Chapter 4: Sam

I was in a good mood when I found myself on the aircraft carrier's flight deck. It was a memory where Optimus and I could always find each other in our shared bond-dream, and he was already waiting for me.

My mood shifted as I sensed his, though. "Optimus," I cautiously greeted.

"Brother," he said, turning his head and nodding in acknowledgment.

"You feel way too somber for this bode well."

"And you feel far too buoyant for the news I'm about to share," he replied. "But let me hear your good news first."

"It's not so much good news as it is a good feeling. I mean, nothing's changed between me and Mikaela and that whole conversation about proposing the right way hasn't happened yet, though the way she reacted to Mom's question about if I do it right would she say yes, well, it does give me hope."

I paused when I felt his amusement and realized I was nervously babbling. Taking a deep breath, I said, "I was hoping you could take me on a flight tonight, in your memories."

"That I can do," he agreed, and his amusement faded back into that other feeling of...dread? Worry? "I set my chronometer to wake us up just before sunrise."

"O-kay?"

"We held a tribunal for Bumblebee for his crimes of disobeying orders and recklessly endangering a Prime."

"Crimes?" I weakly echoed. Of course he'd be in trouble for all that, but...

Optimus nodded. "Prowl wanted to permanently remove him as your guardian - "

"WHAT?!"

His feelings soothed mine. " - but Arcee's honor had also been besmirched by Bumblebee's actions, and so Prowl gave her the traditional recourse of having a say in the length of his punishment. She limited the suspension of his guardianship to only six months."

I let my breath out slowly. Six months. I could probably survive six months without 'Bee. I mean, I couldn't make it three days at college without him before I got the last living Prime killed and The Fallen led a Decepticon attack on Earth, but hey, that's no reason to be worried or anything.

"Calm down, Sam," Optimus said, his own peace rolling across the bond to saturate my spark.

I half-laughed. "Even my internal commentary is a nervous babble right now."

"RaFly is highly competent. I trust her to keep you safe while Bumblebee serves out his sentence."

I felt the tension in my shoulders drain a little at his words. "Oh, so I'd still have a bodyguard, just not Bumblebee."

"I'd prefer it if I could keep you on Diego Garcia during that time."

We'd had this conversation from time to time over the years, but now that I'd graduated, college didn't demand my presence anymore. Court orders did, however. "I've got months of community service to perform," I reminded him. "Besides, didn't you just say that RaFly would take good care of me?"

"I have no question that she will do everything in her power to keep you safe. But Bumblebee...even though his vocal processor is still so damaged, he seems to be charmed, as you humans would say. I'm less confident in myself as a guardian than I am in him."

Suddenly his own worry made sense. He didn't want to mess up something that was fated. And he was right, Bumblebee and I belonged together. Still, it was just for six months, and between the community service and hopefully soon-to-be engagement, I should be too busy to get into too much trouble. "If the Ancient Primes or whoever hints otherwise, I'll be sure to let you know, but I think I'll probably be okay. As long as I've got an Autobot around."

Relief became the main emotion rolling off him. "Very well. I will convey your consent to Prowl. He'll take Bumblebee into custody in the morning, now that Ratchet has given Bumblebee medical clearance for duty again. I assume you will want to say goodbye before Prowl sends him to the Arctic."

"The Arctic? And you're right, I will want to say goodbye."

"It's also possible he'll be sent to Antarctica. We're trying to determine how exactly Reverb slipped past BINDS. We suspect the magnetic poles might be to blame, in part due to his flight path, and RaFly has spent the last week investigating. She's being recalled and Bumblebee is being sent in her stead. I will be your guardian until she arrives."

More brotherly bonding time - I was definitely okay with that. I gave him a half-smile. "Sounds like a plan."

His imagined base-form shifted, morphing into the way he looked with his Blackbird flight-tech on. "But first, you had a request."

I grinned and stepped forward into his memories, and we blasted off into the morning sky.

…

It was still mostly dark in my folks' camper when I opened my eyes. I had to untangle myself from the blankets and partially woke Mikaela up. "Where are you going?" she groggily asked.

"With Optimus. Bumblebee's being reassigned for six months starting now, so this is my last chance to see him for a while."

Sitting up abruptly, she kicked off the rest of the bed linens and started getting changed. "I'm coming, too."

I smiled, glad she wasn't too grumpy about lost beauty sleep (not that she needed it). After I finished a text for my parents explaining where we'd gone, I used my phone to provide a little light for Mikaela. "RaFly's going to be his replacement, when she gets here."

She paused as she strapped on her sandals and looked up at me, clearly torn. "I'm glad it's her, but I'm still worried about 'Bee."

I was kind of embarrassed that I'd been more worried about myself than 'Bee last night. Knowing how protective he was of me, though, he'd probably be stressing himself out about my safety the entire time he was gone. "Yeah, me too."

Optimus was waiting at the entrance of the campground and opened his doors for us. We quietly climbed in and he headed back toward the base. I rolled down my window, breathing in the cool, desert air and grateful yet again to be free from jail.

We rode in silence for a little while, and the sun cleared the horizon.

"So why is 'Bee getting reassigned?" Mikaela asked after a huge yawn. "Is this punishment for the wreck and all?"

"Yes," Optimus answered. "He received a lighter sentence than Prowl wanted, but Arcee intervened on his behalf."

Mikaela smiled, still a little sleepily, and said, "She would."

Optimus' surprise at her comment caught me by surprise. What? I asked him.

Arcee took Bumblebee out last night on patrol with her, to ensure that he was sufficiently repaired for his upcoming assignment. Then he shared the memory with me of their return to base, and I kind of choked at Arcee's "I don't kiss and tell" line. I knew they liked each other, but I hadn't realized they were that serious.

I'm curious how Mikaela knew, Optimus added.

I glanced over at her, but she was leaning back against the headrest and her eyes were closed. Maybe she didn't, I said. I mean, unless Arcee was texting her about it after I fell asleep last night, there's really no way she could.

True. Perhaps she was referring to the obvious amity between Bumblebee and Arcee.

Maybe.

By that point, we were at the gates of the base and a guard waved us through. Apparently they expected Optimus and figured he took care of his own internal security.

Instead of going to the hangar we'd been in the day before, Optimus drove us to a smaller building that looked like a large, two-story garage. The door opened as he approached, and he rolled in, even though there was no way he could transform inside.

I immediately recognized Bumblebee in his base form, with Prowl in front of him and Sideswipe and Sunstreaker on either side. It took me a heartbeat longer to realize 'Bee was in handcuffs.

I threw open Optimus' door and jumped down onto the concrete, my heart in my throat, but I paused and kind of gulped as I looked up. Usually the Autobots stooped to talk to me, and now that I was standing so close, the angry words about the handcuffs died in my throat. Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that I was a Prime and that had to count for something, even if I was still a squishy. With all the authority I could muster, I said, "Take the shackles off."

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker exchanged a look, and Prowl's doorwings twitched.

"Come on, Prowl, you know 'Bee. He was one of your Temple guardians."

In support, Mikaela added, "You know he's not going to fight or run."

Prowl's doorwings relaxed, and the handcuffs loosened all on their own, falling to the ground with a clang.

"Thank you," I quietly said. "We're not going to see him for six months. We want to say goodbye without an audience." It felt like an oversized, concrete visiting room from the jail, complete with eavesdropping guards.

"We Autobots will be outside," Optimus said and rolled backward into the bright morning, followed by Prowl and the twins. You only have another ten minutes or so until they'll come to load him on the plane, he added.

That made me focus, and I looked up at 'Bee again as the garage door closed behind us.

"You okay, big guy?" I asked him.

"I messed up," he said, quoting me as he knelt and bringing me back to an abandoned prison-yard where we'd hid after I got Optimus killed.

"Not anywhere near as badly as I did back then," I pointed out.

"Doesn't matter...I'm so sorry, Sam….You got hurt...because of me."

"Optimus shared your report with me. I told him then and now I'm telling you - if you could have explained who Reverb was and what he was saying, I would have said to take him out, even with the risk to me personally."

He wiped away a windshield-washer fluid tear at that. Stringing together quotes, he added, "Young fella...you are...the person I...care about most...in my life."

Despite the gravity of the moment, I couldn't help teasing him just a little about his late night out with Arcee. "The person you care about most?"

His antennas fell back and he solemnly nodded, playing several clips in Arcee's voice. "You're forgetting the most important person in this whole equation: the Prime!...He's your youngling...Sam is yours to protect."

Now it was my turn to get choked up. "Aw, come on, man. Are ya trying to make me cry?"

He scooped me up in his hands and held me close to his spark. A heartbeat later, he reached out again with one hand, picking up Mikaela and holding her close, too. I rested my cheek against his warm metal.

There was a time, after I graduated high school, when I thought the only way I could really be a man was to separate myself from the Autobots and go live my own life. They made me feel too small, too helpless. 'Bee loved me like a kid does a puppy, but pups grow up, and I had wanted to break away from him before he decided I wasn't so adorable anymore.

That had been the biggest mistake of my life. My mistake had cost Optimus his life, and that in turn had cost thousands of humans their lives. That mistake still haunted me. But I suspected that my desire to stand tall and be my own person was why Optimus made a point of imagining me as tall as him in our brother-bond dreams. So we could be equals.

Now, four years later, I was a bit wiser. Arcee was right - it was like Bumblebee and I were brothers, and the thought of him being gone for six months was getting to me way more than I expected.

"You know what," I said, pausing to swallow down the lump in my throat, "I'm making an exception to Optimus not sharing our bond memories. For the next six months, I'm going to have him send them your way."

"You feeling okay, young man?" he quoted.

No, but I wasn't going to tell him this was tearing me up inside. Instead, I said, "You're the one getting sent to Siberia."

"Hey Mickey...keep him...out of trouble...while I'm gone?" 'Bee asked.

Mikaela hesitated for a couple of heartbeats. "I'll do my best. You stay safe, too, Bumblebee."

The garage door started lifting, and I recognized Prowl's hood.

"Time's up," I said to 'Bee. "Better get into your alt."

He set us on our feet again and pointed a finger at us. Quoting E.T., he said, "Be good."

I snorted. "Back at ya, mech."

He transformed, and I stepped out of his way. After high school, I'd wanted to leave 'Bee and the others behind, and I still was grappling with the consequences. Now that I wanted 'Bee to stay, he was the one who had to go. Hopefully things would go more smoothly this time in his absence.