Title: Meet the Parents

Author: Morgan O'Conner

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Sam's parents get suspicious. Then they get more suspicious. Then they get a shocker.

Disclaimer: I really don't own anything relating to Transformers. Just playing with the characters a bit, I'll return them unharmed, I promise. :)

Two weeks after the battle for the Allspark…

"Sam, uh…your mother and I have been wondering something."

Sam polished off the last of his sandwich and looked up at his father. "Yeah Dad, what's up?" He was eager to get going, he was planning on taking a quick road trip to visit Will Lennox, and let Bumblebee get a chance to catch up with Ironhide, who had decided to remain with the captain for a while.

"Well, we were wondering…what happened to the old beat up car I bought you? And how did you get your hands on…that one?" He gestured out the window, where Bumblebee was gleaming in the sunlight.

Geez, it took them two whole weeks to notice. Sam shook his head. "Well, it's a long story, kind of, but there was this guy who's really into classic cars. He wanted a chance to take mine and fix it up real nicely, and…well, this was the trade-off. He wasn't big on new cars, just classics, and he had this one just sitting in his garage." Sam was very glad his parents were gullible.

"Hmm. Well, all right then. It's a nice car, take care of it."

Duh.

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The middle of Sam's senior year…

"Sam, you're five minutes late!"

"Sorry, Mom." Sam closed the door and flung his backpack across the room, letting it settle in a heap before kicking his shoes off and scooping Mojo up in his arms. "I was at Mikaela's working on a science project, we lost track of time."

Judy Witwicky could be a force to be reckoned with when she hadn't had a bit too much to drink. Sam hadn't been lying when he said she had a temper. So when she came into the living room with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face, Sam knew he was in trouble. He looked around desperately for his dad, but Ron was conspicuously absent.

"Now, Sam, I don't mind you being a little late for a school project," his mom began. He didn't have a chance to breathe a sigh of relief before, "But since I called Mikaela's house and she told me you two broke up six months ago, I find it a little hard to believe that's where you were. I want the truth – and an explanation – now."

Sam gulped. "Well, you see, umm… I didn't tell you about Mikaela and me because I was…umm…embarrassed! Right, and I didn't want you to be disappointed 'cause I know how much you and Dad liked her, see? And it was a stupid fight that we broke up over, so I've been trying to find a way to make it up to her, so I figured if I told you we broke up, and then we got back together, you'd just get confused, and…yeah. So that's the story."

"Mmhmm… But that still doesn't explain where you've been tonight."

"Oh, that! I was over at the cliff, working on a science project like I said." Well, the first part wasn't a lie, at least.

His mom just sighed. "Oh, Sam, I swear you spend more time with that car than you do with your friends at school. But as long as you were getting homework done…"

Sam didn't point out that he didn't have any friends at school. He didn't tell her that his only friends were giant robots from outer space, an air force captain and his wife, and a computer code analyst with a British accent and a habit of speaking before thinking. He thought she might get confused and just walk away looking for a drink if he said any of that. He certainly didn't tell her that he really hadn't been doing homework with his car while they'd sat on the outlook enjoying each other's company. Instead, all he said was, "Yup, definitely. Paper's gonna get an A for sure."

"Well, all right. And as for Mikaela…" His mom pursed her lips. "Well, she's gorgeous, to be sure! But maybe you two just didn't have a lot in common. It happens."

Sam choked on a laugh. If only you knew… Then again, maybe not.

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Sam's Graduation…

"Surprise."

Sam, who had been talking and laughing with his parents at the end of his graduation ceremony, whirled around at the familiar voice, not daring to believe it.

"Bee!"

There was Bumblebee…or, at least, the holographic, human version of himself he'd come up with all on his own and had been working for months to perfect. The image smiled, blue eyes sparkling on a tanned face, arms crossed.

"Oh my god, Bee!" He stared in shock, then lowered his voice. "We're, like, a hundred feet away from the car!"

"I've been working with Optimus in an effort to surprise you. I hope I've succeeded. It gets better." The eyes sparkled again, with mischief.

"Bee?" a pointed voice asked. Sam spun around to face his mother and her raised eyebrow.

"Umm, Mom, this is…Benjamin! We call him B for short. He's my, uh…"

Bumblebee's holographic projection came up beside him and slung an arm around his shoulders. An arm that felt completely and totally real. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Witwicky. It's a pleasure to meet you finally. My name is Ben, I'm Sam's boyfriend." The image squeezed Sam's shoulder and held out its other hand to his father while Sam choked.

"Sam, is this why you've been gone so much lately?" Judy asked. Her voice seemed much more high-pitched than normal.

Sam could only nod dumbly.

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Two weeks after Sam's graduation…

Sam sat on the edge of the overlook, feet dangling over the side. Next to him sat Bumblebee's projection, which he preferred to use whenever possible to practice. He hadn't yet mastered being able to keep it solid for more than exactly one hundred feet from the car, and he couldn't keep it up for more than two hours at a time, but he was working on it.

"Your parents seem to like me."

"I think they'd like anything that would explain why I left a beautiful girl like Mikaela. My mom wondered about it for months. I couldn't exactly tell her I fell for my Camaro who happens to turn into a giant robot, could I?"

"Do you have a preference to this version of me, or to my Autobot form?"

Sam glanced over. "Neither, Bee. They're both you. I hope you didn't think I'd ask you to always appear like this just because I'm a human. It's not the human projection I fell for, remember?"

Bumblebee seemed to accept this, as he nodded and turned back to stare up at the night sky.

Sam reached over and stroked a hand down the Autobot's human arm. Curious, he asked, "Can you feel that?"

"Yes. This holographic projection is directly linked to me…another thing Optimus taught me. I can cancel it at any time, but as long as I keep it up, I can feel anything that happens to it."

"So…" Sam scooched over and ran a hand through the incredibly realistic (and very soft) hair. "If I did this…"

In the distance, the car's engine purred. Right here, Bumblebee closed his eyes. "Sam, I'd like to…"

"Hmm?"

Bumblebee considered himself a fast learner, and he'd spent quite a bit of time learning from Sam and Mikaela in those first couple of months. He leaned over and kissed Sam gently, then with a bit more force when Sam let out a low moan.

Two hours later…

"Sam, I know we lifted your curfew when you graduated, but you should be a little more considerate of the time, and goodness, what happened to you, you're filthy!"

Sam didn't think the "child" excuse would work as well as it once had. Instead, he opted for, "Sorry, we were out hiking. I'll try and pay better attention to the time, I promise."

Judy nodded. "Well, I guess I should just be glad that your only companion isn't that car anymore."

Sam struggled not to choke. "Yeah, guess that wasn't very healthy, huh?"

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A year later…

"I don't know where he's gone off to now, Ron, and he isn't answering his cell phone." Judy was pacing. Her son was almost twenty years old, but she would never stop worrying about him incessantly. "It's almost two a.m!"

Ron Witwicky shook his head. "Judy, what are you going to do when that boy moves into his own place?"

"He would never do that," she said with a firm nod. "He knows better, he'll just live here for the rest of his life."

Ron grinned and shook his head.

"Ron, please, can't we go look for him? He could be in trouble!"

Ron, knowing she would never let him rest of he didn't agree, sighed and nodded. "We'll try the lookout first, I guess. I know he spends a lot of time there."

"Oh, I hope he isn't with Ben! Wouldn't that just be horribly embarrassing?"

Fifteen minutes later…

"Ron, what are all those strange lights?" Judy asked, pointing through the trees as they rounded the bend in the road leading to the overlook. He was about to answer when they came within sight of where the lights were coming from.

"Oh my lord!" Judy gasped, her hand firmly over her mouth.

Ron just stared. There was his son, and there was no Benjamin in sight. Instead, his boy was surrounded by four… "What are those, robots?" he said to no one in particular. Also standing next to his son was a young man he would be his life had served in the military. It was the way he held himself, he supposed.

Carefully, he got out of the car, eyes wide. "Sam? What is all this?"

Sam spun, tripped over a rock, and was balanced by Will. "Oh, shit," he said, then broke into a run towards his parents.

"Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?!"

"We came to look for you, we got worried and you weren't answering your cell phone!"

Sam realized he probably hadn't heard it over the sound of the Autobots transforming. They didn't all get together very often, and this meeting had been planned two months ago so they could catch up.

"I…oh, Geez. I'm fine, see?"

"Fine!" Judy screeched. "This doesn't look fine to me!"

"Sam?" Sam turned and smiled gratefully at Bumblebee's projection. "Maybe I should explain this to them."

Ron blinked. "I didn't see you standing there, Ben."

"I wasn't, sir."

Sam watched Bumblebee transform into his Camaro form, watched him allow his human image to flicker, and watched his parents take it all in with identical expressions of shock, and a little bit of horror. He sighed. This is gonna be a long night.

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Story completed on July 9, 2007