Ficlet: A Friend In Need.
Here's my entry in the latest Challenge.
Title: A Friend In Need
Author: Merisel
Summary: It'd started out as a relatively normal day for Robert Epps.
Nearly three weeks passed since Sam - and Mikaela - came back from vacation, and it still bothered Bumblebee that he hadn't been allowed to go with them. He knew he it was wrong to be jealous of the time those two spend alone, but he just couldn't help how he felt!
Most relationships between very young humans rarely lasted, according to what he's learned from searching the Internet. Sam and Mikaela's was bound to end soon - they had so little in common. A year or two, maybe even three. Not a very long wait at all for an Autobot. And when that time comes, Bumblebee was going to do his best to get Sam to see him as more than just a giant robot.
But first he had to find a way to interact with Sam on a more personal level. A brilliant idea came to him then. Well...potentially brilliant, at any rate. The solution to his dilemma was 'Alice', the Pretender.
Alice's disguise as a human had been perfect, according to Ratchet's examination of the Decepticon's systems. Bumblebee planned to copy that achievement with his holoform.
Resembling a small protoform and possessing a single processor linked to that of it's Autobot creator, holoforms were normally used for the exploration of hostile worlds. Designed to outwardly resemble any native species, holoforms had an unfortunate weakness - physical contact inevitably destroyed that illusion. He was determined to modify his own, so that won't happen.
He walked quietly to the back of a large gray building - a hanger recently abandoned by the Air Force - that the Autobots had been given as a home. Optimus and the others were in the weekly scheduled meeting with their human allies, Will Lennox and his team. Bumblebee knew he wasn't needed. Ever since the Fallen had been killed and Megatron fled Earth eight months ago, there'd been no more Decepticon invasions. While they were all busy chatting - catching up on the latest juicy gossip, as Glenn would say - Bumblebee was going to use the time to modify his holoform.
It had to emulate a female, obviously. He was well aware of Sam's preference. Female, but not one that resembled Mikaela. That would be most unwise. So a blue-eyed blond would do. On second thought, red hair with green eyes was best. Those were highly prized traits among humans. He searched the World Wide Web for a human woman with those characteristics to copy. After a few seconds he found a suitable example, downloaded all available data on her, and began his experiment. Focused entirely on the task at hand, Bumblebee failed to notice being commed by Prime.
This was harder than he thought it'd be. Oh, hair and eyes were easy enough to duplicate, and the holo's metal casing had turned pinkish and softened, but not enough to pass as genuine human flesh. The bigger problem, however, was the shape of his holoform.
Human facial bone structures were delicate, and very difficult to copy. The end result was a dismal failure. That sad fact was made even more obvious by the shout Bumblebee heard coming from behind him.
Sent by Optimus to find out what was keeping Bumblebee from the meeting, Robert Epps had started to call out a greeting to Bumblebee when he spotted the....thing standing by the yellow Autobot.
"WHOA!" Epps yelled, instinctively drawing the gun he always carried on him.
Bumblebee spun around, aghast at being discovered. "Don't fire!" he squawked just as Epps pulled the trigger.
There was an odd sound, as if his bullet has struck steel. Epps was even more bewildered when the creature turned gray, then fell to the ground folded itself up into an oblong cocoon. Bumblebee had reacted to the shot, too, he noticed. The scout hunched over with a short staticky moan. "Oh, man.. Are you ok?" he asked, concerned. How the hell could that have hurt him? "What the hell was that?!"
"That is my holoform." Recovering from the brief flash of pain, Bumblebee scooped up the shell.
"Your holoform?" Epps hadn't seen one of those, but knew from an earlier briefing from Optimus Prime just what they were used for. Offended, he put his gun away and crossed his arms over his chest. "So you think one of us is gonna attack you guys?"
"No! It's for Sam!" Bumblebee hastily told the soldier. The holoform was placed back under the armor plating above his left hip joint.
"Huh?" Epps gave the Autobot a blank look. "...you wanna explain that to me?"
Bumblebee looked down at his feet. The cat was out of the bag, as the saying went. Epps will keep asking, out of curiosity. "I'm trying to upgrade my holoform to imitate a human female. For Sam, when he and Mikaela break up."
"For Sam..." repeated Epps, thinking. Everything clicked into place. That explained how Bumblebee hovered over the boy during past meetings, and seemed depressed every time Sam left with Mikaela. Bumblebee totally had a thing for Sam.
He didn't swing that way himself, but Epps had a few friends that did. It just surprised him that an Autobot would even think like that. He didn't mention the possibility that Sam might not be into guys, either -- Mikaela was pretty damn hot! -- and brought up the other problem with Bumblebee's plan. "Hey, you know what the Boss said about this."
Bumblebee fidgeted a bit. "He didn't make it an actual order..."
Epps started to respond when Ironhide came charging around the corner.
"What happened?" The weapons' specialist had his cannons up and ready.
"Easy, Ironhide. I saw a rat, that's all," Epps smoothly covered for himself and Bumblebee.
"There are rodents here?" Ironhide began scanning the area.
"It got away. Don't worry. I'll get it the next time it shows it's ugly face," Epps swore, knowing how the huge black Autobot felt about vermin.
"Hmph," Ironhide grunted, then a smile formed on his craggy features. "Did you tell him?"
"I was about to." He turned to Bumblebee. "Prime just received a message. Prowl and Cosmos are coming to Earth. They'll land land a few miles from here tomorrow, at sunrise.
"That's wonderful!" Bumblebee exclaimed, humming happily.
"Sure is," agreed Epps. "We'll be in in a minute, Big Guy."
"All right." Ironhide went back the way he came, the ground shaking a little with his footsteps.
"Thank you," Bumblebee gratefully said once Ironhide was out of audio range.
"Np prob. And, uh--" Epps cleared his throat before continuing. "No offense, buddy, but that holo looked like it was in a fire at Madame Toussads."
A melted wax figure? Bumblebee sank down to a sitting position, a low moan of distress escaping him. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten Sam!
Oh, man... Epps knew he should turn around and go back inside, but Bumblebee looked so damn sad! "Ok, look.. If it's that important to you, I'll help - after the celebrating's over."
"You will?" His head jerked up in surprise.
"Sure. It'd be like composite sketching. Sorta." --can't believe I'm actually doin' this... Today was turning into one weird day.
Bumblebee instantly brightened. The dark-skinned human was more open-minded than he'd expected. "Thank you, Master Sergeant Epps!"
He couldn't help but grin back at the Autobot. "Call me Robert."
"Thank you, Robert." Bumblebee almost scooped Robert up in his exuberance, but restrained himself.
"You're welcome, 'Bee." Using Sam's nickname for him, Robert gave Bumblebee a friendly thump on the leg, then, side-by-side, they headed into the building.
The End