Author's Note: Hello lovely readers! (looks around for any readers) I am truly sorry for the extremely long wait for this chapter. I have no excuses for the long wait and I really am sorry! I have had quite a few amazing readers review with encouraging words and I knew I had to sit down and glue my butt to the chair! I can't keep you amazing, fantastic readers in the dark anymore (plus I freaking love Cardio waaaaay to much)! So onwards with the chapter! And thanks for staying with me :) I promise this story will not be abandoned!

Sorry I didn't answer any reviews. I read them all and love what you all have to say. I promise I will reply to them this next time! I LOVE YOU GUYS!

I'm not going to lie... this chapter fought me for a while, but I finally brought out the heavy duty artillery and fought right back! And please excuse my typos and spelling errors... my lovely computer does not have spell check anymore :(

Also, please read the Author's Note at the end, I explain a few important things about the story down there :) Thanks!

-x-x-x-

Chapter 5: Reunited

-x-x-x-

Sam groggily emerged from the hazy of a dreamless sleep; he knew that he didn't sleep more than a few hours, but a few hours was better than nothing. Sam slowly sat up from his spot on the toilet seat; it was pretty small, so he used the side of the stall to lean up against as he slept. He stretched silently, feeling a few bones on his spine pop in relief, sleeping in a small bathroom stall was definitely not forgiving on his already aching body. He felt something warm snuggle against his chest and glanced down into his shirt to see Cardio sleeping peacefully on his chest.

The door of the bathroom swung open with such a force, it bounced loudly off the wall with a great bang! Sam jumped and listened carefully to someone noisily fumbling with a few things, turned on the water of one of the shower stalls and what Sam assumed was a shower radio. He listened for a few minutes as the man in the shower stall sang "Lover, Lover" by Jerrod Niemann painfully loud and horribly off key.

The noise woke up Cardio, who began to panic and hit various places against Sam's chest. Sam, who was extremely confused by the heart-bot's actions tried to sooth the scared bot by rubbing his hand up and down the poor bot's back, but he seemed to be inconsolable.

It's okay, little one. I'll keep you safe. I'll always keep you safe.

As if saying the magic words, a hissing - much like hydraulics - came from Sam's chest, which caused Cardio to let out a twitter of happiness. Before Sam could register what happened, a seam formed down the middle of his chest as the two panels of his chest slid open, causing his shirt to rip down the middle. He looked down at the inside of his chest and let out a disgruntled gasp at what he saw. Instead of seeing blood and fleshy organs, he was surprised to see an array of some type of weird metallic organs that were definitely not human but weirdly human at the same time. And to top it all off, a ball of blue light sat in the middle of his chest, shining brightly in its little chamber area.

Wha... I have... a spark? Oh my... I have a spark... I... oh God...

Sam watched as Cardio happily put his small metal face against the box that housed Sam's new spark. Sam let out a startled grunt of surprise as he felt Cardio touch his spark casing. Next thing he knew, Cardio happily climbed into the cavity in his chest that surrounded his spark (a relatively roomy space, Sam noted) and fit himself perfectly in the space, between his (Oh God...) spark chamber and his metal, but soft looking lung? Yeah, it looked like a lung. Without a second thought, Sam's chest panels closed back up, safely locking the small bot within his body, without leaving any indication that it had opened at all.

The sensation was weird, but not uncomfortable. He could feel every movement Cardio made from snuggling against this spark casing to moving into a more comfortable position to fall back asleep in. Sam also felt Cardio once again upload into his body (system?); Sam knew how many spark pulses a minute Cardio had to how hungry the bot was (which was getting better since Cardio was hooked up to Sam's system and feeding off of him) to Cardio's emotions. Cardio was happy, which made Sam happy. Now he just had to figure a way back to the Autobots before the crazy psychopathic scientists found him.

-x-x-x-

Ratchet sat on a makeshift chair and table in the abandoned warehouse with a large barrel of very strong diesel fuel. Staring into the contents, the CMO swirled the liquid around absentmindedly. Boy, did he wish that they had the equipment to be able to refine the primitive gasoline into energon; alas, they were stuck with fossil fuels. Taking a long swig and placing the barrel down, he cycled air through his vents in an equivalent to a long human sigh.

"So what's the verdict, Hatchet?" Ironhide asked, as he took a seat next to the CMO.

Ratchet made a point to glare at the war-hardened Weapons Specialist, but responded. "It's something I've never seen before."

Surprise was evident on his comrade's face. "What do you mean?"

"We've never become close enough to an alien species to start to form relationships and allegiances with. Humans don't form relationships and bond the same way we do; their bonds do not physically connect them as ours do. Theirs are based on laws and different religions that worship different gods; however, it seems that Bumblebee was able to form a Cybertronian bond with young Samuel." Ratchet paused to take another large gulp from the barrel. "I've ran it through my processors hundreds of times and the only logical conclusion is... a spark-bond. Well at least the start of a spark-bond."

Ironhide remained silent for a few seconds and slowly reached for the barrel in Ratchet's hand. Grabbing the barrel without a fight from the CMO, he downed the rest of the contents. Clearing his vocal processors after a long pause, he said, "No slag."

Ratchet scoffed. "You're telling me, ya old fragger."

"What caused the youngling to have such a violent reaction?"

The CMO growled. "I don't know! I thought it might have been spark-break at first, but after running a throughout diagnostic check of his systems, the pain receptors in his processor were being overloaded, which he couldn't processes fast enough causing the convulsions."

Ironhide let out a low hum. "So let me get this straight: Bumblebee went into convulsions because his processors couldn't processes the pain, yes?" Ratchet bobbed his head in affirmation. "But Bumblebee wasn't doing anything to warrant that amount of pain. So, where did the pain come from?"

"From the other side of the bond, would be my guess..."

Ratchet's cranial unit snapped up, his optics meeting the Weapon's Specialist's. "Oh frag!"

"You don't think..." Ratchet started.

"You bet I do! I knew you can't trust those glitch-ridden, pit-spawn humans! I knew i-"

CLANK! BANG!

The revving of an engine brought Ironhide out of his angry rant. Alerts went off on Ratchet's HUD, signaling that a certain bot was pulled out of stasis. The two Autobots turned just in time to watch taillights of a yellow Camaro zoom away from them dust spiraling behind him. The two glanced at one another, transformed and followed after the scout.

[Ratchet to Optimus. We have a problem... the size of Unicron himself.]

-x-x-x-

Sam silently snuck out of the truck stop bathroom while Mister Wanna-Be-Country-Star belted his musically-inept lungs out. It was the crack of dawn and not many people were out-and-about this early except the few truckers who wanted to start their journey early. Sam was unsure what the next step of his escape plan was; all he knew was that he could not say here any longer - he needed to move. He weighed out his options: he could trudge through the forest that went along the road, but he feared he didn't have enough strength to make it far; he could ask someone for a phone to try to contact the Autobots, or even Lennox, but he didn't have anyone's numbers; or he could ask someone for a lift to the nearest town, but when he got there, what would he do than?

Then a thought struck him: his parents! He could call his parents and they could pick him up and...

And what? See him looking like this, their freaky son? How would he explain Cardio or even the Autobots to them? No... he couldn't contact his parents. He didn't have the heart (Err, spark?) to drag them into this whole mess, especially since they were already taken by Sector Seven once, and S7 was child's play compared to those psychopaths who imprisoned him.

His best option was to hitchhike with some trucker to the nearest town.

Sam looked around at the few busy bodies around the truck stop, who were giving him odd looks, causing him to self-consciously wrap his ripped shirt around himself. He walked (well, limped with is bad leg) up to a few men, but was quickly shot down and was denied a lift, murmurs of drugs, gangs and runaways. He sighed, people always assumed the worst.

"Hey kid?" He turned to watch a husky and rather masculine brunette women make her way over to him. "Need a ride?"

"Oh God, yes please!"

The women chuckled and stuck out her hand, "I'm Mary-Anne."

"Uh, Sam," he responded, taking her hand and shaking it weakly.

"Hell, you're freezing! Let's gets some proper clothes on you, kid," she responded, pulling him to her dark blue semi.

Sam followed her, struggling to keep up with her. "I, uh, don't have anything on me to pay you back."

Mary-Anne slowed her long strides and glanced back at the him. "Kid, you look like hell. I may not know your story, but if I looked half as bad as you, I'd want some kind soul to help me out."

Sam blushed. "Oh... th-thank you."

After Mary-Anne pulled out a large Arkansas Razorbacks sweatshirt ("Was my ex-husband's, don't need it anymore after what that cheatin' pile of shit did.") and gave Sam a meal or assorted leftovers (I'm turning into some human-mechanical hybrid thing? So what? I can still eat? he thought absentmindedly as he munched on cold french fries.). They began their drive away from Jackie's Roadhouse Truck Stop and Diner.

"Oh, you are a godsend!"

Mary-Anne chuckled. "Real life angel in disguise, right here."

Sam smiled at her. "No seriously, thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, kid. You look like you've gone through somethin' rough and I ain't gonna pester you about it. It's your business, not mine. However, I do gotta ask one question."

"...yeah?"

"You ain't got the police after you, do you?"

There was a pause as Mary-Anne silently waited for Sam to respond. "No, not that I know of."

The truck driver hollered in laughter. "Good! I don't want to be sucked into no crime!"

If you only knew, Sam thought, his body aching from their horrid treatment. Cardio, who had only woken up moments before from the truck driver's boisterous laugh, rubbed his little head against his spark casing and hummed contently, as if trying to console him. Sam placed his hand over his chest, right over his spark, reminding himself that his little bot was safe now. Across the bond, Sam pushed all his love over to the small heart-bot, causing him to purr loudly. Sam, startled at the volume of Cardio, coughed frantically to coverup the sound.

Mary-Anne, oblivious to what was actually happening, pounded Sam on the back, thinking the young man was choking. Pain shot through him, almost causing him to whimper and curl into himself, until that feeling deep in his heart - spark (Man, I can't get used to that.) - became stronger and pulled the pain away. Sam was overjoyed that the familiar presence was back. He mentally rubbed against it, unable to fully connect with it yet and was zealous when he felt it nudge him back, feelings of love, relief and sheer determination leaked through.

-You're back,- he thought happily towards the presence. The presence that helped him survive through his captivity. The presence who was there to take the pain away. The presence that was his. His presence.

-I never left you...- The reply was so quiet, that Sam had to strain to hear it. It sounded like he was hearing it through the white noise of a radio.

"You okay, kid?"

Sam looked up from where he was staring at his lap, not all to happy that he was interrupted when communicating to his presence. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine."

Mary-Anne snorted. "Thought you were going to choke to death on me."

"Nah, I'm fine. Just a little tired, must of fallen asleep while eating."

"Shit, kid. Take the bed in the back and get some rest. We have about an hour and a half until we hit the next town. I'll wake you when we get there." The trucker glanced at the boy quickly, flashing him a warm smile.

"Okay, thanks." Sam stood up and made his way to the back of the live-in. The bed was small and nothing special, but a hell of a lot better than the bathroom stall. Sam curled up on top of the comforter and closed his eyes.

Cardio wiggled around slightly and moved into a more comfortable position. Sam let the little bot know that he'd probably have to stay hidden for a while, but Cardio didn't protest. He'd been away from his creator when he was first created and for a few days after that, he had no intention of leaving the protection Sam anytime soon.

-Are you there?- he asked, prodding the side of the mental presence.

-...yes...- Again, the presence's replay was quiet and hard to hear without complete concentration, but it also sounded strained. -... coming... for... you...-

Sam didn't give the presence a direct reply, he knew the presence could feel his excitement (Cardio also decided to throw in his excitement as well.). He couldn't wait to be back in the arms of his golden yellow guardian. With that thought, Sam fell into a light nap.

-x-x-x-

"Hey, kid." There was a pause as Sam drifted to consciousness. "Hey, kid. We made it."

Sam groggily opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear his vision. Mary-Anne smiled down at him.

"We made it to the next town, but it ain't much."

Sam sat up and glanced out the front windshield. "That's fine."

He stood up as Mary-Anne made her way to the front of the cab and out the drivers side door. Sam stretched his tight muscles, wincing as he did so; everything throbbed, especially his leg. He followed her out and took in his surroundings. She was right, the town was not very big. It looked like it was just a couple square miles with a restaurant, gas station, and general store, along with a few houses and random buildings.

"We're about fifteen minutes off the interstate and the next towns forty-five minutes from there," Mary-Anne explained as she glanced around. "This is one of those forgotten towns, not much business and most of the locals up and moved to a bigger city where there were more jobs."

"This is perfect," Sam muttered, placing a hand on his chest, over the spot where Cardio hummed happily.

"You sure you don't want me to take you to a larger town?" Mary-Anne asked, concern laced in her voice.

Sam turned to her with a broad smile. "No, this is perfect."

"Okay, you got someone to contact, kid? You can use my cell."

"Thanks, but they already know where I am."

Mary-Anne watched the teen. "Do you want me to wait with you until they get here?"

"Nah, they should be here soon. And you probably need to get back on the road to make your deadline."

Mary-Anne frowned and watched the boy carefully. "Okay, well take care, kid," she said, and pulled the boy into a strong hug.

Sam, who was caught off guard, winced at the strength of the women. "I will." They parted the hug. "And thank you for everything; the food, the ride... for caring." The burly women smiled. "Oh! Your sweatshirt!" Sam made a motion to take it off but Mary-Anne raised her hand to stop him.

"Keep it. You need it more than I do!" Sam nodded and watched as Mary-Anne walked back to her truck. "See you around, kid! I hope your luck turns around!"

"Me too!" Sam responded, waving at the women. Mary-Anne started the engine of her semi and pulled out of the little gas station she had stopped at. Once she made it to the end of town heading back towards the interstate, she spotted a yellow blur zooming towards her at top speeds, kicking up dust like a stampede. She whistled as the car passed her going well over the legal speed limit. A minute or two later, two more cars zoomed by; a big black truck and a green hummer if she saw correctly.

Hope that's for you, kid.

-x-x-x-

Bumblebee didn't care how many human laws he broke and by this time it was more than a dozen; all he cared about was getting to his Sam. It was hard to communicate with Sam through the bond that they had, it took a lot of his concentration to even send him a full sentence, but he was able to get a fix on his location - Thank Primus!

Sam...

He zoomed in and out of traffic, cutting off cars and tailgating others, earning him a bunch of rude gestures, but he didn't care. His Sam was the only thing on his mind.

Sam...

He was vaguely aware that Ratchet and Ironhide were tailing him, trying to hail him over his comm., but he ignored everyone of them. He also noticed that Ironhide was jamming police scanners as they followed. He quickly thought to thank him later.

Sam... I'm coming!

Bumblebee pulled off the interstate on a barely used off-ramp without slowing down. He had covered a few hundred miles in three-fourths the time it would normally take.

Sam... I'm almost there!

Dust swirled around him as the potholed littered road turned into a forgotten dirt road. His shocks groaned in protest; his alt. mode was not made for offroading and he knew that he would feel it in the morning. A thought of a barely clothed Sam washing his dirty alt. mode quickly pushed to the forefront of his processor, but he quickly filed it for later.

Yes, later... when I am back with my Sam.

A small town came into view within minutes, causing Bumblebee's spark pulse to quicken. He was so close!

So close to my Sam!

Bumblebee zoomed into the deserted town going well over three times the speed limit, but skidded to a stop when he came into view. He was standing at the curb in front of a small gas station waiting for him, a weak smile adorned his beautiful face.

Waiting for me...

Bumblebee, not believing it was truly him, rolled up slowly to the boy and popped his driver's side door open. He grabbed the top of the door and ran his hands along the edge, sending a shiver through Bumblebee's frame. He slowly moved his hand to the steering wheel, rubbing it with is thumb ever so slightly, and placed a leg (an injured leg, Bumblebee noticed with a growl) into the cab. Bumblebee set his scanners on maximum, taking in every detail of the boy - no his boy - inside and out, and noticed the little stowaway.

His Sam slowly and painfully climbed (almost collapsed) into the driver's seat of Bumblebee's alt. mode, curling into a ball on his seat. Bumblebee snaked the seatbelt around the trembling boy as he slammed the door shut, locking it and tinting the windows completely black. Once his boy was in the comfort and privacy of Bumblebee, he broke down all of his walls and sobbed. The seatbelt tightened around his Sam in a comforting manner as he let his boy let out all his emotions.

"Bee... oh God, Bee..."

Bumblebee's spark shattered at how hopeless and scared his Sam sounded. Through the bond that he shared with Sam, he sent every positive emotion that he could muster up. He felt Sam latch onto him, as if his life depended on it.

"Sam, my Sam, let it out... You are safe with me. Always."

-x-x-x-

Author's Note #2: AND THAT IS CHAPTER FIVE! I know how long you guys have been waiting for the reunion! And shits about to hit the fan when the Autobots hear what happened to Sam. Can't wait until next chapter (which will be out soon!)

The idea of having a sparking be placed within a cavity in the chassis of its creators have been used in so many fanfictions that I am unsure who originally came up with the idea. My concept is slightly different; its not really a 'hold' or 'chamber' type of thing, but really just a little space for the sparking to curl up against the creator's spark chamber for nourishment and bonding.

From my understanding, Mission City is the equivalent to Boulder City, Nevada. If you think about it in the first movie, Lennox says that the nearest city to Hoover Dam is 22 minutes north, if you look at a map of Nevada, you see that Boulder City is the only city near Hoover Dam (which is in Lake Mead, on the boarder of Nevada and Arizona). However, Boulder City is 20 minutes west of Hoover Dam (there is no city 22 minutes north, I've checked - nothing there). Many people believe that Las Vegas 'is' Mission City, but its 50 minutes northwest from Hoover Dam. In regards to Mission City being Los Angeles, LA is 5 hours away from Hoover Dam. I know Bay has plot holes up the wah-zoo, but I CANNOT accept that Mission City is LA. SO, essentially Mission City is not equivalent to any Nevada city and is COMPLETELY fictional or had a very loose equivalence to Boulder City.

Also, the way I picture Cardio is looking kinda like Frenzy, but smaller, not as... pointy? Sharp? and not as evil looking. I see him smaller, definitely human infant size (he was a heart monitor as well as a laptop so he can't be that big) with a thin body shape as well has thin arms and legs, but a round baby face almost. I would attempt to draw him and let you all see what I see, but my artistic ability hardly goes beyond stick figures... although, I did sketch a pretty badass Autobot emblem... Anyways, I just thought you should kind of get a sense of how I picture Cardio to be, but you are more than welcome to let your imaginations interpret him anyway you want! (And if you want to draw him, I am definitely NOT against it ;) ) I just love the little guy so much!

Published: August 1, 2013 -unbetaed