Author's Note: So, I know that I shouldn't be doing this considering I have so many other stories, but I have to. This idea has been stuck in my head for so long I just had to write it down. Enjoy!

Ownership: I own nothing but the plot line.

Word Count: 3,649

Disclaimer: None.

"Genetics is all about showcasing human beauty along with high-quality performance." Bela Karolyi

In the months that followed the attack on Chicago, the Autobots have been thoroughly apologized to by the America and pretty much every country that wanted them off Earth is now practically on it's knees thanking the Autobots for their "selflessness". Sam had to roll his eyes at the mere pretense of the sentiment. Of course humanity was going to thank them now.

"Damn bureaucrats and their bullshit," Maggie had said over the phone the day after Chicago incident, her australian accent as thick as the first time he spoke to her. "I can't believe they sent the Autobots away for them to die, and now... now they just expect to be forgiven?"

"They were," Sam had mumbled annoyed. "Optimus understands their... fear? Hesitation? I don't really know, but he understands something that he thinks somehow makes it acceptable to be treated the way that they were..." Sam sighed, laying back on his bed, listening to Carly's heels clack clacking around on the hardwood floor beneath him.

"And how does Lennox feel about that?"

Sam laughed softly, rolling onto his side. " Will? I can feel his rage all the way from here."

"That's it, I'm coming down to see you guys, ASAP," Maggie had said with finality in her voice.

That was a few months ago. Earlier this morning Sam got a text message from Maggie asking him to pick her up at the airport. It was a present surprise to hear from her after a long time of silence from her. It'd be nice to get out and see friends to forget about what's been happening recently. So, Sam smiles and bounces out to the garage, ignoring the silence of the house, to see Bumblebee relaxing in his alt form.

"Bumblebee," Sam calls, "how do you feel about seeing an old friend?"

Bee chirps happily, the driver's door popping open and the radio turns on, "Got a ride that's smoother than a limousine. Can you handle the curves? Can you run all the lights? If you can, baby boy, then we can go all night. 'Cause it's 0 to 60 in 3.5. Baby, you got the keys. Now shut up and drive."

Sam smiles lightly, running his hand along the door before sliding into the plush cushioned seats. He closes the door and puts the key into the ignition. Bee relinquishes control to Sam and surfs the radio.

"Where. Are. We. Going?" Bee asks innocently as they pull out of the garage, door shutting behind them, and out into the busy streets heading for the airport.

"Maggie's in town, she needs to be picked up from the airport. I guess it's perfect timing, I can stay at the NEST base with you guys for the duration of her stay, right? I still need to have that meeting with the President of the United States..." Sam groans, taking his eyes off the road, so used to Bee being the one behind the wheel, luckily bee foresaw this and took over control. Normally someone would be excited or even nervous about meeting/seeing the President of the United States but Sam just couldn't bring himself to be the least bit excited. Not since they nearly sent the Autobots to their deaths.

Bee chirps happily. "I've. Missed. You. So. Much!" He says in the voices over the radio. Sam laughs, patting the steering wheel affectionately.

"Yeah," Sam murmurs, staring at the scenery change around them, "I've missed you too, Bee. Ever since Carly and I started to fight... well, it's been a little difficult to come out and see you and the rest of the gang at the NEST base. But hey, we spent the entire weekend together, which is something we haven't done in a while, right?"

Bee's engine makes a hum of agreement, seemingly at ease with Sam, which make the human smile. Two vastly different forms of life that are so far apart that they come from different planets, are able to bond as if they were meant to be best friends from the moment Bee took his first breath. Like somehow, somewhere out there would be an organic that he was going to be with as best friends. That thought always made him smile.

They travel in quiet company all the way to the airport. Sam told Bee he would back (hopefully) soon with Maggie and walked into the terminal. He gets in to see that her flight was delayed about twenty minutes, so he finds a seat and sits contently, messing around on his phone and gazing around at the different people while he waits.

"Pretty crazy what happened in Chicago, huh?"

Sam blinks, turning to the young man next to him, probably a college student. "Huh?"

The younger man grins, showing off two rows of straight white teeth. "Chicago." He nods towards a t.v. screen hanging precariously on the closest wall, and a news anchor is covering national news. She's talking about the repairs to Chicago after the mysterious "terrorist" attack. It's too loud in the terminal to hear what she's saying or any of her guests, but there are subtitles, and if Sam were closer, he may indulge in reading, but it hurts his eyes to strain that far.

"Oh yeah. I know right? You'd never expect..." Sam trails off, he's such a horrible liar. He gets all nervous and sweaty and begins to ramble when he feels pressured. It's a horrible habit that has got him caught so many times in a lie. And sometimes he feels that the truth is so far fetched that whom ever he is trying to convince won't believe him so he rambles and gives the impression that he's lying-which sucks just as much, if not more, than being caught in an actual lie.

There is a long silence as the two stare at the screen, neither really watching it.

Finally, the younger man turns back to Sam, "I'm Cruser Meka," he says politely, holding out a hand.

Sam takes it, introducing himself, "Sam Witwicky."

"Are you heading somewhere for vacation, Mr. Witwicky?" Cruser asks, settling his small black suitcase down on the floor, after releasing Sam's hand. He turns slightly to Sam.

Sam shakes his head. "Nah, just waiting for a friend who is flying in today. You?"

"Likewise, except it's my brother."

Sam nods politely. This young man, maybe fresh into college with dark black hair; short, wild and untamed, with dark brown eyes in his t-shirt and jeans. He's just some ordinary average person, nothing extremely or even remotely outstanding about him physically. Which is kind of what attracts Sam to him. Cruser is normal. Okay, so maybe the name is unique but that's it. So far.

"Sam?"

Sam turns to see Maggie looking around, lost. She has two suitcases and two carrying bags on her arms. Sam hadn't even noticed that her plan had even landed.

"That's her. Got to go. It was nice meeting you, Cruser." Sam gets up and heads over to Maggie, hearing Cruser yell out, "You too, Sam!"

Maggie grins widely as he approaches. She drops her bags, except for what looks like an expensive purse to which she laid down gently, and through herself into Sam's awaiting arms. She smelled of cocoanuts.

"Oh Sam, how long has it been?" Maggie asks once she finally pulls away. Sam helps her with her bags as they head for the exit.

"Since just after Egypt, I think," Sam murmurs trying to recall.

Maggie makes a face. "I should definitely stop coming out here after a major disaster."

"No way, it's like a light at the end of the tunnel."

Maggie grins, bumping her shoulder with Sam's lightly. "Well, thank you. Oh, and Glen says hello, by the way."

"Oh," Sam says. "Give him my best wishes when you get back."

"Sure. Oh!" Maggie drops her stuff again, leaving Sam to retrieve them on his own. "Bumblebee!" She jogs over to the Camaro in her heels effortlessly. She lays her hands on the hood and smiles at her reflection in the paint. There is a low hum and a quick happy chirp from the yellow car. "How have you been you sexy Camaro, you?"

Bee chirps happily. Maggie can feel the purr of his engine beneath her finger tips.

"Mag?"

"Yeah, Sam?" The blond over her should at her friend. The brunette gives her a look tipping his chin down at his handful of her bags.

"Oh." She walks over and grabs a few bags. Bee pops the trunk and back left door. Sam puts all the suitcases into Bee's trunk while Maggie puts her carrying bags and her purse onto Bee's back seat before both of them climb into the front seats and Sam pulls them out of the airport parking lot. Which was a headache. Sam just wished everyone could have a bit of common sense.

"So," Sam says, giving up driving and letting Bee take the helm once again. "How long is your vacation?"

"Well..." Maggie trails off, pulling her curly blond locks up into a messy ponytail. "It was suppose to be a surprise but I managed to get the job out here. I mean, I'm a tech analyst for the Autobots, so there really is no better place for me to be but then with them, right?"

The radio turns on with a loud cheer and applause. People wooting and hollaring, probably from some speech Bee picked off the internet.

Maggie laughs and runs her hand along the hand on her door. "Thanks, Bumblebee, I always knew you were my biggest fan."

The applause stops and the radio station changes. "I'll be your crying shoulder, I'll be love suicide, I'll be better when I'm older, I'll be the greatest fan of your life."

Sam and Maggie both smile at each other. Sam shrugs with great mirth as Bee quiets down again. "Well, thanks Bee. Um, anyway, that's so good for you, right? I mean this is the thing that you wanted, right?"

Maggie nods. "Yeah, actually this works in my favor. I come out here for months every single year, it's probably best that I finally get transfered out to do a job that's much better suited for being here anyway." Maggie sighs, rolling down the window, letting the cool breeze ruffle her curled locks. "God, I'm just so tired of human bullshit. It's one thing for it to be all we know, but since meeting the Autobots and learning what true saintliness is, I can stand it less and less."

Sam nods, understanding completely. "I agree."

There is a long moment of silence, Bee finally got them out of the airport parking lot and onto the highway heading out of town. Once they could no longer see the city, Maggie rolls up her window slightly and looks at Sam. "Sam... how have you been doing?"

"Me?" Sam asks confused, suddenly being the topic of conversation. "I'm fine. Why?"

Maggie doesn't reply right away. In fact, she turns away to look out over the vast openness. Farmlands will eventually give way to open fields. After that there will be a secret military base, that's in the middle of nowhere. What is this, like their third base, Sam wonders, or fourth? Either way, getting a new, more advanced but equally as "secret" military base as an apology for almost getting them killed.

But as per usual, Optimus was willing to forgive them once again for being poorly mistreated. A part of it annoyed Sam to no end. Autobots willingly helped the humans even after what they sought for was lost.

The Allspark. And later followed by the Matrix.

Yet the Autobots stayed and continued to get mistreated by humans. Where it annoyed him, it also continues to be one of the most important things that Sam loved about the Autobots as a race. Their unwavering will and loyalty will never cease to amaze and draw admiration from the young human boy.

Maggie draws his attention back by saying, "I heard... about you and Carly..."

Sam is quiet, thinking about all the times him and Carly had a screaming match since Chicago. She was grateful that he and the Autobots risked their lives to save her, along with the human army's help. She understood what it meant to be involved with the Autobots and she even understood what Sam had gone through before even meeting her. She couldn't understand how Sam and Mikaela were able to overcome it. The nightmares, the weary look at every mechanical device; big or small, and always wondering; always waiting for the next attack, the next evil plot. The stress built up and it leaked into their relationship.

"Carly and I are..." he pauses, trying to think of the right words. Okay? Fine? Dealing? He couldn't say that that, because it wasn't true. "We will be okay. She's seeing her family and talking to some government therapists... Look," Sam turns to Maggie to look into those big blue eyes. "you too, Bee, Carly isn't sturdy like Mikaela and I. She didn't take almost dying well."

"Sam, I get it. I had to have some therapy after the Autobots first arrived... and after that tiny Decepticon tried to kill us. But, that shouldn't lead to her biting your head off for something you couldn't control and to be honest, as horrible as it sounds, you didn't have to go back for her," Maggie says, cold and even. "You could have very well died going back there."

Bee makes a noise of distress.

Sam wants to be mad at Maggie, but he can't. Just like he can't be mad at Carly. He understands that it's hard to swallow and even harder to deal with. Maggie is just telling him the painful truth. The cold reality is that Sam could have died in Chicago, like died more than in Egypt and there would be no Matrix to save him.

"Look... I get it, really, I do. Can we... Can we just not talk about this anymore? My stress level is like through the roof and I mean, if you want to be the cause of a major stress related illness in my future, you'll just let it go for now, okay? Can we do that?" Sam rambles, like he always does when he wants to avoid a conversation... or is nervous... or whenever he talks to anyone... at any time.

"Fine," Maggie rolls the window back down all the way. "Can you turn on some music, Bee?"

The yellow bot obeys and turns on some soft rock song Sam isn't familiar with. Sam rolls down his window and looks out at the fields as they pass by carelessly and freely. Sometimes Sam thinks it must be fun to be an inanimate object, something without thoughts, or feelings or even obligations. Yeah, lacking any... or all of those things sounds nice.

Or at least that's always an initial thought, but that's usually the stress and irritation talking. When Sam stops to think about his life, and he visits this line of thinking a lot, he knows he'd never really give up the time he spent with Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. Hell, even Mikaela, whom broke his heart, and Carly who's getting dangerously close to it too.

To be quite honest, the line that he had asked Mikaela before any of this got so serious, before he was so far in that he couldn't get out, Sam had asked, "50 years from now when you look back on your life, don't you want to say you had the guts to get in the car?" Now thinking back on his life, and even though 50 years have yet to pass, Sam is glad that he got in the car.

"Maggie," Sam turns to his friend, one of the few that have been in this since the beginning, "thank you. Really, thank you. I know that you're just looking out for me. And, you know I appreciate it, right?"

Maggie stares out the window for a moment longer before looking over at Sam, her face turning sympathetic. "I'm sorry, really. I went overboard. You didn't deserve to be treated like that. You certainly don't need me to question your choices. I'm sorry."

Sam smiles tiredly. "No, sometimes I need a kick in the ass to get me going. We're even."

Maggie smiles in return. "Deal."

Once they make it to the Autobot base, the military presence exceeding any of the other bases. This is also by far the largest and most elaborate. Definately new and made for Autobots specifically.

"Cool new home, Bumblebee," Sam says amused once they finally get through the checkpoint.

Bee chirps happily.

Some military men help remove the luggage from Bee's trunk and back seat. Once the car is empty, Bee transforms into his bipedal mode. He poses with his hands on his hips, gazing around at the military base. Seeing Sam's comment as acceptable, his radio turns on, "Sweet home Alabama! Where the skies are so blue! Sweet home Alabama, Lord I'm coming home to you."

"I always know when your home, Bumblebee," Optimus says affectionately, rounding the corner with Will and Ironhide behind him.

Bumblebee makes a series of happy noises at his leader, probably telling him how happy he is to see him. This has been one of the longest times Bee has been away without visiting, excluding the time when he was doing recon on Earth looking for the Cube. Mind you, a few months is nothing compared to a Cybertronian life span, but seeing his family everyday safe and sound is a blessing.

"Hey, Sam, Maggie, about time you guys made it," Will greets walking over to the new arrivals. Then to Maggie, "How was the trip?"

"Long," Maggie says but adds affectionately, "but worth it."

"Welcome back, Maggie. It's good to see you again, Sam," Optimus drops down so he can look at the two humans more on their level.

Sam smiles familiarly. "Yeah, thanks Optimus, the hospitality of the Autobots is always a relief."

Maggie nods. "Agreed. But just so you know, you'll be seeing me around base more often. I got approval from the Government to move my base of operations out here, something I've been trying to do for years. You can't begin to imagine how surprised I was when my supervisor told me. He also may have mentioned some request from an anonomous source for my assistance. And asked for me by name." She gives Optimus a knowing look.

Feigning innocence, Optimus says, "I believe it was by luck that your requests were finally heard."

Maggie nods again, smiling. "I bet."

"You sir," Bee says, piecing together other people's voices, pointing at Optimus, "is a liar. But know, that your commitment and heart is noted."

Optimus stands up, chuckling with mirth. "I can't fool my best scout, can I?"

Bee waggles his finger at Optimus with a "no sir."

"You're in an awfully good mood, Bumblebee," Ironhide grunts. "Happy to be home?"

"Me and you and you and me, no matter how you toss the dice, it has to be. The only one for me is you, and you for me, so happy together!" Bumblebee's radio sings as he gestures to the base around him, amusing all that are present. "I've never been so happy in my whole life!"

Maggie laughs. "I enjoy a man who's easily pleased."

"Alright, alright, why don't we let Sam and Maggie get settled in," Optimus suggests, straightening up to his full height.

Both humans thank the Autobot leader as Will waves for them to follow him. Both Will and Sam help Maggie carry her luggage to her new residence. They take a few minutes to finish their greetings and agree to meet up in the canteen for dinner when Sam and Will say their goodbyes and head to Sam's temporary residence.

"Welcome back, Sam," Will says, standing in the doorway as Sam unlocks his door and turns on the light to the quaint little room with a bed, televison, dresser, closet, attached bathroom and a closet. "Hopefully for a while, right?"

Sam nods, turning to the Lieutenant Colonel. "Yeah, for a while, why?"

Will shrugs, pushing himself off the wall. "The Autobots are more at ease when you're here, is all. They're pretty protective of you, you know."

Sam nods. "Yeah, I know. They're worry worts is what they are."

Will nods, pursing his lips. "I can agree to that. But it's only cause they care, I hope you know."

"I do," Sam says quickly. "It's just a bit... much sometimes, you know?"

"Look, I'm not telling you what you should or shouldn't do. Sam, it's your life. But, I'm just gonna say that the longer you're here, the easier it is to deal with the Autobots is all." Will grins, then with a little wave, he turns around and heads off.

Sam closes the door and takes a few minutes to clean out his single duffel bag and sit on his bed to relax for a few minutes.

List of Songs used:

1. Shut up and Drive-Rihanna

2. I'll be- Edwin McCain

3. Sweet home Alabama- Lynyrd Skynyrd

4. So Happy Together- The Turtles