11. Retreat

Soundwave managed to slip past Bumblebee, outmaneuvering him through the streets after a brief alt-mode chase, but not for long. He already knew what the Decepticon's goal was, so it didn't take long for him to find the fragger drawn back to the building the Autobot knew was a shopping center.

He didn't really know why Soundwave was after Allison, but the reason didn't matter. How he found her didn't matter, Bumblebee just knew he was figuratively seeing red. He was running hot, furious that he'd been right and no one had listened to him. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker hadn't listened to him either, but at least in their case that turned out to be a blessing. Bumblebee had been right about Allison being in danger, and he hated being right. He needed to take it out on something, and Soundwave was a perfect target.

Bumblebee didn't need to see Soundwave's front to know he was ejecting Ravage, which meant he was possibly already too late. Allison looked impossibly small standing below him frozen and pale from terror, unaware of the true danger coming for her, so he simply reacted out of instinct. The Autobot drive to protect was fierce, and while he was smaller than Soundwave by a fair margin, he knew how to utilize his own momentum to his advantage. He transformed from his alt-mode at top speed, his own inertia launching him forward and directly at Soundwave's back before the Decepticon could register his presence and retaliate. The force transferring to his primary form landed such a blow that Soundwave was thrown into the building and over Allison. Bumblebee had been betting on his angle carrying Soundwave's weight over her, and his gamble had paid off. Later he could berate himself for such a dangerous risk, but if he hadn't acted she was dead regardless.

He was not fast enough to stop Ravage, and only barely had time to see Soundwave's minion chase Allison through the back door of a store. The two robotic bodies crashed through a large planter, sending bits of concrete, dirt and plant matter showering into the air. The marbled floor cracked and ruptured as they skidded to a stop almost at Sideswipe's feet. The split-second Bumblebee took to mark Allison's retreating form with Ravage in pursuit was all Soundwave needed. The Decepticon's reaction time was immediate, grabbing Bumblebee and kicking him off into a support pillar before he could follow-up with a crippling blow.

Sideswipe's priority shifted from Rumble and Frenzy after blasting them off him in a chaotic screeching pile. The red Autobot raised his arm up as a blade extracted from its sheath, and he leapt forward in an attempt to drive the blade down before Soundwave could get up. He didn't make it, getting yanked back as the two miscreants returned from the side to grapple with him. They piled on him with surprising strength, holding him back from damaging Soundwave like a pair of guard dogs protecting their master.

By this point Bumblebee recovered from his trip through the infrastructure and took a dive at the Decepticon who finally jumped to his feet, but Soundwave was prepared. In a move that caught the Autobot off guard, Soundwave caught Bumblebee in the air, his fist tearing through seams in his chassis. The pain lanced through him with a startled cry, warnings flashing across his vision as his spark chamber flared with heat. He found himself tossed through the air and into the upper floor of the building, smashing his way through glass and strange human artifacts as he crashed into the metal shutter of a store. Concrete from the walls and ceiling collapsed on him, shrouding him in dust.

Bumblebee was dazed, staring up at the ceiling trying to shut down damage warnings, venting dust and debris out of his internals while trying to cycle air to cool down. The sound of Sideswipe shouting startled him out of his stupor, emergency overrides dampening his sensors enough to ignore the pain. The instinct to transform was immediate, the speed to return to the conflict and protect his teammate essential. If there had been humans around, they would suddenly see a yellow and black sports car tearing through the store, vaulting off the edge of the walkway and crashing through the railing to plummet below. He transformed again, landing with all his weight and built up speed on top of Soundwave's back just as he was lifting a blaster to Sideswipe's restrained head. The shot went wild with a resonating whoomf of energy, leaving a smoking, crumbling wound in the building's supports and ceiling. The Decepticon was startled for barely the length of a vent of air, before Bumblebee found himself airborne once again as he was thrown into Sideswipe in lieu of shooting him.

Soundwave was not one to gloat, even when he had two Autobots down and dazed in front of him. He wasn't even known to hesitate before putting a shot through the spark of anyone who got in his way. However, the scant seconds of recovery was just enough time for a metal piece of fencing to get cracked over the Decepticon's head with enough force to nearly drop him to his knees. Behind him, the improvised weapon was held fast in the grip of Sunstreaker, visage one of pure murder having arrived literally just in time. The piece of fencing was caught around Soundwave's neck like a forced collar, and there was a moment where the Decepticon seemed puzzled at the foreign object attached to him as he raised a hand to pry it off. It was short lived, as Sunstreaker violently yanked the mangled piece of metal back, dragging Soundwave by the neck and away from where his brother and Bumblebee were scrambling to their feet.

Or rather, it was more that Sideswipe was shoving Bumblebee to his feet, snarling expletives that would have made any Prime blush. Bumblebee came to a shaky stand, still reeling from damage and his multiple trips through solid physical obstructions. He did not look forward to the later conversation he was going to need to have with Ratchet… assuming he made it to the medic at all.

There was murder in Sunstreaker's optics, a clear desire to maim after being away from battle for so long. At the same moment Sideswipe and Bumblebee were regaining their footing, Soundwave somehow twisted, gaining leverage against the metal fence around his neck. Driving his head forward into Sunstreaker's waist, the Autobot was thrown off of him into the ruined pile that had once been a center garden. Bending the metal bars and ripping the restraint over his head, the Decepticon took only a tick to appraise the situation before issuing a command, just as Rumble and Frenzy returned to the fray.

"Decepticons. Fall back."

Two Autobots was doable, but apparently three was too much even for as powerful a Decepticon he was. Immediately, one by one, his minicons returned to him, climbing and transforming back into the safe confines of his chest as Soundwave turned to retreat. Catching sight of Ravage made fear pulse through Bumblebee's body as he realized it meant Allison's whereabouts were uncertain. They were too winded to give chase, their rationing of energon stores taking its toll, and Bumblebee did not want their violence to spread further out into the city, which would be inevitable with a pursuit. He pressed his arm against Sideswipe's chest to hold him back before he could follow Soundwave's retreating alt-mode, and Sunstreaker gave them a questioning, exasperated glance in acknowledgment as he climbed his way out of the garden.

"Primus Bumblebee, what kind of secret were you hiding from us?" Sunstreaker said, shrugging off a chunk of concrete and dirt from his shoulder, scowling. He hummed, looking at the destruction around them. "This place is fragged…" He sounded almost amused by this, but Bumblebee felt himself bristle, armor panels flaring in annoyance.

"This isn't a joke. The humans are going to start asking questions now, because there's no way to explain this. That's assuming we weren't caught on camera— " Bumblebee was instinctively drawn to the store he saw Ravage chase Allison through, but he stalled, suddenly unsure of where his feet were taking him. "—I have to find..." The repercussions of what this battle meant could come later. Now, urgency compelled him to seek out the tiny human that had inadvertently gotten caught in the middle of their fight.

Sideswipe vented suddenly, brightening. "Oh! I saw the human! I was right about you hiding something!" He sounded almost excited about the fact that he'd seen Allison as if he'd had an encounter with some sort of rare, mythological creature.

"I have to find her…" Bumblebee made for the mangled front door. Forcing Soundwave's entire body through had done a number on the building, and that was just going to add to human questioning of what went on here. Scrap, they were screwed now…

"The human is outside," Sunstreaker jerked his head in a vague direction with little sense of urgency. It wasn't that he was disinterested, just… didn't seem to understand the consequences of any lack of concern and that was bothersome. Humans were little more than a nuisance to be avoided to him. "It was alive when I left." He added quickly, perhaps sensing something off in the way Bumblebee glared at him. He'd spent time with her. They didn't understand…

"Show me," Bumblebee demanded, pointing in the same vague direction Sunstreaker had indicated. His sensors were in disarray from the battle, so he couldn't pinpoint her energon signal anymore, if it was even there. It was possible she was too far now. "We need to find her." Sunstreaker shrugged again, rolling his optics. Sideswipe to his credit, wasn't as indifferent to the needs of a mere human which was true to his character. The Autobot had always been more empathetic and softer than his brother. They were like two harshly contrasting sides of the same coin.

Sunstreaker was more pragmatic; logical and focused on results that benefited the Autobot cause, but most of all what benefited him and Sideswipe. That meant he had no problems stepping over, or on anything that got in the way of that, and sometimes that was at odds with the greater needs of those who got caught in the middle of their war. Bumblebee knew that Sunstreaker had needed to take on the caretaker role when he and Sideswipe were forced to fight for scraps in the pits of Cybertron. It made sense that he saw the world differently than his brother did, because Sideswipe had never had to tear others down just to survive. Sunstreaker did that for the two of them, sometimes behind Sideswipe's back.

He wasn't psychotic. He had the capacity to care for those that were weaker, because Bumblebee had seen it. It just took longer to break through to his spark than others. He still had the same loose streak of mischief that Sideswipe did, but often he was the one that followed his twin into their chosen prank as opposed to the other way around; an active participant that was taking part not just for the sheer fun of it (of which there was plenty to be had) but also to make sure Sideswipe didn't get into too much trouble.

"What's so important about this human?" Sideswipe called after him, following close behind Sunstreaker as he led the trio outside and back into the rain. The red Autobot was genuinely curious, but now was not the time to explain to him who Allison was to begin with.

"Ask Wheeljack," Bumblebee said dismissively. His eyes were busy searching the area of the loading dock Sunstreaker brought them to, looking for any sign of her presence. She was nowhere to be seen. "You said she was here. Where is she?"

"I told the human not to move before I left it. It was right here!" Sunstreaker pointed deeper into the loading dock towards the building, beneath an overhang that Bumblebee had to duck under to get to the raised concrete walkway. There was a torn gate and more distressingly a puddle of human blood. Allison was injured, wherever she was.

"I don't think the human heard you," Sideswipe said. He sounded distant, almost melancholy. His empathy was more apparent than Sunstreaker, who seemed more annoyed at the idea that a terrified, hurt human had failed to follow his commands. Sideswipe's spark was almost too big for his own good, to the point of naivety. He wasn't stupid, but he sure liked to pretend he was sometimes. Bumblebee sensed Sideswipe thought it made him more charming, and the problem was that it sometimes worked.

"Of course it didn't." The derisive snort from his yellow twin was followed by an uneasy shift of his feet, like he wasn't quite committed to his own disdain.

Bumblebee tuned them out, his optics scanning for Allison's blood trail that led away from the loading dock. Ravage had come back alone, which hopefully meant she was alive. Or at least, she had been. Now he was afraid he was going to find a body.

The trail was harder to follow out in the rain, the splashes of blood diluted in puddles but Bumblebee was still able to track them through the back alley and continuation of the construction site. The moisture breaking in through the seams of his armor was irksome, but he could vent the water out later. He could hear the twins following close behind him, Sideswipe's pace more frantic and stompy while Sunstreaker was lagging behind with more careful steps. He probably didn't want to step in any mud puddles.

"What is going on 'Bee?" Sideswipe complained, feeling left out, and this was enough of a distraction behind him that Bumblebee almost didn't hear the shuffling noise. His sensors were focused enough that he picked up the movement behind a nondescript pile of junk under a tarp, possibly before Allison was even aware that she was moving. That meant he was ready for her when she lunged out, swinging what looked like a human axe at him with a haggard yelp of warning.

Bumblebee froze, jerking to a stop and dropping just in time to catch her hand around the handle of the axe before it connected with his waist. It wouldn't have done much damage, but better safe than sorry. Allison looked panicked and frightened, which worried him more than the way the twins shouted behind him in unison. Immediately he raised a hand to ward them off. Allison wasn't a threat, but experience and habit taught them to react quickly.

It took what was maybe moments for Allison to register what had happened and who she was looking at, because her expression changed to a different kind of panic. Her wide optics dropped down to the handle of her improvised weapon where Bumblebee's hand wrapped around her own. Her fingers felt like ice, and the movement was faint but he could tell that she was trembling. Raising his other hand in appeasement, and to signal to her that there was no danger he felt her grip on the handle loosen. That allowed him to slowly pry it out of her hand so that it could be set to the side and out of the way. He wasn't worried she was going to hurt him, but rather, that she would hurt herself in the process of mistaking him for one of her attackers.

Allison seemed fairly clear-headed as she stepped away, raising her arms instinctively to signal she was aware of her mistake. "I'm sorry, I thought—"

"It's okay. You're safe now," Bumblebee offered. He wasn't Ratchet, but he could tell that she was injured. Her skin was washed out and pale, either from the cold, or fear; possibly both. There were angry splotches of red on her neck that made something sharp simmer in his spark that was hard to interpret. That part of the human body was critical and fragile. Immediately he clocked the source of the blood trail. The clothing on her shoulder was stained with blood, where there were ragged tears clearly in the pattern of a bite mark. Ravage had bitten her.

He was about to comment on it because she obviously needed medical attention, but he noted her eyes had drifted behind him to where he knew Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were standing. Bumblebee glanced over his shoulder to check their position. Wisely they were keeping some distance, standing underneath a concrete structure and out of the rain. Sunstreaker was leaning on a pillar, his arms folded in stern silence while Sideswipe was crouched low in front of him. Their body language was startlingly different, optics glowing softly and scattering light in the rain.

"Don't worry about them," Bumblebee said quietly. "They aren't going to hurt you."

"I already saw them…" Allison said faintly, and she sounded almost distant like her mind was elsewhere. She looked away from them and back up at Bumblebee, blinking slowly in exhaustion. "How long were you…"

"I got here this morning…" He saw her starting to sway, and sensed that he knew what she was trying to piece together. He was wondering that himself. The nagging fear that his presence was what had drawn them to her was definitely there, despite the overwhelming feeling that he knew he'd been right.

"They were already here…"

"Rumble was already inside?"

Allison paused, like she was putting pieces together herself. "Yes. Since last night. Seemed… confused about me. Like I wasn't what he expected."

They could come to terms with that later, but Bumblebee had been watching the blood drip off of Allison's hand to patter onto the wet concrete. That was more urgent than connecting the sequence of events to rub into Wheeljack and Ratchet's faces later. "Allison you're bleeding…"

"Oh…" It was odd the way Allison seemed startled by this fact, almost as if she'd forgotten about it. Perhaps she was blocking out the trauma. She only glanced down at her bloodied hand, shrugging as if it was nothing more than an inconvenience, before turning up to peer back at him with wide optics. "Your… wings are broken." She frowned at the revelation and for a moment Bumblebee wondered what she was talking about until he realized she was referring to his sensor net panels at his back. He almost laughed, the comparison rather apt—and maybe sweet—with the context of her earlier observations about him.

"I'll be fine…" Bumblebee offered soberly, raising a hand as if to reach for her, frowning. "You on the other hand need help."

Allison's optics went glassy again, as if she was slipping in and out of coherency, from shock, or pain. "This can't be happening…" She turned from him, holding her face in her hands, in an expression of disbelief. He could have confirmed her statement by assuring her that yes, unfortunately this was happening, but he didn't think that would be much help.

"Allison, I need to take you to Ratchet. You're hurt and you're in danger—"

"NO!" Her sudden increase in volume made Bumblebee jerk with a start, and Allison glared at him fiercely with sudden clarity. It was like reality had finally collapsed back on top of her. "I need Wheeljack." He even heard Sideswipe and Sunstreaker shift suddenly behind him.

"You—" Pining for comfort was also not going to help right now, if that's what she was trying to communicate.

"I need to kill him!" That was certainly not what Bumblebee expected her to say, and it actually left him speechless. It wasn't funny, but watching Allison's expression suddenly turn severe, her hands miming some sort of squeezing action was… new. She turned her back to him, slowly stepping away. "I need… going to beat the shit out of him with his own ears…" That was almost objectively funny, even though he knew she wasn't joking, until Bumblebee noticed her starting to sway again. This time it was different, and he was already anticipating her next action before it began. Allison started to lean forward, not able to stop herself this time as she continued to drift towards the ground. Bumblebee jumped up, stopping her quick descent by catching her front, his hand holding firm around her waist as he carefully gripped her uninjured shoulder. Her weight sagged against him, faint and barely even registering, even as she tried to struggle against his grasp.

"You need medical attention…" Bumblebee said gently. He shifted as Allison went limp, her body leaning back to rest against him. She seemed almost unaware of what she was doing, or that she was even laying on his leg.

"I need a doctor," she confirmed, but he sensed she meant a human doctor. That wasn't unreasonable, but Bumblebee was worried about the energon. "...It's back isn't it?" Allison's voice had gone small, and as Bumblebee looked down at her with a frown he sensed what she meant. The energon readings were almost as strong as he'd first sensed them when Wheeljack had brought her back unconscious to the Ark.

Feeling hopeless, Bumblebee tentatively raised his arm over her to block the rain. It was a meager offering, but he felt powerless to really help her with this. The least he could do was try and stop her from getting anymore soaked.

"I'm sorry…" It was all Bumblebee could say in that moment, shifting his hand to hover it over her head. This was out of his depth of understanding, which meant he really did need to take her back to Wheeljack and Ratchet.

Speaking of… they needed to report this. Immediately. Things had happened so fast, there wasn't time.

Reaching out, Bumblebee connected with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, who were still standing underneath the concrete structure watching them. Sideswipe was standing now, frowning, but Sunstreaker hadn't moved.

"We need to report back to the Ark… and… we need to bring Allison with."

"You know the human's name?" Sunstreaker's query was immediate, and it wasn't… disgust, but rather an almost detached disbelief.

"Of course I do, because I've already met her."

"Why were you keeping this from us?" Sideswipe was obviously more emotionally invested, because he'd been so determined to find out what Bumblebee was hiding from the start. He sounded far less exasperated, and Bumblebee could tell he was worried.

"It wasn't my secret to tell—"Bumblebee stopped, realizing they were getting off-track. "It's complicated… I think, but now isn't the time. I'm patching them in…" He reached out, finding Teletraan-1's signal and connecting, feeling the confirmation from the AI immediately. "Ratchet? We have a big problem—"

"Bumblebee what's going on? I'm seeing Decepticon readings all over the place… and no one has been responding…"

"We've been a bit busy," Sunstreaker offered dryly.

"Soundwave was here. I think… he got a read on an energon signal and trailed it… to Allison, which means you two were wrong." Now was not the time to feel vindicated, but the fact remained that they had made a tremendous error in judgment. Bumblebee was not going to leave this detail out because it was important.

"What?!" Ratchet was obviously alarmed. This was exactly the opposite of what they'd been hoping for. For one thing, Soundwave's presence meant that the Decepticons were already wasting no time in trying to find them. There would be more of them lurking about. It was only inevitable at this point, especially considering the level of destruction they'd left behind.

"I had to intervene because they were waiting for her before I got here. It's a good thing I was here too. I don't know what they were after, but they attacked her. It sounds like they were surprised at what they found." Bumblebee thought hard, because things weren't adding up. What would the Decepticons want with a human, energon or not? They had much bigger goals than snatching up native life forms on alien planets, unless it had something to do with them; the Autobots. "Things got messy. Really messy. She's hurt, and the energon reading is back."

Ratchet did not respond immediately, which was more telling than any words he could have used.

"Wait wait wait… She's hurt again? I literally just patched her up!"

"Like I said, it got real messy."

"She's not dead is she?" Ratchet's voice was blunter than he intended but this was common. Bumblebee knew what he was really trying to ask without really saying it.

"No, no she's alive. But she's leaking a lot of blood. She was bit and—"

A pause. "What do you mean she was bit?" Ratchet's words were oddly restrained, like he was holding back the real level of his anger.

"It was Ravage."

"RA— Get back here, NOW. There needs to be a full debrief and we need to contact Prime right away." Ratchet paused again. "Bring her back with you."

"Yeah, I don't think she wants to come back… She seemed pretty upset."

"She doesn't have a choice. You don't have a choice. Consider it an order. Bring her back to base, NOW."

Allison was still sagged against Bumblebee and she was silent. He could tell she was alive, and alert, because he could see her optics. He could feel the small movements of her breathing, but he didn't know enough to understand what was actually going on with her. Now he was starting to understand why Wheeljack had been so determined to keep her away. He was angry looking down at her small, exhausted and beaten form, realizing she stood no chance against a threat on their level. Bumblebee thought back and remembered the disturbed, almost haunted look in Wheeljack's optics when he and Ratchet disappeared into the infirmary. Suddenly he was less angry at the engineer for his carelessness, and instead he felt terrible. For all of them.

"Hey, ah, sorry Allison. But you need to come back with me. Ratchet's not giving us a choice." Bumblebee said finally after a few moments of watching her, hesitating because she'd already seemed upset about the idea.

"I need a hospital." Allison repeated. Bumblebee sensed this was some form of stubborn protest, still refusing to go back to the Ark, and he honestly didn't blame her. But he also didn't want to force her. Abduction wasn't exactly on the list of typical Autobot activities.

But perhaps bargaining was an option. Autobots were good at that.

"If I take you to a hospital, will you go with me then?"

Allison didn't respond right away. Bumblebee wasn't sure if it was because she was thinking about his offer or if her situation was slowly deteriorating. Perhaps a bit of both.

"Fine," she mumbled.

Sunstreaker's voice finally chimed in, having been nothing more than a bystander thus far. "Uh…Is it wise to bring a human back to the Ark? Won't the 'Cons just follow the signal right back to us, you know, defeating the whole purpose of staying hidden?" While Sunstreaker's protest was certainly not on behalf of the human, he had a point. Bumblebee was glad Allison wasn't privy to Sunstreaker's complete lack of tact with his dissent. He had a feeling it might take him a little longer than his brother to warm up to a human's presence.

"Ratchet, how did you and Wheeljack get the energon out of her before?" Bumblebee asked, wondering if it was something safe to do elsewhere.

Ratchet was quiet again, and Bumblebee wondered if he was simultaneously telling Wheeljack what was going on. The engineer was definitely going to be upset. This was all getting so complicated, when it didn't need to be…

"We'll meet you enroute. I'll send the coordinates." Ratchet did not leave the Ark often these days, which meant he considered this to be important enough to do so. Almost immediately, the trio received location data for a remote, secure location on the way back to the base. They had a number of back-up locations for emergencies, carefully scouted and chosen by both Bumblebee and Teletraan-1 a very long time ago, but had never needed to use one before. Bumblebee suspected they were going to be getting a lot of use now.

Almost immediately, Sideswipe balked, sounding incredulous. "Wait, energon readings on a human and it's happened before?! What's going on?"

"Your curiosity is going to have to wait. Start moving. Ratchet out." And just like that the communication line was severed, leaving the three of them alone in their own channel.

Bumblebee cycled air, thinking. "I'm taking her to a hospital," he said, glancing down again to see that Allison still had not moved. He frowned, a pulse of discomfort in his spark. She really was probably exhausted.

"Uh, isn't that the opposite of what Ratchet said?" Sideswipe observed, sounding a bit incredulous. "Wait, are you actually defying a direct order from Ratchet? 'Bee, I'm impressed." He sounded almost proud, acting like Bumblebee had never disagreed with an order in his life… which was sometimes not true. The entire day was one of those exceptions.

"We're still taking her back to base, we're just taking a slight detour." Bumblebee finally looked back at the twins, gesturing with a nod that they should probably approach so they could all leave. "You two head to the rendezvous point. I'm staying with her."

"We're not leaving you. What if you get attacked again?" Sunstreaker protested, scowling to emphasize the point without words. He finally looked down at Allison who was starting to move on her own, shifting as if she was trying to get to her feet. "A hospital is probably for the best anyway. Wouldn't be much use to Ratchet if she's dead."

Bumblebee's optics narrowed. "Keep that kinda talk to yourself." He didn't much like what Sunstreaker was insinuating, as if she was a tool or worse. Even if that's not what he meant, it wasn't exactly respectful; or helpful. Allison was standing now as if she'd found a second-wind, managing to pull herself up by gripping onto Bumblebee's forearm. He chose not to react when her smaller fingers caught the transformation seams of his armor, sending a jolt of uncomfortable sensation through him. She still seemed only faintly aware of her direct surroundings and movements. It was hard to tell if she noticed that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had gotten closer as she didn't immediately react to them. Satisfied that she seemed steady enough on her feet now, Bumblebee stood. His knee was hurting where Soundwave had kicked him. In fact, his everywhere was hurting. Taking a quick damage assessment his chassis was crippled and his sensor net panel joints—or, wings, rather—had snapped when he knocked the Decepticon off of him. Ratchet was going to have a lot of work on his hands, and he was going to make sure everyone knew about it.

Eventually Sunstreaker vented air, a blast of rainwater ejecting from between his armor panels, and it was almost as if the action was intentional just for the sake of being obvious. That got Allison's attention because she jerked her head in his direction, tilting her head to look up at his face. Sunstreaker stared back, his expression passive and somewhat difficult to interpret. "It's okay, she can't hear me. Besides, relax. I'm not rooting for her death…" Allison scoffed, looking away, maybe seeing something in Sunstreaker's placid expression she didn't like. She seemed remarkably alert now.

"I know what you're doing, you can knock off the secrets," Allison grumbled, wrapping her arms around her front and beginning to walk away. An awkward silence followed, as none of them knew what to say. He didn't know about the other two, but Bumblebee understood what she meant. Suddenly he felt guilty. He guessed it probably was obvious that during the silence something was happening she couldn't hear. "If you have something to say, just say it."

Sideswipe stepped forward suddenly and looked like he did want to say something, but wisely opted to remain silent as Allison continued to walk away. The red Autobot looked uncharacteristically upset, like he was personally offended on her behalf and wanted to apologize. Perhaps he finally understood the seriousness of what had just happened and what it meant. Sunstreaker to his credit looked mildly impressed, his optics flaring in brightness for a moment as the ghost of a smile passed over his expression. It was a start.

There wasn't really time to linger and make introductions. That would have to come later. Bumblebee managed a shaky transformation, taking several extra seconds to get his wings in place which was painful enough, but it would be passable. Maneuvering close to her retreating form he wasn't sure what to say, opening an uninjured door in wordless invitation. He was going to take her to the hospital and figure out the rest later.

Allison sighed, hesitating for a moment as she looked around herself before eventually relenting and getting in. Bumblebee did not fail to notice how she tried to make herself small. He couldn't help her with that, so he focused on the location of the nearest hospital and started to drive.

/