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chalabrun · 5 years

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What if Charlie and Bee went on a roadtrip together?? No worries for a good few days, just the two of them and (maybe) a map as Charlie shows Bee some of the most beautiful places in the USA. (Also, I love your blog and the fact you ship Charbee!!)

Sorry for the wait, friend, but I hope you like this! (And don’t mind the Charliebee family inclusion heh)

Warning(s): G, none

“Ithink I’m gonna ask him, Red. To be Conjunx Enderae with me.”

Forthe last several hours, it’d been just her and Stingray on the openroad. There wasn’t anything unusual about it, because it meant hedidn’t require a holoform driver to give the appearance ofnormalcy. And…he was her son. They were family. Of course theycould keep themselves together while Bee went on his mission,promising to meet them in the Motel 56 they were staying at in SilverSprings, Arizona—right on the cusp of the Grand Canyon she sworeshe could see glimpses of in the right amount of sunlight.

Thatnight, late at midnight, she and Stingray sat restively in a copse oftrees in a pinewood forest skirting the borders of the small town.What seemed to be more buildings clustered in a dense forest split bya single, main road was enough for them to be able to slip awayunseen. Through the nexus of needled branches could Charlie seespinning nebulae and a sky spangled in an endless tapestry of stars.With the air dry but pleasantly warm, it was a nice night for them tobe out.

“ConjunxEndurae? You mean, like married?” the young transformer broached,Charlie perched on his plated scarlet calf.

Charliefelt a hot flush creep up her neck, barely able to avoid Stingray’sinnocuous, curious blue optics. “I— I mean, when you put it likethat, as a person, it—yeah,” she deflated in a brief concession,knowing it was better to tell her son outright.

Herson. And here she thought she’d never settle down as fast assome of her classmates were out the gate already. But here she was,on a summer road trip with what was her son in the eyes ofCybertronian culture, no labor pains necessary. A being that haddoubly attributed the creation to via Bumblebee.

That’dbe something to say at a high school reunion. How she was married toan alien robot from Cybertron.

“Hey,mom?”

Thatgot Charlie’s attention, mustering a smile for his sake. “Yeah?”

“Doyou love dad?”

Thattook Charlie off guard. That’s right—Stingray hadn’t been therewhen Bumblebee and she had that heart-to-heart, spilling their gutsand bolts all over each other, which…sounded gross to imagine, butit wasn’t entirely off the mark.

“Ido,” Charlie said plainly, affection lacing her voice.

Stingraycouldn’t help but light up at that. Large arms gently encircled herand she laughed giddily, leaning into the gentle show of their bond,that soft thing that fluttered like a bird in her chest.

“Dibson being best man,” Stingray quipped with what sounded like asmile, Charlie giggling into the embrace.

“Gotcha.But only if you wear the goofiest, dorkiest and biggest bow tie wecan find.”

“Aw,but mooooooooooom!”

Atthat, she couldn’t help but burst into a fit of giggling.

“Ithought he’d be here by now.”

Seatedin the driver’s seat outside of a mom and pop bar, Charliecontemplatively chewed the breakfast sandwich she’d ordered,sipping some of the soda. Though she didn’t want to voice it, heranxieties were largely mirrored. “He’ll be here. Maybe the doofusjust took a wrong turn,” Charlie said hopefully, even though shefelt a twist of worry in her gut. With everything that had happened,the threat of Decepticons was a perpetual concern none of them couldshake.

Stingraystill vibrated with apprehension, turning the radio dial on his ownwhile Charlie indulged him and listened, having wanted to do the sameexact thing.

“Anexplosion was heard at the Southern Rim just minutes ago, parkrangers looking into the possibility of an avalanche caused by lastweek’s torrential downpour—“

“Anexplosion?” Charlie repeated aloud, feeling her blood curdle icilyin her very veins.

“Dad,”Stingray whimpered through the radio, Charlie moving on autopilot. Ithad to be Bee—what else could explain him being so late without atleast radioing in or something?

“Canyou hone in on him, Red? We’ve gotta find him!”

Stingray’stransponder buzzed and crackled hurriedly as he attempted to do justthat before it stopped, the young Autobot declaring, “Found dad!”Without another word did Stingray speed away from the parking lothe’d occupied, soaring down the turnpike and towards the GrandCanyon.

Thescenery blurred unremarkably past as the pair sped towards thenational park, forest soon giving way to open vistas and flat veldtpocked by tough grasses and cacti, thankful that it was still morningand that the crush of tourists scrambling to get into the parks werelargely clear. Because even if they weren’t, Charlie knew they’dmove heaven and hell to get to Bee and make sure he was safe.

Itwasn’t long before they came to one of the touristy vantage points,giving them an ample and spectacular view of of the canyon Charliewould’ve wanted to linger and relish in, but knew that theycouldn’t.

Withouteven a moment’s hesitation did Stingray transform into his Autobotform, heedless of who might see. And the moment that he did did thetwo of them hear a cacophonous explosion that rocked with thedissonance of mortar fire, feeling it through to her bones. Fromafar, Charlie followed the sound and watched as Bumblebee was waginga war of wills in the river valley, the Colorado River shallow enoughthat it came only to his waist in the summer drought. There, anameless Decepticon twice his height grappled for dominance withdestructive power, Charlie blanching at the sight of it.

“Mom,there are people coming up on it fast! We have to help them!”Stingray cried out anxiously and pointing at a large raft careeningperilously close to the stage of action. Just around the bend, therewouldn’t be more than a few seconds for them to act.

“Right.Come on, let’s go!”

Withoutanother word did Stingray squat so Charlie could piggyback on hisback, careful to avoid the splintering parts before he sprinted offthe very cliff and Charlie felt the distinct sensation of her stomachdropping in the fall. Catching himself on a buttress, the Autobotskidded the rest of the descent down while grappling for purchase,Charlie certain she’d be pelted in clay-toned dust before theyreached the bottom.

Oncebarely feet from the valley floor, Stingray leaped one last time intothe river, a little taller than Bumblebee. The people in the raftstartled at the transformer that halted their advance, a gentle stopthat didn’t upset anyone but made them cognizant of the battleahead, some swearing oaths at the sight of it.

WithStingray’s help did Charlie climb aboard the raft, digging for alead line for him to take and temporarily moor to some branch orother overhanging the river. “Red, catch!” Charlie prompted onceshe did, the Autobot dexterously tethering it. “Uh, hey, um—staycalm, everyone! We’ve just got a little, um,” the brunetteglanced over her shoulder at Bumblebee and the Decepticon exchangingblows, “…situation. Yeah! It’ll be alright in a second,so—maybe…get comfy, yeah.” God, she wasn’t cut out to be atour guide, was she?

Feelingthe raft lurch forth a bit, Charlie turned to see why when Stingrayleaped into the fray, several plates of facial armor covering itwhile his firearm deployed, watching with a swell of pride asBumblebee became aware of his son’s backup, grappling theDecepticon and wheeling it around so Stingray could get a clear shot.In a long moment of anticipation did Stingray steady his firing armand optics narrow, then taking the shot in a thunderous echo thatshook Charlie down to her very bones. The Decepticon’s head wasblasted clean off, the crackle of fizzling electronics sounded whilstthe body locked up and dropped dead into the water, the volume of itswelling when the deceased passed under the raft and Charlie couldswear she shuddered as it did.

Wordlesslydid Bumblebee embrace his son, the firearm disengaging and Stingrayembraced the elder Autobot back. People aboard the raft couldn’thelp but croon at the sight of it, Charlie feeling herself tear up abit. Though, she started a bit when Bumblebee waded through the waterfor her, offering a hand while Stingray chattered once he extricatedhimself from the embrace.

“Welp,things look safe now,” he prattled while undoing the tether andpassing the rope on to the raft’s occupants, who appeared largelymollified now that the threat was gone, “so you fine folks go abouton your way, alrighty? Have a good one!” With that, the reclaimedtheir oars and paddled anew to resume their jaunty trip down theriver.

Politelydid Stingray avert his eyes while Bumblebee picked Charlie up, browstouching as Charlie embraced and cradled Bee’s head close. “Youwere awesome out there, Bee,” Charlie murmured fondly as shepressed a tender kiss to his brow, Bumblebee glowing at theaffection.

“Youweren’t half-bad either,” Bee conceded, laughing softly atStingray turning their back to him. He really was just a kid. “I’msorry I couldn’t make it today. These Decepticons came out ofnowhere and Optimus and I had to take care of them before anyone gothurt.”

“Shhh,hey, it’s okay. You were doing the right thing, Bee. How can Ifault you on that?”

“Youwere so cool out there, dad!” Stingray interjected, gushingfrankly. “Like, the way you were just clobbering that guy! And whenI got to blow his head off—it was so cool!” Charlie couldn’thelp but laugh softly at that.

“See?Red thinks so, too.” Stingray came into the fold while Bee spared afree arm to loop over his son’s shoulders, the young Autobotchirping happily.

“I’mjust glad you guys are alright. And we make a pretty good team, huh?”Bee said with a smile in his voice, bumping temples with Stingray whocould only fluster in protest—like any kid would.

“Whydon’t we hit the road again? I bet we could find some cool placesall to ourselves here,” Charlie hinted with a note ofmischievousness, the other two seeming in perfect agreement despitethe slight ache in her chest.

Whilethey made their way up the cliff side, she couldn’t help butwonder: when would be a good time to ask? And, was she really in herright to? Getting married was always a huge thing and part of herworried she hadn’t known Bee long enough, that she’d just bethere to weigh him down. And she was only eighteen, too. Was she evenready for that kind of commitment? Letting these doubts sink into herlike stones, she bit her tongue on the ascension up and praisedwhatever was out there for neither Stingray nor Bee noticing.

Maybesome other time.

#charlie watson #bumblebee #charbee #charliebee #my writing #themadandthemaverick

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