CHAPTER 30
The Formation of a Bond

"Uno!"

"This game is rigged!"

"How does he do that?"

"He's only been playing for like, two hours."

All eyes were on Bumblebee, who simply sat at the front of the table with his single card, grinning widely. Trevor was getting a kick out of watching the mech wipe the floor with the Witwicky's, especially reigning champ Sam. But he definitely did not like getting his own butt handed to him. "Dad, I suddenly regret introducing you to Uno," Trevor snorted. "You're too good at this."

"I can show you the pointers I've picked up," Bumblebee offered teasingly.

Trevor's response was to grab a grape from the bowl in front of them, and fling it at his father. Judy smirked slightly, and looked at Trevor, who shrugged his shoulders. "He mocked me, he deserved it," He joked. "Seriously though, dad, I feel like I do need schooling in this from you. Because I've never been good at this crap," He laughed.

Bumblebee smirked a bit, wondering if they should invite the twins inside. But he decided against it, knowing their overly competitive nature would get in the way. And besides, someone had to keep watch out for Michael, that was the whole reason they were there. "Alright, next game you can observe me," He winked at Trevor, shrugging his shoulders. "If that's okay with the Witwicky's," He added, as it slowly became his turn again, and he set his last card down. "I think I win again."

Sam laughed a little, shaking his head. "I don't think I'm ever playing cards with a supercomputer again," He teased. "I don't know about you guys, but I am too tired for more Uno. I think video games sounds good right now," He looked over at Trevor. "You down for a game of Smash Bros?"

Trevor chuckled a bit, rolling his eyes at Sam. Yep, his friend was definitely not taking the loss of his champion title well. He shook his head slightly, and looked Sam in the eye. "Come on man, we're having fun," He tried to convince the boy. "Don't be a sore loser," Sam groaned at him, grunting quietly. "Come on man, this game we can do teams. Me and dad vs you guys."

"You just want to win," Sam groaned.

"Sure do," Trevor stuck his tongue out.

As the boys continued to talk it out, Bumblebee's thoughts moved towards something that had been on and off in his mind for a while now. The creator-creation bond that he would, inevitably be creating with Trevor. This reminded him of how much fun it might be in certain situations, like using the telepathic connection to strategize while giving no hints. He'd wanted to talk to Trevor bout it for a while, but he also knew that he had to do it at the right time. Or would there ever be a "right" time?

He knew that bonding with an adopted child was special. It meant that no matter their real parentage, they would always be able to feel your love, and hear you. On top of this, it would also connect him to Optimus and Elita, given they had their own bond to him. His and Trevor's bond would only continue to lengthen the chain of bonds that they had been building. Given he was getting anxious, perhaps tonight would be a good night to finally bring it up to Trevor and ask if he was okay with forming that kind of bond.

"Tonight," Bumblebee whispered quietly to Trevor. "Meet me outside, I want to go somewhere private and do something."

Trevor stared at his father blankly, unsure of how to take that. But ultimately, he slowly nodded his head. Then turned back to the game as Bumblebee began to throw cards down. He was amused to see Sam try even more vigorously to win this time. And ultimately, he found it came down to just him and Bumblebee having one card, while Ron and Judy had several, and it was probably the most intense stand-off he had ever seen for a card game. "Seriously Trev, if Bee beats me again, I'm disowning you as my honorary brother," Sam joked.

Trevor rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms. "Don't be a sore loser, Witwicky," He stuck his tongue out at him. "Seriously, this can't be that hard. Just have a blue card," Sam grimaced slightly. "Man, you're not helping your case by having no poker face at all." He teased.

"Who says I don't?" Sam questioned.

"Your face."

Sam threw the middle finger, which Judy slapped, giving him a hard look. Trevor only chuckled as Sam sat there for a good three minutes, before tentatively grumbling and picking a card from the pile. Bumblebee smirked, and set down the last blue card as Sam groaned, and slammed his head against the table. "Oh, Sammy, it's just a game," Judy rolled her eyes. "Will you calm down?"

"I've been the reining champ since I was twelve," Sam groaned. "Seriously, how could I lose?"

"You're playing against a supercomputer," Ron snorted. "That's how."

Bumblebee chuckled, standing to his feet slowly, he raised to his feet, and took a deep breath. "Well, I should make a round around the neighborhood anyway," He put a hand on Trevor's shoulder. "I'll be back around ten to pick you up," He then smirked at Sam. "Now you'll hold no contest against anyone at lest, Sam."

As Bumblebee fizzled out of existence, Sam ran his hands down his face. Trevor only laughed a little, thoroughly amused as Judy began to shuffle the deck again. Ron merely looked between the two boys with a shake of his head. "Well then, anybody up for a change of game? Maybe Clue or Sorry?" He asked. "You know, the stuff the supercomputer really would kick our butts at?"

"I'm in."

"Anything else."

"Oh! I'll go get Sorry! I love that game!" Judy stated running off.

Trevor could only laugh slightly, at least this would be a better game. And hopefully, Sam would take getting his butt kicked by his skills at "Sorry" much better.

...

"So, why did you bring me here again?"

Bumblebee looked at Trevor, crossing his arms. They had just left the graveyard where his parents were buried, and paid them their visit. And now, he had taken him to a hill overlooking the city. There, without fear of being spotted, Bumblebee had transformed and stared down at Trevor. "Trev, I've been holding off on a... Rather huge part of our culture with you for a while," He paused a moment. "You've heard us talk about bonds right?"

"Isn't that what a kind of... Married couple does?" Trevor asked, scratching his head slightly. "Like, I remember grandma and granpa talking about being bonded," He pointed out. "And Ironhide and Chromia both mentioned it once too."

Bumblebee chuckled, of course, humans would only notice that one. While the second biggest one often went neglected: the creator and creation bond. One that every creator: adopted and "biological" had. "Well, there's that," He explained. "But there's also something parents have with their kids," He explained in human terms. "Basically, it's something that's either born, or created by an adoptive creator with their creation. It ties them together, and gives us a way to communicate with our kids through more than just normal speech-."

"You can also feel each other right?"

"Yeah, that too," Bumblebee nodded his head slowly. "And it connects them to their creator's creators as well," He explained. "But, I uh... I've been mulling over when I should talk to you about it. About... Making that bond, or I mean, trying to," He paused a long moment. "Obviously, it's never been done with a human before, so I'm not totally sure it would work..."

Trevor made an "O" shape with his mouth, putting his hands in his pockets. This was a big step, he figured, tethering himself to another human being. Even if he'd accepted Bumblebee was his new dad, it was a little surprising, maybe even a little weird in some ways. He chewed his lip tentatively, and looked up at Bumblebee. "Does it hurt?" He asked. "I mean, how can you even... Do that?"

"In theory I'd just hold your body to my open spark chamber," Bumblebee told him. "Like I would a Cybertronian sparkling or youngling. And if the love in our spark, and heart was strong enough... My spark should be able to do most of the work in forming the connection," He explained as Trevor took a slow nod of his head. "It doesn't hurt at all, Trev. If anything, you'd feel a new warmth, a real, kind of loving that you'd never believe to be possible."

It was Trevor's turn to mull this over, was he ready to do such a thing? To connect himself beyond what a normal human father and son might have? The whole talking beyond spoken word thing was cool, and sounded like telepathy. But it was also a very, very big step, as he had already thought over. One that would connect him to this mech for all eternity. He closed his eyes, and thought back to the graves of his parents, of what they would want him to do in this situation. It would connect him to Bumblebee in a way he never had with them. Would they want that?

Silently, he felt the hands of his parents on his shoulders, as if telling him it was okay. A silent way beyond the grave of telling him that he was not only welcome to do it, but they wanted this for him. Taking a few steps forward, he looked up at Bumblebee. "Alright," He swallowed. "I-I'll let you make the bond. "How does it work?"

Bumblebee smiled, and scooped his son up carefully. After a moment, a glow from his chest began to shine until several compartments had shifted away to reveal his spark. It was a beautiful sight: a blue, glowing aura that attracted Trevor like a moth to a zapper. From the chamber came two chords which carefully moved themselves over his own chest, while the others seemed to "connect" with Bumblebee's spark. "Relax Trev," Bumblebee told him as he noticed how tense Trevor seemed to be. "They're only manifestations of the bond the spark is trying to create," He explained. "They'll read into us, and see how your heart and my spark feel about each other."

"Better not think about anything romantic then," Trevor joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Bumblebee smiled, and sent all of his fatherly love through his spark, and across the tether. While Trevor thought about how much he had come to love Bumblebee, both as a role model, and as a father. Minutes passed, and slowly the fake vision of the chords disappeared, and his heart gave a strange, almost warm feeling. "Testing, testing," Trevor jumped at the voice in his head. "Can you hear me, kiddo?"

"You just talked to me!" Trevor gasped slightly. "It was like, like-."

"So it worked," Bumblebee replied happily. "Sweet Primus! Yeah, that takes some getting used to. But after the first week or so, trust me, you get used to it," He sent more love and warmth through his spark slowly. "Feel that? That overwhelming feeling of love?" Trevor nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, I can do that too. Even when you're all the way across the world."

Trevor rested his hand over his chest, his green eyes lighting up. Even if it was too late for backing out anyway, all uncertainty left him. The level of love Bumblebee felt for him was even more than he had imagined. He had known the mech loved him, he'd known he'd loved him a lot. But the monumental amount he did was still even more surprising than he'd expected. "Love you too, dad," Trevor managed to send over the bond.

And then, it was Bumblebee's turn to feel the love that he shot right back through his spark. He felt the way he looked up to him, the way he received his love, the love he returned to him... All of it. And not for the first time, Bumblebee was more than thankful that he had met and adopted the boy like he did. "When we get home," Bumblebee told him. "I'll show you how it works with your grandparents. But you can do the same thing with them too... You're connected to them too now from my own bond with them as my adopted creators."

Trevor smiled a bit, he liked this, he actually liked it a lot. Maybe it would help him to forge even stronger bond with Optimus, and moreso, with Elita. It was an idea that yet again brought a smile to his face as Bumblebee set him on the ground. "So I guess this really makes me part of the family now, huh?" Trevor asked.

"You ever doubted that?"

"No, I mean, just... Now I have the bond too," Trevor explained. "It's a real honor that you've done this for me, dad."

Bumblebee crouched low, and gently rubbed his metal cheekplate against Trevor's cheek. It was an act of affection that made Trevor blush, especially with the level of love he could feel the mech giving off. "You deserve it, Trevor," He explained. "And besides, I love you more than life itself, you know that right? I'm happy to make that even more clear with this."

And now that he could feel it, he didn't deny it, and never would. He was just happy to know that no matter what, he'd now always know what he could only ever fully speculate. "Dad," Trevor spoke up. "This trip has been awesome, I just want you to know that." Bumblebee smiled a little. "It means a lot that you came down here, just for me."

"You need time in civilization," Bumblebee replied. "You can't just grow up on a military base all the time."

"Why? You did!"

"But I got out into Iacon often," Bumblebee pointed out. "I had plenty of time in town, something you don't," Trevor guessed that was true, at least from what he told him before. "So any time I can bring you out here? I will, I promise," He explained. "And I'm sorry about that, by the way. That you can't grow up in a town like the other kids your age," He added.

"Dad, I don't mind."

"I can feel your emotions now," Bumblebee explained. "I know you care," He added. "But don't worry, kiddo. It doesn't bother me, I already figured that. Why do you think I took you here?" Trevor smiled a little bit as Bumblebee slowly transformed back down into his car mode. "Now I'd say it's getting pretty late. I should get you back to the Witwicky's and in bed."

"I'm tired."

"I don't even need to read your emotions to know that's a load of slag."

Trevor chuckled, though he knew that Bumblebee was right, he was tired. Taking a deep breath, he got into Bumblebee's passengers seat as his holoform appeared. He sighed to himself, another day was gone, and they were that much closer to going back to Diego Garcia. He quietly tried to hide his feelings about this to Bumblebee, but it still sucked. On the way home, they passed the graveyard quietly, and again, he looked over towards where he knew his parents were buried, and closed his eyes.

He was leaving them behind again too, even if he had already said "hello" and "goodbye" during the visit it still hurt. Especially after he had gotten a very painful reminder of just how much Joseph Ridley had done for him. As he shuddered at the thought of his encounter with Michael Field, the warmth returned, and he felt an arm around his shoulders. "In a few more days, he'll just be a memory again," Bumblebee told him gently. "Remember that, okay?"

For once, he really, truly knew that. Perhaps because of the reassurance he was being given through the bond now, or perhaps because he was gone. But either way, he could get used to that feeling, he could really get used to that feeling. "I know, dad," Trevor murmured, his eyes starting to droop slightly. "Because I had a real man protecting me before. And a real man, er, mech protecting me now," He then added. "And he'd never stand a chance against one of those."

Bumblebee smiled as through the bond, he felt Trevor's assurance that he meant it. He gently rubbed the boy's arm, and watched as slowly, he fell asleep against hi body. The boy definitely was making a habit of doing that, not that the Autobot minded whatsoever. "Goodnight, my precious one," Bumblebee told him through their bond. "I love you..."

And though there was no verbal reply, the small smile that Trevor gave said it all.

...

A/N: I know, this was a little short and full of fluff. XD But I wanted to end the "Back to Tranquility" storyline on a happy note. Though the next chapter WILL start just before they leave. The rest will be back at Diego Garcia.