When Bumblebee and Sam reached the place where they had fallen, they were to surprised to see Mikaela waiting there alone. She was sitting on the floor, clutching her lower rib cage area. She was finally feeling the full impact of pain. Sam and Bumblebee rushed over and knelt down beside her.
"What happened? Where's Wheelie?" Sam gasped. Mikaela wouldn't look into his eyes when she talked.
"I...I lost him." Sam's jaw dropped. "I was tired of carrying him! I got shot at, for crying out loud! And he offered to walk anyway. I walked back here and somewhere along the way, he wandered off!" Mikaela explained.
Its O.K. This wasn't your fault. Where did you see him last? Bumblebee signed. Mikaela looked at Sam.
"Where did you see him last?" Sam translated. Mikaela looked back down the hallway she came from.
"Two lefts down, we stopped and rested at a flight of stairs. I told him how we found him and everything. Then we started walking again, and a few seconds later I couldn't hear his wheels spinning behind me. I turned around and he was gone."
"And you're sure he 'wandered off'?" Sam asked.
"Well yeah! I mean he's obviously not here, is he Sam?" Mikaela snapped.
"I'm just saying, maybe somebody grabbed him. Why would he willingly leave your side anyway when you're his whole world?"
"All I know is he kept looking back." The trio exchanged worried looks. Sam stood up.
"Well he couldn't have gone too far." He looked up through the hole in the ceiling. Dark clouds were inching closer to the clear patch of sky over their heads. "Bee, can you climb out of that and try to contact Lennox and the others above ground?" Bumblebee transformed into his full sized Autobot form and reached up. He tugged at the edges of the broken floors to test if they would hold his weight. When he decided it was safe to climb, he nodded to Sam and gave a chirp. "Good. Get up there, make the call, and get Mikaela somewhere safe." Mikaela scowled at that last order.
"What? Why-"
"Because you're hurt and we've got to get you help as soon as possible." Sam didn't let her argue. He picked her up and helped her into Bumblebee's hand. Bumblebee placed Mikaela on his shoulder, and leaned her against his head.
"I'll come back, when you call me." Bumblebee's radio played. Sam shook his head.
"Don't bother. Wheelie and I will find another way out. You just take care of Mikaela for me, okay?"
"Peter wait...stay." Now that was heartbreaking to Sam. He knew Bumblebee would hate to leave him in a situation like this. But they were wasting precious time with Wheelie missing again, and Mikaela's injuries would only slow them down. She had to be taken somewhere safe and be treated.
"Take care of her big guy." Sam sighed. "I'll be back with Wheelie soon." Bumblebee attempted a smile. He understood what was necessary, but that didn't mean he had to love it. He wanted to be by his charge's side. But Mikaela was in need of more help.
"Y'know we'll have a good time then." Bumblebee played at a low volume. Sam nodded, turned around and raced off down the hallway. While taking his first left, Sam suddenly remembered the dark sky. 'Please don't let there be a thunderstorm. For Bumblebee's sake, PLEASE don't let there be a thunderstorm!' he prayed.
Not too far away, Wheelie drove top speed through the rooms and halls trying to find Mayday. Last he'd seen of her, she was inches away from drowning in a pool of poison. Where MONEE had taken her, he had no idea. For all he knew, she could have already been killed when he blacked out. Finally Wheelie had to stop himself from wasting anymore energy. He transformed and sat down behind an open door to stay out of sight while he rested. Wheelie tried to clear his processor but he still felt confused, helpless, lost, and lonely. How could he fail Mayday like that? Why was he searching for this Decepticon? They couldn't be friends. So why did he vow to save her? Wheelie remembered the first time he heard her voice. He'd remember that sweet and angelic voice for the rest of his life. 'In fact I could remember it right now.' Wheelie grumbled. He listened to his memories until they began to change into unfamiliar phrases. Then he realized it. It wasn't a memory. It was real!
"Mayday!" Wheelie cried out. In the next room over, a tiny voice he could barely hear answered him.
"In here! Wheelie, I'm in heeerrre!" Wheelie heaved the giant door open and ran inside! "Wheelie!" Mayday exclaimed. He climbed up the table and held her hands through the cage door. "Thank you Wheelie! Thank you! Thank you!" Wheelie let go of Mayday's hands and undid the latch on her cage. She stumbled out and immediately wrapped her arms around him! "I though I'd never see you again!"
"I know. I know. I was scared too." Wheelie thought about his words, and everything he had ever said to Mayday. He suddenly retreated from the hug. "I shouldn't have come back." Mayday felt heartbroken.
"Wheelie?" Mayday's voice quivered. He helped her down from the table, but kept shying away every time they made direct optic contact.
"I'm sorry. I know I promised to save you, but then what? What's gonna happen after that? I'll be labeled as a traitor because I saved you. You'll be killed when the 'Cons find out you spared me. Basically we'd both have the same fate. 'Cause between living a traitor and dying a traitor, I'm not sure which one's worse!" Mayday just stared at him with those sad red optics. "Why did you call for me? Why do you trust me?" Mayday looked into his optics and tilted his chin up towards hers.
"You're the only friend I've ever had. And for a Decepticon drone with gentleness and compassion wired where greed and evil should be, you have no idea how much you mean to me! You have no idea what a big deal it is for me to have just one friend!" She tenderly rubbed the back of his head, and then leaned in for a long kiss. Wheelie seemed hesitant at first, but then eagerly kissed back. Time stood perfectly still for a moment and they were both at peace. When Mayday and Wheelie pulled away, Mayday watched his reaction with an eager smile. "I saw that on a human television series once, and ever since I always wanted to do that!" She beamed. Wheelie started to smile back, but the smile immediately disappeared when a familiar devilish voice sent a chill down his tiny spine. The drones turned around. Lucius Clawsen stood at the doorway.
"Well isn't this sweet?" The evil voice mocked. Wheelie bravely stepped between Clawsen and Mayday. "I see how it is. Kill two birds with one stone." He aimed his gun and fired straight at them! Wheelie however, wasn't scared at all. He pushed Mayday down on the floor and dodged the bullet. It ricocheted off the back wall and hit a barrel of oil to their left. Although the heavy equipment wasn't damaged, the barrels of fuel in the corner all tumbled out, and flooded the floor. Wheelie and Mayday were ankle deep in oil! 'Great! Now all we need is a fire.' Wheelie thought. As if on cue, the lights started to flicker and sparks rained down on them! The floor was instantly lit with flames! Wheelie and Mayday huddled together against the wall. Clawsen saw the opportunity to shoot them again, but didn't take it. He stepped outside the room and locked the door. Suddenly he heard a loud burst of crackling fire! 'They deserve to suffer and burn for all the trouble they and their friends caused me!' He though as he rubbed at the tight handcuffs, broken at the chain, but still latched onto his wrists.
Wheelie and Mayday climbed back on top of the table. But they still weren't safe. MONEE's machines were exploding from the inside out! The flames spread and grew til they were at the tip of Mayday and Wheelie's table! It was suicide to try and jump. Their fragile bodies didn't stand a chance in temperatures that would cause third degree burn on humans. Mayday hugged Wheelie and offlined her optics. Wheelie thought about doing the same. Just offline his optics and wait for the inevitable. But then something caught his attention. The amount of carbon monoxide in the air was low despite the sea of oil and flames. Which meant the smoke was traveling and escaping somewhere else. Wheelie scanned for an opening. What he found was a hole in the ceiling.
"Mayday. Mayday. C'mon look at me." Wheelie coaxed. Mayday onlined her optics. "You have to fly." Wheelie said. He knew that hopeless look in her optics well enough to know what she was going to say next.
"I can't. Remember I can't transform?" Mayday started to cry, but Wheelie was there for her. He kissed her lips again and calmed her. He knew he could make her feel safe as long as they were together.
"Yes you can! You are so much stronger than you think. We can do this together. We'll be out of here soon."
"But I can't fly!"
"You have to try. C'mon Mayday! You can do it. We're so close." Mayday looked up at the ceiling and then down at the crackling fire. She transformed carefully. Every position she folded herself into was agonizing. But when she made it into helicopter mode she felt much better. Mayday began to rise off the table and hover until Wheelie had a hold on her helicopter skids. Wheelie looked down at the flickering flames and let go.
"Wheelie! What are you doing?"
"I can't do this! Just go without me!"
"What are you talking about? You're the one who's talking me into this! How could you give up now? I can't just abandon you here!"
"We'll fall to our deaths if you don't!" Mayday hovered shakily next to him, proving his point. "You can't carry me that far. You'll lose your balance and we'll both die in that!" Wheelie motioned towards the fire. Mayday didn't respond. "Listen Mayday. If you take it slow, you can make it, and you can get out of here. So don't look back for me. Just save yourself." Wheelie thought for a moment. "Do you remember that human femme?" Wheelie was sure she'd know who he was talking about. Mikaela was the only woman either of them had seen at MONEE. "She came to rescue me, and she's like my best friend. If you see her on the way out, can you tell her I said goodbye?"
"A friend of yours huh?" Mayday asked. "You'll have to introduce me when we get out of here." Wheelie facepalmed.
"No! Don't you get it Mayday?" He yelled. "I'm not coming with you!"
"Oh yes you are!" Mayday turned in mid air and pushed him off the table with her tail boom! Wheelie was just about to cuss out the traitor, when she slipped her helicopter skid under his arm for him to grab. Wheelie caught himself onto the skid and hung on for dear life! They narrowly missed nose diving into the fire! When Wheelie realized Mayday's 'encouraging' push wasn't meant to kill him, he relaxed.
"Wait to go Mayday!" Wheelie said sarcastically. "I never doubted you for a second."
They were coming up close to the hole in the ceiling. Mayday was having trouble keeping her balance with her broken rotors, but she kept them going the best she could. Wheelie looked down at the fire. The flickering patterns were mesmerizing. Wheelie looked up, startled by a terrible crashing noise! Mayday's rotors were beating on the ceiling and breaking apart even more! Mayday started to fall! In an instant, she instinctively transformed, leapt out and caught hold of the ceiling, with Wheelie holding onto her leg for dear life! Wheelie screamed. Despite all the things he'd said before, he really wasn't ready to offline. Wheelie looked down again and imagined becoming a torched splat on the floor! Then he thought more deeply about the situation. Was his death supposed to be a metaphor of where he was going after this? 'No way! Not down to the Pit. Sure I've made a mistake or two. But no Autobot deserves an eternity in the captivity of Unicron!' Wheelie's claws slipped an inch. 'I'm still an Autobot, aren't I?' Then Wheelie felt a pull upward. To his relief, Mayday was already half way up on the next floor. She kept climbing until her feet were in and Wheelie could grab the edge. Mayday gave Wheelie her hand and pulled him in. Once they were both on the next floor, Wheelie and Mayday laid down on their backs, totally exhausted. For a moment everything was quiet. Then Mayday burst out laughing.
"We did it!" She cheered. Wheelie started laughing too and in a few seconds they were back up on their feet dancing around and playing like children. Wheelie had never felt so happy to be with someone! He never had much to celebrate for either. They were happiest when they were together. And that's all that mattered. The attic-like room they were in was obviously hosting rodents, and the carbon monoxide bothered the drones' sensors. (But not too bad, since they didn't need to breathe.) Nothing else mattered in their world except each other. After they let out all their excitement, they laid back down on the floor and gazed up at the ceiling like it was an clear starry night.
"Mayday?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks. For what you did back there. You were really brave."
"Thanks. And you were really brave too for almost getting burned to the Pit." Wheelie winced. He had to remember, she was still a Decepticon and though innocent, not nearly as innocent as she seemed.
"And Mayday?"
"Yeah?"
"What you said about me introducing you to my friend, did you mean it?" Mayday shrugged her shoulders.
"Sure."
"Does that mean you might consider being an Autobot?" Mayday rolled over and turned her back to him. Wheelie nervously kept talking. "If it makes you feel any better, I was once a Decepticon drone too. I know what you're going through."
"Yeah. I can tell." Wheelie wasn't sure what she meant by that.
"I promise you'll be safe with the Autobots. They didn't like me much at first, and some of them still don't. But they'll love you. They'll love a sweet little innocent thing like you. You'll fit right in. So what do you say?" Mayday was quiet for a while. Then she rolled over to show him her new optics.
"Does this answer your question?" She asked with a smile as bright as her blue optics. Wheelie jumped up and punched the air with excitement.
"YES! Oh yes! Thank you! Thank you! Primus. I was sure you were gonna say no! Oh thank you so much! I swear you won't regret this!"
"Okay, okay! Settle down before you hurt yourself!" Mayday joked. "But you know I gotta talk to Optimus Prime about this before its official."
"Aw, don't worry about him. Prime's a great mech, really. And don't be intimidated by his size. He's real easy to talk to. Trust me."
"Well then what are we waiting around here for?" Mayday got up and walked along side Wheelie and held his hand. "Take me home?"
"I'd be glad to, sweetspark." Wheelie grinned. So they walked on, with their blue optics lighting the way.