CHAPTER 17
Recruits and Alarms

Trevor had never had so many people have their eyes on him than he did while he and Bumblebee went to the beach. Then again, who among them would know the overly playful nature of the big, yellow scout. It had started with Trevor swimming in the ocean earlier, but had now worked up to Trevor showing Bumblebee how to build a sand castle. All of which was watched, from a distance, by some of the more bewildered NEST soldiers. "You think we were putting on some sort of show the way they're watching us," Trevor eyed the soldiers slightly. "They should take a picture if they want to gawk this long."

Bumblebee's optics turned up from his side of the castle, staring at the men and women. They'd fought alongside them all in Mission City, he had known that, so why did they still gawk? Who was he kidding, he knew why. He was spending time with his son, a human. And to most, anything remotely outside of the norm of the world was something to gawk in wonderment at. "My fault," Bumblebee muttered. "Sorry, I should have used my holoform."

"Why? You have a right to spend time with me in any form you want," Trevor defended him. "I mean, they do know that you're my dad right?"

Bumblebee's optic ridge furrowed, but he nodded ever so slightly. They did know, or should have, given the briefing they'd all been to. But at the same time, it was still odd to see it. Finally, the mech sighed, and stood to his feet with a groan of annoyance. Trevor was right, he had every right to spend a couple of hours alone with his son. "Hey, don't you guys have somewhere to be?" Bumblebee questioned. "Or you could just join us if you'd like."

Trevor chuckled, almost certain that he could perfectly imagine the looks on the military men and women's faces. He turned just in time to see them taking off, probably convinced that Bumblebee, probably the friendliest of the Autobots was ready to shoot them. "Good job, Bee, I think a few of them crapped their pants," Trevor laughed as he stood to his own feet. "We could have just gone to the side of the beach that's in the back you know. Since you're going to be working with them and all?"

"I made an aft out of myself, didn't I?" Bumblebee muttered.

"Kinda, but it was funny," Trevor chuckled.

Bumblebee let out a chuckle of his own, trying to ease the fact as a result. He guessed it wouldn't be too bad, the people on-base did need to know that he and Trevor deserved to be respected like any other parent/child team. "So," Bumblebee began. "Sun's going down, we should be getting back," Trevor nodded, walking towards Bumblebee. "Oh! I almost forgot! I wanted to talk to you about something," He began.

Trevor raised an eyebrow, wondering how Bumblebee could forget something. After all, they talked nonstop. "Yeah?" He questioned. "What's up Bee? I don't need to be worried, do I?"

"'Course not," Bumblebee shook his head. "I was just remembering what the judge said last week. About how your day of creation was coming up," Trevor raised an eyebrow, confused at what that meant. "I believe you humans call it a birthday?"

Trevor's eyes bulged, he'd nearly forgotten in all the excitement of the last few weeks. He checked his phone's calendar, and sure enough, it was next Thursday. He chewed his lip a bit, and settled his phone back into his pocket. "To tell you the truth, Bee, with all that was going on, I totally forgot," Trevor shook his head slowly. "No biggie though."

"Huge biggie, I need ideas for what to get you," Bumblebee told him with a snort. "Don't give me that look," He added, noticing the way Trevor stared at him. "You're getting something for your birthday, like it or not," He explained, then began to stroke his chin. "It isn't easy on your sixteenth year of birth. Considering you don't exactly need a car."

Trevor's ace fell at that, being reminded of everything once again. Bumblebee wanted to shove his foot in his mouth for that one, he'd nearly forgotten Trevor had bought him to fix up for that day. "Bee, I'm sure whatever you'd get me would be fine," Trevor told him, leaning back a little. "You know me, I like racecars and movies, I bet you could get creative."

Bumblebee looked as if he was wracking his processor for anything. But it didn't surprise Trevor at all, even having learned a lot about Earth culture, this would probably be his first time getting anyone a present. "Trevor! Bumblebee!" Trevor's eyes shot up as Lennox stepped out of the main base. "Beach day's over boys! We got our first new recruits coming in in five minutes." he then added, at their confusion. "We got them early, apparently. Galloway regretted to inform me that this was happening today."

"Already?" Trevor asked, surprised. "You have to do the briefing first, right? I don't do my part yet."

"Wrong," Lennox shook his head. "We need to introduce them to at least one Autobot. And we're figuring considering Bee's the least intimidating of them," Bumblebee scowled at that. "No offense, Bee. You're awesome on the battlefield, but you're also a teddy bear," He looked at Trevor. "We want him to be the first Autobot we introduce them too."

"I am TOO intimidating!" Bumblebee countered. "Give me ten seconds alone with a Decepticreep, and I'll show you-."

"Bee, cool it," Trevor patted his leg. "We can do this, right? I bet if you show you're friendly to these guys they won't gawk like the others," Bumblebee's doorwings trilled in irritation. "Dude, pick up your bruised ego, and lets go," He snorted.

Bumblebee rolled his optics, but nodded his head in response. Though he made a quiet, firm mental note to at some point sow them that he was far from unintimidating.

...

As it turned out, greeting the first (albeit small) batch of new recruits was boring as sin. It started with a brief overview about Mission City, which seemed to last an hour and Lennox hadn't even gotten to the good stuff. He could tell he wasn't the only bored one, given he looked along the rows of recruits, most of whom were becoming less interested by the second. "So you're all probably wondering what REALLY happened," Trevor sighed in relief as Lennox said that. "Why we called the battle nothing more than a gas leak rather than a battle with invasive forces."

"I never bought that bullcrap anyway," One of the younger men snorted in the audience.

Trevor laughed a little, having to agree that the cover story was stupid. He and Lennox had had more than one good laugh about it. He continued to lean against Bumblebee's hood slightly for a moment before sitting up at the edge. "Ladies and gentlemen," Lennox motioned towards Trevor and Bumblebee. "This is the reason Mission City was covered up."

For a minute, the whole room burst into laughter. Clearly thinking that Lennox was talking about Trevor, and perhaps that this was a prank. "Keep laughing all you want," Trevor spoke up, a grin on his face. "But you're not going to be laughing once you meet my dad," He explained.

"What, is he in the car?" One man joked.

Trevor smirked, and looked at Lennox, who simply shrugged. "Close, dude," Trevor commented. "But not quite," He patted the hood. "Show time, big guy," He hopped off the hood as Bumblebee began to transform behind him. "He is the car," Several of the men in front backed up quickly, their eyes nearly popping out of their head. "Ladies, and gentlemen, meet my dad, Bumblebee."

Trevor wished he could have taken a picture of the looks on everyone's faces. Yet, he reminded himself he had been as dumbfounded, and scared as they were now when he met Bumblebee. Yet, in a youthful, friendly way, the scout stepped forward and smiled wide. "What's up, brothers in arms?" Bumblebee greeted.

"Bumblebee here is what they call an Autobot," Lennox began.

At that point, Trevor zoned out again, given he knew all the information he was saying. After all, aside from the fact the Allspark was destroyed in Mission City, it was mostly what Bumblebee had told him when he revealed himself. Although, Lennox made it a point to explain their mission at NEST would be to help hunt down and defeat the remaining Decepticons, of course. "So, if they're robots," A woman pointed to Trevor. "Who's the kid really? He looks human to me."

"I'm an Autobot too, a human one though," Trevor offered. "Born and raised here, but I lost my family," He decided to explain, stepping forward. "Bumblebee here adopted me, so I'm basically the grandson of their leader now too." He nodded to Lennox. "So Major Lennox here put me in charge of helping you guys get to know them."

Lennox nodded, and motioned to Trevor. "Trevor here is the closest human to the 'Bots," Lennox explained. "Is he young? Yes. But he's also a member of NEST regardless. And as he said, he will be helping you get acquainted with the other Autobots." He explained, then his face got serious. "If I see anyone disrespecting him because you think you're older and tougher, or whatever?" He began. "I'm gonna let Bee know, and we'll see how well that goes."

"I don't enjoy bullies," Bumblebee offered. "Nor does our leader. So imagine how well that will go."

One of the men nodded, getting the idea, if only because Bumblebee clearly scared him. Another, however, became vocal, pointing between the two of them. "You're telling me these things really are friendly then?" He asked. "Because I've seen these "we come in peace" movies, kid. Not about to seal my own doom by stepping up to fight alongside them."

Trevor shook his head, crossing his arms slightly. He peered up at Bumblebee, who continued to smile, and nudged him in encouragement to answer. How did one answer this question? After all, Ratchet was grumpy, and Ironhide was just sort of gruff. And for that matter, who knew if all the remaining Autobots that were coming would be friendly? "I can tell you the group on Earth now are a great group of mechs," Trevor offered. "And Bee here is the coolest guy you'll ever meet, trust me. If you can't make friends with him, then good luck making friends at all."

"Thanks, kiddo," Bumblebee crouched, and rubbed his son's head gently. "But Trevor's right, I promise, we are all friendly. If you chose not to sign with us, I think we all understand," He explained, keeping his demeanor as friendly as possible. "But if the awesomeness that is Bumblebee does not convince you," He joked lightly. "Then maybe stick around for training, and then meeting the others tomorrow. You can get an even better idea then."

Another man, this time from the back row, spoke up. "And these Decepticons," He asked. "You're sure that they're an actual threat still? I mean, wouldn't they be crippled with their leader dead and all?"

Lennox shook his head, signifying it was his turn to answer. Giving him the floor, Trevor took a few steps back, as Lennox began. "Trevor and I have both seen what these 'Cons can do on their own," He began, his voice tense. "Trust me, they're still very much a threat. One that we'll need as many good men, and women, to combat as possible," There was murmuring from the group at that. "If you're willing to go through the training session tomorrow, then you can sign up with my friend, Sgt. Epps to the right," He then added. "If not, then my other pal, Grahamn, will be waiting at the door with NDAs for you to sign."

With that, Trevor took a deep intake of air in relief. It was over, and for the most part, he felt like he had done well. Examining the group, he clearly saw that more people were going than staying, but then again, not everyone could be convinced he supposed. "Aw, this was just our first group," Bumblebee offered. "Don't get discouraged Trev, you did great."

Lennox shrugged, and then stared at Trevor. "I think this group was made up of jerks anyway," Lennox observed. "They knew better than to laugh like that. And if you didn't notice the ones that didn't, stayed," Trevor nodded, looking over. "You did good at least," He explained. "I'm gonna go make sure everything's set up for tomorrow, you guys are dismissed."

Trevor saluted Lennox politely. "Thank you, Major."

Lennox smirked a little, clearly impressed. "That's gonna take some getting used to," He laughed. "Six months of your screwing around and now you're going army brat on me?" He explained.

"Working on it," Trevor laughed.

As Lennox walked off, Bumblebee turned his gaze down towards him. "Now that the boring slag's over," Trevor smirked a little at that notion. "You want to go see how many of those morons that laughed we can scare?" Trevor snorted, and began to walk off. "What? They were knuckleheaded jerks! And you know it'd be funny! Don't try to convince me you wouldn't have fun!"

"My thirty-four vorn old dad is going to get us both grounded," Trevor muttered teasingly.

"I can't be grounded!"

Trevor hoped for his sake, that much was true.

...

Trevor woke up screaming for the first time in what seemed like ages. It was so much that it nearly scared himself, considering how it echoed through the large room. He felt all over his body for any sign that the claw from his dream had actually impaled him. But of course, it was not there, because it was nothing more than a dream, and Barricade was nowhere to be found. He watched as slowly, Bumblebee's holoform appeared at the foot of his bed. "Another nightmare?" Trevor nodded his head in response. "Slag it, kid, you okay?"

"Fine," Trevor muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. "It's just a combination of Mission City and Tranquility, like always," He explained, rubbing the sleep from his eyes quietly. "You have to know how that is, I mean, don't Autobots dream?" Bumblebee stared blankly at him. "Wait, you guys don't?"

Bumblebee shook his head in response, a frown crossing his lips. A part of him clearly wished that they did. If only so he could understand what Trevor went through in these so-called "nightmares" of his. "'Fraid not, we recharge in total darkness," Bumblebee explained. "Like when you charge that phone of yours. I doubt it dreams, same philosophy for us," Trevor nodded slowly. "Sometimes we go over our memory banks, but that's the closest we come."

"I suppose you chose those?" Trevor asked, getting another nod in response. "Lucky, if I had that choice I'd just go over the good memories," He muttered, pulling his blankets over himself slightly. "I'm sorry I woke you up, Bee," He added. "Don't suppose I could convince you to go back to sleep, can I?"

Bumblebee chuckled, Trevor was clearly unaware of what time it was. "I've been up for a while now, bud," Bumblebee replied. "It's five o'clock, the start of most of our days," Trevor groaned, and laid back against his pillow. "You want to get up and have breakfast with Lennox, Epps, and I?" He questioned. "I'd enjoy that, y'know."

Trevor shook his head, putting his hands on the back of his head. He hated getting up early, and to say the least, he was still trying to get over how he still felt jet lag. He grunted, looking up at him with one eye open. "Nah, I'm fine," Trevor replied in a mutter. "I need to get more sleep. I um... I've been having nightmares the past few nights actually."

"That was the first time you screamed," Bumblebee muttered.

"It was the first time I died," Trevor grunted.

He felt as Bumblebee carefully stroked his back. It was clear by the look on his face that he was concerned, especially if he was internalizing the nightmares. "You know, we're getting an on-base therapist," Bumblebee told him, his voice low and clear. "Maybe we can get you a session with her," Trevor didn't look so sure about that. "Okay, we won't go there yet. Just promise me you'll start coming to me about this stuff. At least when it's this bad."

Trevor nodded, looking up at him as Bumblebee rubbed his hair a bit. "Alright," Trevor gave in. "I don't think I need one of them yet. But I can talk to you right now, and I guess if things get worse," He sighed a bit. "Look, I'll just let you know, okay?"

Bumblebee nodded his head, giving Trevor a gentle kiss on his forehead. He wasn't going to let Trevor feel scared on his own, he refused for that. If he was having trouble with nightmares about what he'd gone through, they'd face them together. "Alright then," Bumblebee muttered. "Get back to sleep if you really feel like you need it-," His head shot up as an alarm sounded out. "Slag."

"What?" Trevor shot up in his bed now. "What's with the alarm?"

:Bumblebee to Prime, what's going on?: Bumblebee questioned over his com link.

:Come to the main hangar, at once.: Optimus replied, a long pause coming over the com link. :We believe we may have finally gotten a lock on Barricade. But we must move fast, he and two other Decepticons are attacking citizens in downtown Detroit.:

:I'm on my way.:

That wasn't even a question for him, if this was Barricade, he wanted a crack at him. He still owed Trevor getting payback for what he had done to his parents. And now was his chance, possibly the only one he'd have for a while. "Decepticons spotted in Detroit," Bumblebee replied, his holoform standing to his feet. "Looks like those introductions to the new recruits will have to wait. So you can sleep in, if need be."

"Promise you'll be careful?" Trevor questioned.

"I promise," Bumblebee nodded firmly. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Trevor looked as though he might ask if it was Barricade, which made Bumblebee nervous. He wouldn't tell him, and risk Trevor doing something stupid to tag along. But he also wouldn't lie to him, he hated the idea of lying to him like that. Thus, it was to his great relief that Trevor laid his head back down, and started to doze off instead. As his holoform flickered out of existence, Bumblebee stepped out of his actual room, checking his cannons one moment before letting them transform back into hands.

Alright, Barricade. Bumblebee thought with a growl. Time for round two.

And this time, he would make sure he stayed down, even if it killed him.