Transformers Fan Fiction ❯ Cover Me ❯ Unexpected Gains ( Chapter 25 )

Cover Me

By Black Dragon Queen

PAIRINGS REVEALED THUS FAR:

Wheeljack x Ratchet, Inferno x Red Alert, Sunstreaker X Sideswipe, Past Prowl x Jazz

Font Index: “Speaking”, `Thinking', “-Radio Transmissions-”, “Cybertronion” “:Link:”

~*~

Chapter Twenty-Five: Unexpected Gains

Barricade was currently driving Bumblebee crazy.

It had been a few days since the whole Trent fiasco and Will and Epps had stopped by earlier to pick up some of Ratchets tools to return. After the Rangers had departed `Bee had left to drive Sam back to school for the first time in a long while, feeling confident that he could now leave Barricade alone for a few hours without a guard. The only thing that had marred the wonderful illusion was the sight of the dented black and white in the rearview scanner. “I can't get rid of him,” `Bee had complained as Sam climbed out.

Sam had simply smiled. “Play nice,” he whispered and Bumblebee had huffed in response.

Ever since Barricade had managed to escape the confines of the garage not once but twice, the `Con now believed that he could go anywhere anytime without telling anyone! Not that he went far. Usually he parked himself a little ways down the road from the school, much to `Bee's annoyance and much to Trent's panic. The mustang had actually followed Trent home one evening and from what Sam had reported, the jock had pretty much become a walking bundle of terrified nerves.

`Well, at least he's not telling anyone about us,' `Bee mused as he sat in the school parking lot, glaring at the other car parked across the street. “-For the last time. No means no!-” he sent to the `Con.

“-Why not?-” Barricade asked. “-It'll be fun.-”

Bumblebee sighed. “-Why do you want to haul Trent's truck around again?-” he asked him as he looked over at the crumpled truck. “-I think the kid's learned his lesson.-”

“-Bah,-” Barricade scoffed. “-Come on, it'll be fun.-”

“-Barricade, I'm serious!-” `Bee snapped. “-We were lucky enough that everyone thought that he was having a drunken hallucination. Who knows if we could get away with the same thing twice!-”

“-Whimpbot,-” Barricade snickered.

“-…I'm not a whimpbot…-”

“-Chicken then,-” Barricade laughed.

“-… What?-” `Bee cried out and Barricade began clucking at him incisively. The camaro sighed. “-You're evil…-”

Barricade had already pulled across the street and made his way towards the banged up pickup truck. “-I know, isn't it wonderful?-”

Bumblebee grumbled as he followed the dented mustang across the lot. “-Just be careful with those monstrosities!-” Barricade just chuckled.

~*~

“Hey `Bee!” Sam chirped as he made his way across the parking lot later that afternoon once the last bell rang out. “How was he?”

Bumblebee sighed. “See for yourself,” he muttered. “Take a look at the jocks corner.”

Sam raised an eyebrow as he glanced over towards the football players to see Trent's truck once again supporting a small bush turned yellow parking ticket paper. Trent hastily snagged the tickets and glanced around nervously as he looked over at Sam and his car. Sam smirked and gave a little wave at Trent's glower but suddenly Trent looked past him and `Bee, then he quickly stuffed his friend into his car and took off.

Sam coughed at the imagined smoke he pictured flying behind the blue pick up as he glanced over his shoulder in the direction that Trent had been looking at. Barricade winked his headlights in greeting and Sam smirked. “He did it again?”

Bumblebee just shook on his frame. “Please don't remind me,” he whined.

“What happened?” Sam turned back and saw Miles wandering over, looking in the direction of where Trent and his buddies had gone. “Trent just took off.”

“You remember those tickets he got last week?” Sam snickered.

Miles turned back around surprised. “Um… yeah…” Sam smiled and jerked a thumb over his shoulder to `Bee and Sam stared in surprise. “That was… was him?”

“Well, more like Barricade,” Sam clarified.

“Wow…” Miles drawled. “I think I just got a whole new respect for cop cars.”

“-HAH!-” Barricade crowed over the comm..

Sam snickered as he moved around towards the driver's side and slipped into the seat. Buckling himself in, he was surprised that Miles was still standing outside the door. Sam bent down to look out the window. “What's wrong?” he asked. “You can get in.”

Miles bent down so he could look at Sam. “It's just weird, you know? All this time, I was riding around in a living car. I mean, it's just a little freaky don't you think?”

Sam chuckled. “I know what you mean,” he told him. “Now come on, we could go to a drive in or something…”

“What about Mikaela?” Miles asked as he finally opened the door and gently settled down in the leather seat. “Aren't we going to wait for her?”

“She said that she has some art project she has to work on today,” Sam said absently as he took Miles bag and set it in the back. “So it's just us today.”

“Oh…” Miles murmured as he sat back. “So, where do you want to go?”

Sam shrugged. “I don't know. Where do you want to go?”

Miles looked at him. “Okay, we all agree that I have no life. So why do you think I have any idea what we should do?”

Sam just snickered. “Well we could go to the mall.”

Miles looked at him in surprise. “What about your…your friends?”

“-Oh please, don't worry about us,-” Barricade's voice suddenly came over the comm.. “-I'm sure that we could find something to do.-”

Both Sam and Miles looked down at the radio skeptically. “That's what we're afraid of,” Sam said with a smile.

“Well, we could just go back to your house.” Miles suggested. “Couldn't we? I brought that new game with me…”

“Works for me,” Bumblebee chuckled as he began pulling out of his parking spot.

“-It doesn't for me…-” Barricade actually complained. “-This means that I have to go back into the garage!-”

Everyone chuckled as they hit the road and once more traveled back towards the Witwicky residence… and their boring garage…

~*~

“Um… were you expecting anyone?” Miles asked as he saw the long black stretch limousine parked in front of the Witwicky's house.

“No,” Sam replied as Bumblebee began slowing down their approach.

“Is it another one of them?” he asked pointing down at `Bee's dash and Sam shook his head.

“'Bee would have been contacted if someone else landed.”

“-Well, it's been fun everybody. See ya!-”

“-HEY! Get back here!-” `Bee cried outraged as Miles and Sam both glanced back to see the patrol car quickly turning down a side street.

“Um…” Miles turned back around. “I don't think he's coming back.”

Bumblebee sighed. “No, I don't think so either…” he muttered as they finally pulled up towards the driveway.

“Don't get out,” Bumblebee directed as he turned into the small stretch of black top.

“What? Why?” Sam asked him.

“Quick getaway,” Miles said unexpectedly. Sam turned to stare at him in surprise. “What? I play a lot of video games…” Miles murmured embarrassed.

Sam sighed as he turned back toward his home and searched for any sign of movement. “What or rather who do you think it is?” he asked Bumblebee.

“Wish I could tell you, but I'm not sure…” The door suddenly opened and Judy came out with a small smile and a raised eyebrow. Surprisingly, it was the person who followed her out that had Miles nearly hyperventilating.

“Hi Sam!” Secretary of Defense John Keller leaned down and smiled at the two boys seated within the disguised Autobot. “Bumblebee.”

“Hello sir,” `Bee greeted as Sam sighed in relief.

“Hi. We weren't sure what was going on when we spotted your car in the drive.” He explained as he climbed out of the camaro and glanced at the two secret service men still standing on the porch. “Hi guys!” he waved and surprisingly, one waved back, much to his partner's disapproval.

Keller nodded. “It's to be expected,” he said as he turned to Miles who was trying to get out of the car unnoticed. “And this must be Mr. Lancaster…”

Miles ducked his head and gave a small, nervous wave. “Er… hi.”

Keller just smiled at the boy and turned back towards Sam. “Why don't we go and discuss a few things inside, shall we?”

Sam nodded as he grabbed his and Miles' bags from the back and soon the two boys were ushered inside the building followed by the Secretary and two service men. Judy wandered over to `Bee and leaned down, pretending to get something else out of the car. “Where'd he go?” she asked in a soft whisper.

“How should I know?” `Bee replied angrily.

“Well you're supposed to be his babysitter, aren't you?” she chuckled.

Bumblebee just groaned as Judy stood back up with a smile that quickly turned into a frown when she saw Mrs. Selman staring at her house through her curtains again. Judy sent the woman a glare and soon the curtain slammed shut once again. “I swear, the nerve of some people,” she muttered as she turned to go back into the house. `Bee just chuckled as she disappeared back into the building.

~*~

“Well…” Keller began as he sat down on the couch next to Ron who apparently already began devouring the small vegetable platter that Judy had sent him to fetch. “I understand that you've discovered a national secret young man,” he began sternly, giving Miles a long look.

Miles just gulped. “Er… it was an accident sir…” he began.

Keller just continued to stare at him for a long while and Miles shifted nervously and shuffled slightly behind Sam. “It was my fault,” Sam insisted. “Bumblebee was just trying to help me and the whole thing was just an accident and if we could just explain…”

Sam trailed off as Keller began laughing uncontrollably. “Oh, Sam. I really don't believe that it's anyone's fault,” he told the two confused teenagers.

“You don't?” Sam asked in stunned surprise.

“Of course not,” Keller chuckled. “We had accepted the fact that this was a rather large secret that you were keeping and that it was possible that a few people close to you might learn about it.”

Sam gapped at the man. “You… you did?”

“Of course,” Keller smiled as he reached out and took a few pieces of celery before Sam's father could polish them off. Judy passed over a small plate and Keller smiled at her much to Ron's annoyance.

“So… so why are you here?” Sam asked as he collapsed into one of the small side chairs with Miles sitting down in the matching pair.

“Well, while we did think that someone could find out about the Autobots and their kind, it is a national security secret here,” Keller told him. “We couldn't over look it, you understand.”

Sam nodded and Miles relieved look quickly went back to panic. “Um, sir?”

Keller smiled. “It's nothing serious,” he told him as he set down his plate and leaned down to fetch his briefcase. “We need you to sign this paper just saying your signing your life away.”

“What?” The two teenagers cried in shock.

The adults all chuckled again at the two stunned looks before Keller handed over the sheet. “Ah, no sense of humor,” Keller chuckled as Sam took the sheet and began reading. “This is just a disclosure statement.” He then turned to Miles with a rather stern look. “Unlike Sam, your life doesn't have to revolve around the Autobots and the secret of the Cybertronions. You still can go off and do whatever you want to do in your life but you understand that we can't have anyone learning about them do you?”

Miles looked at the adults puzzled. “What do you mean `unlike Sam's'?” he asked.

Sam turned to Miles and gave him a small smile. “I'm their human liaison,” he explained.

Miles looked at him surprised. “Huh?”

“Sam is the human voice of the Autobots,” Keller explained in detail. “Because of his involvement with their arrival and subsequent battle in Mission City, Sam can never really have a normal life. He'll always be connected to the Autobots. As in part, does young Miss Banes. From what I understand, she's to study under Doctor Ratchet on Autobot medics and mechanics, correct?” He looked at Sam who nodded in conformation. “Mostly everyone who know about young Bumblebee and his friends are working in some form or other in keeping them a secret. However we will not force you to do anything you do not wish to do.”

Miles simply looked at the older man for a long while before he finally turned to Sam in shock. “I thought you wanted to be a newspaper writer?” he asked in disbelief.

Sam smirked. “Let's see… write little columns on hometown news… or live with giant alien robots and pretty much get whatever I or they want practically tax free from the government…”

Keller chuckled. “Within reason,” he cautioned.

Sam rolled his eyes and nodded, but Miles didn't look convinced. In fact, he was staring at Sam in some sort of pity. “What?” Sam mumbled. “It's not like it was my passion to become a writer. I never knew what I really wanted to do; and fate decided to go ahead and choose for me.”

“Sam…”

Sam smiled at him. “Really, it's okay.” Sam told him. “I'm happy with the way my life is going.”

Miles frowned again. “But…”

Sam smiled. “This doesn't mean that we still can't be friends, right? Even though I'm going to be workings some boring government job?”

Miles chuckled as he looked down at the papers that Sam had handed him. Miles acquired that little frown Sam knew he got when he was thinking about something really hard and he quirked his head to the side confused. “What is it?”

Miles bit his lip as he looked back and forth between the people scattered about the room. “… Do… do you think that there might be something for me to do?”

Keller's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and Sam stared at his best friend in complete surprise. “Miles, do you know what you're saying?” he asked him.

“Sam, you know that I have no future,” Miles said quietly. “I'm not smart in school, I'm not that creative and I'm not that good at anything.”

“Son, think about what you're asking here,” Keller said solemnly.

Miles slowly nodded. “I can't leave Sam and Mikaela to deal with all of these things by themselves. Besides, it's like you said; I know now. So I should be able to help them out, shouldn't I?”

“Miles are you sure?” Judy asked him gently. “It'll be a big responsibility, to commit your entire life to the Autobots.” Miles nodded, determinedly and Sam knew that there would be no more arguing with his friend.

Keller nodded understandingly as he set down his small plate. “Well, all we really need at this point is your signature on the standard disclosure form. Whether or not you wish to seek employment with our department with the Autobot faction is not a quick decision. You can still think about it for now,” he told him. “You can change your mind now, but if we induct you into the Cyber T project then there's no going back.”

“`Cyber T?” Ron asked puzzled.

“Short for `Cybertronions',” Keller chuckled. “If anyone comes across the term on any of our systems then they think it's some sort of compute program that we're working on.”

“Well that's clever,” Judy smiled.

“I think I've made up my mind,” Miles said firmly as he started digging though his backpack for a pen.

Sam smiled at his friend gratefully. “Thanks,” he whispered to him.

“Hey, I couldn't just leave you to have all the fun, can I?” Miles chuckled before he leaned closer to his friend. “Beside, you can't do anything without me, you're useless.”

Sam snickered. “True.”

“Well, how about we all have some dinner?” Judy asked with a smile as Miles handed over the papers. “I started up a casserole while we were waiting for the boys.”

Keller smiled. “That sounds wonderful Mrs. Witwicky,” he told her. She grinned as she headed for the kitchen as Keller once again reached for his briefcase. “I brought those diplomatic plates with me,” he said as he handed them over to Sam. “Including four more for the still incoming Autobots, all they need is to be filled out for the make and model of the car. Although there is one extra there because of the microscope.” He chuckled. “Must say that I wasn't expecting that one.”

“I can tell you, neither were the other Autobots,” Sam chuckled.

Miles looked between the human and Autobot confused. “Microscope?” he asked.

“Dinner!” Judy announced as she stepped back into the living room. “Hold it,” she blocked the door and looked at the two boys. “Did you wash your hands?” she asked and the two looked back at her in surprise. She sighed. “Upstairs,” she directed.

Both boys began scrambling for the nearest bathroom. Keller smiled as he stood and began heading for the dining room only to have Judy step into his path. She raised an eyebrow as she adopted her patent mother look and Keller chuckled nervously. “Um, this way. Correct?” Judy nodded and the Secretary of Defense turned and made his way towards the nearest sink. Turning back towards the two bodyguards she pointed down the other hallway. They looked at one another before the rather young one turned back towards the directed bathroom.

~*~

“-So what did the humans want?-” Barricade's voice echoed out of Bumblebee's communicator later that day as they drove Miles home.

“Where did you go?” `Bee asked angrily.

“-To the park,-” Barricade replied sharply. “-Out of sight where do you think I went? You know, I'm getting really tired of all this sneaking around. The others are here, right? When are you going to speak to Optimus again?-”

“Well, they're still waiting for a few of the others to arrive so it will probably be quite a while yet,” Sam told him.

“-Great,-” Barricade sighed. “So what's up with the limo?-”

“It was Keller,” `Bee sent. “One of the humans who helped us. He was here to speak to Miles.”

“-So what was the verdict? They going to wipe his memory or what?-”

“'Cade!” Sam laughed as Miles turned towards him with a rather horrified look. “He's kidding,” Sam reassured him.

“Oh,” Miles murmured before he leaned over the armrest. “You sure you can trust him?” he whispered.

Sam sighed. “What else can I do?”

Miles thought about this for a moment before he gave Sam a sympathetic smile and he turned back to the radio. “I got a job!” he told Barricade excitedly.

“-Really?-” Barricade chuckled. “-How nice for you.-”

Miles smiled happily at the cheerful tone in the `Cons voice and didn't really care if it was fake or not. “Thanks” he replied as sat back in his seat. “But I did have one question,” he said as he turned towards Sam. “Why is one of them a microscope?”

“-What?-” Barricade started hooting with amusement before he addressed the younger Autobot. “-Which of your insane buddies did that?-”

“Does it matter?” `Bee replied archly.

Barricade snickered. “-No, not really…-”

~*~

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

All the Autobots jumped at the sound of the piercing scream that echoed from the main hanger. Three of Autobots in the main yard instantly recognized and instantly bolted towards the origin of the scream. The rest of the group that consisted of the mechs that had only just arrived watched in disbelief as Optimus, Ironhide and Red Alert all immediately reacted to the sound of Ratchet's scream.

“What's going on?” Perceptor asked as they all took off after the others and Inferno shrugged.

“How should I know?” he asked as they ran towards the main hanger where the twins were already standing peering in at the others around the doorframe.

“What's the problem?” Sunstreaker asked.

“What's going on?” Sideswipe added.

“Shhh!” the others hissed as they quickly darted into the hanger.

“What's happed Optimus?” Wheeljack asked fretfully as he pushed his way through the small group, quickly heading over to Ratchet who was sanding there in an apparent state of shock. “Ratchet? What's wrong?” he asked gently as he moved to his intended slowly, rather unsure of the situation.

Ratchet turned towards Wheeljack with a puzzled look. “I don't understand it,” he murmured almost dazedly. “It doesn't make any sense.”

“Understand what?” Wheeljack asked softly, obviously concerned.

“What's missing?” Ironhide just asked glumly as he began to look over Ratchet's scattered tools..

“Missing?” Perceptor repeated looking at the Top Kick confused, but the gunner didn't seem to hear him as he thought the pile of medical tools.

“I don't understand how it could have gotten in here, not with nine of us here,” Optimus muttered as he too looked over the pile.

“Who got in?” Inferno asked. “What's going on?”

“The gremlin,” `Hide explained. All of the new arrivals looked at the four puzzled as they looked up the strange new word. At the definition, everyone just froze and stared at the others.

“The what?” Wheeljack looked back and forth between the other mechs.

“The gremlin,” Red Alert repeated as he began examining the area around the boxcar turned safe for any possibly way the little creature could have gotten in. “He keeps stealing all our stuff.”

“What?” Inferno yelled.

“So what did he take?” Optimus just asked Ratchet again with a sigh.

Ratchet turned back towards their leader and amazed everyone when he held up his air drill. “That's just the thing,” he said in a strange state of shock. “He brought some back.”

-To Be Continued