Bumblebee felt dizzy and sick, and not entirely sure what had happened. In the throttling darkness, he could faintly see wisps of smoke, and then flickering flame. He felt the guardrail that had slashed through his grill, but it hadn't cut too deeply. His shock absorbers were pretty much shot, and he could feel energon dripping from somewhere near his rear axle. But he was too numb with the shock to feel any real pain, only disorientation and disbelief. And then he felt the warmth of blood on his interior, and realized that the real damage had been done inside, when he'd slid down the hill, and then when his windshield had been shattered inward. Fina lay unconscious and bleeding, leaning forward against the seat belt. Anything less than an Autobot's structure and armor plating would have bent inward and crushed her during the accident, but Bumblebee had held together.
Fear pulsed through him, chasing away some of the numbness. He'd held together, sure, but what about Fina? Had Bumblebee been in physical control, he could have protected her from the force of the impact, but as it was he'd been able to do nothing. Hell, left on his own, he would not have taken the turn with that other vehicle sitting there, for exactly this reason.
{Fina? Fina, are you alright?} he felt a pang of guilt that he had allowed this to happen, and that cleared enough of the numbness that he could finally feel the open wound that was causing him to bleed, {Fina, you need to wake up. Fina, the other car is on fire. You need to get out. Fina!}
She did not respond to him, not even to moan. Bumblebee tried to see past the smoking vehicle, but it was dark here away from the track, the lights were far away, and so were the people, only a few of whom seemed to realize the severity of what had occurred.
With his one good headlight, Bumblebee caught the glint of metal in the darkness, and a moment later a car turned onto the road he'd slid across after reaching the bottom of the hill. When it got close enough, Bumblebee recognized the maroon Noble, and knew it was Eddy behind the wheel. He must have seen the accident in his mirror and come back. He couldn't have known there was a fire from the road, and so had come back without knowing the severity of the situation, effectively dropping out of the race in so doing.
Eddy braked a little too hard for the speed he was at and slid on the pavement, but he didn't lose control. Almost as soon as his car stopped, he jumped out of it and ran first to the flaming vehicle. He hadn't looked at the driver for more than a second before he vaulted the guardrail and ran to Fina.
He opened the door and reached in to pull the seat-belt free. He said Fina's name repeatedly, and his hands shook so badly he fumbled the latch on the seat-belt twice before he managed to free her of it. Then he hurriedly lifted her and carried her clear of the wreck. By the time Eddy set Fina on the ground at the edge of the road, another car arrived from the opposite direction.
Tracy was driving, with Rick riding shotgun. While Eddy returned for the driver of the other car, Rick exited the vehicle he'd arrived in and ran to kneel at his sister's side, fearfully repeating her name.
"Call an ambulance!" Rick shouted as Tracy started towards him, then he returned his attention to Fina, who was now murmuring something, "Fina, no. Just be quiet. It'll be alright, it's gonna be okay. Just stay with me. No, don't try to talk, just lie still alright," he continued to speak, holding one of her hands with his own, but she began to push him away and speak again.
Eddy had by this time pulled the other driver free and struggled to carry him to where Fina was. He set the other driver down, dropping to his knees heavily. Rick looked at him for a split second, then back at Fina, then at Eddy again. Then, astonishingly, he let go of Fina.
"Stay with her, alright?" he said to Eddy as he started getting up.
"Hey, where are you goin'?!" Eddy demanded.
"Just stay with her!" and then Rick was running towards Bumblebee.
In seconds, he'd climbed behind the wheel and started the engine. Bee's tires floundered in the mixture of snow and mud for a moment, then he began to back clear of the rail.
{What are you doing? Where are we going?} Bumblebee asked uneasily.
"Just don't give me any trouble you damn car," Rick breathed, "Just do as I tell you."
Bumblebee hadn't expected Rick to answer him, but the response he received didn't make him any less uneasy. Why was Rick leaving Fina hurt by the side of the road? Where was he taking Bumblebee? Surely he didn't intend to finish the race, did he?
But they didn't return to the course. In fact, they didn't even return to the crowd near the start/finish line. Instead, Rick aimed Bumblebee away into the darkness, and he felt the change from fresh pavement to dirt track even though his flickering headlight did little to illuminate the path ahead.
"You know, I don't get why Fina's so obsessed with you, especially right now," Rick said as they left the wreck, the track and everyone behind in the dark, "But she is. She wouldn't let me stay, insisted I get you out of here before any cops showed up. She's hurt back there, she could be..." his voice cracked, "She could be..." he gave up, "And she wants me to get some stupid car out of sight so the police won't impound it. How crazy is that, right? And how crazy is it that I'm actually listening to her?" he shook his head miserably, "Some holiday season this is."
Bumblebee couldn't begin to answer Rick about what Fina might be thinking. But he was grateful to her. One place he didn't want to find himself was in a police impound lot with no way of getting out. Sooner or later, someone would examine him more closely and then they'd realize that this so-called vehicle was not even slightly what it appeared to be. Fina couldn't possibly even begin to understand how important it was for that not to happen.
After leaving the construction area, Rick turned Bumblebee onto a switchback road that eventually led them to a spot almost directly above the race course. Parking Bumblebee at the side of the road, Rick moved to the guardrail and looked over, evidently wanting to see what would happen, even if he couldn't be there. From where Bumblebee sat, he could only hear the sirens as they approached, and faintly make out the spilling rays of blood red and bright blue lights of ambulances and police vehicles.
Bumblebee couldn't guess what Fina's motivation for protecting the truth about what he was might be, nor did he want to. Right now, the only things he cared about was keeping safe the secret of the Autobots existence, and knowing Fina was going to be alright. He could do nothing about the latter, and could only be grateful for the opportunity to accomplish the former.
Still, he was scared. He didn't know what came next.
Even as Bumblebee and the other car left the view of the camera, the live stream continued undaunted, revealing when the driver of the Noble left the race and went back to check on the accident. The end of the race belonged to the Viper, who very nearly demolished the McLaren when it brushed past to take the lead at the last second after the McLaren had held it for quite awhile.
But the event was cut short by the arrival of police cars. Someone holding a camera swung back and forth, capturing the action as participants, organizers and people from the audience scrambled to get out of there, which resulted in their temporarily blocking the path of an ambulance as the people ran back and forth across the road, seeking to vanish from the scene before the cops arrived.
Raf felt his breath catch in his throat as he realized what it meant that someone had called emergency services in. Someone in that accident was seriously hurt. A moment later, the Autobots seemed to catch on.
"Bumblebee wouldn't let a human get hurt," Arcee said, but she seemed to be trying to convince herself, "He'd do anything to protect them."
"Maybe not," Bulkhead said gently, "But we all know it wasn't Bee that took that crazy curve; he had the bearings to do it for sure, but the sense not to try."
"That's right," Raf said, "Bee wasn't driving, so whatever happened isn't his fault. It can't be."
"No one said it was," Ratchet muttered, distracted, still watching the stream.
The person carrying the camera chased after the ambulance, and soon came upon the scene of a smoking wreck and several people by the side of the road, two of them lying prone. However, Bumblebee was nowhere to be seen.
Raf was so busy trying to figure out what had happened, where Bumblebee might have gone and why, that it wasn't until Ratchet said it that he realized.
"We have our location," Ratchet said, pointing to the markings on the side of the ambulance.
Sure enough, painted on the ambulance was not only the state and county, but name of the town.
"Let's go," Arcee said, with a nod to Bulkhead, "Even if Bee took off, he wouldn't have gone far. One of those people on the ground was behind the wheel earlier. He wouldn't leave without knowing that she was being taken care of."
She seemed to be purposely forgetting that Bumblebee wasn't running the show anymore, but nobody reminded her of that. Instead, Ratchet decided on the coordinates, picking a place nearby but well outside of the view of anyone on or around the track.
"Bring him home," was all Raf could ask.
Arcee and Bulkhead transformed and drove through the Ground Bridge.
From above on the switchback, Bumblebee spotted the telltale glow of the Ground Bridge. When it deactivated, he recognized Arcee and Bulkhead immediately. He watched as they paused to inspect the chaos below, staying well out of view of any humans by keeping outside the lights and leaving their headlights darkened until they turned away. He knew they were looking for him.
He wished he could warn Rick, explain to him what was about to happen.
Hearing the sound of vehicles driving up the road, Rick left the guardrail and climbed behind the steering wheel. But when he turned the key in the ignition, Bumblebee did nothing.
"Come on, we need to go," Rick insisted, turning the key again.
{No, we don't,} Bumblebee replied, trying to force a sound like calm confidence into his voice.
"You want to get impounded by the cops?" Rick asked urgently, "Because that's what's gonna happen if you don't start."
{No, it's not. It's okay, Rick. Just take it easy. You'll be fine, and so will I.}
Bumblebee watched Arcee and Bulkhead come into view. As they had been taught, Bulkhead hung back, using the darkness and window tint to hide that he had no driver, while Arcee -with her holographic rider- moved in closer, taking the lead. When she started speaking, people invariably assumed they were being addressed by the hologram, something she alone generated. When forced to address humans, the others darkened their windows and hung back. Except Bumblebee, who could never speak to humans and still maintain the secret of what he was.
"Get out," Arcee commanded brusquely.
"C'mon, start," Rick pleaded quietly, but Bumblebee ignored him.
With a frustrated sigh, Rick finally gave up. He didn't know what sort of person was on the motorcycle, but he assumed from the authoritative tone that it was a plain clothes cop. He didn't know enough to realize the signs were all wrong. Even if he had known it, he probably wouldn't have argued, not when his getaway vehicle was refusing to start.
"Step away from the muscle car," Arcee said.
Rick was obviously thinking fast, and realizing something didn't add up, "This is my dad's car. He'll be pissed if you steal it."
"I'm not stealing anything, kid," Arcee replied bluntly, "That car belongs with us."
It was true, but Bumblebee knew it was the wrong thing to say to Rick.
"If it belongs to you, then you know what's so special about it," Rick spat angrily, "And, if you know that, you know it doesn't belong to anybody."
That statement gave Arcee pause, but only for a beat. Gunning her motor, she bounced forward a menacing inch, trying to intimidate Rick into backing down.
"What do you know about this car?" she demanded, and Bumblebee detected a note of fear in her voice that only someone who knew her very well and understood why she was afraid would notice.
"I know..." Rick hesitated, clearly having hoped to be able to continue denying what he knew was the truth, but now realizing he had to say it, "I know it saved my life... and my sister's life. And I'm not letting just anybody come and take it, that's for damn sure."
Arcee was taken aback by the assertion. Bumblebee knew she wanted to ask him if that was true, but if Rick didn't really know what he was claiming and was instead just guessing, any response Bumblebee offered her would be proof. Bee realized that he had to act and, in so doing, come to a decision he had been hoping would remain out of his hands.
{Arcee, it's okay. He doesn't know a lot, but he knows enough,} Bumblebee said.
"I'm not even going to ask how that happened," Arcee told him.
Rick jumped, surprised to realize that Arcee was addressing Bumblebee, because -unlike Rick and Fina- she was able to understand him when he talked. Rick hadn't even come far enough to understand that Bumblebee actually was talking and not just making noises.
{There's more,} Bumblebee told her, {But it all boils down to one main point.}
"What are you sayin', Bee?" Bulkhead asked.
Bumblebee knew that Bulkhead had broken his silence because he was afraid he already knew the answer. Bulkhead was right, and ahead of Arcee for once.
{I'm saying,} Bumblebee said, struggling with the overwhelming weariness that hit him as he spoke, knowing how they would react, and what it meant that he was saying this, {I'm not going back.}
Arcee gasped, "What?"
{I'm staying here,} Bee reiterated, {I have to.}
"What do you mean you have to?" Bulkhead wanted to know.
{I have to... because what happened to that girl down there... it was my fault. I'm responsible for that. Now I have to stay here... and try to make it right.}
"Bumblebee..." Arcee protested.
{Please, Arcee. Let me do this.}
Arcee hesitated, knowing she would have to explain to Optimus when she got back exactly why she hadn't been able to bring Bumblebee in, and also knowing she would have to explain it to Raf. Bee hated to do that to her, but he didn't have another choice. Finally, Arcee sighed and backed off.
"Alright, Bee... okay."
{Thank you, Arcee.}