[ti]Ep 2[/ti]Routine Pickup [Closed, Raf]

[Deleted]

"No." The word was so small and quiet from the back. Mostly because Raf was afraid that if he spoke too loudly...somehow the woman would go through labor more?? Was that possible? Did women become volatile like sweating dynamite while in labor? Wasn't there something about water he was forgetting about? WHY COULDN'T THIS HAVE HAPPENED TO JACK? His mom was a nurse!

"Aiiiiiii," Paula breathed out and gave his hand another bruising squeeze. "I forgot about the traffic!" She cringed and twisted about in the seat as if uncomfortable with the spacious bucket seats. Raf had a hysterical moment of thinking GUESS THEY WEREN'T MADE FOR DELIVERY. AHAHAHOHGODSOMEONEHELP.

"We'll get there soon. Or would you rather..." Raf almost suggested 'walking' but realized how that would sound in light of things. He didn't think the woman would slap him upside the head but he kind of felt like his mother would somehow sense he'd done a stupid and yell at him for it later. "...call an ambulance?"

"You gonna pay my bill? Hard enough now without another mouth, mijo." She leaned her forehead against the seat and groaned into the cushions. Raf cringed and looked over at Bee to see how he was handling this scenario. The tension in the holoform was louder than any words could have been. At the moment, Raf almost wished he had a cache of money just to shove at the woman to get her off his hands.

Which, he realized like a fist to the stomach, wasn't charitable at all. His mother would be appalled! She'd raised him to be accommodating and polite. Not see someone as an irritation. It wasn't Paula's fault the traffic wasn't cooperating. She hadn't asked to have a kid now of all times.

"Um, Paula dooo you have any hobbies?" He felt foolish for asking but all three of them needed distracting at the moment.

"Mnnhmmm." She nodded against the padding before forcing herself to sit up, apparently through the contraction. There was a sharp alertness to her face that suggested pain Raf didn't even want to fathom. "I'm a florist. It's near the clinic within walking distance."

Raf nodded enthusiastically. He knew the shop well enough. Tiny, local and about as good as any local business in the local economy. Not many people worked in the shop. It was possible his mother knew this woman. Even more reason to be as nice as he could.

"I like the funny looking ones that don't need to be watered much. My mom has a bunch on the patio." Raf looked ahead at the traffic and mentally willed them to MOVE ALREADY. Were they seriously just sitting there??

"Succulents? They're-" Whatever she had been about to say was drowned out by another hoarse cry and her doubling over in the seat. Ah, another contraction.

[Bumblebee]

Bee wished he could do more to help. More than just sit here in silence, anyway! Bee wished more than anything right now that Humans were aware of Cybertronian kind on Earth, then he'd be allowed to show himself! He'd just.. Shift forms, jump over all these cars, then carry her to the clinic! It'd be over and done with in the blink of an optic.

But no. Noooooo. It wasn't that easy. It never was! As much as he was tempted to break the biggest rule of them all right now, he couldn't. Stuck here as a Holoform, sitting here in awkward silence while a woman gave birth next to him. All the while his best friend had to keep her distracted from not only the pain she was no doubt under, but also the fact that even with a stutter, a normal person probably would've made some attempt to reach out and talk to another human who needed it.

His processor racing as he thought of just what the hell he could do to help this along and how he and Raf could get out of here. He could call for help on the comm.. Raf could say that Bee's beeping was just the radio malfunctioning or just 'what the kids listened to these days isn't this song great hahaha'. Optimus would know what to do. Fowler could come help. Fowler could get rid of this traffic surely. Surely.

Another contraction from Paula. Another tense shudder from the Holoform. No. It was too late to call for help. He should've done that back in the parking lot if he was going to. Damnit damnit damnit!

Maybe they could pick up on the fact he was internally SCREAMING and hadn't made it back to base yet, and some weird twist of glorious fate would send someone to his rescue.

Doubtful.

He couldn't even focus on the conversation that was going on beside him. The blue eyes of his holoform continuing to glare furiously at the car in front of him as if somehow it'd make traffic start moving again. Someone a few cars back beeped their horn, someone responded in turn by beeping their horn, with more joining in as if it would fix things. There was yelling. Pedestrians scurrying this way and that, taking the 'smarter' route to the game. They may be on foot but they were going faster than the idiots stuck in their cars!

The holoforms hands flexed and curled onto the steering wheel in angry silence, knuckles white. The holoform, aside from the fact couldn't speak, was very realistic at least! Not that it helped any. He owed Raf about a billion rounds of video games after this. They'd both need it to take their minds off all this crap. At least Bee would!! That and a very, very long shower in the wash-rack if it came to the uh.. Grosser side of childbirth.

The holoform continued to stare straight ahead, watching the woman out the corner of his eye as she doubled over and cried out once more.

It probably would come to the grosser side of childbirth... Noooo...

He continued to refrain from hitting the horn, even though it seemed to be the cool thing to do right now; judging from everyone else. His hands still firmly gripping the steering wheel for dear life at this point. He probably had the same thought process as Raf, that if he was too loud it'd somehow make the woman go through labor more.

The cars in front began to move. It was a infuriatingly slow crawl, but there was movement. He had to get off this street. Had to had to HAD TO. Even if he took a side street and the long way to the clinic, it had to be faster than sitting on the main road while people found parking and gave way to the seemingly billion pedestrians who meandered around full of excitement and not paying attention to the road.

Come on come on come onnnnnnnnn...

Doooon't stress, Bee.

The cars stopped again. The brief, glimmer of hope that Bumblebee had? Vanished in an instant. They were stuck. Oh so very stuck. The holoform sighed loudly, that death-like grip on the steering wheel only got tighter. To say he was stressed was an understatement. The urge to shift into his root-mode was getting stronger by the second. It'd save a lot of time, and hassle. Sure he'd get into a slagload of trouble, but.. Ghhn. He resisted. As painful as it was to sit here like this? He wouldn't do it. 

Bumblebee could do nothing but wait.

Please hold on, Paula's baby, please please please don't take your first breath inside my alt mode. Please please please.

[Deleted]

Raf felt like there was something important about the contractions. Couldn't quite put his finger on it, though. It wasn't like sex education was prevalent in his household. His mom was Catholic and, though she wasn't very conservative (more relaxed, was the word she used) she did teach her children the birds and bees. Raf had never gotten around to wanting to know anything about the birds and the bees. Or what the tiny, little pills his sister kept hidden in her purse were for. That seemed like one of those Adult Things he was never going to want to know.

Ever.

This just made him more adamant about  not knowing. The devil was quite possibly in the details. Or at least the terrifying mystery of the female body. He barely understood his own! He didn't need to know what happened in someone else's body! 

Except, right now, it seemed really important. Something about contractions and time. He remembered that for some reason. It popped out as very important to the baby. But what was it? Like a countdown? Like New Years?! 

"Ahm...Paula...are you keeping count of your..." And he couldn't say the word. His whole face lit up in a blush as he got tongue tied and gave up saying what was possibly an embarrassing Adult Word. Besides, that was a really personal thing to ask her! He felt bad for bringing it up. Her fingers tightened on his hand and his whole face fell as he mentally writhed in embarrassment. Nooo, he hadn't meant it!

"Contractions?" she all but wheezed out. "Yeah. Relax...he's taking his time getting here." She squinted out into traffic, apparently immune to Raf's silently dying in the backseat or Bee quietly seething about the state of the road.

"Oh, good. That's good. Isn't that good, Bee? Can we get the car moving now? W-what if we got a cop's attention? Don't they handle this sort of thing?" Raf knew he was rambling at this point but he couldn't seem to stop his mouth from making noise. Calling a cop would be the last thing he needed to do!

"You are the youngest in your family, aren't you?" Well, at least she was amused by his panic. Amusement meant she wasn't going to pop the baby out right now, right? "Oh look, an opening." She pointed ahead of them at a small gap that just opened up. Bee would have to be particularly quick to leap frog ahead...

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee was absolutely no help with the contraction timing thing. That unlucky, rather unfortunately timed moment he'd turned on the TV to even know what human birth was? Ended up being just at the moment the woman was pushing and screaming and.. Well, all he really remembered was screaming. Screaming, and crying, and mess.

Mess that he didn't want inside his alt-mode. Sure, it could be cleaned and scrubbed away, but the mental trauma of having it all over the inside of his alt-mode was something that would probably never go away. At least not for a long, long time. Some things you just couldn't unsee or forget about. He'd know it'd been there. He'd know it'd happened. Raf would have to sit there in that spot. Raf would know what happened in that seat. Seeing it on TV was bad enough, but now here he was.. With it happening in real life.

At least Paula seemed to know what was going on, she's probably done this before. Or maybe it was that 'motherly instinct' Bee had heard about on the animal documentaries he watched. And while Bumblebee didn't trust her when she said the baby was taking his time, because it seemed like, at least to Bee, that the baby wanted out; her words did give him the faintest, briefest tiny glimmer that maybe she could hang on a little more. Maybe.

Please.

As Raf addressed Bumblebee and mentioned getting the attention of a cop? It took everything in him not to scream 'What the hell are you thinking!?' - While it was a fantastic idea on paper, and something a normal person would do; it wouldn't work in this situation. Even with a supposed stammer, Bumblebee would be expected to talk to the cop to explain what was going on. Depending on how he even got the attention, he'd have to talk himself out of a likely ticket for speeding or driving recklessly. Even though the sight of a heavily pregnant and in labor woman would say more than enough and probably give him a free pass, it would be unneeded attention he didn't want to deal with. He was supposed to be laying low, and while he was probably over-thinking it, and the situation would probably go okay if they did find a cop? He was not getting one. No way.

Bee's attention never left the cars infront, the determined glare never leaving the holoforms face as he silently willed the traffic to move. As such? He saw the opening before Paula even commented that it was there. Being quick was something that Bumblebee could do, and while Paula wasn't wearing a seatbelt, she had a seeming death grip on the seat due to the contractions, and at this point Bee was desperate to get out of this traffic no matter what, so hopefully she'd hold on as he pulled ahead quickly.

There would be a rev of his engine, and he'd turn the steering wheel to sharply pull out from behind the traffic, weaving into the opening with little time to spare. He realized that the other drivers probably thought he was a douchebag in a flashy sports car at this point, but he didn't care. He just wanted out of the traffic and if it meant leap frogging ahead a little, then he would do it as many times as was needed.

He wanted to go back to the base, and lose himself in comic books for the next few days. He was so done with all of this. At least nobody had called for him over the comm yet. That'd just make things a hundred times worse.

Could today be over now, please?

[Deleted]

Raf was used to Bee's acceleration. Heck, that was part of Bumblebee's charm! His speed was amazing and his agility while he handled the curves on the road were awe inspiring. Jackie might have more than enough strength, but Bee made up for it by being quick and having the instincts of a veteran. That's what Raf liked about him. He was just as young bodied-old minded as he was. It was a kinship thing.

That being said, Paula was not used to Bee's acceleration. She was probably used to a six cylinder at most. Bee's engine probably didn't quite have a quantifiable comparison on earth but it likely wasn't going to be a V6. When he leaped for the chance to get ahead, the action pressed the pregnant woman back in the seat with a small squeal of surprise. Raf had been ready, feet braced and hand steady on the seat behind him. He barely moved..until Paula pulled his arm. Then he nearly slammed his face into the seat ahead of him when Bee stepped on the brakes. 

"That's some car you got Hit the brakes any harder and you're going to be catching this kid on the floor mats," Paula grumbled while pulling herself up out from her awkward slouch. She let go of Raf's hand long enough to hoist herself up with an audible grunt. Raf took the time to massage his crushed fingers. That was definitely going to bruise! But the woman seemed more relaxed now that they were moving. And the kid had to stop himself from staring at her like she was a bomb waiting to go off in near vicinity. Even if...ya know...

"Yeah, it's...he races on the side," Raf mumbled and rubbed at the back of his neck. Not technically a lie. Bee did race and it was most definitely on the side when the rest of the Bots weren't looking. "You don't...mind that-"

"Oh! There's a spot!!" Paula slapped her hand down on the console with a light tap as if spurring the car onward. Any reservations she had about careening around in a reckless death trap was sidelined by the new game of leap frog. Raf actually found himself smiling. He also really hoped she was joking earlier. 

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee hadn't meant to hit the brakes that hard. But with the traffic stopping and starting as much as it was? He had to move fast to even cut into the spaces as they opened. Which meant hitting the brakes fast as not to slam into the back of another car as he maneuvered. Because while braking harshly was horrible? It was better than rear-ending someone. It couldn't be helped, and was the better of the two options!

Paula's comment made him cringe though. Or at least he would've if he weren't in his alt-mode. More internal screaming was had, however. He couldn't win! It was either they sit and wait and oops, baby! Or he tries to duck and weave through this traffic... Braking too hard by accident and... Oops, baby!

No baby sounded awesome. It really did.

At least, not in Bee's alt-mode thank you very much.

The holoform in the drivers seat would glance into his mirror to give Raf a look at the racing comment. Not that Paula would ever tell on him, he just... Didn't like it being common knowledge! What if she was one of those types who reported hooligans and racers? There weren't many bright yellow Camaros driving around Jasper! Then again, it wasn't like he raced much, if ever. His encounter with Knock Out and the disappointed talk he'd got from Optimus after his last little race meant it wasn't something he did much. At least not with humans. But that was just Bumblebee over-thinking and worrying about things as per usual. Paula had other things to worry about.

Speaking of worrying about things, something had been eating at him and he finally worked out what it was. Nobody had called him over the comm yet to find out where they were, but it was only a matter of time before someone did. At this point it was a matter of 'when' rather than 'if'. Even with the buddy system in place, the school-run was considered safe enough to do alone – but they still had rules, and a time schedule to stick to.

They were oh so very late now, to the point that the others at the base had no doubt noticed their absence, and were quite possibly starting to worry. The holoform would reach forward to the console – which thankfully didn't look too alien, and would tap a few buttons – turning off the comms unit entirely. While he knew he'd get in trouble for being radio-silent, it was better than the booming voice of Optimus Prime or the angry voice of Red Alert demanding to know where he was – especially as he wouldn't be able to answer – which would probably cause more panic. To disguise the fact he was doing something, he'd slide the air conditioning on to the lowest setting – just to make things more comfortable for Paula.

Unless cold air would make the baby decide to say hello. Fraaaaag. Bee didn't know how it worked, so he hoped not!

Not that he had much time to think or worry about that, as Paula slapped her hand down as if urging him to go. He was aware there were spaces, he was paying attention – but would humor her by accelerating forwards once more into this new space that'd opened up – although this time he would go a tiny bit easier on the brakes.

Slowly, but surely? They were getting there. He just hoped Paula and her baby could hold on for a while longer.

[Deleted]

It became a game for them. At least on Paula's part, it seemed. And if that kept her relaxed and full of baby, that was ok with Raf. He didn't even mind that she tapped the door or dashboard ahead of her each time. She wasn't wheezing or groaning in pain. Even if she did flinch at a hair raising regularity. Was it just Raf or was the spaces between such moments getting smaller? Was this like a count down?? Was that a timer???

Come on, Bee. Just get us there already! I don't want to see the miracle of life!!

Each moment was agonizingly long. Even if the traffic wasn't at a complete stand still. The traffic around them was just as restless and feeding into the anxiety. Horns were honked, gestures were made, and a few words were muttered in several languages. Paula even yelled a few Spanish words through the window at a man in a suit for his cross gesture. In the backseat, Raf's eyes went wide and his face was nearly purple with a flush of blushing. 

Baby making made women scary.

It was a relief to see the hospital (more a clinic than a giant center of health) settled just out of reach across a barren patch of what was supposed to be a park. Whatever city funds had been going into the plot of land was just as dry as the soil. There were no statues or even grass. A few strands of sickly trees and a bench seat out of the way over baked soil and cracked walkway was all that suggested it was a place of quiet retreat. To Raf it was a cheat. 

"Bee, can you drive through the park?" He darted his eyes around, eyeing the snarl of traffic with somewhat guilty eyes. He wasn't a monster! But this wasn't the time to play by the traffic laws! "It is an emergency!" 

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee didn't think this was a game. Not at all. He was stressed to the max. Not only did he have to duck and weave into spaces as they opened up, he was being overly cautious with his braking so the baby didn't come flying out of Paula – he'd taken her words a little too seriously, it seemed! There was also the fact that the rest of the traffic didn't seem to appreciate this fancy yellow musclecar acting like a complete turd and speeding ahead. There was beeping. So much angry beeping.

People were yelling too, and when Paula joined in with the yelling? Aaaah Bee just wanted the ground to swallow him whole. He wasn't a fan of yelling and it only stressed him out more, given the situation.

Don't yellll!!! Maybe that'll make the baby come ouuuuttt!!

The end was now in sight, at least. The clinic was right over there. He just had to... Get to the end of this road. Make a turn or two. Park. Get Paula out. Done. On paper it was easy. But sadly traffic had come to a complete standstill again. The holoform tapped the top of the steering wheel nervously before his hands would grip and un-grip wheel repeatedly as he stared straight ahead. He was more than antsy. Come on come on come onnnnn. This was awful. The clinic was RIGHT THERE. So close and yet so far!

He hadn't even thought of driving through the park until Raf suggested it. They were supposed to stick to road rules and not bring attention to themselves. He'd already risked enough in ducking and weaving through the traffic, angering probably everyone, but this was the ultimate in douchebag moves.

And Bee was actually considering it. Especially when Raf added on that it was an emergency. Which it was! Surely a cop would understand. There was a heavily pregnant woman in labor in his passenger seat. Surely he wouldn't get into trouble, right? Right?!

The holoform would turn the wheel all the way to the left. He was lucky that he was in the right lane and didn't have to try and cut across, thus pissing off yet even more people. He'd tap the acceleration and edged up onto the curb. He was doing this. He felt so guilty, but there would be time to dwell on that later. He straightened up, and then began making his way through the park. There was more angry yelling from behind him as he did, people assuming he was just doing this to cut through traffic and get away faster. He tried not to listen, instead focusing on just this last stretch of the journey. They were SO CLOSE now. Just a few more minutes, if that! Maybe he'd escaped witnessing the miracle of life up close. Which was fine with him!

[Deleted]

Raf was actually more than a little shocked that Bee actually did it. Oh sure, they toed the line of breaking the rules all the time. But they rarely did. But this was flagrantly doing what they wanted and, while the park was empty and about as cheery as a parking lot, it was still a public park. But any guilt the young one could have felt was flattened by sweet, sweet relief. They were almost at the hospital! No more traffic! No more having to have his fingers broken by a pregnant woman with Terminator strength. However, the sudden elation that Raf felt was sidelined by a sharp cry from Paula as she contorted in the chair and hunched over her belly in as much as the seatbelt would allow.

That wasn't good. Why the dramatic timing?! They were right. there! This wasn't fair! Raf stared at her as if watching a human transform into a werewolf in the seat.

"Hurry," she grit out between pained grunts.  

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee was suffering from near instant regret. The moment he'd pulled left and onto the park and heard the furious yells from behind him? He knew he'd done a bad thing. Sure, there were times when he pushed limits and rules, like racing home from school a little quicker than normal because it was fun – but even then he only did that once they were outside of the town and safely on the long straight stretch of road toward the Omega Outpost. He wasn't stupid enough to so flagrantly break the rules in front of so many people.

But this time it was certainly needed, and that was the only thing that kept him from feeling even worse about everything already. He was stressing out. They were so very late now, his comm was off... If the others at the Omega Outpost were trying to contact him? It'd be radio silence. He couldn't even communicate with Raf to try and get some reassurance that things would be alright, as he couldn't exactly start beeping away at him - nor could his holoform speak.

He'd suffer in silence. The only hints that he was stressing out being the white-knuckled grip the holoform had on the steering wheel, and the occasional frantic wide-eyed glance into the rear view mirror to look at Raf and make sure that he was alright. He didn't even dare look at Paula, that'd just stress him out even more. Too bad he was more than aware of her every move and what she was doing, even without looking.

Soon. This would be over soon. He was going as fast as he was comfortable with across the park – although with the rough surface below, and the overwhelming guilt and worry for breaking the rules flooding his processor and all his thoughts? He didn't want to speed through here like his aft was on fire – thus drawing more attention to himself and getting into even more trouble if they did get caught.

The sharp cry from Paula, however, made him forget all of that. Nope. No. Nopey nope nope. Nope. This wasn't good. She must be so damn close now to... Well.. The scary part of all this. He watched in horror as she seemed to almost double over... Sort of. She was kind of... Huge, and unable to. But oh man this wasn't good.

He heard the word she managed to say between grunts, and he didn't have to be told twice. This... This would probably not end well either way but at this point? Bumblebee gave approximately zero shits.

He'd probably regret this, but, he would speed up. He was no doubt going to get into trouble for cutting across the park, let's just add speeding across the park to the list, too.

[Deleted]

*(I emoted a little PP with Bee opening his door. I doubt he'd want to keep Paula in place any longer than she is. XD I can change it if need be.)

Raf wasn't adventurous. His most daring moment of his life had been when he'd decided to take a day for himself and had landed in the middle of an alien smack down. After that, he'd pretty much promised himself not to get caught up in interstellar wars that were older than his family line. So the thought of jumping out of a moving vehicle was a no brainer. He'd never do it!

He was debating it right then.

Odds were, Bumblebee wouldn't let him jump to safety and risk road rash just to get away from the woman in labor. Bumblebee could be very selfish. Raf felt this was quickly becoming a test of their friendship. Real friends let each other eat dust and roll away to safety at 30 MPH.

Before the kid could start scrabbling at the door like a hamster trying to escape a plastic ball, they finally made it to the parking lot. There was a small audience, paused mid motion by the sudden arrival of the car. A bright sports car risking a dented undercarriage to drive up to a clinic? Anyone with half a brain recognized an emergency. Raf could have wept with relief. There just happened to be an ambulance at hand with two EMT's peering around the frame. 

By the time they rolled up to the door, Paula was the one scratching at the door to get out. Raf was about to give her a helpful two footed boot to the back if he had to. Not that he would. He just liked to think he would. Miko would have. He did have to help her stand as she seemed to struggle getting out of the deep seats much to everyone's anxiety. 

The EMT's had moved over and were as efficient and far more collected than Raf could ever hope to be. All three got the woman on her feet and out of the car, someone in the doorway of the clinic started to rush over with a wheelchair. Just as the smaller human was about to step out behind the woman. 

It happened.

With a shocking lack of fanfare, Paula looked down at her dress and sighed. 

"My water broke..." 

At which point Raf yipped like he was about to step in a fire ant nest and all but flew into the backseat of the car. That was enough adventure for him, thanks. From the backseat, he mumbled, "HopethatworksoutgoodluckPaula. Beecanwego?"