could be controlling it." Sam nodded briefly in my direction.

I snorted and glanced up at the super-advanced robot, who looked down at me with an expression of equal amusement. Me? Control him? Now that would be weird.

"What're you doing?" Mikaela whisper-yelled after Sam, who was beginning to take a few cautious, shuffling steps towards us. "This thing didn't just come out of a cereal box!"

"I don't think it wants to hurt us; it would've done that already." Sam reasoned as Bumblebee came to a halt. I stopped a few feet back and off to the side, allowing Bee to take center stage; he was by far the more interesting specimen.

"Really? Well, do you speak robot because they just had like a giant droid death match!" Mikaela whispered the last three words intensely. "Maybe it's only intermission! Maybe we're the second round!"

Once Sam was pretty close, Bumblebee leaned over, picked something out of the dirt and held it out to Sam. Know what it was? Sam's pants. Sam's irreparable, extremely torn and dirty pair of jeans. I just about lost it then and there. But apparently they were an improvement over his boxers, for Sam muttered, "Uh, thanks." and proceeded to struggle into what was left of his trousers.

It was strange, the feeling I experienced standing with Bumblebee as we looked down at the teenagers-which of course was only because I was further up the hill than them. Something about being on the same side of the huge, powerful being that had them so awe-struck. What was it? Empowerment? Smugness? That was giving it a bit much, but I did feel a certain sense of 'I know something you don't,' but it wasn't demeaning of them in any way. Maybe it was just the familiarity of what was happening; that just the foreknowledge had me feeling if not powerful, then at least a bit special.

Whatever it was, I smiled slightly in a strange sort of contentedness as Sam continued to study Bumblebee, who stared back in what appeared to be equal curiosity.

"I think it wants something from me."

I glanced up at Bee, who had placed his hands on his hips and was now shifting his right foot to create a wider stance. His overall stature gave off a heroic aura. Was he unaware of it? Or was he milking the situation for the fun of it, which is not something I can say I wouldn't have done under similar circumstances.

"What?" Mikaela asked in a 'Are you serious?' tone.

"Well 'cuz the other one was talkin' about my eBay page."

"What's up with that? You selling batteries or something?" When Sam didn't respond, Mikaela blinked and moved her hands in a downward motion of exasperation. "You are the strangest boy I have ever met."

Unexpectedly, Sam's eyes turned towards me. "Can he talk?" he asked.

I crossed my arms and tilted my head towards Bumblebee, my smile widening a bit. "Why don't you ask him?"

Sam complied, stepping back so that he could see Bee's face better, and asked, "Can you, talk? Communicate? In words we could understand?"

"XM Satellite Radio-digital cable brings you-Columbia Broadcasting System-" Bumblebee shifted through various clips of sound to convey his method of communication.

"So you, you talk through the radio?"

"Thank you, you're beautiful. You're wonderful, you're wonderful." What sounded like a talk show host blared from Bumblebee's speakers as he clapped his hands and then pointed at Sam in affirmation of his deduction.

"So what was that last night? I saw you send something up into the sky. What was that?" Sam asked as Mikaela timidly came up beside him, not once taking her eyes of the giant machine.

"Message from Starfleet, Captain—throughout the inanimate vastness of space—will rain down like visitors from heaven halleluiah!"

"You were calling someone? Or trying to?" Sam asked.

"Visitors from heaven…" Mikaela muttered to herself, a look of realization crossing over her face. Gazing up at said visitor, she asked, "What… What are you, like an alien or something?"

With a mechanical, very alien noise of confirmation, Bumblebee pointed at Mikaela before transforming back into his vehicle form. "Any more questions you wanna ask?" said his speakers, warbling a bit, as his passenger side door opened to the teenagers.

While the two in question debated over whether or not to go, I went around to the other side and hopped in the front seat.

"What're you doin'?" the radio asked as I buckled up. "Aren't you a little too young to be driving?"

"They won't have the guts to sit up front." I said, crossing my legs up on the seat so that they'd be away from the petals. "Believe me, I know." Looking out the passenger door, I watched Sam deliver one of my favorite lines, reciting it along with him in my head.

"Fifty years from now, when you're looking back on your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?"

My smile broadened as the teenagers joined us, and I could almost hear the upbeat music playing that would be playing in the background of this scene-Wait, it was actually playing from the radio-as Mikaela crawled into the back seat and Sam sat shotgun. After we'd stopped for Mikaela's purse, which I'd empty of certain unwanted content later, we were on our way.

As we drove off, I caught a glimpse of something sparking at the bottom of the hill. Is that…? When I looked down out the open window, I was extremely amused to find a barely-functioning Barricade, pinned beneath a heavy wrecking ball.

"You dropped a wrecking ball on him?!" I exclaimed, unable to keep my laughter from spilling out.

"My computer beat me at checkers, but I sure beat it at kickboxing." Bee responded.

I leaned back in the seat as I laughed. "Oh, I wish I coulda seen it!"

Sam and Mikaela looked at me. "So, if he's an alien," The boy asked when I'd calmed down. "Then what does that make you?"

I grinned. "Well, I'm not his controller, I'm not a ghost, and I'm not an alien." I ticked off the suggestions on my fingers. "I'm just a kid. I'm normal, like you, only I…know stuff."

"Know stuff?" Mikaela repeated, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Like what?"

I bit my lip and looked away, wondering just how much I should reveal. "Like… Stuff about him," I nodded to the dashboard in front of us. "Stuff about you two," I tilted my head sideways at the teenagers without looking at them. "Stuff that's happening half the world away, and…" my emotions suddenly darkened as I remembered what was to come. I turned towards them in a new air of severity. "Stuff that will happen."

Suspicion, concern and disbelief were their responding emotions. "… How much stuff about us?" Mikaela asked.

"Oh, don't worry!" I reassured them, waving my hands in protest. "Nothing private! Just stuff that's just happened, that's all."

"Such as?"

"Well…" How deep could I get into this without getting into trouble? I wasn't sure, so I avoided the question. "I didn't get here till Sam bought his 'car.'" I used air quotes.

"Wait, get here?"

"Yeah..." I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. Maybe this wasn't the best direction to go. "I've kinda been…hiding in here since you bought him."

"What?! Where?!"

I winced a bit at the volume of Sam's voice. "In the trunk…"

"My dad and I checked the truck before we bought the car. There was nothing in it!"

"I moved. He lifted his back seats and let me out. When you shut the trunk, I went back in."

"So…you've been in here this whole time?!"

I ducked my head in a bit, hunching my shoulders in shame. "Yeah."

"Okay, that is like, majorly creepy." Mikaela stated. "But, why are you here?"

"I wanna help!" I quipped cheerfully, my head popping back up. "If I know what's going to happen, maybe I can fix it! Plus," I grabbed my necklace and showed it to Sam and Mikaela. "I wasn't safe. That cop car-his name's Barricade-saw me with this."

Sam studied the symbol for a moment. "Wait," he said. "That's the same symbol that's on the steering wheel."

"Uh huh! These are the good guys!" I held out my necklace proudly. "You can trust anyone with this!"

Sam nodded. "Good to know. But wait, how do you know all this stuff about us and aliens and…the future? If we choose to believe that. Are you supposed to be an oracle or somethin'?"

At the mention of an oracle, all I could think of was the mummy from The Lightning Thief. "Ewwww gross!"I shook my head and made a face. "No, nothing magic-y like that."

"Then how?"

I looked out the window, trying to think of a way to answer. Maybe it would be easier just to say everything at once, so I wouldn't have to repeat myself. "It's a long story." I told them. "I'll tell everyone when the rest get here."

Mikaela looked nervous. "Rest?"

"The 'visitors from heaven'!" a smile broke out on my face when I thought of the other coming Autobots. "We'll be meeting them soon. I can't wait!"

"So," Sam started, clearly still trying to piece everything together. "If you do know the future, when they get here… What's going to happen? Is it going to be dangerous?"

"… I don't think I should-"

The boy burst a bit. "Just answer me! Is it going to be dangerous?!"

I stared wide-eyed at Sam, a bit startled and not really sure what to say. I didn't blame him for being so worried, but there wasn't much I could say to reassure him. I could lie, but I didn't want to do that. Or I could tell them the truth; that it would be dangerous but in the end they'd be fine. Either way though, I didn't think they'd believe me. I was pretty sure they didn't really believe I knew the future. Who would believe something like that without proof? (Honestly, probably me. I'm quite gullible.) But that was the problem; I couldn't just go and tell them everything that would happen. I had to be very careful about this; about who I told what. For all I knew, if I told them I'd only screw everything up. I could not, was not going to let that happen.

When I didn't respond, Sam groaned, fell back into his seat and looked out the window, and I heard him say, "What have I gotten us into?"

Mikaela sighed, but refrained from speaking as she propped herself between the two front seats. I had noticed something about her. She seemed more…real. More so than her character in the Transformers movie at least. Like she was there for more than just eye candy. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that every way she moved wasn't a pose accenting her curvy, perfect figure. For instance, the way she'd sat in this scene had made her chest a whole lot more noticeable in the film. Not so this time. She sat like a normal, real person, and I was really thankful for it.

As we entered the tunnel, we three humans had fallen to just watching the steering wheel in front of me as it turned. I had discreetly taken a deep breath before entering the tunnel and was trying to see if I could hold it until we got out, and by got I mean when Bumblebee would kick us out. It's a childish habit I gained when I was little, but I still do it even today.

"This car's a pretty good driver." Mikaela broke the silence.

"…Yeah." Was Sam's only response. That is, until he got his idea. "Hey, maybe you should sit in my lap."

Mikaela's face was the definition of 'Really?' "Why?"

"W-well, I have the only seat belt here, besides the kid's, and I don't think you wanna sit on her lap. You know, safety first."

I considered calling Sam out on what I thought was a pretty stupid line, but then again Mikaela was a strong woman. In the movie she wouldn't have a choice, but here she was real. If she didn't want to, she wouldn't. Then again, if she did, it meant that she wanted to sit with Sam, and that would mean that she really did like him. Who was I to sway her decision?

Geez, this was a long tunnel.

After a long sigh, Mikaela gave in. "Yeah, alright." She said quietly as she moved forward.

"Alright?"

"Yeah."

I couldn't hold it anymore. While they were moving around, I took the opportunity to let my breath go in a huff.

"Okay. Now you see, that's better." Sam said as Mikaela leaned against him while he buckled them in. Again I noticed that Mikaela wasn't posing, even though I wasn't looking at them directly. I was quite embarrassed to witness this scene at such a close proximity. Even so, I had to smile at Sam's face of 'Is this actually happening to me?'

"You know that seatbelt thing was a pretty smooth move." Mikaela told Sam begrudgingly, who gave a few breaths of laughter into Mikaela's long, dark hair. He seemed genuinely happy.

"Thank you."

"In front of a kid though?"

"Ah, she don't mind."

I rolled my eyes, shook my head, smirked at the two, and turned to look out the window.

"Wait a sec," Mikaela said, raising her voice to address someone other than Sam. If I knew the movie, and I did, she'd probably be talking to Bumblebee at this point. "If you can, like, reshape yourself, why'd you pick such a hoopty?"

The upbeat music was turned off with a comical downward-sounding noise, the wheel turned, and the stick shift pushed all the way forward, sending Bee's tires screeching as he braked and swung off to the left. I gripped my seat, grinning in anticipation as Sam yelled, "Whoa-oa!" right before we came to a complete stop.

"Oh see no g-no that doesn't work." Sam stuttered in frustration as he and Mikaela exited out their propped open door. "See?"

"Move it, ya moron!" shouted some rude guy behind us.

For some reason that really pissed me off. I was just about to hop out and give the guy what for, when my seatbelt tightened around me. Not in a constricting way, but enough for me to notice. I looked at the dashboard in surprise. "You want me to stay?" I asked.

I got no response but took Bumblebee's driving away without letting me out, doing a 180 with his tires squealing and his passenger door still open, as permission to stay.

"She didn't mean it," I tried to reassure Bee as he slammed the door shut while driving away from the teenagers. I was going to elaborate, I really was, but I couldn't find anything to say that was both truthful and not-lame sounding. It was a pretty bad model…

"I'm gonna make a change/for once in my life/It's gonna feel real good," the radio sang soulfully as Bee continued down the street. Then the tune buzzed away and was replaced with "Hold onto your butt."

Barely registering the warning in time, I leaned out the window and braced myself against Bee's side and roof, so that when he tipped over and drove on only his right wheels, I was able to hold myself against gravity. My quick shriek of surprise disintegrated into peals of excited laughter. I had always wondered if the ski move was necessary to scan or if Bumblebee was just showing off; something about the circumstances at least brought the latter to mind. Though when I was actually riding it I didn't really care.

Then that hot, 2006 Chevrolet Camaro concept, complete with a bright yellow coat and jet black racing stripes, drove nonchalantly by. If I'd been in a less precarious situation, I would've let out a low whistle. I'll admit it-Transformers has made me a lot more appreciative of nice vehicles.

When it passed under us, I was able to see the flash of blue energy briefly outline the vehicle before it sped off. "Whoa," I breathed in surprise, then, "WHOA!" I yelled, feeling Bumblebee begin to tip. I was just able to draw myself back inside before it landed roughly back on all four wheels. "Geez!" I yelped after being jostled around. "That was… Whoa." The third time's the charm.

As I watched, mystified, Bee's entire form began to change. Flowing, shifting, folding in on itself, out of the rusty bucket of a car emerged a new, sleek, powerful frame. I saw and felt the old, sun-worn leather evolving above, below and all around me into the luxurious interior of a freshly-bought car. He even had the new car smell!

"You know," I said aloud, stretching my eyes wide to take in every detail. "I always wondered how a car with your exact color-design passed by at exactly the moment you needed it."

I had to laugh at the radio's response: "Some things you just don't question."

When Bumblebee was done changing, he did another 180 and went back for Sam and Mikaela, Battle Without Honor or Humanity beginning to play from his speakers. I watched in immense amusement as the teenagers both turned, Sam with his hands behind his head in frustration, to see us coming. When we stopped, both their faces were covered in awe.

Sam lowered is arms. "What?"

"BAM BAM BAM!" I sang along with the climax of the instrumental, punching out the beats before falling back in the seat with delighted laughter.

As Sam scrambled to get the passenger door for Mikaela, I popped open my own and stepped out. I had to see the work-of-art exterior for myself.

Bee's new disguise identical to the one he had scanned, down to the last detail, except for one thing: under the labeling Camaro on his left side was an Autobot insignia every bit as shiny as the rest of him.

My composure quickly crumbled into a delighted squeal as I ran around the redone Autobot. "This is so COOL!" I fangirled, trying to take in as much of Bee's new appearance as possible before I had to get back in. Sammy had taken my seat in front; apparently the temptation of the new car overtook his previous fear of the alien robot. Still, getting into the brand now back seat wasn't too bad either.

"So you like what you see?" the new, high-tech radio asked.

"You look fantastic!" I reassured Bumblebee.

Metal blasted from the new speakers, giving off a smug air as the Autobot continued on towards our destination.

After driving a while longer, we came to an area fenced off for renovation. Gently pushing through the gates, Bumblebee entered the facility before pulling up in front of what looked like a very important government building. Heck if I cared though. As soon as he stopped, I immediately jumped out and ran to the front of his disguised form, trying to catch a glimpse of what was coming from beyond the building. Behind me, Sam and Mikaela got out more cautiously.

Searching intently, standing on my tip-toes in my efforts to see more, I noticed that the clouds were lit up with a streaking, flashing light from inside like lightning in a storm, but there was no thunder.

A wide smile stretched across my face. "Lights!" I exclaimed gleefully. "Lights in the sky!"

The teenagers came around Bee's front to join me, but they stuck a lot closer to him, and to each other. Behind me, I knew that Mikaela was slowly, tentatively reaching out for Sam's hand. I couldn't blame her; the sight of four big comets flying down out of the clouds and heading towards you is quite an intimidating sight.

A bright flash startled the three of us, followed by another, then the comets flew overhead. They split off into separate directions, but the biggest one continued right over our heads. It whizzed by with a firework-like sound, leaving a trail of smoke and light as it disappeared over the hill.

Unseen impact shook the earth so hard I fell to the ground and the teenagers fell into each other. I braced myself up on my hands and knees, staring at the pavement in shock for a moment before I lifted my head and looked in the direction the meteor had disappeared.

The shrubs at the top of the hill were in flames.

I stared at them, thinking of what lay beyond.

And I smiled.

As soon as I regained my footing I was after it with near-crazy grin of excitement that would not be erased, Sam and Mikaela right on my heels.

"You know, maybe we should be running in the opposite direction!" Mikaela panted as Sam dragged her along.

"I think if there was any danger, he would have stopped us from going." Sam reasoned, jerking his head back at Bumblebee, who had stayed behind.

"Oh, that's fine! I didn't realize you two were on speaking terms now!"

"C'mon, aren't you curious to see what it is?"

"I'm curious about how an acetylene torch works too, I just don't go sticking my nose into the flame!"

I ignored the bickering teenagers and focused on my running, which needed paying attention to. I've always been sort of a weakling, so sprints and endurance runs have never been strong points of mine. My side was already starting to hurt, and I knew that I'd be breathless soon. But in that moment, I didn't care. I just kept running, my grin never fading.

When we reached the top, Sam and Mikaela stopped to survey the destruction done to the hillside. Half of a smaller hill had been demolished during impact, and after that a trail of turned up dirt and fire marked where the meteor had plowed through the earth. A dead tree unlucky enough to be in the wake of devastation was burning.

Undeterred, I ignored the teenagers' yelling after me and continued down the hill, my feet only just able to keep up with my body against gravity. At the end of all the debris, I could just barely see the meteor. It was long and oblong, shaped somewhat like a dinosaur egg. I knew the metal it was made from was immeasurably detailed, though was unable to see it myself from my distance. It was glowing in places and still smoking immensely, for it still radiated dangerous amounts of heat.

As I got closer I could see it start to move; expanding, pushing outwards. Picture it like a chick hatching from an egg, only the egg is part of the chick too. Also the chick is a giant robot.

My feet thudded heavily to a halt before I even got close; my awe and respect for who was emerging overriding my insatiable excitement. I saw his huge form rise in the distance, though not as huge as he would be once he'd gotten his armor. He crouched, which was uncharacteristic for him, and fled the scene of destruction as stealthily as a giant robot can. Yet in how he ran, in his immense, powerful strides, I could see in how he moved that it was still him.

I stood and watched until he was gone, then I began the long run back up the hill. The teenagers hadn't moved, still awestruck from what they'd just seen. Sure this was all a lot to take in, but I wished they would quit stopping when we needed to get going.

"Come on!" I managed to grunt at them as I ran by.

"Wait! Where are you going? What was that thing?!" They cried behind me, but I didn't answer. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other as quickly as I was able to manage.

The run back up the final hill was brutal, but I made it none the less. Sam and Mikaela, being in better shape than I, had reached Bumblebee first. Seeing my sad condition, Sam quickly ran around and opened the back door for me. I gratefully fell through and landed in the back seat.

"Geez kid," Sam muttered concernedly as I lay there, trying to catch my breath. "You okay? You don't look too hot."

My legs, sides, stomach, throat and lungs were all in pain. I was short on breath, dizzy, and a bit queasy. I was regretting never getting into sports more and more by the second. Yet, as lay there in Bumblebee's back seat, I could not physically keep my smile back.

"They're here." I said softly, a small, awed chuckle breaking out between my panting. I felt and heard a low rumble behind my eyes, which were becoming wet and blurry. "They're really here!"

No one really had a reply to that. Sam, after a pause, shut the door behind me and walked around to the front to sit in the driver's seat. Mikaela watched me from the passenger seat with worry and confusion, as if she wanted to help be but didn't know quite how to react. She looked at Sam, who said something reassuring to her, before they both shot me one last glance of uncertainty and turned around to the front.

As Bumblebee rolled onto the street, I felt the seat below me shift a bit. A giggle, barely there at all, escaped me as I felt something wrap around my heaving frame. What had to be the middle seat belt reached over me from behind, fell diagonally across my waist, then dug gently under my ribs until it reached the buckle beneath me with a soft click.

I allowed myself to fall deeper into the seat, letting the rumbling engine sooth my breathing back to a normal rate, and permitted myself a few moments of security while I could.

Because it was only a matter of time before the nervous jitters begun.

I MADE A RELATIVELY SHORT SCENE SUPER LONG HEHAaaa… Yeah, sorry about that. I promise the 'Bots will be in the next chapter, and right away! No more beating around the bush as they say.

I'm going on a short family vacation and the drive there and back is a total of 12 hours so that could be either really GOOD for updating or really BAD...

Anywho, hope you enjoyed it! Review/comment please!

PS: Should I get a BETA reader?

PPS: They're free, right?

PPPS: Any volunteers?