Strange neighbours

Chapter Nine: Down the rabbit hole

The Autobots gathered inside one of the Hangars of the temporary NEST base in Nevada. The NEST team was on their way back to Diego Garcia after taking out a Decepticon they had been tracking around the state. They were currently residing in an old air force base used for storing aircrafts.

Ratchet was the last to arrive to the small gathering. He transformed, greeted Optimus then walked over to Ironhide, who stood leaning heavily on one leg. He walked behind Ironhide and put his hands on the warrior's shoulders and pushed him down into a sitting position on the ground. Ironhide looked up at Ratchet and huffed in annoyance but the medic growled at him, crouched down and began removing armour before beginning more repairs the warrior's injured leg.
"That damn Decepti-creep snuck up on me." Ironhide growled from where sat. Ratchet snorted as he crouched over Ironhide's leg,
"You're lucky it was only a small Decepticon. Sure you weren't busy thinking about Chromia? You looked distracted during that last mission and I know no one was speaking on the comlink." Ironhide grumbled at Ratchet and the medic laughed at his slight embarrassment.
"Frag off Ratchet."

Ratchet continued repairing Ironhide's injury as Optimus began their unplanned meeting.
"Autobots, only half an hour ago Bumblebee sent a message through the comlink. He and Sam are on their way here with another human. Her name is Samantha Jerold. According to Bumblebee's message Samantha and her parents are new occupants of the house next door to Sam."

"Is she a pretender?" Ironhide asked before he winced and growled at Ratchet who snarled at him to shut down his sensory systems properly. Optimus ignored Ratchet's medical instruction towards Ironhide and answered the question,

"No, Bumblebee has completed a full background check on the family and they are no threat to the Witwickys. However she was in an accident involving Bumblebee. According to him it was non-life threatening but this accident made her become suspicious of Sam. She believed he was hiding something. From what Bumblebee has observed this girl is very determined and driven but has become inquisitive of Sam's affairs.
Earlier tonight she had followed Sam driving with Bumblebee. She was hoping to find out what the boy was hiding. While she was spying on Sam she saw Bumblebee transform. His scanners didn't pick up her signature until she'd seen him.
"Oh slag. I imagine she ran?" Ratchet stopped his repairs and looked up at Optimus giving the leader his full attention.
"Yes she did, but there was more in Bumblebee message, his battle computer is malfunctioning. Ratchet you're going to need to start immediate repairs when he arrives."
Ratchet's facial plates fell and he groaned,

"Of all the slagging components to malfunction it had to be his fragging battle computer! They are the worst to repair. Oh frag it!" He turned back to Ironhide's leg and continued his repair work. Ironhide glared at Optimus with one optic twitching each time the medic ripped at his wirings and touched a sensory nerve ending.
Optimus hid a smile,

"Easy Ratchet. Because of his malfunctioning battle computer Samantha's first encounter with our kind was not a pleasant one so when she arrives there will not be any kind of threatening behaviour. We want peace between the humans whether it is a whole country or just one human child so you will understand when I say any kind of behaviour that may scare her will be intolerable." Optimus made his words stern and low.

"Because Bumblebee needs urgent repairs he and Sam had decided to come straight here however Samantha refused to be taken back to her home so Sam had no other option but to bring her with him and Bumblebee.
Sam has told her a few things about us but he has not said enough for her to completely understand why we are here, this is an opportunity for us to gain the trust of an individual human civilian, a rare opportunity due to the request of the American Government that our existence remain a secret. We need to her understand we are on Earth to protect the human race.
They will arrive in about three to four hours. I expect you all here when they arrive."

Optimus bid them farewell then walked out of the hangar to go alert the soldiers of the guests that were soon to arrive.

Ratchet finished up the work on Ironhide's leg,
"This repair work is only temporary, tomorrow come to the medical bay and I'll finalize the repairs." Ratchet reattached the armour he'd removed then stood and helped Ironhide to his feet.
"I swear getting repaired is worse than getting the injury."
"Just be happy I'm still here to repair you."
"Come on Ratch, you're not that old yet."
"I'm older than you pup." Ironhide laughed at Ratchet, it was true. He still remembered running around the medic's ankles as a youngling.

The two walked out of the hangar, bid a farewell then went their separate ways.

Ratchet went to his medical bay and began preparation for repairing a damaged battle computer. He grumbled to himself, fixing a battle computer was complicated.
Battle computers ran on so many fine lines between things that if the scale were to be tipped and the battle computer began to malfunction, finding the damaged part was a difficult and slow process as there were so many things that could have gone wrong with it.
He remembered the days back on Cybertron when battle computers were made industrially and a Transformer could get a whole new one installed if the other one were to malfunction. But now that they were on Earth the Autobots had to take extra good care of their frames because spare parts were so scarce.

But of course none of them got it through their lagging processors how important regular maintenance was and still went months at a time without upholding proper or regular care of their frames.
"Which means more work for me! The errant fools" he growled moving tools from place to place in the medical bay.

…

Samantha woke up to find the car seat she was sitting in had reclined into a more comfortable position. She looked over at the clock on the dashboard. 4 Am. She sat up running her hands over her messy and tangled hair, she pulled out a twig that was ensnarled in her locks and threw it on the floor. The seat moved up to its normal position and Samantha looked over to Sam who was cracking his neck.
"Morning Thaya, sleep okay?"
"As well as possible during transit. Where are we?"
"Nevada. How close are we to the base Bumblebee?"

"I'd say about fifteen minutes, give or take."

"So not too far" Sam added. He ran his hands over the steering wheel and settled back into his seat. Samantha looked out her window into the early morning darkness and thought of what had happened only hours before, she began to piece everything together.

Bumblebee was Sam's car, and also a giant alien robot. Bumblebee was his guardian, and Bumblebee was terrifying when he was angry. It was Bumblebee that she ran into while roller skating, Sam had nothing to do with that.
It was Bumblebee he was speaking to after the accident and that morning in the garage. It was Bumblebee that Sam was hiding from the world. She understood why Sam got so stressed and on edge quickly and why he didn't really open up about much stuff. Poor guy, what a secret to keep. Sure it would have been amazing at first but wow, what a burden, she thought.

The car suddenly slowing down and turning down a narrow road surrounded by woods distracted her. After a few minutes they turned a corner and the woods cleared and Samantha could see the faint outline of buildings in the distance and flood lights lighting up a large gate they stopped at.

Soldiers stood at each side and Samantha looked down at her hands not wanting to make eye contact with them. There was a moment of silence before one of the soldiers called out something and the gate opened. Bumblebee rolled forward and continued on and drove toward the buildings.

A sliding door to what Samantha realized was a hangar opened and they drove straight into it and stopped. Sam got out the car immediately but Samantha carefully looked around the old and weather worn storage place before she got out. Bumblebee transformed and looked around at the well-lit hangar,

"What a place…piece of crap if you ask me."

"Oh shut up Bumblebee, it's a temporary base." Samantha saw Bumblebee turned around to see who spoke. His door wings perked up and he practically bounced out of the hangar into the night to greet them.

Samantha's stomach clenched when she saw Bumblebee return but with another robot by his side. This one was black, covered in weapons and had much broader shoulders. She stood dead still and breathed slowly, the weapons on the black robot were much bigger than Bumblebee's cannon. The black robot noticed Sam and greeted him cheerfully,
"Sam! Good to see you, you little brat. Getting up to trouble I hear." The robot knelt down and Sam reached up and patted its arm,
"Good to see you too Ironhide, um well, Bumblebee needs to see Ratchet pretty urgently." Ironhide chuckled and stood up.
"Yes I've heard our young scout needs me to repair him. A battle computer malfunction, of all the things…" Another robot walked in and up to Bumblebee whose door wings moved to an almost nervous position. The brighter yellow robot put a hand on Bumblebee's shoulder and spoke in a warmer voice
"It is good to see you Bumblebee." The scout perked up and placed his hand on the medic's shoulder in return.

Samantha had almost stopped breathing at the sudden amount of robots in the room. They were just so big. She looked at the hangar door and seriously considered making a run for it. Going back home seemed like a much better idea now that she was staring up at the metal giants. Why didn't I just let them take me home? She almost said aloud.

"Ratchet!" Sam called in greeting and the medic looked down,
"Hello Sam, You're looking healthier. My scans are reading an increase of muscle mass. Have you been exercising?" Sam laughed and shrugged,
"Yeah a bit."
"Good, you humans don't take your health seriously enough." Samantha almost snorted but kept quiet and still, she couldn't tell if everyone was choosing to ignore her or if they actually hadn't noticed her presence yet.

"Where's Optimus?" Sam asked and Ironhide answered,
"He should be here soon, I don't know what's keeping him."
"Calm down Ironhide, I'm sorry I am late." A voice drifted in from outside followed by hands down the biggest robot of the entire group. Samantha felt herself moving towards the far wall. It was huge, slightly ducking its head to walk in. The blue and red robot crouched down to Sam,
"It is good to see you again Samuel."
"You too Optimus," the massive robot stood up and turned to greet Bumblebee. Sam noticed how far Samantha had moved from the group so he walked over to her.

"It's a lot to take in, trust me I know." Samantha just stared at them in fear.
"I don't trust them." When she said this every single robot turned and looked at her. Samantha went pale and found herself clinging to Sam's arm. He turned to face the robots.
"Guys, this is Samantha, my neighbour."

Samantha stepped back when Optimus crouched down in front of her, leaving a few meters of space between them.
"Greetings Samantha, I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. This is Ratchet our medical officer" He gestured to the yellow medic who walked around Optimus and stood to the left of him.
"This is our weapons specialist, Ironhide" the black robot walked up and stood on the other side.
"And you've already met Sam's guardian Bumblebee, although I gather it was not pleasant." The smaller yellow robot walked up and stood next to Ironhide.
"H-hi, no it wasn't pleasant, it was terrifying." Samantha managed to say. Despite the fact she had still gotten into the car she didn't trust Bumblebee at all.
"I am sorry to hear this. I have been told that Bumblebee's actions were caused due to a malfunction in his circuitry."

"I'll repair him as soon as possible Prime." Ratchet said looking across the circle to Bumblebee.
"Good, we can't risk repeating what happened to Samantha with anyone else." Optimus turned his attention back to Samantha,
"I apologise on behalf of my scout and also as leader of the Autobots. But I must ask, apart from what you encountered with Bumblebee, why do you not trust us?"

Samantha was silent for a moment as she looked up at the robot.
"Because I have no reason to," Optimus answered without a pause
"You also have no reason to not trust us."
"Apart from what happened with Bumblebee, I guess not."

Optimus Prime studied Samantha for a moment then nodded and continued,
"I must ask that everything you've seen and everything you've learnt of about us you must keep a secret. If you don't the human government will arrest you, and please know I do not mean that in any threatening sense." Samantha was silent for a moment,
"Wait, the human government. You're working for the American government?"
"with them." The leader was sure to place gentle but stern emphasis on the fact they were not controlled by the human government. Samantha laughed breathlessly,
"holy crap, back home we used to joke about stuff like this. Aliens involved with the government, we just never imagined they'd be robots."

"We are not just mere robots, we Autonomous Robotic Organisms. We are from the planet Cybertron." Hearing Optimus Prime say where they were from took away the giddiness Samantha was feeling. The words were like icy water hitting her face. They were aliens. Giant alien Autonomous Robotic Organisms. Optimus continued,
"Our home planet of Cybertron is now nothing more than waste land due to a civil war that has raged between the Autobots and our foes the Decepticons and that war continues to this day. We crash landed on Earth a few years ago during an inflight battle. The Decepticons saw that this planet is rich in recourses that they could use to re-build Cybertron. So we stayed to protect the Earth and its inhabitants."
"So humans then."
"Yes. One battle made the humans aware of our existence and since then we have been working with the American Government to protect Earth from the Decepticons."

Samantha was silent for a moment,
"I won't tell anyone of what I've heard or your existence. If I did anyway I'd be looked up in a mad house for sure." Sam chuckled,
"I've had that thought more than once."

"So how did you get Bumblebee as a guardian?" Optimus Prime answered for Sam,
"He was one of the humans that became aware of our existence during the battle. We know for certain that the Decepticons see him as a target for information about us. Bumblebee protects Sam."
"Don't I know it" Samantha muttered looking at Bumblebee.

She understood he was doing his job but she honestly thought she was going to be killed when she was lying on the ground pinned there by a massive humming cannon. She respected him but didn't trust him. Yet.
She knew she'd be willing to change her mind if he proved himself.

"I must ask you Samantha, why did you refuse going back home after you'd seen Bumblebee?" Samantha was silent as she thought the question through. She wasn't entirely sure herself.
"I guess I was in shock. My whole world just had doors and windows blown open after seeing Bumblebee. Before today I did believe there were aliens but I'd always thought they'd be…organic not mechanic! I had to change and re-evaluate the way I saw the universe. So going back home after something like that, I would have had a panic attack or something and the fact I thought I was going to die. Being alone didn't seem like a good idea and the only other option was to stay with Sam. So I did."

The robots were silent as she spoke and Sam completely understood where she was coming from. He didn't blame her for anything that had happened that night. Except for following him in the first place.

"Understood, since you are travelling with Sam and Bumblebee I'm sorry to say but you cannot leave until they do. They will be staying here until Bumblebee is fully repaired." Optimus said to the girl.
"How long will that be?" Ratchet answered her question,
"It depends on what's frying the little fragger's processors. But it could be anything from hours to days."
"But what about my parents? If they wake up to find that I'm gone they'll freak out. What about yours Sam?"
"My parents know about Bumblebee, if they wake up to find us both gone they don't get too worried as long as I text them every so often."
"So I should text mine? What should I say? What can I say?" Sam was silent for a moment then went slightly red,
"Well I have an idea but you might not like it cause, well, our parents will probably think we're some kind of item." Samantha stared at Sam. Okay, he's not kidding. That could make everything at home really awkward when our parents talk and that'll probably make everything between me and him super awkward. Oh wow this is crappy.
"Um... yeah, whatever your plan is just do it, and I'm sorry in advance for anything my parents say to you. They like to intentionally make the conversation incredibly awkward."
"Likewise, my mom is fantastic for that." Sam pulled out his phone and typed away for a few moments then put it back into his pocket. Then looked up to the Autobots.
"Now what?"

Ratchet pulled out a wrench from his subspace with a glint in his optics. They were locked on to Bumblebee.
"It's time for repairs. And a check-up."

Bumblebee almost took the hangar door off the wall in his sprinting retreat from the wrench throwing medic.

Sam, Ironhide and Optimus all laughed at the medic running out of the hanger into the early morning light after the little yellow scout. Samantha stared at the door,
"what, is he planning to dismantle him or something?" Ironhide answered between chuckles,
"he's a grouchy old medic, and hates it when we don't take care of our frames. I have a feeling Bumblebee has been slacking off with his general maintenance."
"Oh that poor slagger's going to have his ear chewed off." Optimus chuckled finally becoming accustomed to using human terms.

He turned down to Sam and Samantha,
"I imagine you two must be hungry, I'll take you to the cafeteria. There will be food you can eat there."

He transformed into a truck, Sam jumped right in but Samantha stood for a moment staring at the Semi. She started slowly walking over to the door. I have no reason not to trust them. She repeated the thought as they drove out of the hangar towards a new building.
A thought hit her.
"These soldiers, do they know we're here?" Optimus answered though the speakers,
"Yes, they're part of our team and they have been alerted there are visitors."
"Oh, good." Samantha didn't sound very reassured.