Whew, this was a fun chap to write.
Just to make me feel better, here is roadmap of Bravura's travels: She starts off in, let's say, Texas (rocky flat ground, and hot, plus the 'accents'.) Skywarp moves her to the western foothills of the Rockies. They fly west after Hot Rod to meet 'Cade, who drives her to NV. Hot Rod takes her to Autobot City in west NV.
There. I feel good now. Enjoy!
I scrunched down in my seat, wishing I could disappear. Bumblebee was blasting down the highway and his speakers were roaring the most annoying song I had ever laid ears on.
Sweet little bumblebee!
More than just a fantasy!
Doo doo doo da doo daaa daaa!
Doo doo doo da doo daaa daaa!
Sam was singing along blissfully, and I didn't have the heart to ask him to change it. I was bursting with relief as the song wound down. The radio crackled for a moment, then-
Doo doo doo da doo daa daa!
Doo doo doo da doo daa daa!
I sighed heavily and tried to find my place of Zen as I stared out the window. The second round finally stopped and Bee switched to a pop station, allowing my straining nerves to finally relax.
It surprised me when Sam asked, "So, you and Hot Rod?"
I tried hard not to blush and kept my face turned to the window. "What do you mean?"
"Well… It seems like the Autobots like having someone to protect, like me and Bee, and Ironhide and Captain Lennox. Now you and Hot Rod, too."
I saw the innocence in the question and looked at Sam. "Yeah, I guess so. I really trust him."
"He seems to like having you around. Word of advice, they don't like automatic carwashes."
"Huh?"
"Bee hates the carwash. I have to get out the soap buckets and sponges and give him the full detail before he's happy."
"Oh." It hadn't occurred to me that Hot Rod might need maintenance as normal as a car wash. Sam suddenly seemed like a potential fountain of knowledge.
"Anything else I should know?"
"Um… Other than that they take care of themselves. Bee loves the drive-in. Action, mostly. Sappy chick flicks, too, sometimes. He and Mikaela will watch those day time soaps on TV for hours, but that could just be a weird Bee thing."
The radio cut out and Bee spoke up. "Sam, soaps are some of the best television humanity has ever invented. One show can have ten plots at a time, and the characters are a perfect example of human social politics."
"Bee, they're for housewives! Desperate middle aged women who vacuum during the commercials!"
"Mikaela likes them."
"She's different!"
"If they're good enough for Mikaela, they're good enough for me."
"You're not right in the head, Bee."
The pop station switched back on and Sam crossed his arms over his chest looking exasperated. I couldn't help my smile. "You're like a married couple."
He started and stared at me with wide brown eyes. "Excuse me?"
"You bicker like an old couple. It's sweet."
He kept his unblinking eyes on me.
"It is."
"No it's not. We're like manly men arguing about manly things."
"Ok. Bee, are you two like manly men?"
"Sam is just grumpy."
I burst out laughing until tears were streaming down my cheeks, Sam glaring daggers at me even after I'd calmed down. Still smiling, I looked back at him after a couple of miles. "You know that was priceless."
"I'm not speaking to you for the rest of the ride."
"Ooook. Bee and I can talk about sappy chick flicks and General Hospital until we get there."
We did, in fact, discuss chick flicks. Bee had a thing for the Notebook, which I actually had thought was a little sappy, but I guess the 'intense loyalty through a lifetime' idea appealed to his military sense.
He was beginning to explain the last episode of Days of Our Lives to me when we pulled into a busy strip mall, much to Sam's obvious relief.
Bee parked and said, "Hot Rod asked me to make sure you two shop in as little time as possible."
"What's the rush?"
"There's still potential danger out there. Please just humor me?"
I sighed and got out, running my finger along the edge of one of the cards in my pocket. "We'll hurry, Bee."
Sam and I walked into a couple of clothing shops, picking up things as we went. The only things I tried on were jeans and shoes, and I did it as quickly as I could. I trusted the tops to fit. I paid with the fake Visa, which still worked, to my relief. I wasn't totally in accord with Sam's choices in style, but I wasn't really paying for them, so I bought them without arguing about it.
I was trying on a pair of sneakers when Sam's phone rang. He picked it up, frowning at the number on the screen, but he answered. "Yeah?"
He stood in silence, his posture quickly stiffening and his eyes connecting with mine, trying to communicate his urgency. I caught on immediately and dropped the new shoes, shoving on my older pair and tying them before he was finished. As soon as I was done he grabbed my arm and led me out of the store, leaving our bags.
"What's wrong, Sam? Who was that?"
"One of your old friends."
A tremble sent itself down my back. "Barricade?"
He shook his head, waving his arm from the sidewalk to get Bee's attention. Bee's engine started from across the lot and he was starting for us when I read a familiar rumble from far away. The blood drained from my face and my eyes shot upward. I saw him, still far away, but he had fired something-
"It's Skywarp! LOOK OUT!"
Bee instantly transformed, still not close enough to us, his head tracking the missile. Somehow he twisted out of its way. A white Mitsubishi exploded and before the pieces were done falling Bee was over us. He looked down at us, and his face was wrapped in battle armor.
"I want you to run. Try to get help."
Sam, whose hand had never left my arm, tightened his grip. "No."
"Sam, please-" Bee cut himself off as another missile whistled its way towards us and we heard Skywarp pass off to our left. Bee picked up a small European car and held it up like a shield. The missile smashed into one of the small stores, missing.
"Why isn't he moving?!" I screamed to Sam.
Sam's face was pale, like he was thinking about something else. "He's protecting us." He suddenly started yanking me away from Bee. When I started to protest he grabbed my shoulders and stared me down. "If he has to worry about us, he can't fight. I'm not letting this happen again!"
My confusion melted away into fear as Sam dragged me to my knees behind a car on the edge of the parking lot. Skywarp had landed on the roof of one of the stores.
"Give it back, Autobot! The human belongs to me!"
"I don't have anything that belongs to you, Decepticon! Go crash land!"
Skywarp snarled and launched himself at Bee, and my memory flashed back to a raining night, two huge forms falling off the edge of a cliff… Hot Rod losing. I gathered my nerve. Nobody was here to save Bee. I had to do this, to protect them.
I twisted out of Sam's grip and shot out from behind our cover as Bee shot a blue weapon at Skywarp, hitting him but not stopping the bigger robot. The crash of their impact was jarring and I screamed.
Skywarp looked up over his shoulder at me and started getting up off my friend. My fear and relief mixed into deafening white noise when suddenly Bee grabbed Skywarp's arm and slammed him to the side, surprising me with his strength. Skywarp snarled and raised himself over Bee, a huge gun point blank in the yellow Autobot's face. As the gun started to whine with heat, the Decepticon started snarling at him in their language.
Two things happened instantaneously. Skywarp fired, and his whole body jerked back, his arm pointing the weapon into the sky. The shot twisted off high into the air harmlessly. I stared in shock, barely aware that Sam was beside me again, holding my arm and panting.
"What just happened?" I whispered, but Sam shook his head.
Bee had pulled himself to his feet and backed away from Skywarp, who was staring around in frustration.
"I know you're here!" He roared, jerking from left to right, slashing his hand out randomly. "This is the last time you interfere, Mirage! This time I'll melt you into slag"
Out of nowhere came a confident, masculine voice jeering, "You don't have the bolts, kitestrings!"
Skywarp wheeled around, but not fast enough to fend off the invisible attack to his head. He hit the concrete, crushing several cars beneath him.
There was a shimmer in the air over Skywarp, and suddenly we could see a mostly blue Autobot, smaller than Ratchet but bigger than Bumblebee, pointing a huge gun into Skywarp's chest.
"I've been waiting for this moment, Decepticon. You've deserved this for a long time." The gun started whistling and he must have been close to firing when bullets started pinging off of the new Autobot's armor.
We all looked, and a couple of cops, regular humans, were shooting at him. Skywarp took advantage of the moment of distraction to swipe the gun to the side and leap into the air, transforming and blasting away.
Bumblebee and the Autobot both fired a few shots after him, and Sam was approaching the cops, his hands in the air. "Stop shooting! They're Autobots! Stop!"
When the dust had finally settled and cops had realized we were on their side, Bee introduced us to the Autobot Mirage.
He looked down at us, smiling rakishly. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Were you really invisible just now?" I blurted without thinking.
He smiled proudly and winked at me. "I am a master of disguise."
"Why didn't you contact Optimus?" Bee asked severely. "We had no idea you were here."
"Just doing some recon, Bumblebee. I think Optimus will be interested in what I have to tell him, by the way. We should get moving so you can show me the way to base."
Bumblebee sighed, looking at Sam and me. "You might want to get your things."
We went back to the shop, picking up our bags and leaving as quickly as we could. As we dumped the stuff in Bee's trunk, I asked myself how Skywarp had managed to find us out here… and it hit me. The card. Somehow, they had tracked the card. I pulled it out of my pocket and stared at the innocent blue and gray design on the front, then discreetly let it fall into an open drain. With that were headed back to base, a sleek blue Lexus LX 570 following close behind.
I know Mirage is supposed to be racing car, but the movie took liberties with the vehicle modes too, and as an SUV he gets to be a little bigger ;)
Thanks for all the great responses and reviews, you guys are just fantastic ;)
Edited March 19th, 2010