Disclaimer: ‘Transformers’ and all related media, merchandise and trademarks do not belong to me and I am not making any money from using them in this fictional work. They belong to their respective companies and I am not affiliated with them in any way whatsoever. Any original characters or concepts in this story that are from other fictions are used with direct permission from the authors in question.

The incident remained top secret.

All evidence of the fierce battles between the Decepticons and the Autobots was disposed of; the lifeless body of Megatron was thrown deep into the depths of the ocean, plunging some seven miles beneath the surface to lie with any other parts and pieces that were blasted or torn off during the conflict. The witnesses were silenced with money, bribed with whatever they wanted to keep quiet.

Optimus Prime and the Autobots chose not to return to Cybertron. With Megatron gone, the planet might have had a chance of returning to its former, peaceful state, but with the Allspark gone there was no hope of rekindling the planet’s life. After Bumblebee’s request to remain with Sam, Optimus had considered letting the others stay too, and when he received enthusiastic feedback from this idea, he decided that Earth was a suitable new home for the Autobot race.

True, they would have to remain in hiding to a certain extent. But their vehicle forms allowed them to travel freely amongst humans without detection. And of course, they had two trustworthy humans to guard their secret - Sam and Mikaela, who, after finally admitting their feelings for each other, could not have been more contented.

And so came one afternoon at sunset in a fairly remote, dusty area. Mikaela smiled at Sam as she kissed him gently before she cast a gaze at something behind the smooth, golden car that they were laying across the bonnet of. “I still can’t believe this,” she sighed happily, her dark hair blowing across her face a little.

Sam reached up and moved it away from her eyes. “What?” he grinned. “That we’re together?”

“No, you idiot!” she laughed, giving him a light whack. “Well, okay, I can’t believe that either. What I’m saying is I can’t believe that we’re having this big, romantic moment in the middle of nowhere, but we’re also being closely watched over by twenty foot high transforming alien robots.”

“Neither can I, kid,” a deep, mechanical voice admitted somewhat wearily. Mikaela glanced up and gave Ironhide a sunny smile.

Sam chuckled. “You love it really, man.”

The enormous robot took a few steps forward that made the ground tremble and sat down heavily next to the sleek vehicle. Mikaela sat up a little straighter but Sam remained leisurely draped across the hood as if he was sunbathing. The gigantic machine leant down until he was at eye level with Mikaela and looked intensely at the sunset view.

She tilted her head to the side inquiringly. “What’s up?”

His eyes glowed brightly. “I am just trying to work out what is so ‘romantic’ about this view.” Mikaela giggled and Sam raised his eyebrows at Ironhide, accompanied by a lopsided smirk.

“What’s with you, Ironhide? You got a lady Autobot to impress now?”

Unimpressed, Ironhide directed one of his enormous cannons at Sam irritably. “Keep quiet, punk, or I may change my mind about annihilating your ridiculous Chihuahua creature,” he threatened before lowering the colossal weapon. “And no, I do not.”

Sam stretched widely and put an arm around Mikaela’s waist. “That’s a shame.” Behind them, there were a few chuckles from the other Autobots present.

The yellow car suddenly moved beneath them and Sam was thrown off the hood with a yell, landing heavily a few yards away. The car made a satisfied sort of noise, revved its engine and fell silent again. Mikaela burst out laughing as Sam staggered furiously to his feet, whipped his cap off and began brandishing it forcefully at the mutinous machine.

“Y’know what Bumblebee?” he joked with false annoyance, “You’re a real bitch sometimes.”

“Gee, thanks Sam,” a voice came from the car. “I’ll remember that next time I have to save your ass.”

Sam jammed his cap back on and nodded. “Oh right, yeah. C’mon, you only saved my ass once. Don’t get so cocky, man – if it weren’t for me you’d still be being hosed down by those guys in white, wouldn’t you?”

Mikaela slid off the car as it transformed, wheels spinning and parts shifting to become a stunning, sunshine golden Autobot, much smaller than the others present. Its blue eyes burnt brightly against its dark face as it looked down at Sam with an amused expression.

Pursing his lips, Sam folded his arms. “Oh sure. Now you’re gonna be all cool and make me look… uh… small.”

“Sam!” Mikaela scolded, thumping him on the shoulder. “Leave him alone or I may just leave you without a lady.” She cast a glance behind her as Sam and Bumblebee continued to bicker and frowned when she saw Optimus standing a little apart from the other Autobots. Ensuring that the others were distracted, she walked up to the blue and red robot with soft footsteps.

She could tell that he was distracted because he didn’t immediately notice her presence. When she placed a small hand on his leg he turned his big, azure eyes to look at her.

“Are you okay Optimus?” she asked concernedly. “You’ve been really quiet today.”

He made the closest sound that a breathless entity could to a sigh and gave her a small smile. “I am touched that you noticed, Mikaela,” he said softly. “Nothing is wrong, I assure you. I am the happiest that I have ever been here on Earth.” He indicated the sunset. “You have a beautiful planet.”

She sat down and leant against him. “Yeah well. Bet it’s not as nice as yours was, huh?”

Optimus said nothing for a moment. “It’s true,” he said, “Cybertron was a great planet. Perhaps not full of such natural beauty as Earth, but a place of peace and of justice. We were happy there.” He looked down at her. “But I find I am happier here.” Mikaela, however, knew better. She guessed what was wrong and voiced her opinion quietly.

“You miss Jazz, don’t you?”

He blinked and flinched slightly and she knew she had guessed perfectly.

“I know Jazz was a soldier,” he murmured, “And his death was for a greater cause. But some nights now, I wonder whether my so-called nobility was not so noble after all.” He looked back up at the sinking sun. “His death weighs heavily upon me.” He lowered his azure optics, and seemed to draw into himself slightly, cringing away from the memories.

Mikaela tucked a strand of wavy hair behind her ear before replying. “It wasn’t your fault, Optimus," she said softly.

“Perhaps not entirely,” he admitted. “But he was a sacrifice that I could have been. It should have been I that was torn apart by Megatron, not Jazz.”

“That is not true,” she told him firmly and he looked down at her. “Jazz did his duty. You did yours.”

Optimus fell into silence again for a long time before he reached a finger down and ran it through her hair. “Thank you Mikaela. There is more to you than meets the eye.” She laughed humorlessly, looking to where Sam and Bumblebee were ‘fighting’ – well, Sam kept running at Bumblebee, who kept rebuffing him with a tiny poke, but Sam did not appear to want to give up.

“That’s just what Sam said,” she smiled. “I guess what meets the eye is a skinny-ass preppy little nobody, right?”

He frowned. “’Preppy’?”

“Oh – uh, don’t worry,” she said quickly. “Jazz would’ve known, I guess.”

“Yes,” Optimus chuckled, “He did pick up a strange kind of dialect from your World Wide Web. But you are not a nobody, Mikaela, and you do not look it either. What I mean, and what I suppose Sam means, is that a beautiful female such as yourself would not be the first thing to spring to mind in the midst of a battle, or comforting an old robot.”

“Why not?” she asked. “I just played my part. Anyway, I wasn’t that great in the battle. Bumblebee did it all.”

“Yet you refused to leave the area for your own safety without Bumblebee,” he reminded her. “If not for you, he would not have been there to defend you. It was your initiative and quick thinking that got you both out of it alive, and Bumblebee has not forgotten that.”

Mikaela smiled. “Well, I couldn’t just leave him.”

“Yes you could,” he pointed out. “He is not of your race.”

“Neither are we,” she fired back at once. “Yet you risked your lives – all of you – to protect us. We shot at you, tied you up, tried to destroy you again and again but you still stuck up for us.” She grinned at him. “Can we just agree that we’re just as good as each other?” She extended her hand.

He took it between two of his fingers and shook it. “Agreed.”

The yellow emergency vehicle parked behind Ironhide suddenly transformed into a broad Autobot with a kind face. “Optimus? I hear someone coming.”

Ironhide was immediately on his feet, cannons out and whirring warningly. “What kinda ‘someone’, Ratchet? Kinda someone that I can blow up?” His face took on the slightly manic expression it always did when explosives were mentioned. Optimus waved him down.

“Calm yourself, Ironhide. What are we facing here, Ratchet?”

“A vehicle,” Ratchet said briefly, and Bumblebee stopped mid-flicking of Sam to look at him. Sam adjusted his cap and raised an eyebrow. “A truck. Navy.”

Sam looked intrigued. “What make?”

“Who CARES?” Ironhide wailed, looking around at everyone with exasperation. “Let’s kick their ass!”

Optimus looked immensely frustrated. “Ironhide, I have told you repeatedly – we do not kick the ass of any human being. We do not harm human beings, using ass kicking or otherwise. We kick the asses of Decepticons only.” Bumblebee snorted with laughter. “Alright, we will let Sam and Mikaela deal with the humans. Autobots, transform!”

Bumblebee, Optimus, Ironhide and Ratchet folded into their vehicle forms again; all but Bumblebee rolled down the sandy hill, out of sight of any newcomers. Sam leant casually against Bumblebee’s right hand door and Mikaela came to stand beside him, looking worried.

“Who d’you think it is?” she asked anxiously. “Nobody comes this far out of town.”

“No one that Bumblebee can’t scare off,” he reassured her with an air of pride, smoothing a hand over the shiny paintwork. “Trust me.”

The truck that Ratchet had promised soon appeared on the horizon, creating an enormous cloud of dust as it screamed along the dirt path towards the very place that Bumblebee was parked. Mikaela groaned and put a hand to her head and Sam frowned. “Hey, isn’t that Trent?” he asked, and she nodded.

“Oh yeah. That’s Trent,” she moaned. “And he’s here to kick your ass.”

Sam couldn’t help but worry. He had survived the Decepticon attacks through a combination of luck and massive help from the Autobots; when faced with a big guy like Trent, it was blindingly obvious who would end up on the ground and humiliated. “Uh – Ironhide?” he called over his shoulder. “Someone’s coming to kick my ass. If it gets to it – you can like, totally show him your cool cannons!”

“Right on, boss,” Ironhide growled from down the hill, followed by the inevitable scold from Optimus. “Ah come on Optimus, one quick blast…”

However, the Autobots fell silent when Trent got out of his car and came storming towards Sam. “Sam Willywitty, you are so fucking dead!” he bellowed, grabbing Sam by the collar and slamming him against Bumblebee’s windshield. “Stealing my girl – and how the hell did you get this car?”

“Trent, leave him alone!” Mikaela shrieked, trying to pull him away from Sam, but he threw her off angrily. She fell to the ground painfully in a heap, clutching the red place on her arm where he had punched her.

“I swear to you, Winklewittle,” he spat at Sam, “I am gonna beat you to a pulp and then take this car, and you ain’t gonna do nothing ‘bout it either!”

Sam tried to respond but managed only a feeble choking sound as Trent’s hand squeezed his throat tightly. Mikaela picked herself off the ground, using Bumblebee for support, and she felt the car vibrate furiously beneath her and the engine roaring softly. She pointed a warning finger towards the wheel and he reluctantly quieted, knowing he could not give the Autobots away.

She turned back to her ex. “Well I am!” she said angrily.

Trent took a deep, calming breath before grabbing Sam roughly and hurling him away from the car. He rolled over a few times, the breath knocked out of him, before he found himself careering down the sandy hill, rolling over and over. Each roll caused him considerable pain before he suddenly felt himself caught gently in the large hand of Optimus.

Mikaela, meanwhile, was facing up to Trent, who was not impressed.

“What in the name of hell happened to you, Mika?” he asked furiously, coming towards her with the sort of stride that meant business. Or that a serious beating was about to occur. “You were doin’ just great until Winklewilly showed up with his car.”

“Great like how, Trent?” she asked crossly. “Great like being your plaything? Like I would ever stay with an asshole like you.”

He looked at her long and hard. Then he clapped his hands together as though everything had suddenly become terribly clear to him. “This is about the car, isn’t it?” he laughed uproariously, whilst she folded her arms and clenched her jaw. “Mika, honey, no offence, but a girl couldn’t drive my car. Girls can’t drive.”

She felt like killing him. Viciously. “Or fire guns?”

“Well yeah,” he grinned. “See, you’re getting the picture now. That ain’t girl stuff. Girls… wear makeup and cheerlead and shit.”

“I see.” She smiled brightly at him. “Well, sorry Trent, but you’ve officially confirmed your status as Number One asshole in my books now, babe.” She climbed into Bumblebee and closed the door. “Now we’ll see whether or not girls can drive, shall we?”

Trent nodded stiffly. “Go ahead, angel face, it won’t get you anywhere.”

In the car, Bumblebee was already up for the challenge as she stroked a hand down his dashboard and over the steering wheel. “We ready to show this guy some moves, Bee?” she asked quietly. The revving engine answered for her without Bumblebee having to respond. Giving Trent her oddly confident smile, she whispered, “Go for it.”

“Optimus, please. One explosion won’t kill the butt head.”

“Yes it will, Ironh –”

“Come on, it’s not like the stupid punk doesn’t have it comin’ to him –”

“Ironhide…”

“You are so mind-numbingly boring, Prime.”

“Shut up, Ironhide, before I bash your voice box!” Ratchet hissed. “I want to hear what Mikaela is saying – Sam, where are you going?”

Sam was clawing himself back up the slope determinedly, ignoring the bruises flowering all over his torso from his unfortunate tumble. “I’m going –” he managed painfully, “To get my girlfrie – aw shit that kills!” he moaned as pain stabbed in his side. Optimus plucked him up from the ground. “Hey, hey, Optimus! C’mon, I gotta go get her!”

Optimus’s shimmering blue optics looked deeply into his eyes. “Sam, I think it is time for Mikaela to show us that she does not always need protection,” he advised sombrely, and Sam frowned from his comfortable perch in his hand. “She can stand up for herself.”

The human boy looked pained. “Look, big guy, I get it,” he said slowly, patting Optimus’s hand. “I know she’s tough stuff. But she’s my girlfriend. Generally the perfect boyfriend doesn’t just give up at the first hurdle.”

“I’m with Sam,” Ironhide grinned. “Let him save Mikaela – then, if he dies, I can shoot the smart-ass for him!”

Optimus considered. Then he lowered Sam to the ground. “Go up there and see what is happening, Sam,” he said, “But do not offer help to Mikaela unless she really needs it. Let us see whether or not she is capable, which I believe she is.”

Sam did not look happy but nodded before climbing back up the hill.

What he saw made him feel torn between surprise and triumph.

Bumblebee was racing along at high speed, his engine whining as he carved figure eights through the sandy earth. He spun in a three hundred and sixty degree circle before screaming towards where Trent was standing, frozen, and missing him by a hair’s breadth. Sam could see Mikaela at the wheel, pretending to command the car and laughing at the young man’s expression of astonishment.

A huge grin broke out on Sam’s face as he cheered. “WHOO! GO MIKAELA!” he yelled, beaming. “YES!”

He would have encouraged Bumblebee too but he didn’t want to give the game away, instead giving the car an enthusiastic thumbs-up as it shot past like a golden bullet. The headlights flashed at him and Mikaela waved from the window, her hair whipping in the breeze.

Behind Trent, three enormous heads peeked out from down the hill. Ratchet leant forward, looking concerned. “I hope Bumblebee is being careful,” he said nervously, watching him roar past. “Humans are very fragile. If he skids –”

“Aw jeez!” Ironhide moaned, covering his face with his huge hands. “With you and Prime, I never get no fun round here!”

Sam sprinted to his robotic friends and fell to his knees in front of Optimus’s face. “Did you – did you – can you – can you see this?!” he asked excitedly, pointing. “She’s – she – just – she’s like WOW!”

“Quite!” Optimus agreed, nodding.

“Whilst ‘wow’ isn’t how I would personally put it,” Ratchet smiled, “I have to agree.”

They quickly lowered their heads when Bumblebee skidded to a halt beside Trent and Mikaela got out, looking extremely pleased with herself. “Still think girls can’t drive, Trent?” she asked him. He mumbled something incoherent. “I’m sorry, didn’t catch that…”

“YEAH okay!” Trent yelled, thundering back towards his truck. “Take your stupid car and your undersized boyfriend. I’ve had it!”

Mikaela stood beside Bumblebee until the truck was out of sight before she screamed, “YES!” and ran towards Sam. Sam grinned and spread his arms but she barrelled right past him – and hugged Optimus tightly. Well, as best as a human could hug an Autobot, anyway. Optimus looked surprised but pleased, patting her on the back.

Sam made a sort of stunned whining noise and raised his eyebrows at Optimus pointedly, but the large robot missed the expression. “Uh, Optimus?” he yelled. “My girlfriend, dude…”

“Oh Sam, shut up!” Mikaela laughed, running back and jumping into Sam’s arms and planting a kiss on his lips. Ironhide groaned.

He returned her kiss dazedly, still confused by her immediate run to Optimus. “What was with – that?” he asked her, lowering her back to the ground. Bumblebee, Optimus, Ironhide and Ratchet came and stood around them, all back in mechanical form. Mikaela smiled up at Optimus.

“Well, Optimus was the one that made me think I could do it,” she said quietly. Optimus nodded to her, bowing his head a little. Sam coughed.

“Uh, okay. Cool,” he said briefly. “How ‘bout we all head for home? Garage is free for you guys if you roll out before Dad gets up in the morning.”

Ratchet shook his head. “Thank you for the offer, Sam, but Ironhide and I need to attend to the damaged buildings that Captain Lennox asked us to repair in the city.”

“And I must head towards your… Pentagon,” Optimus explained. “I must speak with the military officials at that facility to ensure that we are ready for any Decepticon attacks. I am sure my knowledge of Cybertronian weaponry will be of some use to them.” He inclined his head to Sam. “I will return as soon as possible. Until then, farewell.”

Ironhide, Optimus and Ratchet transformed at once and rolled off toward the horizon, their exhausts blowing dust into the air as they raced away. Sam and Mikaela climbed into Bumblebee. “Wanna stay at mine tonight?” Sam asked her hopefully.

She laughed. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to interrupt ‘Sam’s Happy Time’.”

Author's Note: Hi, everybody. Welcome to the first Transformers fanfiction that I ever wrote! I'm sure if you've read my more recent ones that you'll notice my writing style has developed incredibly since I wrote this, but I hope you'll enjoy the plotline nonetheless. I do, however, apologise for any poor characterisation, as I did not have access to the movie at any point during writing.