Hi everyone! Hope you all like this chapter! I for one, am about to drop dead because I am tired. But nonetheless, here it is! Please review and tell me what you think! Also, if you would like to see what artwork Alise and Ratchet's holoform are based off of, please go to the poll on my profile if you have a moment and yay or nay on the idea! Thanks so much everyone!
As always, I own nothing.
~Mel
The drive from Mission City back to South Gate had taken almost 5 hours. In that time, Sam and Mikaela had both taken two turns driving and had made three rest stops at random gas stations along the way. The humans were grateful that there was a GPS located in the cabin of the vehicle because they knew that more than likely if there wasn't, they would have gotten lost on numerous occasions. The two talked with other up front the entire way.
However, Alise stayed in the back with Bee for the duration of trip. The only time she got out of the driver's seat was to get out at the rest stops for a quick bathroom break, but even then she rushed to get back to him. For most of the time they talked to each other, Bee using song and movie sound clips, or they just listened to the radio together. Alise did doze off for one of the hours of the trip, but Bee didn't mind. He just enjoyed watching her sleep.
It was about 7:30 when they finally arrived in South Gate. It was dark by the time they got there, and the first stop they made was at Mikaela's house.
"Will you be okay?" Alise had heard Sam ask her before she got out.
"I'll be fine," she told him reassuringly, a small smile on her face. "I don't really think I was missed."
Sam nodded understandingly and he kissed her before she got out of the cabin.
"I'll call you!" he shouted through the closed door. Mikaela smiled at him and nodded, laughing. She then stepped onto the back of the tow truck. The driver seat door opened for Alise to get out and she got up and pulled Mikaela into a hug.
"I'll talk to you soon, okay?" Alise told her firmly. "I'll come by." Mikaela nodded to her and smiled widely.
"Defiantly," she said to her friend. Alise embraced her one last time.
"Stay safe."
Mikaela laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I think I'll be staying out of trouble for awhile."
Alise laughed also. "Good. See you soon."
"Bye!" Mikaela said. She then got down from the tow truck, walked to her front door, and entered her house.
Alise was still standing outside of Bee when Sam rolled down his window. Sticking his head out, he spoke to Alise.
"Next stop home," he told her. She smiled and nodded to him, stepping back into Bee. When she sat down, she saw Sam roll up his window before they drove away. Alise let out a sigh as she settled into the seat. The seatbelt once more slid over her and she giggled as it brushed over her.
"How're you feeling?" she asked Bee. He let out a happy chirp and the lyrics to a Beatles song filled the car.
"'I've got to admit it's getting better. It's a little better all the time.'"
Alise laughed and brushed her fingers along the dashboard. "Good to hear."
"'What about you?'" he voiced back at her.
Alise had to admit that she felt a little stiff. The painkillers were starting to wear off a bit, and her back was getting more sore with each passing hour. However, she wasn't going to tell Bee that and get him worried.
"Okay," she said lightly. "I just can't wait to get to Sam's house and rest. It's been a long day." She laughed gently. "Other than that I'm good."
Bee made an amused chirp. "'Good to hear.'"
Sam's house was only about ten minutes away from Mikaela's and before they knew it, they had arrived. All the lights in the house were on, and Alise could see two figures sitting at the dining room table in through one of the windows. She noticed that both of them had coffee cups in front of them and a box of tissues between them.
Sam unskillfully backed the end of the tow truck with Bee and Alise on it into his garage. The large door was already open and Sam stopped backing up when the two were almost under the roof. The truck was so large that he was taking up the entire driveway and half of the street.
Bee started to try to back up off the truck on his own, but he didn't move even more than a foot before he quickly braked, a hiss coming through the speakers. Alise cringed and gently rubbed the steering wheel.
"Take it easy, Bee," she whispered to him. "Here, let me give you a hand."
She opened the driver door and got out, closing the door behind her. Sam was also coming out of the truck as she did this.
"Leave the truck running," she told him, "and go see your parents. They're probably worried sick."
Sam nodded. "I'm gonna bring them out and, ummm, introduce them, I guess."
Alise quietly laughed. "Okay. I'll get the truck out of here." Sam nodded in approval and walked out towards the house.
When she was a child, one of the local mechanics Roman had become a close friend of her father's. If there was a man in that town she could say was her father's best friend, it would be him. Because of this, she had spent a lot of time at his shop and taking rides in his tow trucks. Of course it had been years since she had done this, but she still had faint glimpses of how to operate the vehicle and its accessories.
Standing on the back of the truck in front of Bee, she took the massive chain that was connected to the truck and attached it in the correct position underneath Bee. Bee suddenly jumped as she did this. At first she was confused, but then a thought struck her. She laughed.
"Ticklish, Bee?" she asked him with a smirk.
"'Whatever,'" he voiced from inside the cabin. She laughed once more.
She then jumped down from the truck and when to the side of the vechile to look for some kind of switch to activate the chain. She found the switchboard, but paused. This was where her memory got a little sketchy. She wasn't certain which switch would do what.
"Hmm," she mused to herself, looking intensely at the board.
"'That sound, is scary,'" Bee voiced to her. She recognized the clip from a quote in a movie she saw years ago with Camila. It had something to do with a guy in a phone booth, but she didn't think much else into it. She scowled at him and put her hands on her hips.
"Hey, I'm trying to help, thank you very much!" she snapped playfully at him. She heard a chuckle from the inside of the Camaro.
"'I know (static) bell (static) I know.'"
She grinned. "Any suggestions?"
"'Any (static) red (static) buttons?'"
She looked down at the switchboard. In the left corner, there was one.
"Yeah. Should I try it?" Bee let out a confirming chirp. "Okay, let's see what happens."
Alise hesitated for a moment, but then pushed the button. The back of the tow truck started to shift down until it hit the floor, making a ramp. Alise grinned in success.
"Yes!" she whispered. She heard another laugh from Bee. The controls looked a little more familiar now, and she knew which one would help him get off the truck. It was a small lever. She pushed it a little to tighten the chain that was attached to Bee. "I'm gonna lower you down the back. Come off your brakes and just roll, okay?" He chirped at her and came off his brakes. "Good."
She pushed the small lever the other way and held her breath as Bee rolled down the back of the truck. It was slow, but steady and Bee didn't appear to be in any pain. After a few minutes, he had reached the bottom and he backed up into the garage on his own. When he had, Alise walked up to him and she removed the chain from under him. Tossing it on the back of the towwer, she walked back over to Bee and gently caressed his hood with her cold hands, making him shake a little. She smiled.
"I'll be right back," she told him. "I gotta get this sucker out of here."
"'Be careful,'" Bee warned her sternly. She let out a laugh.
"Aren't I always?" she said humorously. A growl came from Bee's engine. She shrugged trying to contain her smile. "Point taken."
With that, she bent down and placed a small kiss to his hood, and she walked to the driver's seat of the tow truck. She gingerly pulled out of the garage, and tried turn onto the street with some difficulty. After a moment of trying to do this, she finally was able to drive out into the street. She parked the tow truck about a block down the street from Sam's house because there was no room for it on his street. She tried her best to park the vehicle next to the correct part of the sidewalk, but she couldn't help but have to place it in the yellow zone a little. Alise absent mindedly had the humorous vision of a tow truck being towed.
Because Mikaela had hotwired the truck, Alise wasn't exactly certain how to turn it off. She got on her knees to the opened panel in the driver's seat and she looked at it with a confused expression. She knew nothing about hotwiring a car, so all the exposed wires looked like to her was a mess of jumbled cords. She knew however, that everything had to be placed in their assigned positions for a reason, so she simply pulled on one of wires until it came undone, and the truck's power cut off. She smiled triumphantly, and got out, closing the door behind her.
Alise quickly walked back down the block to Sam's garage where Bee was still in his Camaro form waiting. He let out a chirp as she walked in.
"Easy as pie," she said confidently. Bee chuckled at her statement through his radio as she looked around the garage for a switch to close the large door, finding one next to the smaller door near Bee. She walked up and hit the switch, making the garage door close. She didn't want anyone to see him. "Wanna try to transform?"
Bee's form moved up and down slightly, and Alise took this as a nod. Moving back to give him some space, she watched as he tried to transform as slowly as he could without hurting himself or breaking the low ceiling. She knew he was trying to keep from making any noises of pain and that made her sad. He couldn't keep quiet forever though, because at one point he let out a sharp hiss, which made Alise jump and put a hand over her mouth. When he was fully in his bipedal form, he seated himself on the floor of the garage.
Alise walked over and stopped in front of him. She frowned.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked him. He smiled down at her. Taking one of his fingers, he lightly traced her cheek and continued down the one side of her body. Alise was surprised when he used his real voice.
"Just st-tick around, okay?" he said softly, a small smile on his face. She smiled widely at him and placed her hand on his finger, which was now setting on her shoulder. She rested her head on it and spoke.
"Of course."
They locked gazes for a long moment. Neither of them moved from their spots, the two just enjoying the fact that they were both safe. Them, and Sam, Mikaela, the Autobots, and the soldiers. They were all safe. The threat was gone for the time being.
The two could have stayed that way for a lot longer, but there was suddenly noise from outside. Bee reluctantly took his finger off of Alise when they realized who it was.
"-the whole garden! Ruined!" they heard. "I don't care if they were 'secret government agents!' They're paying for my roses! And a carpet cleaner! They tracked mud all through the house!"
"Judy," Alise heard Sam's father respond, "we'll get a cleaner."
"No we won't!" she said wildly. "You're too cheap to hire a professional! I'll wind up having to do it myself!"
"I think given the situation I could spring for-"
"Mom, Dad." It was Sam's voice now, and he sounded serious. His parents' conversation was dropped like a hot potato. They were right outside the door, but weren't entering. "Before I introduce you-"
"Yeah, Sam, who is this boy?" Sam's mom asked. "Why couldn't he have just come inside?"
"Umm." Sam paused not being able to find the words. "He wouldn't exactly fit..."
His mother paused for a moment, before her continued.
"Oh, Sam! So you told him to wait in the garage? That's so rude!" She let out a gasp. "Even if he is a little overweight, I'm sure he could have fit! Leaving him all alone in there!"
They heard Sam laugh once. "Okay, one, he's not overweight. He's just... you'll see. And two, he's not alone. Alise is in there with him."
"Alise?" Sam's mom's tone had reached a new, excited octave. "Is that that girl from earlier? What is she still doing here? Are you two dating?"
Bee, who was watching the door and listening to their conversation also, let out a low growl. Alise looked up at him and tried to suppress a laugh. She walked over and placed a kiss on the hand he had taken off of her, making him look down at her and smile. He placed this hand around her and cupped her to his side as they continued to listen.
Sam had let out a groan. "No, not Alise." He paused for a moment, and then spoke slowly. "Remember the other one, Mikaela?"
"Yeah..." his father said. He seemed to be curious now.
"Well, umm, we're kinda, sorta-"
"AAA!" Alise and Bee both jumped at Sam's mother's unexpected screech. She was now extremely happy. "Sammy has a girlfriend! And she's beautiful!" She let out another loud noise.
"Good job, son!" his father said proudly. "We didn't know you had it in you."
"Yeah, great," Sam said, embarrassed. "Now back to this." Alise could see Sam waving his hands at the door in front of them. "When we go in, just don't freak out, okay?"
"Oh, Sam," his mother started, as he walked past Sam and started to open the door. "You give us no- SWEET MOTHER OF GOD!"
She had entered the garage and her eyes had quickly fallen upon Bee. All the color seemed to drain from her face. Upon hearing her, Sam's father rushed in and seeing Bee too, his face went blank. Bee gave them a very timid wave. Alise walked into their line of view and gave them an awkward smile.
"Umm, hi Mr. and Mrs. Witwicky," she said to them. They both stared at her as if she had a giant metal robot sitting next to her. Oh wait...
Mrs. Witwicky slowly started to raise her finger at them and opened her mouth. No words came out, however. Then Mr. Witwicky snapped out of his stare. He turned to Sam.
"SAM!" he yelled at him. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Alise noticed Bee flinch at his words. Sam started to try to explain.
"Well, umm, Dad-"
"WHAT THE HELL!" he roared again. "I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"
"No, no, no, no!" Sam started to say. "Dad, Dad! This is who I was talking about! This is him!"
Mr. Witwicky stopped dead in his tracks.
"This thing is your friend?" he said nodded and so did Alise.
"He is, Dad," Sam tried to explain. He went on to tell his father about the Autobots and the Decepticons, and that they were all connected as to why him, Alise, and Mikaela were arrested. He also told him about Mission City, that the plans for the Autobots' future was being decided upon as they spoke, and that the giant robot sitting in his garage was Bumblebee, his car/ guardian. Mr. Witwicky didn't interrupt his son as he spoke and neither did Mrs. Witwicky, who hadn't said a word since her first loud encounter with the bot.
When Sam finished, Mr. Witwicky then turned his head to Alise, a suspicious look on his face.
"And how do you fit into all this?" he asked her pointedly. It made her feel uncomfortable being under the man's hard expression, and she cringed a little, but answered.
"I knew Bee before Sam did," she said, gesturing to the bot beside her. She looked up at him with a small smile and he did the same to her. She then turned back to Mr. Witwicky. "I helped them find Sam so that-"
"Wait," Mr. Witwicky interrupted. "You mean you lead them to my son?"
Alise paused. She didn't like the way this conversation was heading.
"Mr. Witwicky, I didn't lead them to him like your think-"
"Well it sounds like it!" Mr. Witwicky suddenly had an extremely angry look on his face. He quickly stomped up to her, getting close in her face. Alise suddenly felt a ting of fear. "What did you get my son into?"
Alise suddenly have the feeling of being lifted. She breathed a sigh of relief as Bee softly grabbed her and brought her away from a fuming Mr. Witwicky. He placed her on his shoulder, not taking his concerned and slightly annoyed eyes away from him. The action startled Mr. Witwicky, but he held his ground. He looked as if he was about to say something, when Sam cut him off.
"No, Dad listen," Sam reasoned. "Alise didn't cause any of this. If she wouldn't have helped Bee find me, Decepticons would've found me first and we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Mr. Witwicky paused for a moment. From what Sam had said about the Decepticons, he didn't want Sam near them. He shook at the thought of Sam being captured and/ or worse. He suddenly realized that he should be thanking the girl instead of yelling at her. He turned to Alise timidly, who was still on Bee's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Alise," he said to her. "I shouldn't have done that to you. Sam is my son. Please understand that his safety is all I care about."
Alise nodded and gently smiled at him. "Of course, Mr. Witwicky. I understand."
He gave her a smiled apologetic and then turned to face Bee.
"So you're, umm, an alien?"
Bee nodded at him.
"And you're here to protect my son from other aliens, who wish to have him killed."
"'That is correct, sir.'"
Mr. Witwicky jumped at the voice Bee voiced.
"He talks through the radio," Alise clarified. Sam's father nodded at her. He didn't continue right away and there was an awkward silence.
"Well this is going to take some getting used, too," he said to them, but mostly to himself.
"You're telling me," Sam said humorously, making his father crack a slight smile. He let out a deep sigh.
Alise knew she should probably be going. Bee and the Witwickys had a lot to discuss and she didn't know if she should be there. She motioned for Bee to put her down, which he did, but she received a confused look.
"I guess I should be going," she said. Bee gave her sharp chirp, making the two older Witwickys jump, but he didn't give any mind to them. He knew she didn't have anywhere to go. Suddenly, Mrs. Witwicky, who hadn't said anything the whole exchange, spoke up.
"Where are you staying, dear?" she asked hoarsely, and a little shakily.
"I'm actually not very sure," she told her, not making eye contact with Bee, who she knew was looking down at her with a horrified expression. "I'm not from around here, but I could probably find a motel room somewhere." As she put more thought into her statement, she realized that she didn't have any money to pay for a room. She mentally cursed herself, and then became worried. Where would she go? However, Mrs. Witwicky stopped her train of thought.
"Nonsense," she said sternly. "You could stay here as long as you need. We have a spare room you could use."
Alise mentally breathed a sighed of relief, but didn't expect it right away. "I don't want to intrude-"
"You're taking the room," Sam's mother said once more, this time a slight grin on her face. "End of discussion."
Alise smiled at her. "Thank you very much." She saw Bee visually relax from the corner of her eye.
"Of course."
There was a pause.
"Okay," Mr. Witwicky said after the quiet moment. "Let's go in and get some rest. It's been an extremely long day." All the humans in the room agreed. The two older Witwickys exited the garage first, both saying timid goodnights to Bee before leaving the three others behind.
"I'll be back in the morning," Alise told Bee. He nodded and brushed one of his fingers against her cheek. She giggled and kissed the finger. "'Night, Bee."
"'Goodnight (static) bell,'" he said with a smile.
Alise turned to Sam, giving him a hug before she left.
"I'll be right in," he told her. "I just want to talk to the big guy for a moment."
She nodded and exited the garage, looking back at the two starting to talk before she left.
Mrs. Witwicky had shown Alise to the guest bedroom. After a shower and a change into some of Mrs. Witwicky's old pajamas, Alise had crawled into the comfortable bed of the room, but couldn't fall asleep. She had been staring at the ceiling for more than two hours.
She wouldn't admit it, but she didn't feel safe. After the battle zone, she felt jittery and on edge and the memories of Mission City kept making their way into her mind, especially whenever she was about to fall asleep, making a cold chill run down her back. She was afraid. The bed also felt too cold and lonely. She quickly realized she was missing an important piece of her that had been with her for the past few days. Bee.
She imagined him alone in the cold garage all by himself and she wondered what he was thinking about at the moment. She hoped he wasn't lonely or bored, but he knew it was probably inevitable. An idea, however, suddenly struck her.
Grabbing one of the light blankets on the bed, she quickly and quietly made her way through the Witwicky home and the backyard to the garage. She knocked on the door before she entered. When she opened it, she saw Bee looking at her. He was tense at first, but then his face softened when he saw who his visitor was and he smiled. He was now sitting against one of the firmer walls of the garage for support.
"Lonely, stranger?" she asked him, and she made her way over to him. He placed his hand on the ground for her to climb on, which she did. He lifted her up to his face and nuzzled her, making her laugh.
"'Not anymore,'" he voiced brightly.
"Mind if I stay in here for the night?" she asked timidly, a slight blush filling her cheeks. His eyes lit up.
"'Of course,'" he voiced immediately. "'May I ask why?'"
Alise paused for a moment before she answered. "It doesn't feel... right, without you there," she admitted. "I don't feel safe."
Bee thought his Spark would jump out of his chest. He beamed. Placing her on his chest, he watched in fondness as she settled comfortably on his chest and rested her head on the metal above his Spark.
"'You'll always (static) be safe (static) with me (static) bell,'" he promised her. She looked up at him and smiled.
"I know, Bee," she said, yawning and placing her head back on the cool metal. He placed his hand over her lying form to keep her warm. She snuggled into him more. "Goodnight, Bee."
"Goodnight, belle," he whispered softly with his own voice. She smiled into his metal and quickly fell asleep, Bee doing the same after watching her for a few moments, a smile on his face.