Sorry for the wait. I was really stuck for a while, but very recently, I've been hit in the head with a bat of inspiration and motivation. It was kind of painful, considering I landed on the pavement of homework and work. But we're all good. I'm in that point in the semester when I feel like I've got piles of homework, but I'm actually caught up. It looms over me, and tomorrow it will fall over. Probably. I don't know. All I know is that writing is something I love, and it puts me at ease. Fortunately for this story, I care about it enough to read the last few chapters before picking it up again so I'm actually know where I am. I don't always do that...
Anyways, I thought you might want to know that there is nothing written for the next chapter as of right now. Zilch. Nada. But I know where I'm going, so it won't take much to get it going. As a final note for anyone who actually ever reads these- and I really wouldn't blame you for not as they aren't all that important -I'm going to recommend an anime movie. I've gotten over my anime infatuation by now, but I came across this movie and simply loved it. It's called 'Patema Inverted'.
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Bumblebee stepped away from all the equipment they had strung around him, his joints creaking as he moved and I heard something snap. But he didn't flinch, so I hope it wasn't anything important. He had to wave an arm ahead of us, pulling hanging wires for the coolant systems out of the way until he was free of it all. He looked tired, but he was rapidly in better condition than I could have hoped for.
"Thank Primus you're alright. When I showed up in the past, I couldn't find you. It all happened quickly, and when we reached the asteroid cluster the Allspark had passed, and Megatron was going to destroy the evidence and take the lead for himself, I acted quickly and took it myself. I had no idea, I hadn't expected. And it was years before you were even born..." He rambled on, voice sounding more and more natural as he spoke.
I laughed, feeling jittery and excited, but also close to tears. I've waited over a month for this, and it felt like forever. Bumblebee's waited over a century, and I couldn't begin to imagine what that would be like. But then, he's been in stasis for most of it.
"I missed you too, buddy. Jeeze, you have no idea what I've been through to get here. I've got the Allspark, and we can't let it get destroyed this time." I held it up.
"I noticed. I don't know if we can avoid that, though, Sam." He paused, as if only suddenly realizing we weren't alone in the room. I can still hear his processors and systems going online, irregularly and slowly, so I assume some of those sensors just came online. He pulled me to the side and looked down at the whole gang gathered around; everyone had backed up as he'd stepped forward, scattering for the most part. "Will? Epps? Mikaela?" Bumblebee sounded surprised. "Simmons? You're all here too?"
"Ah..." Someone, I couldn't tell who from up here, was at least brave enough to almost talk.
"Actually, no. This is them from the past. We're the only two that were sent back." I explained, taking his attention back.
"Oh." He breathed, cycling his vents with a rather painful sound. I flinched. He turned and looked at where he'd just escaped from, rather slow on the uptake. "I guess I took Megatron's place in the ice then, hu?"
"Yeah." I put a hand on one of the digits gripping me. He looked back to me curiously. "Bee, how are you feeling? The Decepticons are on their way here right now, for the Allspark, and we have to get out of here."
"Of course. Megatron thawed when we all showed up here. It makes sense that I am. Is it that day, then?" He mused. "What's the situation?"
"Actually, with you falling into the ice, it completely switched the situation around. At least, I assume so. You're the first 'bot or 'con I've seen since I showed up." I mused. "I don't know where anyone else is, except the Decepticons are actually, probably, already here."
"Who was your car?" He wondered, getting irrationally jealous but hiding it very well.
"No one. I got a normal car. Mikaela and I took a road trip down here in it, and right now we need to take a road trip out of here. It's over a month after when this whole event is supposed to be taking place, because the Decepticons have been spying on me instead of taking action. Summer vacation. Do you think you can transform and drive?"
He nodded, cycling his vents again. They sounded a bit better, but they still made me nervous. But the Allspark seems to be taking good care of him. Maybe he'll even be in good enough condition that Ratchet won't yell at us when we meet up with them? "A whole month?" He paused. "I can't access any of my communications pathways to reach the internet or the transmission line. I've been frozen an entire month longer than Megatron had been?"
"Bee, this isn't the time for bragging about stupid stuff." I rolled my eyes. "We need to get out of here. And we aren't going to Mission City this time."
"No, no. Of course not." He mused, still half distracted from everything that's going on by the slow process of his systems trying to work. So I decided to do as much of the thinking as I could for the both of us.
"The soldiers are on our side. Full throttle, just like last time. Mikaela we can still trust. Those two, not so much. But that's not really news either." I went on, gesturing back down to them all.
For some reason, Bumblebee laughed slightly, completely taking away from the situation.
"What?" I demanded, hissing at him.
"Last time we were all here, they tried their hardest to freeze me like that. This time, they did it."
I rolled my eyes. "That's not really funny. Actually, it's not funny at all. Shut up." I tried to cut that line of thought completely.
"Alright. Alright. We need to strategize." He agreed, getting down to an awkward crouch to get on the humans' level. In the process, he dropped me on his knee the moment it was a viable perch, and motioned the others to come closer. He's only been awake for a few minutes, and all the time he'd been in this alternate continuum before he went under was completely without human presence. So he's used to these particular humans being comfortable enough to at least gather around and talk comfortably. They, on the other hand, were barely willing to come within ten feet.
"The last time Bee and I went through this, we decided to try and drive the Allspark into one of the nearby cities and hand it off into air force hands, to get it out of the line of fire. The Decepticons intercepted and war broke out, the result being a destroyed city, a dozen casualties, including one of our own and the Allspark itself." I started to explain the situation. "This time, however, I'm hoping to avoid that. Bumblebee's still not completely online, and I don't know how long it's going to be until he's fully functioning again. He may be able to transform and drive competently, he may not."
"I can drive just fine. I'm just having minor sensory issues." He insisted, interjecting into my speech.
"Shhh. Alright, Bee's still not in the game until further notice. The Decepticons are probably already here, and we need to find a way to get this Allspark to safety, without some stupid idea like giving it to a human or anything." I went on as if he hadn't even spoken. You're not fully functioning, and I'm not risking you by calling for some skilled maneuvers or fighting skills.
"How about alien hands?" Will asked, brave enough to step up and quickly accept the challenge of working directly with an alien. "Because that's why we're here."
Bumblebee was suddenly standing up, head turned one direction. He had scooped me back up so I wouldn't fall.
"Woah, woah. What is it?" I gasped, getting whiplash.
"The others are here." He stated. "My transmission line just jump started, and they're all hailing me at once. They're here."
"They what?" I gasped, not quite understanding the situation.
"That's what I was going to say." Will stepped up, showing off the fact he wasn't nervous by Bumblebee's full height at all. "Back in Qatar, about the time you started emailing my wife, I discovered a couple unregistered vehicles on the perimeter. They turned out to be aliens, trying to get into our hard drive and find some information out on Sector Seven. Some of the men and I listened to their story and agreed to help. After we found out what they wanted to know, we requested a meeting with this Sector Seven, and they brought us State-side."
Epps joined him. "Yeah. They call themselves Autobots, and they're the ones that drove us down here."
I jaw would have hit the ground if this were a cartoon instead of an alternate timeline. So you're saying Optimus and the others have been sitting up there in the parking lot since before I had the Allspark? You're kidding me, right?
"You have to let them in." I threw half my body over Bee's hand to stare down at Simmons and Tom, exaggerating my point. "This is a serious matter, and you've got to let them in."
"I can't believe this." One of them objected, I couldn't tell from here. It was too quiet to pick out a voice.
"You better. Tell your people to let them in, and no attacking. But as soon as they're in, get all the humans here either off the property and somewhere safe, or the safest place in the Dam. Bee, can you talk to them yet?"
He nodded. "I already told Optimus to come on down."
"This is ridiculous! It's anarchy! Where is the control?!" Simmons objected. "How do I know that these aliens aren't the ones that tripped this alarm? How do I know they aren't going to attack us from the inside?"
"You thought Bumblebee was going to be a threat, and all he's done so far since coming online is try to help you idiots." I snapped. "If they wear this insignia, you can trust them. The bad ones are wearing a pointier one." I pat a hand against Bumblebee's insignia, as it happened to be within reach. "And chances are, if they're flying, they're Decepticons."
"We're in the middle of a full-fledged war, and we can't afford for you to doubt our allies." Epps stated to the two of them. I smiled.
"I like him."
"I hope so. Otherwise it's going to be awkward next holiday." Bumblebee mused. I snorted.
"Wait, what?" Epps frowned in confusion. We both shook our heads.
"Nothing."
"Nevermind." I brushed it off. But Bumblebee was suddenly distracted once more. I was quick to pick up on it, realizing that he was talking with someone on the comm system. "What's going on?"
"They're not coming down." Bee stated, sobering the atmosphere. "Starscream is circling overhead, and they know I have the Allspark. We're meeting them on the surface."
He set me down to transform, and I waved to the others. "Whoever's coming, let's go. The fight's about to start, and I certainly hope you can trust aliens now. If not, I recommend you stay here."
All four doors shut at about the same time. Bumblebee's been conscious in the modern era for less than an hour, and the last time he had use for an alternative form was before he landed on Earth, so it went without saying that we did not pile into a yellow Camaro. Instead, Mikaela and several of the soldiers squeezed into the cargo hold of Bumblebee's pre-Earth alternative form designed not to hold humans. There were no chairs or seatbelts.
"You get a concussion, I'm going to kill you." Bumblebee threatened me, causing several of the others to get nervous looks.
"Great. Another wise-ass." Was Will's brilliant retort.
As we left both Simmons and Tom behind in our dusk, I barely spared a thought as to what they were going to do now. We can deal with them later. Now I'm far more interested in meeting the Autobots once again.
"Who's all here?" I asked Will.
"Optimus, Ironhide, Ratchet, and Jazz. You know them all, I assume." He raised an eyebrow.
I nodded, the last name striking me. "For the most part."
"Jazz." Bumblebee mused.
"What about him?" Epps asked. "Is there something we should know about that one?"
"Yeah. That one died in this battle last time." I frowned, and Mikaela put a hand on my arm. I nodded. "I didn't know him very well. He's not going down this time."
Bumblebee remained silent, and I got the feeling he wasn't agreeing with me.
We can to a sliding stop on the surface, and I already heard sounds of war. It wasn't much, but those were definitely cannons. Ironhide's cannons, if my ears don't deceive me, and if I had to guess, I'd say they're aimed upwards.
We all flooded out of Bee's alt form, taking different positions. Mikaela stood back, watching while I did the same a bit closer. The soldiers, on the other hand, ran towards the Autobots all standing at the edge of the dam, watching the seekers overhead. Megatron isn't here yet, but it's definitely begun.
Bumblebee picked me up and deposited me on his shoulder as he stepped around to meet the red and blue Autobot leader, who was the first to turn his attention around to greet us. "Optimus."
Prime gave a truly pleased grin and gave Bumblebee a hug. "Welcome back, old friend." I knew I wasn't a part of it, but due to where I was, I couldn't help but to join in as sarcastic a manner as I could. When they stepped apart, Optimus was giving me a curious and unsure look, but failed to say anything before the others started to break away from target practice.
"Bumblebee." Jazz was the next to join in, hugging my guardian also. This time, however, we were lifted a bit into the air as Jazz bent backwards. He wasn't much taller than Bee, but enough to do this. "I was afraid we weren't going to get you back. Ratchet said there was a chance you didn't go into stasis right and you'd gone offline."
"I'm still alive." Bumblebee gave a grin back, really meaning 'you're still alive'. "You have no idea how good it is to see you again."
Jazz snorted. "No longer than all the others. You can't even complain, you were recharging the entire time!"
"Jazz! Get your aft over to the west end!" Ironhide shouted, just before one of the Seekers started firing back. It missed and landed in the water, but the cloud of steam that rose in response seemed to give him an idea. "We can meet and greet later, I need you to start giving us some cover."
"They don't seem to be attacking back yet. If you can give us enough cover, I believe it will buy us more time." Optimus agreed, leaving to join them as Ratchet took his spot. Prime didn't seem all that interested in questioning me right now.
Ratchet, on the other hand, was the first to actually address my presence. "Bumblebee, what, might I ask, are you doing with that human? I realize you've only been online a few breems, but surely you realize you're not supposed to pick them up." Ratchet reprimanded, still poking and prodding nevertheless. First thing's first, a field check-up to make sure Bumblebee was in fit enough state to fight.
"It's fine, Ratchet." I insisted. "I'm used to being up here. I think he's going to be fine pretty soon, as long as I've got the Allspark up here."
He at me as if I were an alien. Technically, to them, I am alien. And yet because of what I said, I would be alien to what they call alien. Which in a round about way, would mean I'm native. So they were looking at me as if I were native to the aliens. Wow. I'm really happy I hadn't been saying any of that out loud.
"Sam and I are both from the future. We were sent back at different points on the timeline from a spacebridge malfunction, and have accidentally caused a few things to change." Bumblebee explained.
"Right." He nodded, calling the entire situation crazy but believable. "Wheeljack?"
"Actually, no." I made a face. "Through, that would be more believable than reality."
Ironhide snorted, declaring the thick fog that was now encircling us all enough cover. He and Jazz came back over to join us while Optimus opted to keep a watch on the Seekers. He's tall enough, I wonder if he's even covered by the fog?
"Did you find this kid, Lennox? I told you not to bring in strays." Ironhide crouched down, a step closer to the soldiers.
"Actually, more like he found us... I think."
"It is very good to have you back, Bumblebee." Optimus finally spoke up, probably bringing the subject back at hand. "And I am sure we will sort this spacebridge malfunction scenario out at a safer time, Boy, but I believe we have a more pressing matter to attend to. The Allspark."
I nodded, glancing down to it. "Yeah. So what are we going to do about it?" I looked back up to him, waiting for the answer.
"Hold on a minute here." This time, it was Mikaela that spoke up, drawing all attention to her. She still kept her distance, but she got over the initial shock and fear of meeting such massive beings for the first time. "Sam, you've acted like you knew what you're doing this whole time, and suddenly, you don't have the answers? What have you been doing this whole time, faking leadership?"
"I've been doing nothing but trying to get home to my family." I answered. "Even if they don't know who I am yet." It suddenly hit me, as I said that, that introductions needed to be made. As it became apparent I already knew them all, not everybody did. "Mikaela, this is Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Ironhide, Jazz, and you've already met Bumblebee. Guys, this is Mikaela, an old friend of mine."
"Yes, and I haven't failed to notice that you know everyone in this room, and yet we still don't know who you are... or why you have the Allspark." Ratchet eyed me suspiciously, but didn't seem to put up too much of a fuss. Out of everyone that I've given a much more extensive explanation on how I got here, the Autobots are the quickest to accept it as fact. Or at least long enough to get the important things done.
"Sorry." I smiled, not even thinking about introducing myself to my own family.
"Samuel James Witwicky." Bumblebee took my down off his shoulder. "And it's alright. He knows exactly what the Allspark is."
Optimus nodded, accepting this and quickly moving on and revealing the fact they had been eavesdropping the entire time. "If you suggest that taking the Allspark farther from this location and attempting to hand it's custody over temporarily will end badly, then we'll find an alternative."
"It seems to me we either need to move it and get the Decepticons off our trail somehow, or we have to stay here and make a stand." Will mused.
"I don't think we're going to get it out of here without them noticing." Ironhide stated blatantly. "And there's no way we can straight-up outrun them like this. We should stand and fight. Chase them off for another day to come."
"But we've still got to get this thing to safety." I insisted. "What do you want to do with it? It can't just stay out here in the open."
"Of course." Optimus nodded in agreeance. He looked upwards at what was blocked from all the rest of our sights once more. "In an optimal outcome today, we would hide it and drive the Decepticons back. But even in such a situation, their departure would only be short lived. With the Allspark back into the picture, I fear we won't have time to rest. We must stay vigilant, for they will not cease until they've gotten it from us."
"What else can we do?" Jazz demanded. "Stay here and wait for them to attack us? Over and over again? Try to outrun them? Here we have the option to retreat underground."
"We need to leave this planet as soon as possible." Optimus stated point-blank, shooting me straight through the heart. Right. Of course. That was the original plan, wasn't it? There isn't really another option, is there? "Jazz, contact the others on the Arc and tell them to land. The closer the better. We'll need the local government's cooperation, however. We can't afford anyone coming to investigate and getting caught in the crossfire."
"I've got this one." The scrawny soldier with the glasses jumped into action. "I'll find a way to get ahold of the Pentagon back inside."
"Um... just pick up the phone?" I questioned.
"Sam, the phones and computers are all down." Mikaela scoffed.
Oh. Right. I vaguely remembered that being a thing. It wasn't all that relevant here, however.
"Alright. They're on their way." Jazz reported.
"So is Megatron." Optimus's voice lowered and he glared out through the fog.
Now, on the note of the end of a chapter... thank you all so much for the reviews! You may or may not have an idea as to how much I love them all. I was already brushing up on this story for the last couple days, but this chapter definitely would have taken another week or so if it weren't for the sudden and unexpected- but much appreciated -review today.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to prepare my speech on planet classifications and the discovery of 'Planet 9'. I hope you care enough to review!