Part 6: What Children Teach Us-
A month passes, the disappearance of Bumblebee still baffles most of the N.E.S.T. Team, not to mention the now very frustrated Sam Witwicky.
The twenty something has to find some way to take out his frustrations, so he ends up taking it out on Megan, who promised to help him look for Bumblebee when he first went missing. This in turn, causes Megan to lash out at Bumblebee who has been living with her and her father through all of this.
"I'll tell him when I'm ready," he kept telling her when ever she brought it up, often followed by him deserting whatever activity he was currently doing in order to keep her from pestering him.
But everyone reaches a breaking point, and Megan was getting closer to her's.
"Bee, PLEASE! Tell him already!" she pleaded with him one day at work."This is seriously getting old! I'm getting all this flack from Sam because you're still 'missing'!"
Bumblebee only rolled his eyes, he was getting sick of this. He flipped through some papers on a clipboard as he tried to ignore Megan's nagging tone.
"...If not for him, what about the other? Optimus, Sideswipe...do it for your friends! I have to wonder..."
"Why do you even care?" Bumblebee asked, trying to get her to shut up.
The glare of his blue eyes got her to stop. Her face got hot quickly, making the whole situation awkward. She folded her arms across her chest and refused to look at him.
"...Maybe I shouldn't care," she muttered."I just do."
Bumblebee was a little confused by her reaction, but just went back to his papers.
"Can we just drop it? Please?" he asked calmly."It's not something I like to talk about, especially here."
Megan nodded, the redness fading from her face.
"Did inventory get done?"
"Yeah, I got done with it this morning, did you turn in that report about that last mission?"
"Yeah..."
After that exchange, there was no conversation, only the noises of two people going about their business.
Since it was silent, they both jumped at the sound of someone knocking on the frame of the door. It was Amber.
"Lennox's got something for you and me to do, Meg," she said to the blonde.
"Alright, what is it?"
"We need to keep an eye on Annabelle for a few hours," Amber replied.
Megan nodded as she followed Amber out of the supply room, her mind not currently on the task they had been given, but on Bumblebee, and the funny, fuzzy feeling she kept getting around him. It was like a bunch of butterflies had formed in her stomach, causing her to act weird around him. She would often dismiss these feelings as a passing phase, nothing more, but they were still there...
"You know, I feel bad for the Lennox family," Amber said.
"Why?" Megan asked.
"You remember what...Bumblebee..." she said the Autobot's name quietly."Told us about what happened to him? With that cannon blast?" she waved to a scar faced man with black and gray hair named Ian-who was very handy with weapons.
"Of course, how could I forget, what an awful way to go!"
"I know right? Well, apparently, Lennox would have had Ironhide or even Bumblebee watching Annabelle, but neither of them are...technically here, so he wants us to do it,
"Thing is, he actually has to pay us!" Megan laughed.
Amber joined her.
They collected Annabelle Lennox from her father and headed into town.
"So,Annabelle," Megan said to the youngster."You're in Kindergarten, right?"
"Yeah..." Annabelle said hesitantly, not sure of either of the two women, more comfortable around the large robots she had come to know than these two. They had much more interesting things to talk about, those robots, but she hadn't seen them in a while. She often wondered what had become of her friends, but no one would ever tell her.
"You liking it okay?"
"...I guess so..."
"What do you like to do there?"
"I..." being only about five years old, Annabelle's attention was easily captured. Seeing someone she recognized was no exception.
"Sam!" she squealed, running up to him and attaching herself to his legs.
"Geez!You're a fast one aren't you?" Sam joked.
He looked up to Amber and Megan and pointed to Annabelle.
"This yours?" he asked.
Amber nodded.
"Lennox has us watching her for a little while," she told him as Annabelle was returned to them.
"Ah, yeah, it's been kinda tough ever since..."
Megan cleared her throat and her eyes darted between Sam and Annabelle, then back again.
"...never mind, forget I said anything..."
Annabelle frowned,that was the closest she had gotten to the answer she was looking for!
"What are you doing here, Sam?" Amber asked, taking a hold of Annabelle's hand.
"Oh, just...wandering, looking for someone," he proceeded to glare at Megan.
"Oh! So it's my fault he's still missing?" she snapped.
"He's not here,is he?"
"But how is that my fault? I barely even know what he looks like! Do you know how many yellow and black Camaros are in this area!"
"...Guys! Calm down!" Amber interjected. But it was too late, they were going at it.
Annabelle lost interest in the argument, and since no one was paying her any attention, she wandered off.
"...You know! If you were really his friend, you would've found him by now!"
"I've been busy! That's why you're helping me!"
"So I'm just your lackey then! I am no one's lackey, you hear me!" she got a sudden look of horror on her face.
"ANNABELLE! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" she shouted when she saw the girl in the middle of the street.
Megan desperately tried to get Annabelle to come back over to their side of the street but she refused on the grounds that she be told what's happened to Ironhide and Bumblebee.
Megan, Amber and Sam look at each other, not sure of what to do,they'd been given strict orders by Lennox not to tell Annabelle what's happened.
"She could get hit out there!" Amber said.
"But Lennox said..." Sam started.
"Who cares what Lennox said! This is his kid we're talking about!" Megan pointed out.
Sam let out a sigh."Alright, we'll tell you," he said reluctantly. Annabelle's face lit up and she took a few steps towards them.
But then, out of the corner of her eye, Megan spots something coming toward where Annabelle was. It was a large semi-truck.
"Annabelle! RUN!" she shouted frantically. Annabelle froze upon seeing the large truck headed straight for her.
"Not good! This is soooo not good!" Megan muttered, pulling her hair.
"Well someone's got to get her!" Amber said.
"That's suicide!" Sam declared.
"If she gets killed, it's on OUR heads!"
Annabelle wasn't sure of what to do, the truck was coming to quickly for her to make up her mind, and if the driver when trying to slow down, he wouldn't be able to stop in time. She started crying.
Just then,as the truck was nearly on top of her, a figured darted-as if from no where- to her rescue, snatching her up and tumbling across the rest of the street to safety. The threesome breathed as sigh of relief and rushed over to see who it was that had managed to save Annabelle's life. The truck that had almost taken Annabelle's life came to a halt several feet away and transformed into the robotic form of the Autobot leader, Optimus.
"Oh my god! Thank you SO much!" Megan babbled to the person."Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think," the man grunted.
"You're pretty quick on your feet, Ian! I've never seen anyone move that fast!" Amber commented.
"Annabelle, say 'thank you' to Mr. Ian, will you?"
Annabelle was attached to the poor man's jacket, clinging tightly to the fabric, she was very much shaken by the whole ordeal. But who had saved her? Who was "Mr. Ian"?
"T-thank you..." she said, still slightly teary.
"Not a problem," the man said, his voice rough but kind."You were in a tight spot there!"
She looked at his face with curiosity, the scars made her flinch a little, he had so many of them. His hair looked silly to her, the black and gray curls that came right up onto his face reminded her of a big sheep dog she had seen once in a picture book. Something seemed familiar about him, where had she seen him before?
And then see realized;
It was the eyes! The eyes felt so familiar to her! They reminded her of...
"Ironhide!" she shouted the name out loud, causing everyone around her to look very confused.
"Annabelle?" Sam asked.
She pointed a finger at the man who had rescued her.
"He's Ironhide!"
Everyone was stunned by this revelation, especially since it was coming from a very young child!
"Um? Annabelle?" Sam said cautiously."...Ironhide...h-he died..."
"...But..." Annabelle was confused, she was positive this man was Ironhide!
She looked at Optimus, hoping he would provide some sort of answer to the problem.
He was studying the man with a careful eye.
Everyone was looking at Optimus expectantly, wondering what his verdict was.
"Annabelle knew Ironhide just as well as any of us," Optimus spoke."You may want to consider that she may be right, Sam."
Sam was still unsure, Ironhide had been killed, he watched it happen! He looked at Ian...or...Ironhide...who ever the man was sceptically,.
"I...I'm still not sure," he said.
Megan sighed and rubbed her head.
"Maybe you can clear this up for us, are you or are you not Ironhide?" she asked.
He looked at all the expectant faces around him and took a deep breath.
"Well...The last time I check I was...so I'm pretty sure I still am..." he admitted.
Megan put out a hand to the man and turned to the others as if to say,"See?"
"That's your proof?" Amber said."Just him saying,'Yes, I am Ironhide'?"
"You got any better ideas? I believe him."
"...Why? You've never met him before," Sam pointed out.
Megan looked at Ironhide and Annabelle,then back at the two skeptics.
"Optimus believes him, and I trust Annabelle's intuition...sooo...that's why."
Of course, there was another reason, but she wasn't about to share that right now, it wasn't her business to share.
Amber shrugged and Sam only shook his head.
"I rest my case."
"Megan, I want you and your father to keep an eye on Ironhide for a while until we can sort this out," Optimus requested.
Megan nodded.
"Yes sir," she said."Annabelle? Can you go with Sam and tell your dad we ran into some...trouble?"
"Yeah..." She threw her arms around Ironhide which surprised him.
"Bye bye, 'Hide..." she said before leaving with Sam,
Ironhide waved after them and then sighed with a grin.
"You know? She was the only one to figure that out..."
"You do a good job of hiding it," Megan said."Come on..."
Megan and Amber brought Ironhide back to the Sullivan's home and started questioning him.
"How do we know you're really Ironhide?" Amber asked as she stared at him from across the kitchen island.
Megan was busy putting together some food.
"You eat meat, right?" she asked.
"Course I do! Who doesn't?"
"A friend of ours," Megan laughed.
"A friend of yours?"
"Yeah, his name's Bu-Brent," Megan nearly slipped up.
Ironhide raised an eyebrow as she placed a plate of food in front of him.
"He should show up at some point," she continued, "he'd like to meet you,I'm sure of it."
"I'd be interested in meeting him as well!" said Ironhide who recalled the bet he had made earlier with Elita.
He still thought he was right, and he was so looking forward to proving her wrong!
"How long have you been human, 'Hide?" Megan asked.
"A while..."
"How long is a while?"
Ironhide chuckled.
"Since the 'incident'," he said."You hear about it?"
"Yeah, we heard about it," Megan watched him shovel food into his mouth.
"Someone's hungry." she thought to herself.
"That's a pretty long time to be human, why didn't you tell anyone?" Amber asked.
"I was supposed to be dead, I didn't want to have to explain myself to everyone, you know, have them look into the whole ordeal..." he grumbled between mouthfuls.
"Besides," he said with another bite."I like keeping to myself, I'm that kinda guy."
Megan snorted.
"Something funny?" the man growled.
"It's nothing,I've just...heard that some where before, that's all..."
"Oh yeah? Where?" he asked, leaning on the counter like it was a bar.
As if in answer, the door opened and in entered Bumblebee. He looked tired, sweaty from the day's work.
"Oh, hey Meg..." Bumblebee said, then noticing Ironhide. He pointed at him."...Who?"
"Brent, this is Ironhide, he's going to be staying with us for a little while," Megan told him.
Bumblebee looked a little surprised by this news.
"Oh..."
"Yeah," Megan was enjoying this a more than she should, it was a form of pay back that she very much savored.
Ironhide studied the boy wondering what the hell made Elita think he could possibly be Bumblebee.
"So...Why's he here?" Bumblebee asked,pointing to Ironhide.
"Optimus's orders," Amber told him.
"Well, how do you know he's not lying?"
Megan gave him a surprised look.
"Now why on Earth would someone go through the trouble of concealing their identity like that?"
Bumblebee winced, seeing the point she was trying to make.
"I'm just saying, you've never met Ironhide before, why should you believe him?"
"Because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, 'Brent'.," She used air quotes when saying his name.
Ironhide raised an eyebrow. What was with these two? Bickering like they were,it was like watching a married couple! And what was with the air quotes.
A groan caught his attention.
"It's been like this all month," Amber said.
"What do you mean?" Ironhide asked.
"They fight like this a lot, always over the simple stuff," a grin came onto her face."You know what I think? I think it's because they don't want to admit that they like each other."
"Whoa! Easy now! How long have you two known him?"
"A month."
"...Really?"
Amber nodded.
"Geez, and they fight like that?" He questioned.
She could only shrug.
"Brent's been living with the Sullivan's this whole time,so, he's spent a lot of time around Megan..."
"Oh, well-wait, how'd y'all meet?"
Amber stopped, a look of confusion come over her face.
"Well, you see, Brent...he was...hurt, badly and...uh...geez..."
"What's wrong?"
"Thing is, Brent's not like other guys, I don't think he'd want me sharing it."
"Oh,come on, who am I going to tell?"
"It's not just that, it's who he is that makes it an even bigger problem..." Her hand went to her neck apprehensively.
"Do I know him?" Ironhide asked.
"N-Yeah, yeah, you do..."
Ironhide had a sinking suspicion he had just lost the bet. He leaned across the table in order to whisper something to Amber.
"...He's not...Bumblebee, is he?"
Amber drew back in shock.
"Is it that obvious?" she asked quietly.
"N-no, it's just...a friend of mine and I, we made a bet on whether or not it was him-"
Amber let out a very loud laugh that caught Megan and Bumblebee's attentions.
"What's gotten into you?" the concerned Bumblebee asked.
"G-get this!" she said, still laughing. She pointed to Ironhide.
"He made a bet with someone...and it was about you!"
"What? What kind of bet?" He panicked, eyes darting to Ironhide.
"He said it was because they were wondering if you were Bumblebee or not!"
Bumblebee was stunned to silence at the shear impossibility of the idea.
A look of pure satisfaction came onto Megan's face.
"HAH!" She exclaimed, pointing a finger at the still-recovering-from-shock Bumblebee."Karma! Karma!"
"...The heck is karma?" Bumblebee asked.
"What goes around, comes around, Bee-boy!" Megan said, folding her arms across her chest with a smug look on her face."Who'd you make thee bet with?"
"Do you know the woman who works in the shooting range?"
"The one who hates Simmons with a passion? Yeah, we know her-she's the one you made the bet with?" Megan asked with surprise.
Ironhide nodded.
"Yeah, she's in the same boat as Bumblebee and me-"
"Wait, she's one of us?" Bumblebee interjected."Who is she?"
"She's Elita," Ironhide told him.
"Elita?" he yelped."How the hell did I not see that sooner!"
Ironhide laughed."Oh, boy, now I see what she meant! Which reminds me, I owe her twenty bucks..."
Megan turned to Bumblebee as Ironhide drew a twenty from his wallet.
"See? Was that so hard?" she said.
"No, but, this is different, Ironhide gets it."
"And Sam won't?"
"You don't know him like I do."
Megan sighed."No, no I don't, but you still need to tell him!"
"I'm not ready to tell him yet..."
"Sam doesn't know?" the voice of Ironhide spoke up.
"Uh, no...no he doesn't..."
Ironhide frown at Bumblebee.
"That's not like you,Bee."
"I-I know, it's just..."
"Just what? Are you afraid of what Sam's going to say?"
"Yes! Exactly!" Bumblebee said.
"Bee, You're an Autobot! You've fought some of the deadliest creatures in the universe and lived, I think you can handle telling your best friend who the hell you are!" Ironhide snapped sternly.
Megan nodded in agreement.
"That is exactly what I've been telling him! But has he listened? Noooo!"
"Well listen to me, boy, and listen well; You're telling Sam what's happened to you, whether you like it or not. He needs to know your safe," Ironhide instructed.
Bumblebee let out a heavy sigh. He did not like where this was going, but they were right, weren't they? Sam should know the truth.
"Alright!" he declared."I'll tell him! You happy?"
Megan smiled.
"Very."
Bumblebee held up a finger."But..."
Megan groaned.
"What now!"
"Can I tell him tomorrow?"
Megan laughed and shook her head.