As Bee, Sam, and Sam's father pulled away, the excitement of Bee being taken was starting to wear off. Because as Alise watched Bee drive away, something came crashing down on her; she didn't have a ride home now. Of course, this had come into her mind when she was telling Bee of her plan, but she knew that the chances of Sam actually picking Bee were slim, so she didn't put much more thought into it. She frowned. What was she going to do? Leaving her purse hidden back at the warehouse, she didn't have any money for a cab or her phone to try and call for one.

I could hitch, she thought to herself, and yet she wasn't particularly fond of the idea. She knew hitchhiking was frowned upon in Arizona, but she didn't know what California thought of it. But she didn't really have much choice. There were some shady places that they passed getting here, and she sure as hell wasn't going to walk passed them. She swallowed her doubts and stuck out her thumb.

The first few cars ignored her, the next few beeped at her as they passed, and the last few threw obscene suggestions and gestures at her. Of course, mixed in with all these people were the ones who didn't event notice her or care enough to try. After a few minutes, however, an old 40's looking Cadillac pulled us along the side of the road next to her. She didn't know what to expect or do, so she just stood there on the sidewalk. After minute, the driver leaned over the passenger's seat and rolled down the window. He was an elder gentleman who looked as though he was heading to or from a golf course with his flat cap and his bright polo shirt on, and a large bag of clubs in the backseat.

"Are you going to get in, young lady?" the gentleman asked with a smile.

Alise's eyes widened. "Oh, yes!" she said, and she opened the passenger door and stepped in.

"Thank you, sir," she said. She reached around for a seat belt, but was surprised to find that there was none. The man looked at her expectedly, but she was confused and didn't say anything.

"And you're going to..." the man trailed off.

"Oh!" she exclaimed realizing her mistake. She gave him the address of a motel that was down the road from the warehouse. "Sorry. I don't really do this often."

The man chuckled. He seemed to have his light in his eyes that Alise couldn't help but trust. "I can tell. Well, my name is Mr. Richardson. Or Joseph, if you prefer." He held out his hand to her, and she shook it with a smile.

"Alise," she responded, and Mr. Richardson smiled. He pulled out the car and started to drive away from the corner.

The two drove in comfort silence for awhile and until Alise asked, "Not that I'm not very, very grateful, Mr. Richardson, but why are you doing this? I could be an axe murderer for all you know!"

The old man laughed heartedly. "Well, first off, I don't see you carrying an axe, now do I?" He chuckled again and Alise blushed. "Secondly, you don't look like someone from around here. Most hitchhikers from here will bang on the windows of passing cars to get someone's attend. You, however, just should there on the corner with you thumb out, very cliché like, might I add." Alise blushed some more, but laughed.

"And lastly, sometimes people just need a hand. Not everyone is out to get you, is what I like to think."

"Thanks again, sir."

"No problem, young lady."

Mr. Richardson dropped Alise off at the motel and before leaving, warned her not to hitch too often, saying that not every classic automobile contained a kind, handsome old man. She laughed, and promised. Alise thanked him once more, and he smiled and wished her well as he drove away. She walked down the block to the warehouse and walked in.

The place felt awfully large now that Bee wasn't there. Then she suddenly felt very alone. Refusing to give into the sadness, however, Alise decided to go out and do something. She grabbed her purse and headed out of the warehouse.

Alise first walked to the motel that Mr. Richardson dropped her off at. She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she was going to try and take a shower in one of the rooms. As if on cue, a maid came out of one of the bottom floors.

"Excuse me!" Alise yelled, but the woman didn't turn around. "Ma'am!"

This time she got the maid's attention. "Yes?" the maid responded. "May I help you?"

Alise walked closer to the maid and continued. "Hi. I don't rent a room here..."

The maid paused when Alise didn't finish. "And?" she responded, raising her eyebrow at Alise.

"I was wondering if I could take a shower in one of the rooms," Alise asked with a guilty smile. Before she could even finish, the maid had started shaking her head.

"No, no, no," the maid tisked. "I let you in, you steal something, I get fired. No, no, no." She turned away from Alise and started to open the door to the next room.

"No please! Look, I'll pay you!" Alise went into her purse and pulled out $35. "And you can be in the room. I just need the shower."

The maid seemed to look Alise over, as if to see if she really needed it. She noticed her greasy hair and the dirt on her face and rest of her body, and then just stared at her, contemplating whether to actually let the girl go in. After a few moments, the maid sighed and took the money out of Alise's hand. "I was just about to clean this room. You have ten. Minutes. Tops. Any more and I call the police and tell them you snuck in."

Alise smiled and nodded. "Of course, of course."

"Good. Now get in."

The maid opened the door and Alise raced to the bathroom. Turning the water on almost right away, Alise took special care with her injured arm to unwrap it and cringed to see that it was all red and puffy. The bleeding had stopped, but it looked a little infected. After examining that, she stripped the rest of her clothes and got in. It was the quickest and most expensive shower she'd ever taken, but it was also the one she most appreciated ever. The only thing she took time in cleaning was the painful slice on her arm that hurt with even the slightest of touches. Besides that, she felt so much lighter after she cleaned and dried off and put her clothes back on. She quickly rinsed out her bloody scarf/bandage, rang out the excess water, and wrapped it once more around her arm. She was able to do this all with three minutes to spare. She quickly exited the bathroom and motel room, once again thanking the maid who only acknowledged her with a single nod.

Alise walked outside and started to walk up the sidewalk. A digital timer in the window of a store told her it was 5:03. She had a lot of time to spare before nightfall when Bee was supposed to come back and even then she didn't an exact time. She strolled through the city trying to find something to do. She hoped to find a pharmacy close by to find something for her arm, but unfortunately, there was none. Instead, there was a movie theater, a few cafes, an arcade, a book store, etc. However, she got a little excited when she saw the bookstore, so she decided to go in and wait some time.

She went directly to her the languages section (her favorite) and started to look for the 'beginner's guides' shelf. She found it and saw books for so many languages; Swedish, Polish, Czech, Chinese, Japanese, etc, etc. Two, however, caught her eye; Beginners German and beginners Arabic. She always wanted to learn German, and Arabic was also a language she was interested in. She wanted something to read before Bee came back, so she purchased the two for some light reading material, and she spent the rest of the hour in a little corner cafe for her dinner.

It was about 7:30 when she started to head back to the warehouse. Before she went, she stopped at a little hardware store on the way and picked up a flashlight and some batteries. She knew it was going to be dark when she got back. Around 8, she made it to the warehouse and was a little nervous about entering the building alone. She swallowed her fear, however, and she entered in, lit flashlight in hand. She somehow found the corner that she and Bee slept in last night with her duffel bag still there on the floor. She went to the bag and opened it, pulling out her blanket. She propped herself against the cold wall, pulled the blanket over herself, and brought out her beginners German book and started to read by flashlight. She sighed. God, she missed Bee...

Alise fell asleep about an hour after she started filling her minds with German phrases. But suddenly in the throws of a deep, she was rudely awakened by a loud bang. She jumped out of her blanket and got to her feet, grabbing her flashlight.

"Who's there?" she asked nervously. She suddenly saw two bright flashing lights in the darkness. Her heart jumped and she shined the flashlight at the orbs. Her heart jumped even more though, when she realized what they were. It was Bee and the flashing lights were him blinking his eyes. He chirped when the light flashed in his face. Alise let out a sigh of relief.

"Bee," she said softly. "Dammit, don't scare me like that."

"'Sorry (static) bell," he said. Alise jogged over to him and hugged his leg. He smiled down at her, and he placed his hand next to her, which she quickly climbed on. He lifted her up to his face and she placed her forehead against his, smiling.

"You were great this afternoon!" she said. She took her hand and started tracing circles on his metal cheek. He took one of his fingers and placed it on her hand. He frowned.

"'I'm not (static) leaving you (static) like that again. How'd you (static) get back?'"

Alise looked down. "I hitched?" she said, expecting him to flip a little. But he just looked at her confused, not knowing what the term meant. "I got a ride on the side of the road."

Now Bee looked a little freaked. "'What? From who?'" he asked a little nervously.

"Don't worry, Bee. His name was Mr. Richardson. He was an elder gentleman who enjoys 18 holes at the course and classic Cadillacs," she said was a reassuring smile.

Bee sighed. "'Yeah, I'm (static) defiantly not (static) leaving you again.'"

"Aww, Bee," she said jokingly with a smirk. "Were you worried about me?"

Bee looked at her seriously. "'You have no idea," he voiced over. Alise blushed a little.

"So what about Sam? What's he like?" Alise asked, trying to change the subject.

Bee's serious expression faded and he smirked. "'You mean (static) lover boy? He's (static) quite interesting.'"

"In what way?"

"'He's a bit (static) spastic," he said with a chuckle.

Alise laughed. "He can't be that bad!"

"'Really? He followed (static) me here. He thinks (static) someone's stolen (static) me.'"

Alise paused. "What do you mean he 'followed you here'? On what! You're his car!"

Bee smiled. "'His mother's (static) bike."

Alise let out a gasp and a laugh. "You're joking!"

"'Nope!'"

The two let out a shared laugh.

"So where is he?" Alise asked.

"'Two blocks down (static) the street. (static) Though he's (static) probably on the premises (static) by now.'" He paused for a moment. "'I think it's about time I (static) called my (static) friends (static) to come.'"

"How are you going to do that?"

Bee smiled. "'I'll show you.'"

Bee gingerly placed Alise on his shoulder and they walked outside into the cold night air. Alise shivered a little, so she propped herself up against his neck. She didn't look up, but she felt the corners of his mouth turn up in a smile. They walked into the middle of the junkyard behind the warehouse, and after a little more walking, Bee placed Alise on a pile of scraps. She looked up at him as he cracked his knuckles and smiled down at her. Suddenly, a bright light came from Bee and went into the sky. Alise looked in wonder at the light and noted to herself that it looked like the bat symbol that was used to get Batman, only instead of a bat, it was the symbol that Bee had in the middle of his steering wheel. Bee stayed in this position for a while and then eventually, he quit the light.

"Done?" Alise said slyly.

"'Done,'" Bee said with a smirk. Suddenly, the two heard dogs barking in the distance. Bee tensed for a moment, his eyes scanning the area until he found where the noise was coming from.

"'Damn,'" Bee said. He started to transform into his Camaro form, and he opened his driver seat door for Alise, who quickly got in.

"What's wrong?" Alise asked, concerned.

"'They're after (static) Sam,'" Bee voiced and the two drove in the direction of Sam and the dogs.

Hi everyone! Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!

As always, I own nothing!

~Mel