Gradually, Fina released her death grip on the wheel. She took her foot off the pedal and sat back stiffly, terror etched into her face and evident in her every movement and especially her rapid, shallow breathing. But she did let go.

{Hang on!} Bumblebee growled above the din of his own toiling engine.

Raf translated his instruction to Fina as Bumblebee unleashed the raw power that was now his to command. Fina reflexively reached for the wheel, but checked herself and pulled back as Bumblebee shot forward like a newly fired rocket and rapidly began to close the gap between himself and the black MECH vehicle. Bee felt his injury tearing and knew he was losing energon again, but he did not permit that to distract him and his focus on the road and vehicle ahead remained absolute.

"Watch out!" Raf's warning came just in time.

Because it was off the side of the road, Bumblebee didn't notice the Ground Bridge opening. Had Raf not warned him, he would have rammed straight into Optimus as the Prime drove out onto the road. Raf's warning gave him time to swerve. The ice on the road betrayed Bumblebee and he fishtailed around the looming shape of his leader, almost falling into a fatal spin before managing to right himself. He knew that he was in still trouble.

Ratchet must have miscalculated the speed of the Viper, and opened the Ground Bridge a hair too late. There was no chance of doing it again. Once was risky enough, even on an apparently deserted road. They were still in town, and if they tried it twice someone was bound to notice.

Optimus could never outrun the Viper, and Arcee's two wheels were a fatal disadvantage on ice. In addition to having only two wheels and an entirely different sort of tire, Arcee had no chance to get accustomed to driving on the ice before she was on it. With this race already underway, she couldn't possibly get her bearings fast enough to catch up. The Viper was getting away.

Bumblebee had himself righted on the road almost as soon as he'd started sliding. He didn't pause to see if Optimus was going to give him instruction, he didn't dare. If he slowed down now, it would take him too long to get back up to speed. He had to overtake the Viper and force the driver to turn around.

"Go, Bee, go!" Raf urged unnecessarily, not seeming conscious of speaking aloud.

Bumblebee knew it was now or never. If he did not overtake the other vehicle fast enough, the other Autobots would fall too far behind to do anything and Bumblebee would be on his own again, still with only unarmed humans and no ability to transform. So he made the choice to throw caution to the blasting cold wind that whistled against him and see just how fast he could really go.

The Viper had wobbled slightly at the abrupt appearance of a giant semi-truck on a previously deserted road, but the driver had quickly recovered. But evidently Bumblebee gaining on him unsettled the driver, who must have thought Bumblebee was already pushed to the limit before.

The driver had raced him before. Twice, actually.

But that had been when Bumblebee was driving under restraint. Now he was free, and he was not letting the Viper get away. Everything that had happened since Larry kidnapped him had come down to this one moment. It wasn't just Larry and Vera's lives on the line, but their children who so desperately needed them. Larry was just learning to be a father, he and Rick had just started building a relationship that would last a lifetime, Fina was just starting to show the beginnings of humility and compassion. If Larry and Vera were lost now, so too were Rick and Fina. Not just lives, but souls, were at stake.

Bumblebee was now gasping with effort, his engine struggling to comply with the demand of his will. This was what he had that no Earth vehicle could ever have. He was not just the sum of his parts, and his limits were not defined in the end by mere physical design, but by the strength of his spark, which was something no engineer or scientist could ever measure or recreate.

It was this final surge of sheer willpower that brought him first even with the Viper, and then -inch by painful inch- past it. Even as he nosed ahead, the Viper's driver decelerated, knowing it was finished. The driver wasn't going to fight to the death on this. Bumblebee had won, and would inevitably gain enough ground to get in front of the Viper and force it to slow down. The driver didn't seem interested in that, probably knowing how dangerous and futile the exercise would be for him.

Bumblebee blew ahead and cut in front of the Viper, turning sidelong to block the road. In a matter of seconds, Optimus and Arcee had caught up. Moments later, Agent Fowler had hopped out of Optimus' cab and jogged up to the Viper. He ordered the driver to surrender and get out of the car.

While Fowler was still checking the driver for weapons, Fina leaped out and ran to open the passenger side door to the Viper and check on her parents, seeming to forget her injuries for the moment.

Bumblebee, on the other hand, suddenly became more aware of his. A moan escaped him as pain hit like a sledgehammer blow. He had not only opened his old wound, but exceeded his physical limits in that final stretch, and his body complained bitterly.

"Bee!" Raf exclaimed worriedly, "Are you okay?"

{I'll be fine,} Bumblebee replied, {Thanks to you.}

Raf merely shrugged, "What are friends for?"

Bumblebee sounded exhausted. When Raf got out, he saw that the Scout's tires seemed partially deflated, or as if he was resting on them more heavily than usual. Raf knew Bumblebee could inflate and deflate his tires at will. Evidently, just now, he didn't have a lot of will left. He was just too tired.

Arcee edged around Agent Fowler and the MECH agent he was arresting, making her way cautiously to where Bumblebee sat. There was a particular way she drove that made it look like she was about to scold him, or tell him that he should have called the Autobots sooner, that they could have helped. But then she rolled to a stop, and her bearing softened as she registered the weariness of her comrade.

"You okay?" she asked, in the soft tone of voice Raf had only ever heard her use when addressing either Bumblebee or Jack.

{I will survive,} Bumblebee replied, his voice subdued.

It had obviously not escaped his notice that Arcee had come forward with the intention of scolding him, and that she had only barely thought better of it and decided to be gentle with him.

"That was quite a show you put on," Arcee remarked.

{It was stupid and reckless and we both know it, Arcee.}

"I'm not sure what you think you know," Arcee replied evenly, "But what I just saw was you giving it your all to rescue the people who took you prisoner, which is more than I'd've done in your place."

{That's because you're the smart one of us.}

"Well, I admit that I probably wouldn't have done it carrying two humans with me..." Arcee said, turning slightly so she could see Fina and her parents hugging one another, "... but, from the looks of things, the reward was worth the risk."

{That remains to be seen,} Bumblebee replied cryptically.

Arcee prepared a response, but Raf was distracted by the sight of Fina's father turning to face Optimus, who was still in his vehicle form as all the Autobots were. Raf stepped closer so that he could hear.

"Forgive me," Larry said, "I didn't know what I was doing. I was always told that... that you were just robots, alien yes, but still robots, even less than animals. Machines, meant to be used by any man who could control you. MECH doesn't just see you as the enemy, but as something to be subdued, controlled and mastered for our own benefit. I guess... I always knew some things didn't add up, but I never thought about it... never wanted to."

Optimus' silence was cold. Raf couldn't think of a time when Optimus had withheld any words of wisdom, but it was soon evident that he need say nothing, because Larry already knew.

"I suppose I acted just like them, in a way. Taking what I wanted without regard for the consequences. I took Bumblebee because I wanted him to solve my problems. Of course, it was too much to ask, even was I not guilty of stealing... worse, I took a free person and tried to make him a slave."

Optimus continued to say nothing, giving no indication of even hearing the human pleading forgiveness from him. But it was obvious that, though Optimus had not spoken once since his arrival, Larry knew that this was nonetheless an Autobot, the Autobot leader in fact. That awareness on Larry's part gave lie to any claim of ignorance he might make. He knew the semi-truck he spoke to was alive, and knew also that it was the leader of the others, and that it was to this Autobot that he must make his pitch, because this was the one who had power over his fate.

"I understand now, what I've done, the unforgivable crime I committed against one of your own. I don't deserve anything from you, not even what you've done for me already."

"That's sure the truth," it was not Optimus who spoke, but Arcee, who had returned when she realized that one of the humans was addressing Optimus.

Larry didn't even glance at her, keeping his full attention on Optimus.

"I wouldn't ask for myself, not knowing what I have done to you and yours. But I plead with you for the same reason I took Bumblebee at the start. If you do not help us to hide, MECH will find us again. They will find us, and kill us. So I'm here, begging you not to hold what I have done against my family, my children. Please."

"We know what your kids did," Arcee growled, "They're hardly sweet and innocent."

Larry turned to Arcee then and hung his head, "They are young."

"And that excuses what they did?" Arcee asked.

"They don't know the cost of their choices," Larry persisted, "They don't know what they do to others by their actions," he turned back to Optimus, "And that is why it's so important that they be spared. If MECH comes after us again, and they will, Rick and Fina will be... be killed... without having ever learned... what Bumblebee tried so hard to teach them. What I should have been teaching them."

"It is Agent Fowler who is responsible for human relocation," Optimus spoke at last, his low rumbling voice seeming to fill the space between them, "and it is not I who must forgive you for your transgression, for it was not I who was injured by your actions."

Larry stood there motionless except for his breathing, which was evidenced by the cloud which formed in front of his face whenever he exhaled. Slowly, hesitantly, he turned to where Bumblebee sat. Raf had not noticed when Bee drew closer; somehow the Scout had moved silently, or perhaps Raf had been so busy listening to Larry plead with Optimus to notice the sound of his engine.

Looking at Bee, Larry seemed to find it harder to speak than before. Despite the sheer power of Optimus' presence, it was Bumblebee that Larry feared addressing. Raf could easily see why. Because what had been done had been done to Bee, it was more difficult to directly seek his forgiveness. It was easier to ask someone else, someone who had not suffered the consequences of the fell act.

"Can you forgive me?" Larry asked, his voice barely audible.

Raf knew that, were he in Bumblebee's place, he would not be able to forgive this man for the pain and fear and loneliness that he had endured at this man's hands. He would not be able to find in himself an ounce of goodwill for this man who had so nearly destroyed him, had taken him from his life, his work and his family, taken everything and demanded everything in return.

How could anyone possibly forgive that?

Of course, Bumblebee was not just anyone. He was an Autobot, whose code it was to protect a world that did nothing to deserve it, to fight for a people who would never know he existed (and would have only feared him if they had), to guard a species who did not even realize they needed him.

Whether by his own nature, or the nature of that which he most believed in, Bumblebee had it in him to be kind, to be gentle and caring and compassionate... and forgiving.

{It is already forgotten.}

When Larry looked around for a translation, his eyes fell first on Raf, who repeated Bumblebee's words, his throat tight with emotion as he realized yet again that Bumblebee was the sort of person that he wanted to become, and that he had a very long way to go.

Raf himself wasn't even the victim, yet still he found himself reluctant to forgive these people for what they'd done to Bee, no matter how contrite they were.

Fowler, who had by this time finished arresting the MECH agent, turned to Optimus.

"I've got some backup comin' so I can take this guy in. Don't suppose you'd be willing to take these folks back with you until I'm through? Processing could take awhile, and the girl," he nodded towards Fina, "tells me I've still got to find her brother and boyfriend, and possibly arrest a few more MECH guys."

Raf couldn't see it when Bumblebee looked to Optimus for permission, but he sensed it, and felt the Prime respond. A moment later, appearing spontaneous to anyone not so attuned to Cybertronians as Raf, Bumblebee's passenger side door opened and he sat waiting to carry them home.