Chapter Seven

"Bumblebee," Optimus spoke over the comm link between all Autobots, and Bee perked up from where he slumbered late into the night. Here was the ruin, he thought, as he answered the link in the affirmative. "It is time."

The night swelled outside the hangar and Sam slept peacefully within the med bay, unaware of what would be taking place in another part of the country. He would dream and wake the next morning, Bee would be back, everyone would be home, and no-one would ever need know what had happened.

Quietly, Bee swerved his Camero form out from the med bay, and almost silently into the main hangar, where all the Autobots were gathered in circular formation. Optimus faced him directly opposite, and he saw from the corner of his sensors that Epps and Lennox were gathered with a small group of well trained army men near the entrance to the hangar. Everyone was ready to go.

Optimus transformed and got down on his knees in front of the Camero. "Not a word will be mentioned to the boy, do you understand, Bumblebee?" Bumblebee flashed his dipped headlights, agreeing, but reluctantly. He secretly wished he could tell the boy what he was about to do next, what they were all about to go through with now.

However, he knew that this needed to happen, and they needed to take action. If they didn't, then the next time would be too late.

Rachet transformed, a large, wicked grin on his usually fatherly face. "I'm looking forward to this, Optimus. I'm looking forward to this very much indeed." He gripped his fists, tightening them before he let his fingers relax.

"Yeah, when we gonna punch that bastard in da face?" One of the twins catcalled, when they were shut down by Lennox.

"Sam doesn't need to know about this, remember guys?" he said to the two of them. "Sam doesn't need to hear what were about to do, so no mentioning this to him, okay?" He was stern, but he also couldn't wait to have a piece of the action he'd been waiting for for the past few weeks. While he didn't know the kid as well as the Autobots did, he respected him enough to want to kill Megatron too.

"Don' worry, Sir! We'll make sure not ta say one word to da kid, we swear it on our-"

"Don't even think about swearing it on anything, just don't tell him," Epps interjected, not wanting to think about what they were about to say next. Truthfully, he was worried about what they were going to do. Infiltrating an enemy camp full of Decepticons was like walking right into a bear cave. Who knew how many of those psychos there were. He shuddered as he walked up to Lennox.

Catching the look on his friends' face, Lennox tapped him on the shoulder. "We'll be okay. In fact, it'll be fun," he said cheerfully, a maddening gleam in his eyes. Epps rolled his eyes.

"You kids and your games," he whispered, and Lennox laughed.

"Is everyone ready?" Optimus boomed. Everyone stuck their arms into the air in a silent salute, ready for the gore and the action to begin. "Let's roll out."

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Sam woke up early, his thoughts fuzzy and full of warmth. He clutched the bed sheets with one closed fist and the otehr lay free over the side of the bed. He sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes, and furrowed his eyebrows when he saw Bee wasn't there. In fact, it was quiet in the med bay. There was no sound, nothing bubbling from the twins' mouths, which could usually be heard for miles away. There were no pounding footprints or rolling gears, no electrical wires and no muted whispers from human mouths.

Sam sat up, and stayed sitting, listening to the silence with new purpose.

"Is there anyone here?" his voice echoed through the large room, and he flinched when it bounced right back to him.

"I'm here," a female voice, low and soft spoke back, and Sam looked in the direction it came from to see a tall brunette walk slowly toward him, a clipboard attached to one hand, a pen in the other. She smiled, her tanned face beaming at him, a pair of demin jeans and a strappy pink top huddled under a white coat.

"I've never seen you here before," Sam commented, as he pulled his legs out of the bed. He noticed, mentally, that they felt fine now, except for the slight twinge he felt on his thighs, he was okay. He wondered if the bruising had gone down, and noted he would check it later on. The brunette smiled.

"Employed a week ago," she stuck out a hand, "Pleasure to meet you." He shook hers, then looked around the med bay.

"What happened to the usual banter?" he asked, straight to the point. His gaze shifted from her to the abnormal loneliness that emmitted from every corner of the usually loud and booming hangar. The brunette stuck her hands behind her back.

"Routine mission. Everyone was called out. Bumblebee didn't want to wake you up, so I was warned to tell you that everything was fine, and that they should be back later," she smiled again, and Sam nodded, before scratching his head.

"Hmm," he sighed, feeling a prick of hurt cross his chest. Bee usually told him where he was going, even if he had to wake him up, especially if it was in the middle of the night, and on college grounds. He shrugged off the feeling as fast as he could. "H-How are you getting used to the towering, hulking, robotic machines that have a lifeforce of their own?" he asked animatedly, and the brunette laughed, a high, sweet sounding flute in the gloomy air.

"Well, it's certainly different, but its cool. Dad always told me he believed in aliens," she took out her pen and started writing something down on the sheet of paper on the clipboard. "But I never thought he spoke the truth."

"Your dad works here?"

"Nope. My dad was a convicted crazy nutter who ended up in an asylum two years ago for his belief in the demons of outer space," she replied easily, and Sam flinched, a look of surprise on his face. She laughed again. "Joke," she added. "Yes, my dad does work here."

"Huh, good joke. I genuinely believed you," Sam said, his heart rate slowing down after thinking he was stuck in a room with a crazy nut-job himself. "Um, I'm Sam," he stated, and the brunette smiled.

"Mikeala."

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