Chapter 4 - First Impressions
"Mikaela... Mikaela.. Dammit she's not listening". Sam watched as Mikaela walked away from the lake, unaware that his car was also following her steps with concerned optics. The stirring Bumblebee had felt in his spark earlier had well and truly flared when he'd observed the way Mikaela had wanted to protect Sam; and when Bee had seen the way her blue eyes had lit up with a battle light Ironhide himself would have been proud of, when she'd confronted the larger earthling herself, well that was going to take some processing. However as he'd watched her turn away and begin walking away, Bee had seen the glimmering of tears in those eyes and at that moment, his spark had wanted to protect Mikaela as much as he did Sam.
Thinking quickly, Bee filtered through his radio channels before finding the perfect song for the situation. As 'Drive' came through the speakers, Sam snapped out of his indecision, "I need to drive her home. Of course". Bumblebee sighed in relief as Sam headed back towards him, but as he saw Miles heading back towards the him as well, Bee knew that his spark couldn't take any more of the boy.
As Sam fired the engine, Miles reached for the passenger door and found it well and truly locked. "Hey Sam the door won't open". As Sam tried to open it, he shrugged when it refused to budge, "Sorry Miles, I guess you'll have to walk". Bumblebee had to choke back a laugh as he saw Miles stare back at Sam, 'Won't bitch about the paintwork next time will you?'. However when Miles then began to complain about Sam going after Mikaela, and being less than complimentary about her, Bee was unable to keep from allowing some of his anger through. As Sam felt the engine rumble louder than usual, his own temper flared slightly as he shared one last look with Miles, "Sorry Miles but she's my best friend whether you like it or not. She's obviously upset and I'm going after her". As Sam hit the gas, Bee couldn't resist allowing his back wheels to spin a little more than usual, which had the desired effect of covering Miles in a cloud of dust, which restored his good mood no end as Sam sped up to catch Mikaela.
oOoOo
Mikaela wiped at her eyes, furiously brushing away the few tears that had escaped. Mikaela had learnt at an early age that crying about things never solved the problem and from then on she very rarely allowed herself the luxury of a good cry. Focusing on the anger she felt at Trent instead, she willed the rest of them away as she focused on the problem of working out how she was going to get home. She could walk but she didn't really fancy the ten miles plus in the heat of a still warm afternoon. Her next best option was to hitchhike so when she heard the sound of an engine behind her she turned, and felt her heart sink as she saw Sam. Much as she loved her best friend, all she wanted right now was some alone time. As he pulled up beside her and called her name, Mikaela continued to ignore him, hoping he'd get the message; however when she heard him babbling something about giving her a lift home, Mikaela felt a tiny smile tug at the side of her mouth. Maybe some time with her best friend was just what she needed, she'd have plenty of alone time when she finally got home, and it was that thought coupled with the realisation that at least Sam cared enough to come after her, that had the tears threatening again. Taking a deep breath she looked at Sam, "Okay you win". Leaning down to open the door, she was surprised to find it was already open. After she'd got in, closing the door behind her, Sam looked at her oddly, "How'd you do that?".
"What?", replied Mikaela with a frown. "Open the door. It wouldn't open for Miles about five minutes ago". Mikaela shrugged, "It was open when I got in. I dunno, old hinges maybe. Either that or your car just doesn't like Miles". As Sam launched into his defense of Miles, Mikaela stopped listening and leant forward to whisper at the dashboard, "Good call with not letting Miles in", before patting it with a smile.
As they drove along in silence, Mikaela felt herself calming as she listened to the steady purr of the engine from under the hood. A love of cars was one of the few things she still had to remind her of her father. 'Okay away from that subject, or you won't be able to stop the tears'. As Mikaela took a deep breath, she felt the engine rumble slightly causing her to smile to herself, as she began to speak to Sam, "I can't believe I'm here with you".
"You can duck down if you want, won't hurt my feelings". Mikaela laughed, "No I don't mean as in actually here with you. I meant yet again I'm on my own after falling for the dumb ass with the tight abs and big arms". Sam grinned at Mikaela, "Oh God cos that's such a weakness". He then proceeded to shown off his own 'big arms', which lead to a very silly ten minutes of generally teasing each other.
"Okay Sam stop, my sides hurt from the laughing". Sam grinned back at her, pleased that he'd managed to shake Mikaela out of the quiet mood she'd been in. "Told you, you should have ducked down". Mikaela sighed, "Why would I duck down? Sam, this is actually a pretty cool first car, I like it. Like really like it. The scruffy paint and all, it just gives it character".
oOoOo
Throughout their conversation, Bumblebee had listened to the two teenagers and had definitely sensed a stronger bond of friendship between them than he had with Sam and Miles earlier, 'Almost like sparkmates but not'. However most of his attention had been focused on Mikaela from the moment she'd got in. She possessed a very strong sense of protection towards Sam, but Bee sensed that was because she'd always had to protect herself, even as a sparkling. As he sensed the hurt she still felt over this, his spark had flared protectively towards her once more.
Bumblebee quickly paid attention as he heard Mikaela complimenting his alt-form, his spark almost bursting with pride as he thought 'She likes me'. However as he recalled the earlier moment when she'd trailed her fingers along the dashboard, his spark fluttered a little too much and lost in his thoughts, Bee was unaware that his engine was spluttering in response until it was too late. As he rolled helplessly down the deserted dirt track, Bee muttered angrily to himself, 'Really cool Bee, nicely done'. He wasn't doing any better with using the radio, as the only thing he'd managed to play was 'Sexual Healing', which Sam had snapped off much to Bee's relief. 'Stop thinking with your spark plugs, and concentrate'. However despite his best efforts at calming down, he still couldn't get his engine to fire, and as he heard Mikaela tell Sam to pop the hood, Bee's panic only increased.
Her hair pulled back from her face, Mikaela finally got to get under the hood of the Camaro, unaware of the discomfort it was causing said Camaro. Instead of the rusting bulk of engine she was expecting, Mikaela could only beam in delight as she saw the gleaming chrome that glinted back at her in the sun, "Woah nice headers. You have a high-rise double pump carburetor. That's pretty impressive Sam". As she saw the confused look on Sam's face, which carried through to the confusion in his voice as he questioned, "Double pump". Mikaela smiled at Sam, before explaining patiently, "It squirts the fuel in so you can go faster". She chuckled as Sam continued to look puzzled, and carried on with her investigation of the engine.
"Ah think I've found the problem. Your distributor cap is loose. I might be able to hand tighten it".
"How on earth do you know all this about cars?". Mikaela smiled at Sam, "My dad was a real grease monkey and he kinda taught me about all about engines.I could probably take it all apart and put it back together. It used to be our father - daughter bonding time". Sam heard the lost tone in Mikaela's voice as she quickly glanced away, and went back to looking at the engine. 'One day I'll actually ask her what went wrong', mused Sam to himself, before Mikaela asked him to fire the engine. Sam ran round to the driver's seat and tried the key, but still nothing. Mikaela turned the distributor cap once again, before closing the hood. " Hey look Sam, I'm just gonna walk from here, good luck with the car".
Bumblebee came out of the daze he'd been in whilst Mikaela had examined with his engine, as he heard Sam pleading with him to start. Feeling his spark flare in panic as he realised Mikaela had gone, Bee found himself mirroring Sam's frantic muttering of "No. No no no no. You have to start, can't let her walk away'. Scanning round, Bee found Mikaela had only walked a short distance away from where he rolled to a stop. This settled his spark enough so that he was able to fire his engine, the radio almost shouting his relief too as 'Baby Come Back' poured out of them. Bee felt Sam close the doors before spinning round and steering him back towards Mikaela, shouting excitedly. Mikaela turned when she heard the Camaro's engine running perfectly again, and when he saw the grin that lit up her entire face, Bee knew to the bottom of his spark, he was in real trouble.
oOoOo
A/N: Awwwww, isn't he just a sweetie ;)
This chapter seems a bit shorter but I wanted to concentrate on Bee for the next chapter as it's where he 'phones home' and I just couldn't get it to fit with this chapter. So anyway read and review please xx