Chapter 5 - Signs
As he listened to the sounds of Sam's soft snores, Bumblebee wished he could switch off and recharge, but he couldn't for two reasons. Firstly he was expecting a call over his comm-link from Optimus; and secondly every time he tried to close his optics, all he could see was the image of Mikaela beaming at him. 'She's not actually beaming at you', Bee tried to tell himself, 'She's beaming at your alt-mode'. However that wasn't making any more difference now than it had been when he'd first told it to himself. Bee's spark still fluttered like crazy every time he thought of her smile, and when he thought about her trailing her fingers along his dashboard trim, he could feel his interior heating up uncomfortably.
'I need to stop this before I fry some circuits', Bee thought to himself, and not for the first time he wished that the other 'bots were here with him already. Oh he was loving getting to know Sam, and Mikaela as well, but right now he wanted the company of the other 'bots. Hell he'd even put up with the teasing he knew he'd get from Ironhide, and while he wouldn't exactly submit willing to an examination from Rachet, Bee felt some advice from the medic would be useful. As he felt the wave of homesickness, not for the first time in his life, Bumblebee wished he could be back home on Cybertron. However as he gazed up at the stars, he once again thought of Mikaela, and Bee felt the homesickness fade a little, 'Maybe Earth won't be quite so bad after all'.
However a short while later Bumblebee's homesickness, and even Mikaela, was the last thing on his mind as his comm-link flared into life and he heard the voice of Optimus Prime informing him that he and the other Autobots were ready to join him. Bee replied quickly in Cybertronian, informing Optimus that he'd send up the signal for them as soon as he could. As Optimus' deep voice reassured Bumblebee that he was doing a good job so far, Bee felt some of the nervousness he'd felt since his comm-link had burst into life fade away a little. As Optimus once again stressed the importance of the signal being sent to them as soon as possible, Bee reassured his leader that he would do his best to get the signal up tonight. As his comm-link went quiet, Bumblebee once again looked at the stars and this time, he felt a rush of excitement in his spark. Trying his best to start his engine as silently as he could, Bee pulled out of the Witwicky's driveway. As he scanned the local area for somewhere suitable to transform back to his bi-pedal form, Bumblebee was unaware that Sam had woken at the sound of Bee's engine firing.
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Sam woke with a start when he heard his Camaro starting up. He momentarily lay in his bed as this information slowly processed in his still sleepy head, before the light bulb of realisation came on brightly. Sam threw himself out of bed and rushed to the window, just in time to see his beloved car being driven out of the driveway, his voice rising in panic as he shouted "No no no no no, stop" at the departing Camaro. Quickly dressing himself, Sam thundered down the stairs making enough noise to wake the dead, which obviously his parents were as he'd heard nothing from them. Collecting his coat and his cell phone, before heading outside; Sam yelled a message of "Dad... Call the cops ", right under their bedroom window in the hope that it would wake them. Hearing no response and with no time to lose, Sam grabbed his bike and set off in pursuit of his car.
"Where you going with my car hey buddy?". Sam pedalled as fast as he could to keep up with the Camaro, which had he been thinking logically was being driven much too carefully to have been stolen, he would have also noticed it slowing for stop signs. However Sam was not in the mood to be thinking logically, and just put it down to it being a very careful car thief as he pulled out his cell-phone and dialled 911, though not before wobbling dangerously. When he heard the operators voice, Sam breathed as much a sigh of relief as he could through his already burning lungs, "Yeah my car... its been stolen. I'm in pursuit right now... I need like the whole squadron". As Sam listened to the operator telling him to calm down, and begin to ask him questions, he noticed the Camaro speed up and head towards one of the local industrial areas. Feeling a sense of panic, Sam's fragile hold on his temper snapped, "Look don't ask me questions. My mother's head of the neighbourhood watch. Just trace the call and get here as soon as you can". Switching the phone off, Sam shoved the phone back in his pocket, and took as deep a breath as his lungs would allow, before pedalling as hard as his tired legs could to follow the disappearing tail lights of the Camaro.
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Bumblebee had realised Sam had been following him shortly after he'd left the Witwicky house. As he tuned into Sam's cell phone, Bee couldn't help feeling pleased as he heard the passion in Sam's voice when he repeatedly told the operator at the other end of the line someone was stealing his car, and he wasn't letting them get away. However Bee had also been able to pick up on Sam's vital signs, and although he wasn't as knowledgeable as Rachet in all things medical, Bee had quickly realised just how tired Sam was getting and had slowed down a little to allow Sam to get some breath back. That was until Bumblebee had realised he was almost at the old concrete factory just on the edge of Tranquility, and as this was where he planned to send the signal from; Bee knew he needed to get a bit of space between him and Sam so he could get out of his alt-mode without being spotted. Gunning his engine slightly, Bee whispered a 'Sorry Sam, but I will explain soon' to himself and sped away from Sam, trying to ignore the concerned jumping of his spark as he did so.
Once he reached the gates, Bee revved his engines and aimed for the gate. As he hit them at speed, the gates flew open, and Bee winced slightly as he felt the gates add a few new scratches his paintwork, 'Oh come on, like I can afford for the paintwork to look any worse'. As he narrowly avoided the train, Bee slowed slightly as he searched for the best place to transform and send the signal. As he scanned round he noticed a clear area that was slightly raised, and thought to himself that it looked like the perfect place. As he drove over to it, he did a quick scan of the area to check for any life which registered all clear. Quickly transforming back to his bi-pedal mode, Bumblebee let out a loud chirp of relief, before thinking 'Oh boy, that feels good', as he finally got to stretch his joints after spending so much time in his alt-mode just after getting it. However much as he wanted to spend the rest of the night stretching out the kinks in his wiring, Bee knew he had more important things to do. Gazing up at the stars through his optics, Bumblebee touched a metal finger to a small spot just below his chest armour and fired the homing signal. As he watched it climb through the clouds and shine brightly into the stars, Bee was unable to keep a small energon tear from escaping as the wave of homesickness hit harder than ever, and he found himself hoping with all his spark that Optimus and the others were able to reach it in time. As Bee continued to watch the skies lost in his thoughts, he was unaware that from across the yard, he was being watched.
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Sam crept across the deserted yard and found some crates to use as a vantage point to look for his car. Bobbing his head just above them, Sam was pleased to see his car parked several yards in front of him. Getting his phone from out of his jacket pocket, Sam prepared to dial 911 to let them know he'd managed to find his car; he was however distracted by several distinct mechanical sounds. Looking around him, Sam expected to see maybe the train or another bit of equipment moving, but when he looked for it and couldn't see it, he frowned slightly. Shrugging his shoulders, Sam turned back to look at his car, which was no longer there. What was there had the same colouring as his Camaro, but the 17ft shape that he could see standing where his Camaro had been was most definitely not car shaped. Sam calmly watched as a light emitted from the shape and rose into the sky, and looking at it, Sam saw that it was exactly the same shape as the emblem in the middle of his Camaro's steering wheel.
Somehow seeing that snapped Sam back to reality and the calm he felt had rushed away quickly, and quickly turned to outright panic as he flung himself back behind the boxes. Breathing hard, Sam risked another peep over the boxes and saw the shape still standing there. "Oh my God", Sam muttered fearfully to himself as he sank back to the ground, digging in his jacket for his phone in the process. Ringing the first number he thought of, Sam pleaded with Mikaela to answer her phone despite the lateness of the hour. As he heard the cheerful tone of her voice telling him to leave a message, any hold Sam had on his nerves was lost as he frantically tried to explain the situation to her; "Mikaela listen to me, I know you're gonna think I'm crazy but my car, well it's not a car.. Its alive or something". He quickly aimed his phone over the crates and took a blurry picture of whatever his car now was, before quickly continuing his message, "Look this might be the last time I ever get to speak to you so I just wanna say thanks for being my best friend in the world ever. Tell Mom and Dad that I love them, and tell Mojo too... oh and tell Mom that if she finds a copy of 'Busty Beauties' under my bed, I'm just holding it for Miles'. Sam paused for breath and realised if these were his last words on earth he couldn't waste them lying to his mother via his best friend, "Okay look so that's a lie, its mine okay, Uncle Charlie gave it to me, I'm sorry. Main thing is, I love you guys". Sam ended the call, and slid the phone back in his pocket. Looking over the crates once more, Sam couldn't see anything. No shape, no car. As this just made him all the more unsure, Sam decided to try to head back to his bike. He hadn't gone more than a couple of steps when he heard a low growling noise. Spinning round Sam half expected to see a Camaro shaped creature, and then almost wished it was whatever his car had turned into when he saw the snarling muzzles and sharp teeth of the guard dogs. As Sam sprinted away as quick as he could with the dogs in pursuit, he couldn't help but wish he'd just stayed asleep.
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Bumblebee had just switched the signal off when he heard the barking of the two dogs. Quickly scanning over that area with his optics, Bee felt his spark jump as he saw Sam running away from the dogs. Quickly realising Sam must have been there all along, Bee expected to feel panic in his spark but strangely felt a sense of calm, "At least he now knows". However as the barking increased and his receptors picked up Sam's frantic yelling, Bee switched instantly into guardian mode. Quickly transforming back down to his alt-mode, Bee only just felt his wheels hit the ground before he sped off in the direction of Sam's yells. As Bumblebee entered the warehouse, lights and horn blaring which had the desired effect of scaring the dogs off, he chuckled as he saw Sam standing on a pile of wooden crates in the middle of the floor. However as Sam yelled at him to go away, Bee felt his spark flicker sadly as he heard the fear in Sam's voice. As Bumblebee heard the sirens in the distance, he fought the urge to drive off and stayed by Sam. However as Sam threw the keys at him, Bee flinched and was momentarily distracted, which allowed Sam to run past him to the approaching police car. Bee watched for a second longer before exiting the warehouse before he was discovered, the sinking feeling in his spark increasing as he drove away from Sam.
When he'd left the warehouse and Sam behind, Bee had almost driven straight back to the Witwicky house. However when he recalled the look of fear in Sam's eyes, Bee had decided it might be better to not to, however much it hurt his spark. He'd fought the urge to drive by Mikaela's house as Bee knew he couldn't bear to see the same look of fear in her blue eyes. It had however been the thought of Mikaela that had drawn him to the spot where he now sat. When Bumblebee had arrived at the spot it had still been dark, so he'd slowly transformed back to his bi-pedal mode before sitting down on the cold earth before drawing his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on his knees, blinking his optics sadly. He'd watched the flickering lights of the town below him before lifting his optics back to the fading stars. Bee then felt his comm-link flare into life, and he waited for the sound of Optimus' voice to filter through. However as he heard the rough voice of Ironhide, Bee felt his spark brighten a little. As he heard the concern in Hide's voice, Bee quickly voiced his fears over Sam's reaction to seeing him in his true state. As Bee listened to Ironhide's reassurances that he was sure the younger 'bot would find a way to make it up to his earthling as he'd not seen a mission Bee couldn't complete yet, Bee's spark settled considerably and when Ironhide had confirmed that he and the others would be arriving soon, hopefully that same day if they'd calculated the Earth time right before the comm-link had broken up, Bee had definitely felt much happier as he'd watched the stars slowly fade and the sun start to rise. As the sun glinted off his faded paintwork, Bee took one last look at the skies, before folding down into his alt-mode and heading back towards Tranquility, back to Sam, and back to Mikaela; a determination now present in his spark to make this work somehow.
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A/N: I think this chapters the longest one yet, it feels it lol! Sorry there's not much Mikaela in this one, but I kinda figured this chapter needed to be more Sam & Bee centred. I hate having to write Bee so angsty as he's usually so cheerful, but he must have been hurt at Sam yelling at him :( And had to sneak a little Ironhide in there as he's my second favourite 'bot and I kinda see him as Bee's guardian xx Anyway enjoy, and all reviews will be gratefully received xx