Strange neighbours
Chapter Eleven: Chaos
Ironhide bellowed in agony as Bumblebee viciously ripped his arm off in a few swift movements. Bumblebee had broken free of the chains during the most critical part of the procedure. Ironhide had thrown his full weight on the scout to try and hold him down while Ratchet attempted to complete the procedure but the small scout managed to break free of Ironhide's hold and grab his arm, finger's digging into very sensitive wiring and pulling it from his frame.
Bumblebee shot Ratchet in the hip and the hardwire cords were ripped free as the medic stumbled back. Ratchet yelled in a mix of pain and panic, now that the hardwire cords were disconnected the rouge virus was lost and malfunctioning a fully active battle computer.
Both mechs were fighting ferociously to stop Bumblebee but his battle computer was fully online and processing at maximum capacity.
Ironhide's arm was hurled at Ratchet who dodged it and jumped on Bumblebee's back. He pulled at wires and circuitry in his neck trying to immobilize the scout. Bumblebee jumped high with Ratchet still clinging to his back and he twisted in the air then slammed Ratchet into the ground hard enough to break free of his grip. He rolled off Ratchet and Ironhide tackled him through the closed hangar door making metal shriek and tear as the two ripped the door off its hinges.
The medical ward had been torn up in the chaos and as the fight proceeded out to the tarmac stray bullets hit surfaces and hand to hand combat between the three alerted the soldiers of the brawl so they armed themselves ready for the worst. Bumblebee's battle computer was almost overloading with how many threats it was assessing, he shot at tanks that were armed and ready to fire before Ratchet was on top of him again.
:Ironhide we need to keep Bumblebee busy fighting us so he does not harm the humans!:
:I'm trying slaggit! I've only got one arm right now!:
Ratchet was still fighting Bumblebee when a hail of bullets aimed by the soldiers hit Bumblebee. Ratchet yelled at them to cease fire but it was too late. Bumblebee attacked. A few of the closer tanks were tossed and he started shooting without a pause.
Ironhide sprinted and tackled Bumblebee with a snarl despite he only had one arm to wrap around the scouts body. Bumblebee's missile missed its target of the building N3 where soldiers were spilling out of its doors, the missile hit the tarmac and sent rubble and shrapnel shooting everywhere with a deafening blast.
Bumblebee kicked Ironhide off him and jumped on top of warrior ripping at his armour. Ironhide yelled angrily then yanked one of his door wings down. Bumblebee silently shrieked in pain then rolled off and away from Ironhide. Another hail of human bullets hit Bumblebee and his battle computer started calculating that retreating would lead to his best chance of survival.
The humans continued to fire upon the mech as he retreated into the woods shooting at the base sending more shrapnel spraying into the soldiers, making then run for cover. Ratchet and Ironhide were yelling at them to cease fire as Bumblebee shot down part of the base fence but their yells were almost lost amongst the explosions and blasts of both Bumblebee's weapons and some of the more panicked humans still firing their weapons.
The last anyone saw of the yellow scout was him disappearing into the woods.
…
Sam was walking with Samantha back to building N3 after they'd explored the parts of the base they had access to. It'd only been about an hour since they'd gotten up Sam had had kept the conversation flowing since then. He'd asked Samantha how she was feeling about everything that happened since the night before and her response was a small shoulder shrug and simple
"Yeah okay I guess."
During the walk he got a text message from his parents saying 'B safe. Samantha's parents say take care of her and bring her back b4 her birthday!'
He looked over at Samantha after reading the message.
"Thaya when's your birthday?" she looked at Sam questioningly
"About six days away, why do you ask?"
"I just got a reply from my mom, she said your parents want you home before your birthday."
"Ah okay, did they say anything else?"
"Only that they want me to take care of you." He said with reddening cheeks. Samantha laughed at him and took his phone to read the text message.
"Typical them." She said. Sam was looking at his feet when he felt Samantha wrap her arms around his neck and shoulder from behind him and hold his phone out in front of them,
"Smile" She snapped a photo and still leaning on Sam they looked at the photo. They both had open mouth smiles and It looked like Sam was giving Samantha a piggy back.
"I'm keeping that." Sam said looking at the strange eyes of Samantha in the photo.
"So what do you want for your birthday?" Sam asked as Samantha let go of him and handed his phone back.
Samantha never got to answer because just as Sam asked the question an ear splitting shriek of metal tearing as a hangar door ripped off its hinges and two robots crashed to the ground fighting one another knocked them back in shock. Sam stumbled and looked up seeing Ironhide fighting Bumblebee. His stomach dropped and twisted as he watched what he thought was a sparring lesson between the two turn into a horrible brawl. Sam noticed Ironhide's arm was missing as he rolled off of Bumblebee and watched Ratchet run at Bumblebee then attack him just as ferociously as Ironhide did.
Sam ran towards the three Autobots yelling for them to stop with Samantha hot on his heels trying to grab his shirt to stop him from heading into the fight. He ran past building N3 screaming for Ratchet to stop fighting when the soldiers already on the tarmac began firing at Bumblebee. Sam could hear Samantha yelling at him to stop running but her voice was lost within the blasts of the gun shots and Ratchet yelling at the soldiers. His heart was pounding and he was getting more panicked as he watched his guardian attack the two Autobots furiously. Sam screamed at the top of his lungs to Bumblebee, finally he stopped running only a hundred meters or so from where the Autobots were fighting and Samantha caught up with him.
"BUMBLEBEE STOP! STOP FIGHTING THEM! BUMBLEBEE!" His guardian did not stop, he didn't even appear to have heard Sam, he turned and shot at the soldiers. Sam heard Samantha's high pitched scream as Ironhide tackled Bumblebee and the missile he'd shot miss the hangar that moments ago they was only just meters away from. The blast sent them to the ground and rubble painfully pelted at their skin. Sam looked at Samantha to see if she was okay, she'd rolled over and screamed breathlessly eyes wide. He looked over to what she was staring at. Ratchet was crouching over them between where they were lying and where the missile had het, he had protected them from the shrapnel caused by the blast.
Ratchet looked up when Ironhide yelled in pain. He leaped up and ran over to him and pulled him up off the ground. Sam got up and ran a little wobbly towards Bumblebee and the soldiers open fired on his guardian again. Suddenly Samantha grabbed him and held him back.
"Let go! I have to help him!" She held on to Sam with all her strength and yanked him back
"Sam stop! There's nothing you can do to help him! Look! It's his battle computer!"
"I helped him last time!" With tears in his eyes he struggled half-heartedly against Samantha's grip as his guardian blew up the barrier fence and retreated into the woods.
…
"What the hell was that?! I thought those robots were on our side!" Ratchet heard a new soldier say as he worked quickly on patching up leaking pipes in Ironhide's shoulder. He ignored the tanks and other weaponry that was aimed in his direction by panicked soldiers that were yelling at each in confusion.
The whole base was in a panic and sirens were going off left, right and centre. Ratchet vented angrily and he continued working on Ironhide's shoulder.
:Calm down Ratchet if you act aggressive they'll attack:
:Of all the fragging things to happen…he had to break the chains…Optimus better get back soon:
Ironhide did not reply to Ratchet's muttering as he clamped the last leaking pipe. The medic stood up and turned to the soldiers noticing how the more panicked and newer recruits back away slightly holding their loaded guns ready to fire. He found Sam and Samantha in the crowd, the boy was crouching on his knees with tears rolling down his face and Samantha had her arms around him in support.
It wasn't until Lennox and the other NEST officers on base came forward telling their soldiers to stand down and for the sirens to be turned off that Ratchet found any relief. They stood tensely completely unsure of what to make of the situation and Lennox was the first of them to speak to Ratchet and Ironhide,
"What happened to Bumblebee? Why did he attack the base?" Ratchet looked directly at Lennox as he replied.
"Lennox I am going to have to request I speak to you and the other officers in private about this matter." Lennox was silent before he nodded,
"Medical ward then."
Ratchet didn't have a chance to explain the medical ward had been damaged during the incident before Lennox and the other officers began walking towards the hangar. Ironhide got up and the two Autobots followed them ignoring the soldiers that still aimed weapons at them.
Once they were inside one of the men noticed Sam and Samantha had followed then in, he tried to get them to leave but Sam flatly refused and Lennox stepped forward and stopped the soldier saying that they had clearance as Sam was Bumblebee's charge. The soldier eyed the two teenagers before walking away from them and staring accusingly at Ratchet.
"Okay Ratchet, what happened to Bumblebee?" Lennox asked looking up at him.
"Bumblebee came to the base last night because he needed repairs. His battle computer, a processor within our frames that aids us during battle and combat, is malfunctioning.
The malfunction is making him unable to process what is a threat to him and what isn't, because he cannot process this he also cannot shut down his battle computer, it will only shut down when it no longer is assessing any potential threats."
"Why were we not told of this?" One soldier asked, he had a cut next to his eyebrow and his hand kept nervously running over a pistol that was strapped to his hip.
"It would have violated the classified Alien/Autobot Cooperation Act we have with your human government as our battle computers are technically a form of weaponry. I was working on repairing the battle computer with Ironhide's help prior to this incident.
In order to repair his battle computer I had to force activate it meaning he was analysing Ironhide and myself as threats. During the procedure he attempted to attack us however Ironhide was there to hold him down and he was chained to the berth for additional restraints." The medic picked up a part of the broken chain and held it in one hand.
"He broke free of the chains during the most critical part of the procedure, his battle computer was functioning at full capacity when he broke free and now I fear it will not shut down by itself as it was force activated."
"So basically what you're saying is you decided to perform a perilous and not to mention dangerous procedure that endangered everyone on base without warning the NEST team, without using proper restraints and now because of that we have a very dangerous and hostile Autobot running around the state that cannot be reasoned with because its analysing everything around it as a potential threat?" The same soldier with the cut asked in disbelief, Lennox glared at the man.
Ironhide huffed angrily,
"Optimus was meant to help with the procedure but because a new Autobot had landed on Earth and your government stated one of us had to go to the crash site in case the Autobot acted hostile towards you humans he had to go with the team to find the new Autobot."
"And we could not postpone the procedure because of the specific malfunction of Bumblebee's battle computer. If we left it unrepaired any longer it would have increased the chance of his battle computer on lining and him becoming hostile at the worst time imaginable and endangering the lives on base." Ratchet cut in before the soldier could say something.
The soldier stared at Ratchet before losing his self-control and yelling and pointing his finger accusingly at the mech
"Lives were just endangered! We nearly lost men because you didn't do your job properly! You should have told the rest of the NEST team on base what you were about to do and how dangerous it was before you let a hostile robot lose in the base!"
"I have already said that I would have been violating the Alien/Autobot Cooperation Act! And if I postponed the procedure it increased the chance of Bumblebee losing control and attacking when I was not around! I had no other option than to do the procedure with just Ironhide's help. As soon as I have reattached Ironhide's arm we can go out and track Bumblebee down and repair him." Ratchet angrily snarled at the soldier but the soldier did not back down,
"NO YOU ROBOTS HAVE DONE ENOUGH! YOU WILL STAY HE-" Lennox lunged forward and grabbed the soldier, throwing his pistol at the floor and holding him by his shirt,
"Stand down soldier! Those robots are the only ones who stand a chance against Bumblebee so they will be going out to find him! Do you understand me?!" The soldier angrily ripped free of his grasp and nodded,
"Yes sir." He turned away from Lennox then back to Ratchet,
"So you say his battle computer may not shut down on its own, meaning he is a very dangerous threat to us. If it has not shut down by the time we find him, we shoot to kill." Ironhide growled threateningly, Sam protested in anger and Ratchet began snarling at the soldier in a rage no one had seen before. It was only when Optimus ran into the medical ward that everyone stopped and looked at the leader. Ratchet looked at Optimus with pained optics.
:He broke free of the chains Prime. Bumblebee attacked the base and retreated into the woods:
:Ratchet I'm so sorry, this is my fault:
:No it's not, you couldn't break the Act we have with their government. We need to act fast, Bumblebee's battle computer is still online:
:Tell me what happened:
Ratchet explained the situation to Optimus through the comlink as the enraged soldier was forced to stand down by Lennox. He left the hangar escorted by two other officers.
Sam wiped tears from his face then spoke up,
"The first time Bumblebee's battle computer malfunctioned it did shut down but it took a while. Are you sure it won't do the same thing Ratchet?"
"Because I force activated it and his battle computer was functioning at full capacity it may not shut down like it did the first time." Ratchet walked over to Sam and crouched low,
"Sam I promise I will do everything I can to save Bumblebee, and the soldiers will not shoot to kill." Fresh tears rolled down his face and he thanked Ratchet silently, overwhelmed with what had just happened to his guardian. Optimus spoke up,
"As soon as Ironhide's arm is repaired we will begin tracking Bumblebee, Lennox get our satellites to track down his signature and keep tabs on movements until we are ready to set out."
"Yes sir." Lennox pulled out his phone and began organising what Optimus had requested. One of the officers spoke up,
"You do realize we are obliged by law to alert our president of what has happened here and this could lead to Bumblebee being deemed an enemy to the U.S."
"I realize this, we will do our best to track down Bumblebee and stop him before he does any more damage as soon as we can."
"We will tell our president of this, good luck." The last few officers, including Lennox left the hangar to alert the president and the other officers at Diego Garcia of the incident.
"For now all we can do is wait until Ironhide is repaired." Optimus said when they had left.
"I'd be happy to assist with that Prime." Perceptor walked in from outside and everybody in the room turned and looked at him. Ratchet limped forward as sparks spat out from his damaged hip,
"Perceptor, it's so good to see you! Your help with repairs would be much appreciated." Ratchet said as he placed a hand on Perceptor's shoulder. Perceptor return the gesture before stumbling back as Ironhide roughly wrap his arm around him in a hug
"Perceptor my old companion! What happened to you?" he said openly happy to see the mech. Sam looked at Optimus questioningly and he got a 'tell you later' look from him.
"I was separated from my team by a meteor shower and was lucky enough to pick up Optimus's signal. I don't know where the rest of my team are." Perceptor replied to the warrior that only just let him out of the hug.
"We'll be able to pick up their signals if they enter the Solar System, until then we don't have the technology on Earth to find them I'm sorry Perceptor." Ironhide said picking up his arm he'd just dropped.
"I'm sure they're fine, I cannot say if they're heading towards this system it has been a while since I was separated." Perceptor said. He looked around the hangar and his optics fell on the last two humans in the room.
…
"You must be Sam Witwicky." Samantha looked at the new Autobot intently, there was something about him that separated him from the others in the hangar. Sam looked up at him with tear streaks going down his dirt smeared face,
"Yeah I am." The new Autobot smiled,
"I am Perceptor, Autobot scientist, it is a pleasure to meet you, Optimus has told me much about you.
"Nice to meet you Perceptor." Sam smiled half-heartedly and Perceptor looked at Optimus in concern,
"Bumblebee is Sam's guardian and close friend." He said simply to Perceptor.
"Sam I promise you I will do all I can to help Bumblebee, I'm not much of a fighter but I can assist Ratchet in repairing his battle computer." Samantha could see respect and gratitude in Sam's eyes as he thanked Perceptor.
Perceptor turned to Samantha and stared at her intently for a moment. She had a good guess that he was looking at her eyes. What he said she did not expect,
"Oh Primus I have never seen something so beautiful!" Samantha stomach dropped as he walked towards her and transformed into a microscope right before her, the lens a foot away from her face.
"Your optics are the most exquisite thing I've ever seen. I am Perceptor" he transformed again and Samantha smiled a little shocked, she'd never received such a compliment about her eyes before.
"Uh…Hi I'm Samantha."
"Optimus has told me about you, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too."
"Could I ask to take a closer look at your optics at a better time? I'd be very interested to know why they look so black." Samantha realized why he was different, he wasn't aggressive. The others had shown some kind of aggression at some point but Perceptor radiated a friendly affection that she hadn't seen from any other Autobot before.
"Oh yeah sure, I'd be happy to." Perceptor smiled and thanked her before Ratchet got him to help him repair Ironhide. Optimus crouched to the two,
"Would you two like me to take you back to building N3?" Sam just silently nodded and Optimus transformed. Samantha climbed inside with Sam and they travelled back to the hangar with Optimus gently swerving around shrapnel so the two didn't jostle around too much in their seats.
…
Lennox walked into the cafeteria after a heated meeting he'd just had with the other officers and liaison of the president on a video call. He saw Sam and Samantha sitting with Epps in a corner and walked over to them,
"Hey guys, how're you doing Sam?" He asked sitting down next to the boy. Samantha sat next to Epps and she was putting a dressing on a gash on Epps's back.
"What's going to happen to Bumblebee?" Sam asked looking at Lennox. He was silent for a moment before looking down at his callused hands.
"The president has stated we've got one chance to find and capture Bumblebee and if he does any more damage or attacks anyone else before we do he will be deemed a threat to the U.S and he will be killed. If we don't manage to restrain Bumblebee the first time round the president will be notified and Bumblebee will be captured using what he called other more successful strategies." He saw Sam's face change as he spoke.
"William you have to get him back. You have to, please William." Sam looked pleadingly into his eyes and Lennox took a long breath,
"I promise we'll do everything we can Sam. The new Autobot is coming with us so we have additional help." Lennox stood up and turned to Epps,
"You're coming too Epps, we have to put a team together of men who still trust the Autobots despite what happened outside, let's go. Sam, we'll do what we can." He turned and put a hand on the boys shoulder before turning and leaving with Epps.
…
It was an hour later when the assembled team left to find Bumblebee, Ironhide's shoulder was reattached and his leg was fixed with the help of Perceptor and Ratchet even had enough time to repair his hip to a satisfactory level. Sam watched from the tarmac as the small team left, it was not surprising that a lot of the men did not want to help find the yellow scout after seeing him viciously tear apart half the base. When they were out of sight he turned and walked back into the building.
Samantha and Sam had sat waiting in the cafeteria for hours. Soldiers had walked in and out for food at random hours and eventually Samantha left to go shower and comb out her hair. When she got back it was 8pm, Sam had been waiting for the team to get back for 5 hours. Her hair was still wet and water seeped down her back and into the fabric of her shirt when she sat down next to Sam, he looked tired and on the verge of sleep so she managed to convince him to go get some sleep, when he had retreated to his room she walked to her own room for sleep but she tossed and turned unable to settle.
It wasn't long before Samantha found herself knocking on Sam's door. The door eventually opened and Sam stood shirtless with scruffy bed hair.
"I'm sorry for waking you but I can't sleep, can I stay with you for a while?"
"Err…yeah of course." Sam was a little groggy and slow to respond but let Samantha in anyway. She sat down on the single bed with her legs tucked up underneath her. Sam sat down next to her and lightly placed a hand over hers.
"What's wrong Thaya?" Samantha tried to answer the question but her throat closed over and her eyes welled up. She felt Sam's arm around her shoulders when he realized she was crying.
"I-I'm sorry, but e-everything's just be-become so messed up and so crazy a-and I can't deal w-with it all. I know y-you've got your own worries a-and I'm sorry b-but I just can't d-deal with it."
"It's okay Thaya, I have my problems but I'm always here to listen to yours."
"I-I understand why the Autobots are here b–but they just t-terrify me a-and everyone kept saying h-how great they are until Bumblebee a-attacked. I'm sorry but still don't trust h-him but only because o-of what happened t-to me. What happened today h-hasn't changed the w-way I think of h-him or how m-much I t-trust him. I feel like I should t-trust the other Autobots because o-of how highly everyo-one thinks of them and I'm beginning t-to, like h-how Ratchet shielded u-us from the blast but n-not all of them. It's hard for m-me to comprehend everything, my entire w-world has ch-changed and I'm just not d-dealing with it well. I'm sorry for disturbing you b-but you're the only one I-I could go t-to." Samantha felt horrible because she knew Sam was struggling with his own worries even though he said it was fine to talk but she just needed someone for comfort.
"Don't feel like you have to trust the Autobots because others do. They will gain your respect and trust in their own way and when they have the chance. Ratchet knew shielding us from the blast would have helped you see another side of them.
There are people who think because they are aliens and because of their size and power and such they deserve instant trust and respect but I know for a fact that the Autobots think the same way we do.
You need to have a reason to trust and respect them and if you don't have one yet that's fine. You'll get that reason eventually." Samantha had managed to calm down to hiccups but a few tears still ran down her face. Samantha mumbled wordlessly and leant into Sam and they found themselves lying on the bed facing one another.
"Thanks Sam, I'm sorry for coming in here and c-crying about my problems w-when you have your o-own. How are you holding up?" Sam's eyes welled up again and she felt awful,
"Oh Sam I-I'm sorry"
"No it's okay it's just Bumblebee is my best friend and I know he would die to protect me. I feel so useless right now, there's nothing I can do to help him and I feel sick with worry. If Optimus and the team fail and if Bumblebee gets killed because he's deemed as a threat to the U.S I'll feel responsible for it even though I couldn't do anything to help or stop it from happening."
"They all promised they'd do everything they could to find him and get him back, even if they don't do it today I'm sure they will next time." Sam started crying and Samantha wrapped her arm around him.
"Lennox said they've only got one chance to find him and if they fail-" Sam didn't finish his sentence, he was completely consumed in tears and Samantha hugged him closer. She felt him wrapped his hands around her waist and their foreheads were gently pressed together as Sam wept his fears out until they both fell asleep.
…
The sight of the two teenagers sleeping on the single bed wrapped in each other's arms was the last thing Lennox neither expected nor wanted to see when he came to wake Sam after returning from the mission.
A/N: In case anyone is confused Bumblebee silently shrieked because his vocal processor is damaged.
Sorry for any typos etc. the story isn't as edited as much as it should be. I hope you readers are enjoying the story and thank you to everyone who favourites my story and leaves a review.