Bumblebee felt battered, tired and at a loss as to what to do. He was also beyond bored. Patrolling empty desert roads was a thrill a minute compared with sitting in a dark garage for hours and hours, hoping against hope that someone would need to go somewhere soon just to give him a break from the boredom. On the other hand, he wasn't sure he could handle another drive like that last one.

He knew that it was luck more than anything that had kept anyone from being seriously injured, that a scrape along his side was a small price to pay for nearly having been part of a head-on collision. Four humans could have very easily lost their lives. Bumblebee himself might have wound up seriously hurt, but that was only a vague possibility, whereas the death of four people was a virtual certainty.

And that, of course, had come after the horror of being driven by a reckless driver, being a lot closer to an aspect of humanity that he'd never wanted to see and witnessing a bunch of people hurt each other for no apparent reason. And that was even after listening to two siblings -family- argue like they wanted to kill each other and the only thing stopping them was their inept father, who was just as selfish and shallow as they were beneath the all-too thin veneer of maturity.

It was not lost on Bumblebee that all of this had been caused by that mysterious Earth holiday known as 'Christmas'. He'd been given as a Christmas gift, and that party had been a holiday party. If all this was what Christmas meant and looked like, then he didn't want to know more. He just wanted to go home, to go back to believing the best about humanity. He didn't like this place, and he didn't like these people, and he didn't like the things that had happened since he'd been brought here.

If this was Christmas, he wanted no part of it.

Though it had been very late when Bumblebee was parked in the garage the night before, it was still dark the next morning when Fina entered through the side door with a blue, plastic bucket of soapy water and a cleaning rag that had -at one time or another- been white.

She opened the passenger side door and sat sideways in the seat, dipping the cloth in the bucket and then setting to work on the black spots of dried blood on the window. It was clearly work she wasn't used to doing, and her technique left much to be desired. She was too cautious and gentle to do much to get the window clean, but Bumblebee rapidly began to suspect that wasn't why she was here anyway.

Fina's eyes were still red, presumably from all the crying she'd done the night before, and she seemed very tense as she worked. Her expression suggested she was concentrating very hard on not thinking about something, and the work was helping her do that. Bumblebee mostly hoped she wouldn't stop with the window, as there was some blood on the inside of the door and even a bit on the steering wheel from when Mark had grabbed it. Of course, it would also be nice to pound out the dents in his side and get rid of that scratch from the keying he'd taken, but soapy water and a wet rag wasn't going to do anything about that.

"Dad says I was imagining things last night," Fina said after she'd been working several minutes, "Ricky says I was so drunk I probably would have seen pink elephants if I was a normal person," here she paused and made a face which was evidently meant to represent what she thought of her brother.

Making the face seemed to remind her that she had a hangover, because she suddenly winced and closed her eyes briefly. Bumblebee had noticed that she'd only turned on the light near the door, and she was mostly able to see because of Bumblebee's own interior lighting.

After she recovered, Fina continued, "I know that's not true though. I know you did something last night. It's a little fuzzy, but I know you're not just another car."

She resumed cleaning the window, and Bumblebee began to think he understood why she was out here doing this, when she could probably have just taken him to a car wash or something. She wasn't just removing the blood to avoid questions, but to have an excuse to be out here, talking to Bee. She didn't want to just come out and do that, either because of what her family might say or because she was afraid that she really had been mistaken and Bumblebee wasn't really alive as she was beginning to think. The window cleaning was just an excuse so she could pretend she wasn't here to have confirmed what she believed had happened the night before, whatever that was.

Bumblebee wasn't sure why he didn't respond to her. In a way, it was because he didn't want to be hurt again. He remembered only too well what it felt like, and how quick and almost automatic Fina's reaching for the button when he spoke to her had been. He didn't want that at all. But it wasn't just that, either. He still felt himself a captive, and it was practically a part of his core programming to maintain his silence when questioned by the enemy. His experience at the hands of Megatron when he'd lost his voice had taught him the price of silence, and the wall he'd built inside to keep the information he had safe from Megatron's hands was not easily torn down... not even now, after so much time had passed.

It was something he'd thought he was over, that he'd put it in the past. But when he'd gone into Megatron's very mind and found himself faced by the dark lord himself, Bee was silenced and paralyzed with fear. Even when he knew Megatron could not hurt him, still he had flinched. Though Megatron could not touch him, still he had not tried to run. When Megatron had asked questions of him, he had not answered, even though the sharing of information would have done no harm, and his silence had -perhaps- done more harm than would have been done if he had answered.

He had not realized until that moment how powerful the block he'd erected to protect himself really was. He'd broken it down almost too late, and the events that had followed made a part of him wish he hadn't even though he knew that breaking his silence was not what had very nearly cost him his mind and body. Those memories now hung him up, made him reluctant to speak, even though Fina was in no way connected to them and he had little reason to fear her.

"It's not just what you did," Fina said as she continued rubbing the cloth on the bloodstained window, "I felt it when I came into the garage last night, and again this morning. I can feel when the house is empty. Most people can. But, ever since you got here, I come out here... and I know I'm not alone. I feel someone is watching me... but I don't feel afraid. I didn't think about what it meant at first, but I had time to think last night because I couldn't sleep... and... well I was kind of avoiding thinking about some other stuff. So I just replayed what happened in my head and... you were trying to be subtle, but you were there all along. You kept me safe, even though you didn't want me to know it was you."

She paused to brush unruly strands of hair out of her face. It was obvious she hadn't brushed her hair since the night before, though the ties that held the braids in place were gone now. She'd at least washed off the mascara at some point, so she looked human again. It seemed like she wasn't prepared to cry again, though she was probably just one negative thought from it.

Fina didn't say anything else as she finished working on the window and moved on to the door. Though he wouldn't have expected it, Bumblebee felt his spirits lifted a little. He wasn't sure if it was having someone care for him, or just the fact that the blood on him had been bothering him more than he realized. Either way, he felt a knot of anxious tension untie itself and he relaxed just a fraction.

When she finished with the door, she rotated in her seat and leaned back to rest. The Fina of this morning was nothing like the one Bee had seen when he first met her, or the one that had gone to the party. This was the Fina at the end of the night, lonely and sad and scared to let anyone see.

Bumblebee knew a little about that. He had a tendency to try and do everything himself, and he didn't like anyone to see him when he was weak. He didn't want to be a burden on them, but also some irrational part of him was afraid of what others might think of him if he wasn't strong all the time. He knew a lot about hiding who you were, even from the people you cared about. And he also happened to know a little boy who was more at home among giant robots from another planet than he was in his own home with his own family. Raf wasn't a great deal like Fina otherwise, he wasn't anywhere near as angry or bitter as she was, nor as selfish. But Bee was beginning to suspect that the reason she was always looking out for herself was because she believed no one else would.

That in mind, the smallest act of kindness on Bumblebee's part must have just about shattered her whole world view. He wondered what sort of bot he'd be if no one had ever looked out for him, if no one had ever cared enough to come for him when he was in trouble, or to admit he meant more than just an extra set of blasters to them. He also wondered if Fina had seen the relief on Rick's face when he found her parked by the side of the road the night before. Did she know her family cared what happened to her? Or did she see them looking for her as just trying to control her and make her do what they wanted? Sometimes caring and controlling could look pretty similar.

"I tried sending Eddy a message, but he didn't answer. I know he was online, but I guess he was ignoring me. Tracy was mad enough to shoot me a nasty message. I guess she and I probably aren't friends anymore, just like her and Ricky are no longer on speaking terms."

Bumblebee recognized the tone of voice and he realized that Fina was confiding him, just as Raf did regularly. He wasn't entirely comfortable being confided in when he and Fina were perfect strangers to one another, but he also got the sense that she didn't really have anyone else and that was why she was picking a car she suspected of... what, exactly?.. to confide in.

"I guess maybe you wouldn't know anything about stuff like that," Fina said, leaning back against the headrest of the passenger side seat, "I mean... do cars even have friends and family?" she didn't seem to expect an answer, "For sure you couldn't possibly understand being with a really nice guy, but knowing this other guy who's just... so hot, but you can't be with him because that would be totally weird because your brother is dating his sister, but then when you get drunk it just doesn't seem to matter anymore and he's hotter than ever and even though Eddy's a really nice guy, he's just not my type and Mark... Mark so is my type, but I know I could never trust him because he slept with his friend's girlfriend and I know for sure he'd cheat on me even if we were together. I mean, I cheated on Eddy, but I don't want Mark to do that to me and knowing that makes me feel really guilty about Eddy, even though I only ever slipped when I had too much to drink and Mark was just right there and so willing."

Bumblebee followed almost exactly none of that, but realized that somehow what she'd been going to do with Mark the night before had upset a whole bunch of people, seemingly including her, which really didn't make any sense because she'd been the one who initiated it... whatever it was. Not that Mark was blameless, assuming what they were doing was wrong (as it seemed to be), he'd certainly been agreeable to the whole thing. It seemed like Eddy should be the only wounded party, but Mark had come out with a bloody nose and cracked ribs, and Fina was an emotional wreak.

Bumblebee knew he would never understand humans.

"And, even though it's really stupid," Fina went on brokenly, "I keep thinking how glad I am that Eddy stopped us before we..." she trailed off like Bee was supposed to know, "In your backseat."

You already nearly drove me into another vehicle, and your friend bled all over my seats, I don't think whatever you were going to do would actually have been worse for me, Bee thought.

Suddenly Fina looked over at the button on the dash, and Bumblebee cringed inwardly. She looked thoughtful and reached her hand towards it. Bumblebee couldn't help it. He broke his silence at last.

{DON'T!}

Startled by the sudden, loud buzzing, Fina arrested the movement of her hand, her eyes widening.

"I knew it," she breathed, "I knew it, but I didn't really know it. You are alive," her eyes filled with wonder as she looked around at him, "You're alive... and that button hurt you. I heard you scream. I didn't even know cars could scream until last night," her face darkened with a new understanding, "But Daddy knows. He knew I would hurt you. He knows... and he's letting it happen anyway."