TFARCHIVE FORUMS

Hello, my name is Cassandra and I'd like to share my fanfic with you. I'm brand new at Transformers Fics so be gentle, and please give pointers!

Definatley a work in progress, I designed this fic to be a sequel to the 2007 movie. I grew up watching G1, so I'll add some smatterings of that eventually. Please tell me what you think!

Enjoy.




Fragments of Allspark

Transformers and all related characters belong to Hasbro, and in the case of the 2007 movie; Michael Bay. The use of copyrighted characters in this story is entirely for leisure, and not used for profit in any way.




Chapter 1: New Life

Four years has passed since the start of a new beginning for the Autobots on earth. They still await the arrival of their comrades, and fear none remained at all after Optimus Prime’s cry to the stars was met with silence. The fragment of Allspark that remained from the destruction of Megatron has been separated into five pieces, four of which remain with the Autobots. The fifth, Optimus Prime intends to entrust to the humans, and the bloodline of the boy he owes his life too. The Decepticons also remain silent, and though it seemed like the fight is over, the Autobots fear it has merely just begun…



Sam grinned and took the small infant nervously from the nurse. The baby was wrapped tightly in swaddling yet still howled at the ordeal of birth. Mikaela smiled tiredly at the father and his new daughter.
“Aria,” Mikaela suddenly said. “that’s her name.”
Sam beamed at the mother of his child.
“I knew you would know as soon as you saw her.”
He placed Aria in her mother’s arms and hugged his family.

Bumblebee felt extra awkward with Aria’s car seat strapped in the rear. The two-day old infant fussed as Sam tried to strap her in.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” rumbled the Autobot quietly. “The infant is squeaking.”
“There isn’t a better driver around than you, Bumblebee.” Mikaela reassured him with a pat on the dashboard.
Bumblebee emitted something close to a sigh as Sam finished and hopped in the driver’s seat.
“Let’s go meet up with Prime and the others; they all want to meet the baby.” Sam declared, “even if our parents aren’t so eager…” his face fell slightly.
He and Mikaela were only 20, Sam only just, and the child was not planned. Something both sets of parents were having trouble dealing with. Mikaela grabbed Sam’s hand.
“They’ll come around, you’ll see.”
He stared over at her as Bumblebee started up and revved out of the parking lot. He drank in the sight of her, her eyes, god he was so lucky.
“I hope, for Aria’s sake, that you’re right.”

“It looks like a toad.” declared Ratchet, upon close inspection of the new baby.
Optimus Prime burst out in hearty laughter and Ironhide rubbed a hand across his face to hide a smile. Aria blew spit bubbles at Ratchet as he lowered the car seat back to Sam.
“She does NOT look like a toad!” Mikaela stamped her foot.
Sam peered into the car seat as if for the first time, his eyes narrow.
“Well, if you stare hard enough, and squint your eyes she kind-OW!” Mikaela hit him upside the head.
Bumblebee took the car seat from Sam and lifted Aria to his eye level. Aria reached out a chubby fist and made a noise.
“I think she’s beautiful, Mikaela; she has Sam’s eyes though.” The yellow Autobot dangled his air freshener at the baby to entice another coo but she started crying. Prime’s laughter turned into guffaws and even Ironhide chuckled. Ratchet curled a lip.
“You made her lubricate herself, Bumblebee.”
Mikaela sighed at took the child from a sheepish Bumblebee and started digging in her diaper bag for things to change the baby. Optimus kneeled down and gently clapped Sam on the shoulder.
“I know you two are having trouble with your parental units, but we will always be here to protect you and your child.” He proffered his other hand, something glittering in the palm. “This is for Aria.”
Sam took it. It was a necklace, a triangular charm that shone with an eerie brilliance suspended on a silver chain. Sam felt the charm; the downward pointing tip, the smooth silver casing, and a familiar feeling surged through his body.
“Prime, is this what I think it is?” his eyes were wide.
“A piece of the Allspark,” Prime grinned “for Aria to keep as a reminder of her parent’s bravery, and to protect, should she choose to follow in your footsteps, Sam.”
Sam’s eyes grew misty.
“Wow…Prime, guys, I don’t know how to thank you.”
The Autobots all had smiles now as Mikaela came back with the baby; Sam placed the chain over Aria’s head.
“No sacrifice, no victory.” Sam quoted the Witwicky family motto as the child's solemn brown eyes closed and she drifted to sleep.

Chapter 2: Vacation, Please!

Eventually, as parents do, Sam and Mikaela’s parents got used to the idea of their babies having a baby. It was just in time, too, as Mikaela was growing quite impatient at Bumblebee’s constant (and quite unsuccessful) attempts to get Aria to laugh. She had started laughing earlier that month, and at three months, the baby was starting to become more aware of her surroundings. Ratchet was not helping as he informed the young mother immediately when Aria had a messy diaper and not relenting, in his mildly offended way, with reminders until one of the parents changed her. Optimus Prime had a parenting magazine that he made reference too often, and Ironhide kept suggesting that the baby needed armaments adorning her crib. Sam threw up his hands as Bumblebee had prodded the baby out of a sound sleep to see if that might possibly be the secret to the delightful little giggles she emitted, and was yet again disappointed by a shrill cry. Prime quoted something about infant Pilates (where exactly had he gotten that magazine, Sam wondered,) Mikaela planted her hands on her hips and tapped her foot; she strongly resembled an angry cat lashing her tail.

“Its time for a vacation!” Sam declared.
“What?” Autobots and mother turned in unison to the boy.
“It-is-time-for-a-vacation.” Sam said, quite firmly. “Aria is old enough to be with her grandparents for a week or so; we need to get away. Just you and me, Mikaela.” He swept up her hands in his in what he hoped was a romantic gesture. Like most things Sam did, it backfired.
“You want me to leave my child and go- go- gallivanting off with you, Samuel James Whitwicky?!” She appeared venomous now. Mammal to reptile in seconds, Sam was impressed.
“Gallivanting. What a strong and very complicated word,” Sam held her hands to his chest. “I want you to have a restful, relaxing, not a dirty diaper in sight, week. I…I don’t even have to come. In fact, go alone! I can take care of the baby. Anything for you, my love.”
Mikaela studied him closely and heaved a defeated sigh.
“Fine. You have to come though. I’ll come back and find Aria turned into an infant robot. We can ask your parents to take her for the week.”
Sam’s smile nearly split his face.
“We can go to a resort, on a lake, that nice one up north!”
“That sounds nice,” agreed Ironhide “Shall I bring extra rounds? Bumblebee, you can finally get waxed-”
“…A very relaxing, Autobot-FREE, week.” Sam’s voice cut in and his grin grew slightly pained.

So it was that the couple departed in the family car, Sam’s parents waving to them and four robots sounding their horns in farewell. Aria was gumming Bumblebee’s disco ball and Ironhide’s expression closely resembled a pout. His spare stocks of munitions lie unpacked on the lawn.

Chapter 3: Musings
Xbox 360 is copyright Microsoft, I do not own it, and no profit is made from its mention.


Bumblebee grunted and shifted position. Much to the Witwicky’s dismay, the Autobot took his promise to its fullest extent.
“You’re Aria’s guardian now, Bee, watch over her and protect her when I’m gone.” Sam said with a lopsided smile as he leaned on the family’s car. “Don’t let anything happen to her, all right?” Sam bumped knuckles with his much larger comrade.
And Bumblebee intended to do just that, gazing into Sam’s old room where Aria’s crib now held residence. Sam and Mikaela had a small apartment but Aria’s grandparents had prepared a nursery just for her visits.

The dead of night provided enough cover for Bumblebee to transform and stand, one hand resting on the open window pane. Bumblebee was enamored with the child. He had never felt such a strong desire to protect anything. Perhaps, as Prime suggested, it was just because Aria was the first earth infant he had ever encountered. Even at their creation, transformers had defenses that ensured their survival. Bumblebee supposed Prime was right; he always was. But something about this baby, even though she was still frightened of him, pulled at emotions Bumblebee didn’t know a transformer could possess. He was a sleuth, a top spy and master of disguise. Certainly he had been through far too many battles to not have developed his full emotional range. The stars knew that even though he was still a young Autobot, he was among the most experienced. Aria’s light brown fluff of hair stirred in the gentle breeze as her perfect cherry lips made sucking motions in the midst of a dream. The Autobot pushed his thoughts aside and rested his head on his hand and watched, ever faithfully, over the precious girl sleeping in his presence. Well, at least she wasn’t crying, Bumblebee’s laugh rumbled softly at the thought.


Optimus Prime was also experiencing a calm, yet restless night. He had entrusted three remaining fragments of Allspark to his soldiers and the last too himself. The fifth still remained around Aria Witwicky’s neck. He kicked back and folded his arms under his head, gazing at the stars. Prime was fully content with trusting the Allspark as it was divided. The boy was a loyal friend and he and his family gave the transformers every convenience this planet held. All should have been well…yet his thoughts crept to troubled musings. Where were the rest of the Autobots? They needed time to get to Earth, maybe even more than the years they already had. He flicked on a switch worn from overuse and a blazing emblem cut through the night into the deep sky. The sigma of the Autobots would bring them yet. Surely he and the other three were not the last ones remaining. Surely Megatron’s revolt hadn’t reached that far…Sure as the triangular fragment residing deep within his body.

One other transformer’s thoughts kept him from a restful stasis, though he had been in stasis for longer than he cared to imagine. Starscream’s wings were coated deeply with dust and threatened to encroach on his delicate inner workings. He dared not transform, however, as his cover in an abandoned hangar was too precious to blow. His disrepair after four years of constant jet form was itching on his mind. Just a small while longer, he calmed himself. Days, even. Megatron couldn’t possibly think up something this brilliant.

Starscream almost transformed in alarm as something disturbed the long grass outside his hangar. As if on cue, a small bot that must have once been an Xbox 360 skittered up to his wheel. The small Decepticon was young, born during the last battle, when the cube was lost. But every bot had its uses.
“The message has been delivered, master, the others come. And the time is right, if you strike within the week.”
Starscream smirked. Oh yes, he would shine more brilliantly than Megatron ever had.

Deep below the earth, in the far recesses of a distant ocean cleft, a minor eruption wren the earth apart. The earthquake was not much, hardly noticed by the sonar equipment placed to measure underwater volcanoes. The vent created by the underground river of magma started to emit boiling water. It was small, but it was more heat than that trench had ever seen before. The magma winked through cracks here and there, shedding the smallest light upon a steel eye. The ocular constricted with great difficulty and a faint red light emitted from it grew stronger and was beginning to startle small deepwater creatures away from the vents boiling warmth.

Chapter 4: The Master of Puzzles
All vehicle names and brands mentioned here on are the sole properties of the companies mentioned; I do not own them or result in any profit from their mention.

A screech and gravel spit startled Bumblebee out of his thoughts, as the dark lessened into predawn. Bumblebee strode to the back and looked down the alley and had to dodge a GMC Topkick as it spun into the yard. Ironhide transformed hurriedly and grabbed the younger Autobot’s shoulders.
“Scorpinok just attacked our place outside town. We were forced to fight but I have a feeling that it’s just a diversion!” It was then that Bumblebee noticed Ironhide nursing a gash in his chest. “We need to assemble!”
Bumblebee nodded firmly. He wasn’t much for words since his voice capacitor was crushed, even though it worked perfectly now. He transformed quickly into his Camaro form and sped off after Ironhide, who was already back as the Topkick and halfway down the alley.

Ironhide briefed Bumblebee on the details on their way to the small homebase they had set up. As it turns out, just after Prime had retired to the cool darkness of the concrete base, a rumble disturbed them all. Without warning, Scorpinok burst through the very floor and fired mostly upon Ratchet. Ironhide had grappled the Decepticon away from the valued medic and threw him at Prime who blasted him. Sustaining little damage, Scorpinok turned to fight but surprisingly ducked into the hole again after emitting a scathing noise. Ratchet was leaking Energon (precious little was left for them, even though Ratchet himself designed a conversion to make earth’s fossil fuel acceptable. They needed an actual scientist to make it perfect though.) And he was in the process of fixing himself as Ironhide left. Prime was re-securing the base, and wanted the Autobots assembled to prepare for a full-out attack. There were two other Decepticons that had mysteriously disappeared from the last battle; Barricade and Starscream.

Bumblebee narrowed his optics as he revved along. Scorpinok was commonly known for his love of destruction. He shouldn’t have left before he caused as much chaos as possible. They rounded the highway and sped off into the dust down to the base, and Optimus Prime ran out to meet them.
“I just don’t get it,” He boomed as they transformed. “We barley took any damage. Even Ratchet has patched himself by now.” Prime eyed Ironhide. “Speaking of which, go see him, old comrade, that wound wont heal itself.” Ironhide grunted and walked inside.
Bumblebee tapped his finger on his jaw. Something wasn’t adding up. Barricade would have been a better choice to send, he was stronger, and more likely to communicate to Starscream the conditions of the base. Logically, Starscream was commanding now. Prime watched on with unfailing patience. Bumblebee was his trusted soldier, and as a spy, the best suited to figure out the situation; a master of puzzles almost. He could be naive sometimes, Primus knew, but it was that innocent streak that made him so endearing.

“Prime, this just isn’t right. If they only wanted to scope us out and report our condition to Starscream, they should have sent Barricade. He has more…tact. Scorpinok just delights in causing confusion. He just scatters transformers to more easily- Oh NO, the girl!!!” Bumblebee roared, transformed and sped as fast as he could back towards the Witwicky’s. Prime’s heart fell and his calm resolve was thoroughly rattled. Of course; Bumblebee was a genius! Scorpinok’s strong talent was causing confusion among his enemies to bring them down more easily. But his sudden withdrawal meant that he was to merely confuse the Autobots. He couldn’t possibly take on all three Autobots. His goal, as directed by Starscream no doubt, was to draw Bumblebee away from his charge. Aria was in danger!

Ratchet poked his head outside and began to say something that died as he shielded his optics from a blinding light. A giant explosion rocked the earth somewhere to the north. Optimus Prime’s mouth fell open and his face guard fell away in shock. To the north…that was where Sam and Mikaela were. Starscream. Prime’s shock turned into a sneer of ferocity.
“Autobots, move out! Bumblebee can tend to the girl; we need to get to Sam!”
The other two transformed in mid-run and roared after Prime. The sun had just broken the horizon in a red colored dawn.



AN: well there you go, the first 4 chapters. What do you think? anyone know the old saying about red skys in the morning?

Good stuff so far, I like the expansion on Sam and Mikaela's relationship, and how parents can be.. somewhat difficult with the cirsumstances.

Look forward to more!

Chapter 5: A Slave of His Emotion

The sight of the explosion sent Bumblebee swerving. He mentally checked himself. Aria was his charge. Sam had passed that responsibility. Something inside Bumblebee clenched painfully as a low pitched whine of fury accented his squealing tires. He knew this emotion; loss. He swung crazily down the Witwicky’s street and spun out into a dead stop. The sun glinted off the flashing bulbs of a police car. The car sounded its wail again and again, until neighbors started peeking out of doors curiously. Bumblebee’s emotion turned into pure hatred. Barricade was barring the way to his responsibility. As if on cue, Barricade transformed jerkily into his true form, and readied his stance for battle.
“How nice to see you, old friend! Don’t you recognize me? I am Barricade, your final opponent.” He gestured wildly to his spare parts. “Because you will die for what you did to my amazing body!”
Barricade had never been so cocky; and that gave the Autobot an opening.


Bumblebee sped towards him and transformed in motion, slamming his head into a surprised Barricade’s middle. He roared furiously and pummeled his fists into the Decepticon’s midsection. Barricade swung to the side and grabbed Bumblebee’s shoulder, wrenching him down to the street and shot at his neck, and was thrown back several yards as Bumblebee jammed his legs into Barricade’s hips. Frightened people screamed and ran back to their houses, as Bumblebee leapt onto the Decepticon. He locked his legs around the other and whipped out his cannon, charged it quickly and fired. Barricade shielded the blast with a hand and diverted the bulk of it to his bicep. He flipped backwards, throwing Bumblebee aside and staggered to his feet. Barricade was missing two fingers and half his upper-arm.
“Damn you, Autobot scum!”
Barricade fired rounds at Bumblebee, while the Autobot turned to take the hits on his wing-like shield plates. Suddenly, a small blast ripped through Barricade’s side, and the Decepticon fell in shock. Bumblebee turned to see Ron Witwicky, Sam’s dad, with a missile launcher hoisted on his shoulder. Bumblebee immediately dove into Barricade, plunging his hand in the gaping wound. He pulled at wires and ground through steel to do as much damage as possible. When Barricade fell limp, Bumblebee wrapped his arm around the Decepticon’s head and jerked it quickly, spinning the head 180 degrees. Bumblebee dropped him and turned towards Ron.


“Having friends in the government has its advantages, my robot friend!”
The man said, as he dropped the smoking weapon with a grunt. Barricade was unconscious and leaking Energon fast.
“Ron Witwicky, is Aria all right?” Bumblebee said in earnest, running up to the man.
“She’s with Judy. Is this guy dead or what?” A quick scan of Barricade said no, but he was well on his way. Bumblebee would deal with him later. He needed to have Aria in his sight. He was surprised to feel something very near panic had taken hold of him. He supposed the only reason he did so well against Barricade was because the Decepticon thought he knew his fighting style. The truth was, Bumblebee was often a slave of his emotion, and fought accordingly. That missile the human hit him with had saved him a lot of damage, however.

Bumblebee strode past the man, and up to the front lawn of the Witwicky’s. He peered inside but saw nothing but a house awash in morning light. His audio sensors picked up the faint sound of crying.
“Something is wrong, Ron Witwicky!” Ron ran up to the door and glanced worriedly at Bumblebee as he whipped the door open. The Autobot could hear him combing through the house, and saw him occasionally when he passed a window.


“JUDY!!!” came the cry again; his calls were still met with no answer. Ron darted to the living room window where Bumblebee peered in.
“I can hear crying.” Ron said, starting to hyperventilate. Bumblebee was too anxious to continue waiting for the human. He focused his audio and then with a small tug, relieved the house of half its roof. Lying in a pool of her own blood was Judy Witwicky, eyes wide and glazed over in death. Halfway through a hole in the floor was a small robot, skittering away with aria in its clutches. If Bumblebee were human, his teeth would have been bared like a wild animal. On his steel face, however, the only sign of his extreme anger was his optics narrowed to slits. He reached over and plucked Aria delicately from the robot, ignoring its indignant squeals. Bumblebee’s other hand grasped an arm of the bot and lifted it up to his eye level. It must have been an Xbox 360 once; Bumblebee knew from Sam that an Xbox was ‘cool’. This particular gaming console lost its function as Bumblebee flung it to the concrete driveway and ground it with his foot like a cigarette butt. He was startled by a sudden round of small missiles being launched and exploding all around him. Bumblebee leapt over the house, shielding the crying baby in his hands, and ducked. Barricade looked over his cannons with a smirk, and refocused his fire on the rest of the neighborhood. Houses shattered, people screamed, and Bumblebee realized that it wasn’t the screams that bothered him. It was when the screams suddenly stopped in mid-howl. The whole street was alight in fire and Barricade started laughing as his optics dilated, and the spark of life died in him.

Bumblebee peered over what remained of the house to see the mess of what was once a human named Ron Witwicky. Aria wailed and shook her chubby fists. Her face was red with exertion. Bumblebee never pitied himself. It was a bad habit, he often thought. But on this particular morning, as he surveyed the carnage and loss of life, Bumblebee wished he was human. He wished he was human in order to fulfill a strong urge to vomit.

Chapter 6: Hear no Evil, See no Evil, and Speak no Evil

The miles seemed to stretch longer and longer as the three Autobots raced towards the source of the explosion. Not a word was uttered, and Optimus Prime was glad. These humans had helped them, even befriended them. It was his fault this happened. He should have been more aggressive in hunting down the Decepticons until he was sure they all had died. A ball of fury was wrenching inside of Prime, and he almost pitied the first obstacle they came across- almost. Suddenly a flash of light and the residual shock wave washed over them. Ratchet swerved and careened wildly, accidentally smashing into Ironhide. The blast picked up Prime’s fender and sent him tumbling over backwards; he had to transform chaotically to keep from completely wrecking.

Sitting with his legs splayed, Prime rubbed his head and looked for the other two. Both were slowly transforming, groaning from the dents they had sustained.
“What in the hell was that!?” Ironhide barked. The Autobots picked up on Earth’s lingo fast.
Optimus Prime gestured and was about to speak as a second blast, a third and finally a fourth rocked over the three. The consecutive flashes of light cut into Prime’s oculars, and one was completely shattered by the blast. Ironhide was on his stomach, shielding his head and Ratchet was caught getting halfway up. He severely damaged an arm as the blasts knocked him over. When it was over, all three stayed silent, as if breaking it would cause another rocking explosion.

Finally Prime groaned. It was not intended to be a groan, it was meant to be words of reassurance. But groaning was all that he could seem to do at the moment. Ironhide stood slowly and tottered a few unsteady steps over to Ratchet. A look towards Prime and back to Ratchet confirmed that Ironhide escaped with the least injuries; his armor-plated back was painfully scratched. He helped the medic to his feet and shook his head at the dangling arm.
“Those explosions couldn’t have been more than five or six miles ahead! Are you alright? How is your arm?”
“It’s useless, Ironhide, I’ll need to completely reconstruct it.” Ratchet said in a weak voice. Another groan brought their attention to Prime. They ran over to him and Ratchet knelt at Prime’s side. He leaned over to assess his leader’s injuries and let out a short roar of frustration as his broken arm clunked into Prime’s side.
“Ironhide, tie this thing back.”
“Right!” Ironhide snapped to attention and grabbed a cord from his trunk and, as gently as possible, tied the useless appendage to Ratchet’s side. “There you go, soldier, good as new.” He ignored Ratchet’s huff. “How is Prime?”
“Not good,” replied the medic, “his ocular is blown, and I think his other one is light-blind.” His remaining hand deftly examined and took vitals. “We need to get him on his feet, his equilibrium is completely off.” Ratchet finally determined.

Ironhide complied and sat Prime up, grasped him in a bear hug and lifted the Autobot to his feet. Prime’s hands shot out and grasped Ironhide’s shoulders in panic.
“Uhnnn..can’t see…” His groans were becoming understandable.
“It’s all right, Optimus, just stand still for a moment and catch your balance.” Ratchet said, with a touch of gentleness. Prime’s panic only increased; Ratchet rarely used his first name. This could only be bad.
“…H-hardly stand.” He forced out as evenly as possible.
“That will get better once you get used to not seeing. Optimus, both of your oculars are damaged. The left one is beyond repair. We need to get back to base.”
“No.” Prime silenced Ratchet, and continued in a now-steady voice. “We need to go and see if Sam and Mikaela are still alive. How long until I can see out of my other ocular?”
“Not long, perhaps twenty minutes.” Prime shook his head, letting go of Ironhide’s shoulders.
“No. We move out now. Ironhide can guide me and my sight will return on the way towards the lake resort. It’s less than 70 miles away now.”
“But-!”
“Autobots, that is a direct order. Move out!”
“Yes sir!” The response came in unison. They all transformed and Ironhide kept Prime at his rear wheel. Ratchet’s transformation wasn’t completely perfect because of his arm, but he was able to keep up. The three rolled down the highway, none speaking again. If no one wanted to speculate about the blast before, it was out of the question now. ‘What if’s’ were useless.


They soon began to roll through the area where the latest four blasts had originated from. The beginning was punctuated by the end of the highway. Prime could see from his right ocular again, but it was a washed out vision. It would have to do. Ironhide tried to ignore the splashes of blood and the acrid smell of burning flesh as they moved slowly through the dead city. The rough terrain of the upturned earth jarred their bodies and finally Prime called a halt. This seemed to be the epicenter, as there was little left but rubble.
“How can we ever know if they were here at all?” Ratchet asked throatily.
“We search.” came the gruff reply. Perhaps if he said as little as possibly, Prime might keep the devastation out of his voice. The other two nodded without speaking, and began to comb through the piles of debris. They retreated to their thoughts. Ironhide thought- This is obviously hopeless, why should we listen to Prime? He is too emotional to make rash calls. Ratchet pondered nervously- Where was the thing, or things, that did this? We could not live through an attack if they come back! And Prime thought simply, a heavy sadness slumping his proud shoulders- How could anyone survive this?

Chapter 7: Prime and Prejudice
A/N: I -seriously- couldn’t resist sneaking this title in. X3


The fingers of his good hand were coated in blood, covered in dust, and coated over again. Regardless, Ratchet looked carefully though wreckage in the city, pausing at each twisted car, each lifeless body. Carnage was bad when it was your own kind; he was well versed in the art of battle. Something about this just seemed worse. Energon did not stain and leave small streaks of rust. The expressions on these faces somehow seemed more real. When a transformer died, he simply passed into oblivion, all expression sensors died with him. The human’s expressions had a tendency to freeze in place. Rigor mortis, if Ratchet remembered correctly from the medical journals he read over the years, was the cause of it.


As he reached for a large slab of concrete to move away from the hood of a car, Ratchet felt a tremble in the earth. Frozen in caution, Ratchet watched as small pebbles rolled and bounced and only a shout from Ironhide brought his gaze to the advancing line of armored tanks rolling their way.
“Primus, help us.”
He muttered.


Moments before:
The tall transformer rolled away from his crashed ship. His entry had been less than ideal, but who knew Earth’s atmosphere was so chaotic? Naked; he needed cover. But unlike so many of his comrades, he was a picky one. No time, though, judging by the three explosions that were aimed at his tremendous landing. He supposed the blasts aimed at him were no more powerful than his connection to the ground. His tank of Energon had exploded, too, curse it! Through squints through flame, he had seen three vehicles speeding on the causeway, and his optics indicated that they were Autobots. The transformer looked around. Most vehicles were wrecked beyond scanning, though he saw a glint from within a small cinderblock garage. Perhaps that vehicle was useable. Maybe even flashy.


The line of tanks became an arc and the arc became a closing circle. With impressive speed, the Autobots were surrounded. The cannon barrels clicked in unison and locked on the three, who had backed into each other in a defensive maneuver. A roar from above lifted three gazes to a swooping and diving jet. The Jet, more precisely, a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, made a final dive for the ground and landed just inside the circle as a transformed Decepticon. Starscream laughed, more of a dry screeching sound, and crossed his arms over his chest.


“I go hunting for two fawns, and I get the whole herd! How delightful!” The laugh came again, and Prime had to still Ironhide from breaking stance.
“I didn’t think that you Autobot scum were entirely stupid, but it appears as if I were wrong. But wait! Where is your little friend? The yellow one…”Starscream began to walk down the arc of tanks, slowly circling the Autobots.
“Oh yes, the bee. Didn’t you know that by sending him to the infant, that you were sending him to his death? Optimus Prime, how many transformers will you allow to die under your command?”
“Shut up, Decepticon!” growled Ironhide, unable to keep his temper.
“Witty comeback, Ironhide, full of grace as usual. Your beloved Bumblebee is most likely scrap metal by now. Barricade will have made sure of that. And the infant, well, she will be in my grasp soon enough.”
“What have you done, Starscream!? Where are the humans?” Ratchet joined in, only Optimus Prime holding his stoic silence.
“Dead.” Prime flinched, much to Starscream’s delight “I had them with the first blast. They were trying to get away in that heap of a-“
“What do you want with the infant, Decepticon?” Prime demanded quietly, not raising his head. Starscream paused. If it was possibly, he appeared to be even more satisfied than before.
“Prime, you really are stupid.” He spat. “I actually had more faith in you than that.”

With a tragic sigh, Starscream began.
“You divided the last fragment of the Allspark into pieces, and bestowed one of them to the child of your two humans. I thought you were making an intelligent move for once but I guess I stand corrected.” He blinked. “That’s twice now, that you force me to be incorrect. I will make you pay for that.”
“Get on with it, Starscream.” Prime growled.
“The Allspark, in such small pieces, give a transformer little in return for wearing it. You have felt no real effects from it, no doubt.” He glanced at each Autobot in turn. It was true, each Autobot felts its presence but no more.
“That raw power, in the possession of a fleshling human, becomes a part of them. The longer they retain the Allspark, the more the Allspark lends to their life force.”
Prime had to choke down an exclamation. Starscream was right. He was stupid.
“The Witwicky child will have an enormous amount of life’s power by the time she is old enough to wield it.”
“Are you joking? A human cannot wield life’s force!” Ratchet snorted in disgust.
“You, Ratchet, are absolutely right. That’s why, with the power of the other four Allspark fragments; I intend to create a transferring device. When the child is old enough to handle it without perishing, yet still young enough to be molded, I shall turn her into a transformer, and use her to take over earth.”


All of the Autobots jaws dropped. It was possible, thought Prime wildly, it was actually possible! Allspark could be used to do anything, even transfer bodies. He had heard legend, passed into myth, that life’s force could be sustained and molded into a new shell. With four fragments, Starscream wouldn’t even need a shell; Allspark would make its own path. The Decepticon would merely need to ‘suggest’ to Allspark what the final form should look like. That could easily be done with the computing knowledge available on earth. He would have to ask Ratchet just how it could be achieved; Oh Primus to have Wheeljack around again! He had doomed the child. Perhaps he wasn’t fit to lead anymore.
Starscream cackled as Optimus Prime’s head hung in disgrace. He raised his hand and the tanks focused cannons. His small excursion to space to link to military satellites was useful, as he could control any computer onboard weaponry.
“In the hour of your greatest shame, DIE, OPTIMUS PRIME!”
Prime balled his fists. This was the end.

A red and yellow streak bounded over the line of tanks and grabbed the nearest one by its long cannon shaft. Ratchet, who was facing that direction, couldn’t believe his oculars. It was a transformer! The unknown ally swung the tank like a toy and bashed in the others in a sweeping circle, whooping as he did. Starscream howled in fury and ordered the rest of the tanks to fire. Most of the shells were stopped by the mangled tank flung at them, and the rest diverted by the transformers own artillery. He scooped up two more tanks and hurled them at Starscream, who shrieked and transformed. The Decepticon jettisoned away out of sight in a matter of seconds, his goal above all else being self-preservation. The tall transformer dispatched the rest of the tanks in rather creative ways. More hurling took place, some sandwiching, and a twist of the shaft imploded some with their own missiles. When the explosions stopped and the smoke blew away, the transformer stood, smiling.
“Damn, I know how to make an entrance!” He boomed, his flame-bedecked chest glinting in the sun.
“Hot Rod?” Ratchet asked incredulously.
“The one and only!” Hot Rod struck a pose.

Chapter 8: The Most Profound Loss

The Pontiac Firebird yanked up its emergency break and spun incredible circles in front of the three transformers. Hot Rod had lucked out by finding the vintage car in the rubble. It was mostly red with orange flames crawling up the hood. They had arrived at the neighborhood that was destroyed by Barricade but Bumblebee was nowhere in sight and Optimus Prime was worried. There was also no Barricade, only the signs that someone had been seriously hurt and leaked all over the pavement. The Witwicky house was a grim sight and they all avoided looking in that direction.

Prime was wracked with guilt. He blamed himself for the death of their friends, though one look at Ironhide and Ratchet proved that they felt just as horrible. Hot Rod couldn’t be reprimanded for his antics; he didn’t know the humans, even though Ratchet had told him the story on the way to the Witwicky’s. Plus, he was cocky by nature, a young Autobot filled with an amazing amount of power, almost as much as himself. Optimus Prime realized suddenly with surprise that Hot Rod would most likely be his successor as the leader of the Autobots. Hot Rod transformed and strode over.
“This is horrible guys, but we can’t find Bumblebee by standing here.”
He patted Prime on the back, knowing his commander was overcome with grief.
Hot Rod had no chance to ask Prime to roll out, as the earth suddenly collapsed beneath him. A whirring blade was shoved in his face and he skittered back in panic, letting out a wordless shout. Prime grabbed the appendage before it could strike Hot Rod and yanked upward, only to be rewarded with Scorpinok’s tail penetrating into his chest.

Ironhide and Ratchet sprinted over to help as Optimus Prime yelled in pain. Scorpinok withdrew almost as soon as he stung, a small glittering piece of Allspark clutched to him and quickly deposited into a compartment on his body. Prime fell backwards, and in what seemed like slow motion, watched as Barricade tackled his other two soldiers from behind. By the time Hot Rod gained his footing and started firing on Barricade, the Decepticon had plunged a fist into each of the other two Autobots and withdrew their spark. Scorpinok surfaced once more to take Barricade’s two shards and dove again. The remaining Decepticon staggered, giggling maniacally.
“It was so easy!” He choked out, “Just cutting the power to my oculars, that fool of a transformer! He was so wrapped up in his little girl!” Barricade teetered and fell over on half of a house, crumbling it the rest of the way. Ironhide put a stop to his raving with a well aimed barrage of missiles. Perhaps more than was needed, really.

Scorpinok was no where to be found and now Hot Rod was faced with three severely damaged comrades. He patched them up as best he could, following the weak directions of Ratchet. They all drove back to the bunker slowly, and in time, were all repaired as soon as Ratchet himself was done fixing himself. They all felt broken inside, however, as Bumblebee and Aria were still missing. Starscream now had all but two shards of the Allspark, and the beautiful sunset did little to still Prime’s troubled thoughts.

A dark alleyway in the middle of the city provided adequate shelter for Bumblebee to transform. Aria was fast asleep in the driver’s seat, and with slow movements, she was transferred to Bumblebee’s palm. He didn’t want to go back to his comrades just yet. Hell, he didn’t even know if they were alive, judging by the blasts that had startled half the city into hiding. The wail of sirens was a constant now, and hurt Bumblebee’s sensors. The girl made a small noise and opened her eyes, startling Bumblebee. He didn’t want her to cry, it really didn’t stop once it started. Much to his surprise, and delight, Aria just stared at him. Her large brown eyes focused on the brilliant blue light emitting from his oculars. She cooed, half her mouth curling up in a grin (Sam’s grin, Bumblebee realized.) and she laughed. Her giggle made him smile.
“You’re right, Aria. Sitting here doing nothing is funny. Let’s go find our friends.”
He transformed again, carefully juggling Aria back into the driver’s seat. He wished he could secure her in a car seat, but his fingers were far too large. She mimicked his revving by blowing little raspberries, and soon fell asleep again on the way back to the bunker.

His and Aria’s fragments were the only ones left; Bumblebee shook his head in shame. He should have been there to help, not hiding. The other three reassured him, their injuries shrugged off to make him feel better. They all knew how close he was with Sam and Mikaela. Hot Rod’s presence was a surprise; however, he thought there were no more Autobots left at all. Hot Rod promised to share his story later but now a pressing issue was at hand. Aria had to be taken care of by humans. They were too large, and not even her own species. She needed a mother. Bumblebee pushed Sam and Mikaela’s memory to the back of his mind. Their child needed him more right now. Optimus Prime, Ironhide and Ratchet all surrounded him, giving sympathetic looks.
“We need to give her to the humans, Bumblebee.” Prime said.
“I know…”
“We can’t even change her dressings.” Ratchet reasoned.
“I get that but-“
“We cant let her near us now, not with Starscream.”
“ALLRIGHT! I know, ok?” Bumblebee blinked slowly. “But…she’s my responsibility. She’s…Sam’s…” His voice cracked. “How can I love something this small?” He finally asked, whispering.
“I understand, old friend.” Prime said, putting an arm around Bumblebee. “Go now, take her to a human hospital, and they will be able to find her a home.”
“But, I don’t want her to forget me…” Bumblebee confessed.
“When the time is right, we will find her again, Bumblebee. We will find her again after she has grown, and known the love of humans.”

Bumblebee parked outside the small hospital, rain drenching his windshield. He was glad the others had not come. Transforming, he held Aria up to his level. She squirmed in the small basket they had put her in. He tucked a note into it and held her under the overhang so she wouldn’t get wet.
“Don’t forget me, Aria.” He whispered. “I will come back for you. You are my most important mission. Grow up and be beautiful- and love, with all of your human heart, love someone.”
He placed the basket on the stoop in front of the entrance and backed away, finally tearing his gaze from the baby and disappeared into the stormy night. For the second time in his life, Bumblebee pitied himself. He again wished he was human, so he could cry. Aria watched him go, making small revving raspberries, and only stopped when disturbed by a nurse’s scream as she discovered the basket.

Chapter 9: Autobots Assemble

The vast expanse of space was starting to dishearten the small group of Autobots. After the last assault by Megaton and the Decepticons, only Hot Rod, Wheeljack and Bluestreak had escaped with their lives. The five who had left for Earth were lucky to get away, and Wheeljack hoped they didn’t expect a huge reunion. Prime would be so furious when he found out that only three had survived. Wheeljack had been glad for Hot Rod and Bluestreak’s antics on the long journey. The transformers got along so well, and Wheeljack almost felt like their caretaker. His hearty personality helped as well, often laughing and making jokes of the other two. They had only a small, half-working ship for the duration of space travel, and the frustration could have just as easily crept amongst them and been their demise. All that was almost over now, as the blue planet called Earth loomed larger in their sights.

Wheeljack was a kind transformer, and incredibly brilliant. Like those of a superior intelligence, he was slightly odd. The Autobot tended to stare at nothing for long periods of time and burst out into laughter at the most inconvenient moments. But others tolerated him, and most enjoyed his company. Well, at least the two who shared his company now did. The two were so alike; they could have been twin-bots. They enjoyed causing trouble and mayhem, but knew how to settle down when it counted. The only difference in the two was that Bluestreak was more of a pacifist, and Hot Rod dove into any battle opportunity that arose. Bluestreak got his disdain for warring from Wheeljack himself. He had been the young transformer’s mentor almost since his creation. Currently, Bluestreak and Hot Rod were firing missiles at approaching meteors, and giggling every time one crumpled into dust. Wheeljack laughed and joined the two, but his face fell at what he saw.


“You both realize that this ship will not likely make it through this meteor field, right?”
“Yes, Wheeljack, I’ve already gotten the last two pods ready for launch. I can hold on to yours as we aren’t very far from Earth now.” Bluestreak said.
“Yeah, don’t worry, old timer. We are having fun now because we won’t be able to soon enough, on the final leg of our journey.”
Wheeljack shook his head. Those two were idiots, delighted in the prospect of getting to see something blow up, no doubt.
“How did you decide who got the pods? Why can’t I just hang on?” he asked suddenly in protest.
“You’re too old. Plus we already flipped a coin for it, so just deal.” Hot Rod teased.
They turned and looked at Wheeljack.
“Let’s get going then,” Bluestreak said as a meteor bumped the ship gently. It would not be so gentle later. Hot Rod and Bluestreak stood, faces hard with determination, and Wheeljack nearly threw up his arms in frustration. Their creator’s must have bestowed more than one crazy identity in each of them.


The pods jettisoned and speeded quickly towards Earth. Bluestreak held Wheeljack’s pod and it slowed him. The first pod slowed as Hot Rod hesitated.
“Go on Hot Rod, we will find you on Earth. Just meet at the last coordinates of Prime’s signal.” Wheeljack said over the intercom. Hot Rod gave thumbs up and sped on ahead. Nothing short of nothing held that kid back anyway. Bluestreak watched his friend enter the atmosphere of Earth from a few thousand feet back. The flames instantly enveloped the small spacecraft and Bluestreak knew he was in trouble. The atmosphere was penetrable, but dangerously so. There was no getting around it, though; he only hoped Ratchet was still alive to fix him when this was all over. Wheeljack went forward with a good bit of coaxing by Bluestreak, and the young Autobot gasped as heat took him over, his sensors all sounding in alarm. Wheeljack winced, this was hard, but they needed to get to the others. Ratchet would fix Bluestreak up once they got there.

The fire got more intense and the turbulence more violent. Hot Rod had already jettisoned out and landed somewhere close to the coordinates Prime beamed, but Wheeljack’s course was thrown off by his tail. Bluestreak had his battle shield down and it melted that way, which was for the better anyway, seeing as his oculars would have been molten by now. His hands softened first and melded into the pod’s side. Somewhere behind them came a distant explosion as the transport ship was torn apart by the meteor shower. He felt himself loosing consciousness and prepared himself for the worst as his shoulders started to drip searing metal.

A whoosh of cool air greeted them as they left the atmosphere. Bluestreak was badly melted, his molten metals cooled instantly and thusly, his arms were stuck outward. His hands were now inseparable from the pod and he doubted he could walk. The feet supports seemed to be missing entirely. With a sigh, Bluestreak brushed it off. He was just glad he was alive to see his lost comrades again.

Hot Rod looked at the ground, a guilty expression adorning his face.
“…and then they entered the atmosphere behind me. We didn’t know it would be so bad to enter, and we just lied to Wheeljack to get him into a pod. Bluestreak wouldn’t shut up until I agreed to take the other one.” His foot drew circles in the dirt. Hot Rod was finally able to tell them the story of his journey (however boring, as they had just drifted in space for years without serious interruption) when Bumblebee left to bring Aria to the humans.
“I don’t even know if they made it…” he trailed lamely.
“Of course they did, son, and they will be here soon.” Ironhide said reassuringly.
“-Sooner than you think.” Prime said quietly. He had not seemed to be paying attention and surprised everyone when he spoke. Their gazes followed his pointing finger as a strange shape appeared over the rise of the small hill a distance from their bunker. Wheeljack waved wearily, Bluestreak hoisted on his shoulder.
“Curse it, damnit, curse it! I don’t have enough parts –left- to fix anyone else!” Ratchet flung a tool down and stalked into the bunker to pick through his well-stocked spare parts. The only thing he hadn’t been able to fix was Prime’s ocular. Earth didn’t have technology so sensitive, so Prime still only had half his vision.

Hugs, friendly slaps and several handshakes later, and Bluestreak forcefully detached from the pod, found the transformers sitting around the bunker as Ratchet worked quickly on Bluestreak. Prime let Ironhide relay their story, and was glad no one wanted him to say anything profound. He was so worried about Bumblebee, and consumed with guilt, that he didn’t trust himself to speak much. Several hours later, Bumblebee did come back, but if he was surprised by the sight of two more comrades, he didn’t show it. He really didn’t care at all, actually.
“It’s done. I’m going back for her in twenty years; I don’t care what you say.” He opened his chest cavity, ripped out his shard of Allspark and flung it to the ground. Bumblebee turned and walked outside, sitting on top of the small hill, his yellow armor awash in moonlight. Prime stopped Wheeljack from going to him.
“He is not the transformer you remember, my friend.” Twenty years was going to pass by slowly, Prime agonized.
Bumblebee hid his head in his arms and a small wail of grief was heard by them all, carried on the night’s wind.

And pass slowly they did.





The End of Fragments of Allspark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part two: Fragments of Memory, coming soon.

A/N: I hoped you all enjoyed Fragments of Allspark; part two will start just as soon as I finish the last Harry Potter book. Mwahaha, had ya going there, didn’t I? Now for a little crack-

Rather than go into several details cataloging every step of Hot Rods journey to Earth, I’m going to skip it entirely. It’s mostly boring and full of self-discovery and angst anyway. I’ll cover it later in a spinoff. It’s called “Fragments of Crack” so look forward to some awesome humor. I also didn’t want to write twenty years of Transformer-be-bored chapters, so that will be covered, quite hilariously in the spinoff as well. Prime develops an addiction problem, Bumblebee goes Emo and paints himself black, Ratchet and Wheeljack experiment with humans, Ironhide single-handedly stomps out terrorism, Oh, and Hot Rod and Bluestreak get high-speed internet, and learn all about torrent sharing. =3

A/N: I finished reading Harry 7 and slept a bit and then realized i couldnt stop writing this fic, so here is the next installment. Didnt make a new thread as to not clutter stuff up.


Fragments of Memory
A sequel to Fragments of Allspark



Chapter 1: Destination Victory

In the Far Reaches of the Galaxy…

The proud warrior knelt before the gathering of his elders, on a balcony in a high tower. He placed his hands on the ground and bowed his forehead, groveling at each pair of feet. The custom allowed for his ascension without animosity, and it was a centuries old practice, and his face was a mask of serenity and contriteness.
“Please allow me to lead you, Brother.”
He threw himself at the last pair of feet, and forced the oath one last time. His insides were boiling. A senseless tradition, full of humiliation! It would be the first to go once he was their leader. He mentally checked himself and backed away on his knees, his nose still touching the ground. The council of Brother’s stared at him, their gazes pierced into him. He resisted the urge to squirm. It had taken almost twenty years to climb to the top of the social order, even if his old rank was one of the highest. Contention for the honor had been brutal, and silent murders in the dead of night were a trifle compared to this moment.
“Arise, not our son, but our Leader. And bear with you, the responsibility and burdens of all your people.”
Called the Brother’s in unison. Starscream could hardly believe it, as he rose as elegantly as possible. The golden dias was placed upon his head.
“All hail Starscream, high-ruler of the Decepticons!”
The cry echoed over the moon’s rough landscape, as the mass of transformers below the tower cheered. Starscream smiled and pumped one fist in the air, enticing another wave of cheers from below. It was time.



Earth, year 2027, Margo desert, southwestern corner of Afghanistan

The wind was blowing hard, and sand had crept into every crevice and sensor Ironhide had. Not the first sandstorm he had endured, but certainly the worst, he remained crouched behind a small outcropping of rock. His gleaming black armor had been repainted a dull brown, with streaks of even duller brown. This made him virtually invisible to the humans huddled next to him, however, and was the perfect camouflage. Lance Corporal Blade Lennox rapped on Ironhide’s arm.
“Its not letting up, should we call for evac?!” The young man shouted over the howling wind. LCpl Lennox was a rising talent in the Marine Corps, and the 19 year old son of Captain Lennox, an old friend of the Autobots. Blade’s older sister, Rosemarie, was entering graduate school at 23.

The Autobot shook his head and pointed soundlessly to the north. A small village had been visible just over the lolling dunes shortly before the storm had hit. That village had been the last hope, and the small band of remaining Marines would get there. No sandstorm would get in their way. There were half a dozen men left, their armor and fatigues stolen in a town bordering the Margo desert. Only undershirts bearing the USMC logo were protecting them now. They had three guns, and one working radio left. No doubt the band of Marines was being searched for ravenously by their brothers, but Ironhide had ordered a strict radio silence. This village was their last hope. A slackening in the wind allowed Ironhide to scan the smooth stone bunkers ahead, and his vision picked up on something he had been searching for these past 17 years. He stood suddenly, his armor morphing into his arsenal of plasma cannons.
“Let’s go, men!”
Six Marines and a giant robot skirted the edge of the village until Ironhide gave the signal with a sweeping of his great arm. Gunfire lit the blazing afternoon, and people fell to the sand, their life’s blood making a horrible contrast to the terrain. Ironhide fired blast after blast until he forced his way to the center of the village. The roof of a small hut was torn off and revealed a man huddling in terror. A sigh of relief washed over the Autobot. It was over, he could finally go home.

Sergeant Major William Jenahide himself pinned the metal of honor on Ironhide’s chest (well, it was a small magnet on the back that held it) and his had was enveloped in a giant handshake.
“Thank you, Ironhide, for saving my life. I was a prisoner of war for so long; I thought I would die in the company of terrorists. Because of you, I got to meet my grandchildren.” The Marine stepped away and his place taken by the President of the United States.
“You, and your kind, have been the guardians of our planet for almost 25 years now. But until recently we hid your existence because we were unsure of your intentions. You have shown us the way by sharing your superior technology, helping us in the global fight against terrorism, and by protecting the earth and all its inhabitants selflessly. It is because of you, Ironhide, and your comrades, Hot Rod, Bluestreak, Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Wheeljack, that this country and the world now has clean air, pure water, and is finally free of terrorism. May the human race thank you and pay you back thousand-fold for your honor and bravery.”
Ironhide was too choked up to respond.

Bluestreak made a scoffing noise and flipped his middle finger at the television.
“That is the biggest bunch of crap I’ve ever heard!” He exclaimed.
Optimus Prime chuckled. Hot Rod kicked the TV and sent it flying against the wall.
“Knock it off, boy! I’m not going to keep fixing them.” Ratchet growled angrily from a floor below.
“But it is so wrong!” Hot Rod pouted, “Crime in the U.S. is so bad that we can’t reveal our location to the public, for fear of getting dismantled, and that jackass president think that because our intelligence ops and Ironhide’s reconnaissance missions have wiped out extremists from the Middle East, that everything is just peachy-f***ing-keen?”
Prime was no longer startled by Hot Rod’s creative cursing. Wheeljack shrugged.
“Well, at least we are all home now. We can get this sand out of our joints once and for all. And we have a great base to call home, thanks to Bumblebee.”
“I suppose letting us build underground in the National Forrest in Michigan is ‘paying us back thousand-fold’?” Bluestreak said his voice leaden with sarcasm.

”Quit whining; this base is seven stories high.” Ratchet called again.
“Low.” Hot Rod and Bluestreak said in unison.
Prime silenced the two with a look.
“Just be grateful that the government approached us at all, 17 years ago we still had that concrete bunker. Now we have every comfort technology can afford.”
“Yes, Prime.” The two muttered reluctantly. Prime looked to Wheeljack but he was lost in thought, his head cocked slightly to the side. The leader of the Autobots uttered a sigh and looked around. He was glad of the distraction in the Middle East had brought his team, but being back in the U.S. was good. They had all visited Captain Lennox, and personally brought his son Blade home. It was a good visit, one of very few human visits they had over the past 20 years.

Prime was glad to have a proper base to come home to, as Bumblebee grew more than slightly murderous at the thought of working for the government; he stayed behind to receive shipments and build their new home. An impressive job, too; it was seven stories…low…since it was built into the ground. Mostly circular, Bumblebee had fashioned an entire floor for Ratchet’s work, and another for Wheeljack’s inventions; this was reinforced several times over to prevent the whole base from exploding when one of Wheeljack’s experiments went awry, as they often did. Two floors were dedicated to private bedrooms for each Autobot, Bumblebee had taken residence on the lowermost floor. Two more floors were laden with gadgets and treasures that had been gifted to the Autobots from the government, and other governments around the world. Bumblebee just threw those were they were out of the way as he had no interest in gifts from the people who once tortured him. The last and highest floor was designated to enjoy all the human comforts they could, with high end computers, a giant TV (now in a smoking heap thanks to Hot Rod) and a huge collection of movies. Prime wondered where Bumblebee had gone off to, a small note on the door had welcomed them home and said he would be around shortly.
“When Ironhide gets back from Washington D.C., we will need to re-paint him. That camouflage is hideous.” Wheeljack said suddenly, his head drooping to the side trying to watch the fuzzy, half-ruined picture.” Prime almost fell off his chair in surprise. He had forgotten the inventor was still there.

Going to jump in now....no meaning to inturrupt.Just to say this is good stuff.Keep writing.

Chapter 2: Videos of a Questionable Nature

The afternoon sun glinted off the windshield of a car parked in the back of the lot, facing the small hospital. It had undergone renovations but he still recognized the small side entrance and its protective overhang. Two nurses sat underneath it on a smoking break, laughing over something the other had said. Well, what did he expect, her to be sitting on the stoop waiting for him? He had managed to trace her from foster home to foster home until she was three, then the government had enticed the other Autobots into working for them. He went with them to the Hiawatha forest to quickly break ground for the new base and by the time he had driven all those long miles back from Upper Michigan, she was gone. Adopted, he had overheard, by a couple of geniuses. She was gone; a wisp of smoke caught by a breeze, and flitted out of his life. Twenty years to the day, Bumblebee now sat outside the place where he had let her go. This was just pointless, he thought angrily. There was no way of finding her, because Primus knew he had. They must have changed her name, because all the internet searches, even the ones he had paid a heap of money for, had come up empty. It was like Aria Witwicky had never even existed.

He arrived back at the base a few days later, honestly glad to see the others again. They all gave him a warm welcome, praising his building skills. Some of the greetings were overdone, and he could tell they knew. Bumblebee went through the motions; watching television, playing video games, and listening to their war stories. How he should have been there, and how easy war on Earth was. They were trying to distract him, but when Ironhide showed up a week later, Bumblebee was afforded some privacy. Prime watched him escape to his room, a knowing look on his face. He had guessed correctly. Bumblebee hadn’t found the girl. Prime resisted the urge to go talk to him about it though. They remenised often of Sam and Mikaela, but somehow the subject of Aria had become taboo. Whenever she came up in conversation, sidelong glances at Bumblebee revealed that he clammed up instantly and was in a dark mood for a long time afterward. When someone pushed the subject, Bumblebee resorted to slamming doors. Several thousand dollars later in damages, Prime held a meeting with the others and declared the topic of Aria and her whereabouts off-limits. Bumblebee’s emotions had always gotten the better of him. Prime thought with a tickle of amusement, that he acted just like a human teenager.

Bumblebee’s days were a haze, now that it had crashed over him. The sheer determination to see her again had kept the years going. Hard work had substituted where his resolve faltered, but now it was an undeniable reality that he might never find Aria again. They all knew he was drifting, and did their best to include him. Occasionally, the others had to go to some presentation for some city, to keep up the reputation. Prime always knew stuff like that. On those days he was alone, he found himself repairing sections of the base that were perfectly fine, and racing in circles through the tracks he had created in the dense forest. Occasionally he would stop and just sit on the side of a small lake he had happened across and think. The days going by after his trip to the hospital seemed like twenty years all over again, and he didn’t know how much longer he could take it. He had to do something, because sitting here was driving him slowly mad. Maybe he would take a trip around the country. The others had gotten to see the world, so why shouldn’t he? Bumblebee came home that evening to tell Prime he was leaving only to find Hot Rod and Bluestreak huddled over a laptop giggling.

Bumblebee supposed they were watching more ‘videos of a questionable nature’ as Ratchet put it so delicately. The two had developed an affinity for Earth women, and perused the internet in that fashion often. When Optimus Prime asked them once why they liked Earth women, Hot Rod replied with something so graphic about softness and curves, that Prime never breached the subject again. As Bumblebee walked past the two to go to his room, he glanced at what was playing on the laptop and froze. A girl on the screen was performing an experiment, wearing hot pants, and creating an electrostatic wind which tossed her long brown hair nicely. She was explaining the steps in a melodic voice.
“What-?” was all he could choke out.
“It’s the newest episode of Sexy Science.” Bluestreak called out absentmindedly. “She’s a graduate student in Maine.”
“She pays for her schooling by making these lessons and selling them to guys who need a tutor.” Hot Rod offered.
“She’s wearing little shorts…” Bumblebee commented in a strangled voice. The girl’s large brown doe-eyes were dancing excitedly now as she explained the properties of electrons and the fusion process.
“Amazing legs, eh? The curves on these women never cease to amaze me.” Bluestreak said helpfully.
“Where did you-?” he faltered again.
“You-Tube.” Hot Rod answered, as the girl ended the segment by blowing a kiss to the camera. The video paused there, the girl still pursing her lips to blow the kiss from her palm. Ironhide, freshly painted black again, happened by and glanced at the screen.
“Tsk! Are you starting to watch their pile of Earth porn as well, Bumblebee?”
“This isn’t porn, its science!” Bluestreak said defensively.
“She’s the youngest graduate student in Maine in decades and needs to pay her tuition. We’re –helping- her by watching this.” Hot Rod shot at Ironhide.
“Whatever,” Ironhide said, giving up. “That girl looks a lot like Mikaela, though.” He said and patted Bumblebee comfortingly on the shoulder as he walked away. Yes, thought Bumblebee with a spike of hope leaping in his chest. Yes she does.






A/n: Thanks so much to those of you reading and to the people commenting. You are keeping me going by your interest. =3

Chapter 3: Give Chase

The sheets were a tangle as she awoke suddenly, her chest heaving. Her brow was dotted with sweat and she quickly switched on the small lamp on the nightstand. A small dorm was flooded with soft light, illuminating the modest decorations. Arianna flopped back down on her pillows. Another nightmare- crashes and explosions, metallic screeching, and then as always, the blue light came and carried her safely away. She was an intelligent young woman, but she could never quite figure out what the hell those dreams were about. That mysterious blue light always appeared in her dreams; twin orbs of sanctuary had always been the rescuing factor in any nightmare. A sharp rapping at the door scared Arianna just as she was drifting to sleep again, and with a yelp she fell out of bed in a heap of blankets.
“MMMPPH!” she called angrily.
“Get up, Ari, its time for work.” called a muffled male voice from behind the door.
“Argh…fine, just a second!” she yelled, and jumped into a pair of jeans and her work shirt. She brushed a few quick strokes through her long hair and put it in a lopsided ponytail. Arianna opened the door to a short young man with messy brown hair.
“You know, Allen, I do know how to set my alarm clock.”
“Yet you never do.” He chuckled and they walked down to his vehicle together.

Allen and Arianna were siblings, but though they were the same age, they weren’t twins. Both of them had been adopted by the same couple. Edward and Louise Walther were the most caring parents either of them could have hoped for. Geniuses, though they were, they remained first and foremost dedicated parents. Allen and Arianna often played at their lab as the two tried to develop a cure for cancer. They adopted purely for that reason; both sides of their family were riddled with cancer, and they didn’t want to bestow the same fate on biological children. They didn’t develop their cure in time though, as they had died when Arianna and Allen were seniors in high school from the disease, within months of each other.

Arianna and Allen, aside from their shade of brown hair, looked completely different from one another. Allen was of medium height, with a barrel chest and heavy arms. He preferred sports, whereas Arianna was like their parents and obsessed over books and science. She was short, and slender, with long legs and cascading brown hair. Most men thought her extremely attractive, but Arianna didn’t really notice. Her nose was too often buried in a book to deal with such things. It was only at Allen’s insistence that she started making those damned tutoring videos. It had made them a small fortune so far, though she despised those little skirts and shorts. The two spilled out of the black bronco SUV, and jogged up to the dark department store. Their manager was waiting with the side door open.
“You two are impossible! Go punch in, its almost five.” The manager said, exasperated. They were never late, but usually arrived with seconds to spare. Neither of them noticed the sleek yellow car parked across the street.

Several hours into her shift, stocking shelves and helping customers as the store opened, Arianna flopped down in the break room. Her mind was still on that nightmare she had that morning. She reached into her pocket and pulled a laminated sheet of paper out of her wallet. It was folded and re-folded so many times that she had it laminated, and ended up folding the lamination just to keep it on her. This was the one thing she had left from her life before the Walther’s. The yellowed paper read in a very sloppy and large script:

You are Aria Witwicky, and you are loved. I will come back for you one day; please don’t forget me.
B.B.

A request to her parents at 14 lead to the discovery that her parents were Samuel and Mikaela Witwicky, who died in a huge terrorist attack some years ago. Who B.B. was, she couldn’t find out. No one in their records, or the family tree indicated anyone with those initials. She deduced it was a friend of theirs; a close friend, to be trusted with her care. This person expected her to remember who he or she was though, at just a few months old. Perhaps it was the saving blue light in her dreams. Maybe this B.B. had blue eyes? Who knew? Something bumped her on the top of the head, bringing her from her thoughts. Arianna looked up and saw that the ceiling was crumbling in.
“Christ on a cross, this place is a dump!” she swore loudly and scooted off to the side.
The few people in the break room looked up from their meals and commented on the ceiling, and one darted to get a manager as it crumbled larger and larger. Suddenly a lump of something fell to the ground with a metallic clang, and much to Arianna’s surprise, proceeded to get up and dust itself off.

The thing resembled a human, but reminded Arianna of a robot. It had silver workings, and deeper silver armor, and bright red eyes. It made an alarming clicking noise and turned to her, an imposing presence at seven feet tall. It shot out its hand and jabbed her in the arm, she cried out and fell to the ground as the thing dropped a splash of her blood on an outstretched instrument protruding from its chest. Arianna scooted away and had her back to the wall, unable to get up and run away. She was too terrified. Several seconds later, the thing began to hop excitedly and a series of clicks and metallic sounds emitted from where she supposed its mouth was. She screamed as it swiftly converted into a motorcycle, more specifically a Suzuki Katana 750, and revved its engine.
“Witwicky!” it called in a very metallic but distinctly human voice. The sides of the motorcycle-robot shot out and grabbed her, fastening her securely to its seat. With a giant rev of its engine, it shot out of the break room and plowed through the store, smacking down customers as they screamed in terror, and broke open a giant window as it launched into the air. Arianna screeched as she was hit by shards of glass, and crossed her arms over her face. Her legs were still held fast to the sides of the motorcycle, as it sailed through the air and landed with a heavy clunk, jarring her head into its handlebars.

Her forehead was poring blood all over her, and she couldn’t see properly as it had gotten into her eyes. The Katana whipped a 180 wildly and sped away with a quick wheelie. She thought she heard an enormous engine roar up behind them as the store was left quickly behind, Allen shouting in panic. The Katana clicked in its strange language again and swerved crazily through side streets, trying to avoid the thing behind him. Arianna could spot a yellow car drawing near and falling back as the motorcycle performed stunts that made her scream in terror. Her tears began to clear her eyes of the blood and she realized that they were headed for the highway. The motorcycle skidded across the grass halfway up the onramp and jumped with a hard thud to the pavement and began speeding, much to her horror, in the opposite direction. Oncoming cars honked and screeched their brakes, swerving to avoid her; she could hear crashes of metal on metal erupting all around her. Arianna started screaming in short bursts of terror when she saw a giant tankard semi jackknifing to try and avoid them. The Katana leaned close to the pavement and Arianna tried not to look at the asphalt speeding by her head at over a 100mph. Her knee bumped the ground as the semi slid over the top of them and she started sobbing as the pain ripped through her leg. A furious roar came from behind her and she turned around the best she could to see the strange yellow car transform into a shape much like the silver robot, except it was much, much larger. The robot grabbed the tankard truck at a run and heaved it over his head, throwing it with a giant wrenching to the side of the highway where it made the most horrible crunching noise. The Katana must have been startled by this because it wobbled and squealed in pain as he popped a tire on shrapnel from the wrecks all around them. They weaved drunkenly with the tire going flat and Arianna suddenly found herself sailing off of an overpass bridge as the robot-motorcycle crashed into the barrier.

It was a calm moment, falling to the ground, where everything went slightly mute. Arianna watched as the pavement rushed up to meet her, and curiously, she wondered what it would feel like to be dead. A blur flung itself past her and she watched, as if in slow motion, the giant yellow car-robot crash to the ground before her and reach up to receive her in his hands. The pavement rippled outward and the robot created a crater with his back, his wings shattering and his head slamming backwards violently. Arianna landed almost softly in his outstretched hands and held fast as they slipped down with her in tow. The robot looked at her, his bright blue eyes almost pleading something. The light in his eyes flickered and he laid his head back to the pavement and groaned. Arianna flinched at the humanity in the groan. This thing had hurt itself to save her. She tried to say something but an overwhelming blackness crept up behind her eyes as she passed out from the head wound.

Chapter 4: Soft Introductions

The crumpled door was of no use anymore. There was no way he could straighten it and fasten it back on. The windows were shattered and he was seriously dented. The camaro form looked horrible, and could barley drive. Bumblebee sat this way for a moment though, debating what to do. They were so far away from base, and stuck in a copse of trees. The dense forest provided adequate cover though, as it continued along most of the wild country state. The girl was curled next to a tree, where he had gently placed her. Thank Primus he had come all this way to see her. Wait till Prime knew the Decepticons were back. Bumblebee hadn’t even recognized that transformer who had taken Aria. Starscream must have gone to the Decepticon base and brought reinforcements. And now they knew who she was. Damnit! If only he had found her sooner!

The hazy blackness lifted and she could see again. She blinked once or twice to clear her vision and found she was staring at the car that was a robot. Her head ached and she cautiously felt, surprised to find an overlarge bandage carefully but clumsily taped over the wound. Arianna looked at her knee, and saw most of a roll of bandages had been used on it. Something tugged at her memory and she realized that she had heard of these giant “saviors of Earth” on television. The campus was abuzz with the prospect of these aliens, but Arianna passed it off as yet another super-advanced warring machine produced by the government. There was no such thing as bio-technical robots. Artificial intelligence was proved improbable years ago. She proper herself on her elbows and leaned against the tree, her legs splayed out before her. The car’s engine fired up and suddenly it transformed back into the giant robot. Much to her dismay, it walked softly over to her. It crouched down, one hand on the ground, and peered at her- eyes wide.

“You are Aria Witwicky, and you are loved.” Bumblebee decided that this direct route was the way to go. He wasn’t very suave with words, anyway. Arianna’s eyes bugged and she gave a little gasp.
“How did you know…?” she couldn’t finish.
“Long ago your father’s last request of me was to protect you. My name is Bumblebee, and I am your guardian.”
Bumblebee. B-B-… Arianna certainly didn’t think the author of her note was a giant robot, but it appeared it was.
“I… My name is Arianna… but my name was once Aria Witwicky.” She shivered despite herself. “You saved me from that motorcycle thing, and you hurt yourself… I am so sorry.”
Whatever Bumblebee had expected in response, it certainly wasn’t an apology. He tilted his head slightly.
“My life before yours, Arianna.” He said simply. “We are in danger now. I’ve sustained too much damage to travel in my car form, and the Decepticons know who you are now. Let me ask you one thing. Do you still carry the charm left with you when I…When you were found?”
“No one knows about that necklace! Not even my brother!” she exclaimed. “Yes I have it, I always wear it…” she pulled on a delicate silver chain around her neck and from beneath her shirt came the glittering shard of Allspark.
“Good. Put it back, and let no one see it.” Bumblebee said nervously. Now that he had found her again, nothing was going to harm her again. That cursed fragment put a heavy price on her head. Her life’s power must be enormous by now.
“…what is a Decepticon?” she interjected gently. Bumblebee looked at her in surprise.
“Don’t you remember? The house, the Xbox bot? When I-“ There was no escaping it, might as well say it “When I left you for the humans?”
“I was only a few months old, how could I remember?” Arianna said a bit defensively. “Though…I think I know your eyes.” His large blue oculars looked to her. “Yes I see your eyes all the time in my dreams, saving me.” She said softly.
Bumblebee swallowed hard. This was no time for his emotions to get the better of him. It appeared as if she didn’t remember after all, and her insistence indicated that perhaps Earth’s children had faulty memories. He himself could remember from the very day of his creation. She shivered again and Bumblebee realized that night was beginning to wash over the landscape. He looked to her again, trying to think of something to say and finally it came to him.
“Get inside,” he said as he transformed. “Stay warm in here and I will tell you everything.”

Arianna was stretched out in the backseat, her thoughts troubled. Her parents were killed by these Decepticons to get to her, and this necklace. She fingered the chain around her neck. They actually wanted her to become a giant robot? Transformer, she corrected herself. She trailed her finger along the roof as she thought, and was startled when Bumblebee let out a chuckle.
“Sorry, can you feel that?” Arianna asked, poking warily at the back of the driver’s seat.
“Yes.” Said Bumblebee softly.
“Does it hurt, me lying here?” she wondered.
“No.” the transformer rumbled.
“How come you don’t have your friends here with you?” she asked suddenly.
Primus, this girl asked a lot of questions. Bumblebee didn’t mind though, he answered just to keep her talking. Hearing her voice was soothing.
“This was my mission. None of them would have understood. Plus I- I wanted to be the one to introduce you to us again. I missed you.” He said, floundering for an answer that wouldn’t make him look like an idiot. Arianna smiled and drew her finger down the roof again, pleased as Bumblebee shook a little.
“Thank you for saving me.” She said, drifting to sleep. They would start traveling through the forest until he could come to a spot where his communicator was in range to call his comrades. Arianna was going with him to his home. She didn’t want the people she loved, her brother, to get hurt because of her. She felt lonely, and was glad for the Autobot’s comforting presence. Bumblebee was nervously enduring her questions and tickling movements, but he almost jerked as Arianna leaned up and kissed the roof.
“Goodnight, my guardian.” She said softly, turning over and falling asleep. Bumblebee strangled out a noncommittal noise.

His thoughts raced as he tried to push the soft presence of his precious Aria from his mind. He had to get away from this place, his communicator was way out of range and the Decepticons were no doubt crawling all over by now, knowing he was injured. He needed to get her back to the base safely. Their combined power could protect her, but he needed to warn Prime! The Decepticons were showing themselves again, after all these long years of peace. They needed to take Starscream down once and for all, along with his Decepticon scum. Bumblebee had only just found her, and he would lay his life down for hers if it came to that. She was intelligent, taking in every word he said with small nods. He hoped it wouldn’t come to his death, because he desperately wanted to know more about her. There was a certain amount of loss now that he had her with him again. Now what? He supposed he would think of something later. Bumblebee drifted into a stasis-like sleep.

Chapter 5: Getting to Know You

The forest seemed to close around them as they traveled further west, but the cover was necessary as Bumblebee had picked up clicks on his communication equipment that he knew to be Decepticon code. She gripped his horn and sat on his shoulder, casually brushing aside limbs that otherwise would have gotten in his face. Her questions hadn’t stopped either. He had told her all about their home planet, why they came to Earth. Mostly she was curious about how he was made, his workings. Bumblebee knew from his own questions that she was a bio-chemistry student, with a master’s degree at 20 years of age. A doctorate was her next goal but after that she didn’t know. Bumblebee explained all he could about his species but told her she would have to talk to Wheeljack and Ratchet once they got to base. He was more adept at hiding his ability for spying, rather than figuring out physiology. Perhaps they could even teach her to fix transformers, he reasoned. She seemed to glow with pleasure at the thought. After a small period of silence she spoke up again.
“I know I ask a lot of questions.” Arianna intoned. “I’ve just always been too curious for my own good. I always used to get in trouble in school because I would run these incredible experiments and talk the other kids into doing it.” She finished with a chuckle.
“Your father was like that. Always scheming and plotting.” Bumblebee offered. “But stuff usually backfired for him. You look a lot like your mother, perhaps that’s why you succeed.”
“I look like my mother?” Arianna asked in a small voice. Bumblebee nodded, dodging around another large pine.
“But your eyes, you have Sam’s eyes.” He said softly. “…and his smile.” Bumblebee was rewarded with that lopsided grin.

They continued on in this fashion, Bumblebee talking about Sam and Mikaela in detail to her. She drank it in hungrily, her questions coming in twos and threes. Bumblebee didn’t mind. This conversation, the gentle presence, filled up his soul. He felt that part of him was missing these past 20 years, and he had finally found it. All the searching and desperation, and crushing loss, had paid off for Arianna. She was engaging, and genuine. He didn’t know what she would have turned out to be had they tried to take care of her themselves. He was just a soldier; he didn’t know how those things worked. The communicator in his arm made a distinct bleeping noise and Bumblebee suddenly crouched low, his arm shot up to steady the girl on his shoulder. His optics dimmed in caution and he scanned the area. The signature of another transformer flashed from behind a strand of bushes and he let out brief burst of gunfire. It squealed bumped into several things before falling. Bumblebee approached it cautiously, Arianna biting her lip to stay silent. The heap of metal became distinguishable, and she almost swore as she realized it was the motorcycle bot.

Bumblebee prodded the Decepticon and realized it was no longer active. Its life’s spark was still there but his body was too damaged to bring it forth. He heaved the smaller transformer on his other shoulder and continued on. A look from Arianna bade him to explain.
“He is alive still, and Ratchet may be able to change his loyalties by fixing him.” Was the explanation. “We have too few Autobots left, and any hope of more is a good reason to try.”
“Why doesn’t your medic and inventor make more?” Arianna inquired.
“Well, there aren’t any surviving fembots, and with us only having one- well, two now, shards of the Allspark, making new life might not be possible.” Arianna got the impression that if he could, Bumblebee would be blushing.
“How old would you be if you were human, ‘Bee?” she had taken to shortening his name, which the Autobot decided he enjoyed.
“Well, I suppose I would be about 18. Though I feel much older, I’ve seen too much for a transformer of my age.” He said somewhat bitterly. She laughed suddenly.
“I’m older than you, then.” She found that highly amusing for a while, much to Bumblebee’s dismay.

After a small argument about his age (of his lack of years, he was defensive, which Arianna found endearing) he very nearly pouted until she declared his Earth age irrelevant. She stared cautiously from time to time at the heap of metal that was her kidnapper. Bumblebee reassured her again.
“If he does start up, Arianna, I won’t let him hurt you again.” He said simply.
Her fears eased, the questions started up again.
“The Decepticons have three shards of this Allspark, and I have one. Where is the fifth?”
Bumblebee shifted uncomfortably.
“I don’t know. I think Optimus Prime has it.” He said evasively.
“You think? Why doesn’t he tell you?” Arianna asked, not so innocently. She was gently probing to find out what was bothering her guardian.
“Well, I kind of…threw it away.” He said lamely.
“You threw away a shard of something that gives life?” she asked incredulously.
“No! I mean- yes- Argh! I threw it at Prime after I had to give you to the humans. I wanted no part of something that caused you any pain.” Bumblebee blurted out. Arianna was please despite herself, though she thought the transformer revealed more than he wished too.
“Sorry.” She said simply, leaning against his head as they continued to walk.
“I should hide nothing from you, Arianna.” He replied.


A bunker in New Mexico came alight with the bright flames of a fusion torch. The man lifted his goggles after a fashion; his white eyes a stark contrast to his blackened face. He started giggling. It was done! All his hard work for so many years and it was finally complete. Perhaps he could go home to his family now, if they were still alive like his captor had promised. He stepped back, wiping his forehead. The giant rectangular box looked a lot simpler that it really was. 50 feet tall and 20 feet wide, a blasting door was in place to slam down at a buttons touch to enclose whatever it was that was supposed to be trapped in there. Several sensors were built into the side, and what looked like a giant scan bar was fastened to the back. Five small empty triangles were on the control pad next to a giant switch. The computer had been programmed to utilize whatever power source the triangles brought to switch from one specific form to the next. Whatever stepped into the chamber would emerge the other. And if it stepped back inside, it would be reverted to its original state. The man planted his hands on his hips. This was a good job; surely they couldn’t keep him here any longer.
“Good job, professor.” the metallic voice from behind said softly. They had come! He wondered if his wife thought he was alive still, or if she had moved on after…how ever many years he had been here. He had lost track after a while.
“Yes, yes sir, all you need is the fuel.” The man said, gesturing to the empty triangular slots. The thing facing him appeared to be a giant scorpion, a metal robot he knew better than to try and trick or cross.
“You have done well. Now your reward.” Scorpinok plunged his stinger through the man’s middle and flung him aside. He turned on his communications device and hissed through it in his own language.
“Everything is ready, commander.”
“Excellent, Scorpinok. You shall be rewarded for your service to the high-ruler.” Came the crackled response. Starscream transformed suddenly into his jet form and left his slow orbit around earth, a fire and tremendous sonic boom announced his returned presence to the world.

This is a good story. By the way the robot Scorpion is called Scorponok not Scorpinok.

I've seen it both ways, but Thanks

Chapter 6: You’ll be in my Heart

A/n: Chap title is song © to Phil Collins, Disney


The sun was moving past noon into mid-day when the communicator finally made a little bleep, and kept bleeping. Bumblebee held his arm up, looking at the device with satisfaction. They had a signal at last! He set down the decommissioned Decepticon and moved the screen so Arianna could see.
“Do you see that cluster of dots? Those are the Autobots. If something happens to me, disengage the tracker like this-“ He pressed a small green button “and take it with you to find the others. You can call them like this-“ and hit the large gray button under the display.
“Why would something happen to you, Bee?” Arianna asked nervously.
“Well, now that I’m online, it’s possible the Decepticons will pick up my signal. Let me call the others now though, the sooner we get you to the base the better.” He spoke briefly into the device in a language completely alien to Arianna. A reply came quickly, and she could hear cheering in the background. Bumblebee looked at her with a large smile.
“I told them I found you.”
Arianna blushed. More strange language came out of the intercom, and Bumblebee flipped the casing back over it.
“Ratchet and Hot Rod will be here in about a day; I gave them the coordinates.”
They sat on a hill dotted with trees that folded out into a lush valley and waited.

The Decepticon studied the crash site where their charge last went missing. Fusion had failed; he knew the young bot couldn’t handle it by himself. Speed wasn’t everything. He sent out a tentative wave of thought, trying to touch on Fusion’s signature. It was met with a dull block, and Soundwave knew the Decepticon was near death. She had gotten away, and another set of seeking waves revealed that Bumblebee had taken her. Time for plan B. Starscream had told him that the destruction of the girl’s city would draw her back. He opened his chest cavity and his mini-bots flew out one after the other. Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ratbat, and Rumble spun to attention.
“We avenge Frenzy now.” Soundwave said shortly. They had all grieved for the last addition to his simbiotic mini-bots. “As much destruction as possible.” The bots nodded in unison and started leaping excitedly to do their Brother’s bidding.

Arianna stood and with a sinking feeling watched as a cloud of blackness rose over the dense trees behind them. That was the city! Her friends…her brother! They were all there. What was that smoke? Bumblebee stood as well, his face grim, and he put a hand on the girl’s shoulder.
“We need to keep our place. We are hidden here and can reman so until the others get here.” Several balls of fire started erupting, and more trendils of smoke appeared. Soon, they watched as the whole skyline became a dense cloud of smoking destruction.
“Bee, that’s my home! My brother is there, I can’t loose another family member!” she cried desperatley.
“The Decepticons are behind this. They know I took you.” His voice was leaden. Soundwave was no doubt in the area. “We cannot go back.”
“But people are dying! They’re dying because of me!!” Arianna screamed. Small explosions were now audible. She shook off Bumblebee’s hand and darted suddenly off of the hilltop back into the forest. Bumblebee leapt after her.
“Wait! No, you can’t!” he called out, sweeping his hand to catch her. She pounded on his fingers.
“You let me go! Let me go right now! How am I supposed to leave? Its my –home-!” she yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“You are the reason I’m here, your saftey is the most important thing!” he yelled back, her tears unhinging his nerves.
“Important to who? The only person I have left in the world is still there!” Arianna pointed to the skyline behind them.
“Then he is already dead.” Bumblebee said, bringing her chin around to meet her gaze. “No sacrifice, no victory. That is the Witwicky family motto.” He said, stilling himself forecfully at the sight of her red-rimmed eyes.
“Yeah, well, it sucks.” She said, knowing she wasn’t being very nice, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t Arianna the intellect and logical thinker right now. She had taken in all this nonsense about her and this shard of Allspark, knowing that to go with Bumblebee was the right thing. But she was now Ari, a lost girl, clinging behind her brother for protection from playground bullies, burying herself in research to ignore the glares of less intelligent students, wailing in greif at the casket of her father- and weeks later her mother.

“You’re important to me.” Bumblebee said softly.
“Because I might kill all of you one day when the Decepticons get me?” She scoffed.
“No, because- because you are you! You’re my most important mission…the most important person in the world to me. You have no idea how much it hurt to let you go! I can’t let you go again, especially into that!” he gestured to the city behind them. “I endured twenty years without you, and I wont loose you just after I’ve found you again!” Bumblebee cried. “The last time I saw you I swore I’d come back for you and protect you, and I loved you! I didn’t know it was possible to love something as small as you were, but I did and it almost killed me to give you to the humans!” he raved, staring intensely into her eyes. Arianna’s mouth hung open in shock. She had no idea- she thought that he was just carrying out his mission. That he was glad to see her because her real dad had wished it of him. Bumblebee opened his mouth as if to say something more, but instead set her down gently and ran back out to the hill. She stood there, not really knowing what to do. No one had ever spoken to her like that. The only people in her life that ever loved her was her family. She walked back out to the slope, finding the Autobot sitting with his hands around his legs.

Oh Primus, what the hell did he think he was doing? He was a soldier, and she was his mission. It didn’t matter that she was the last link to a boy he came to feel was a brother. It didn’t matter that he had once been able to cradle her in the palm of his hand. It didn’t, –shouldn’t-, matter that she had finally smiled at him after so long, just before he gave her away. She-was-his-mission. Nothing more, nothing less. Prime would have killed him for that little outburst. His emotional processor was way out of wack.
“Sh**.” He said simply and clunked his head to his knees. “Sh**, sh**, sh**.” Each curse was accented by a clunk.

Arianna walked up to him slowly, reaching out a hand, drawing it back suddenly when he bashed his head. She was alarmed when he did it again three times.
“Hey, don’t hurt yourself…” she said softly. Her hand went to his back and trailed to his arm as she came around to face him.
“Hmmph.”
“Seriously, its allright.” Arianna held fast to his arm. One ocular peeked out from behind his knees.
“I’m sorry- I shouldn’t have…I-“
“I wont leave you.” Her words cut off his attempts at an apology
“I didn’t want to tell you.” He said, averting his gaze.
“I understand.” Arianna said and reached out to be picked up. He complied and placed her in his hands. “I have never had to give up anything in my life until I agreed to come, but I know you will be there with me, protecting me.” She explained softly. They sat like that until the sun reached a slow death on the treeline before them, her head resting on his chest, his hands holding her.

Chapter 7: Battle Tactics


Their arrival was announced by Hot Rod, who leapt at the yellow Autobot and tackled him to the ground. Arianna yelped and rolled halfway down the slope in surprise before Ratchet grabbed her up and studied her with great intensity. The emotions he smelled on her were a jumble of fear, denial, love and crushing loss. Love?
“You have grown, Aria Witwicky. I am Ratchet; it is good to see you again.”
“My name is Arianna now,” she corrected “and it’s nice to meet you.” He shook her hand and a grin split across his face.
“I’m glad to see you no longer mess yourself.” This raised Arianna’s eyebrows.
“Don’t hog the fleshy; I want to meet her too!” Hot Rod interrupted, letting Bumblebee go from a headlock and put out his hands. Arianna stepped into them, looking up at the boisterous transformer.
“You must be Hot Rod.” She smiled.
“How did you know? Bumbles, can the girl read minds?”
“No, you moron, she’s just more intelligent than you are.” Bumblebee said grumpily, picking himself up off the ground.
Hot Rod snorted and put the girl down, speaking over his intercom to Optimus Prime in that strange language of electronic sounds.
“Bumbles?” Arianna said with a sideways glance at her guardian.
“Don’t ask.” He said, rubbing his temples.

“Right, we have our orders. Ratchet, you are to bring Bumblebee up to full capabilities then transport the girl and the Decepticon shell back to headquarters. Bumblebee and I are to go back into the city and limit human casualties.” Hot Rod said, in his serious mode. He was very much the lieutenant Prime had promoted him to now. Bumblebee let out a grunt of indignity.
“I’m not leaving her, Hot Rod.” He said, folding his arms.
“You won’t be leaving her Bumblebee; you’ll meet us back at the base in a few days time. All scans indicate that only one Decepticon has invaded the city with a few mini-bots.” Ratchet reasoned. “It shouldn’t take you that long to clean up the mess.”
“I said no. I’ve worked too hard for this and I’m not just going to hand her over.”
“Primus, boy, it’s not like you’re sending her to her demise! I can protect her as well, you know.” Ratchet said, clearly annoyed. Hot Rod tapped his foot in impatience.
“NO, I won’t do it!” Bumblebee said stubbornly. Arianna looked nervously from Autobot to Autobot. She had never seen her guardian look so dangerous. Strike that, Arianna thought. A foggy vision came to her; a swerving motorcycle, a scream, and a robot roaring as he threw a semi out of his way to get to her. She offhandedly wondered how far he could throw another transformer. Hot Rod silenced more bickering between the two with a sharp rise of his hand. He turned to Bumblebee, leaned forward, their faces nearly touching.
“Are you disobeying the DIRECT ORDERS of your SUPERIOR OFFICER, SOLDIER!?”
Arianna saw the capabilities of the facial structure of his sophisticated species as Bumblebee seemed to go through every emotion from rage to contriteness in a matter of seconds. His struggle ended on forced resolve.
“No SIR!” he snapped to attention.
“That’s what I thought.” Hot Rod said, crossly.


His high wheels spun in the soft ground, raising twin lines of dirt several feet in the air. Hot Rod ground his accelerator and shot ahead with a satisfying roar. Arianna screeched and then started laughing as she clutched the steering wheel in Hot Rod’s driver seat. He was entertaining her while Ratchet repaired Bumblebee (who remained silent and emotionless) because the medic was exasperated. The girl had hovered, poked, reasoned and even –argued- with him about how best to go about his job. She had asked approximately seventy-eight questions when Ratchet gently nudged her towards Hot Rod. The young Autobot was glad to take over, as he wanted to make it up to her for yelling at Bumblebee. Soon enough, Bumblebee’s wings were intact and the rest of his minor injuries repaired. Bumblebee was slightly embarrassed that Arianna had seen his inner workings earlier but knelt in front of her as Ratchet transformed and Hot Rod placed the Decepticon in the empty bay.
“I will be at the base in no time, you’ll see.” He said with a wavering smile. Arianna wondered just who he was trying to convince, her or himself. With a final lock of their eyes, lasting longer than they both realized, he stood and walked away stiffly. Hot Rod and Ratchet exchanged a significant glance and then all parted ways. Arianna watched in Ratchet’s side mirrors until Bumblebee vanished from sight.

The scene that lie before the two Autobots was horrific, to say the least. The city had burned nearly to the ground, and people who had gridlocked the roads to flee had been burned alive in their vehicles as they waited. The firelight cast eerie shadows that would have confused lesser soldiers in the moonless night. Hot Rod recognized the destructive power; Soundwave and his small army of mini-bots had been sent to dispatch Starscream’s orders. He immediately shut off all of his unnecessary devices, knowing Soundwave could read electronic signatures, and glanced over to see that Bumblebee had already done so. He was younger than the intelligence expert, but not by much. Bumblebee had been an Autobot warrior for many years longer than himself though, and a better spy could not be found. By rights, Bumblebee should be commanding him, but Prime told his protégé that Bumblebee was not a leader of soldiers. He could have never shouted down a friend, even if it was for the greater good. Hot Rod felt a pang of guilt and knew suddenly that his new position would age him quickly. Bumblebee was a master of himself only, and more suited to lead the downtrodden, hearts ablaze. Hot Rod fronted his oculars and scanned. Bumblebee had already disappeared from sight by now. Separate but aware of each other’s location, they prowled the city. Not a sound save for the empty talk of fire consuming its victims reached their sensors. Soundwave had most likely left already, his goal no doubt to draw back the girl. After several hours of destruction had not done so, the Decepticon had abandoned his effort.

Bumblebee eased over a heap of bricks, edging his way low behind a strand of cinderblocks several feet high. He would carry out his orders faithfully, but those orders didn’t say that he could not check on the status of Arianna’s brother. The department store where she worked loomed over a rise, dotted by the charred remains of trees. Its roof had sunken in and fire crawled slowly across it. They had been too late to limit human casualties. The surviving humans had long fled, as the decimation had begun over a day ago. The faintest blip crossed Bumblebee’s enhanced vision mode and his guns came out silent at the ready and his battle shield locked over his face. Two Decepticons Bumblebee could not identify mounted the slight rise from the other side. His cinderblock cover was scant, but he could make the most out of virtually nothing. The two enemies spoke to one another in strange hand signals, and one moved out westward. The other began digging carelessly through rubble near the department store. This was a recon mission, Bumblebee recognized; they were trying to recover any information about Arianna. He wasn’t the most powerful warrior in hand to hand combat, but ambush was his specialty. The faintest turn and his guns silenced themselves and a long nozzle rose out in one’s place. A slight hole in his cover proved opening enough to prop the butt of his long range rifle noiselessly. A single shot rang out with a sharp crack and the Decepticon’s life expired before he fell to the ground, a large hole in his cranium leaked the all the Energon from his body in seconds.

Hot Rod heard the Decepticon coming long before he saw him. Judging by the pace of his run, the Decepticon knew he was there as well. His fighting style was perhaps the complete opposite of Bumblebee’s. Hot Rod geared up his entire arsenal, considering he didn’t know what kind of power he was about to clash with, and ran full bore at the dot appearing on the dark horizon. The enemy transformer saw Hot Rod as well and both their paces increased. A shout of pure aggression ripped from Hot Rod as they began firing upon one another. The skilled Autobot dodged the missiles effortlessly, taking the smaller pings of gunshots as a penalty for his maneuvering. A large plasma blast sent him flipping in the air, landing with his legs nearly to the ground, his hands before him. The fool! Using plasma would just waste his energy. Obviously this Decepticon was just here to pick up the pieces, not well trained for battle. Hot Rod almost pitied him. His head shot up, battle mask in place, and he charged again.

They clashed, hands grappling where missiles had failed, a squealing of metal deafened the Decepticon. He hadn’t known to turn off his sensory equipment before hand to hand combat. Fool of a transformer! Hot Rod slipped his hand underneath the other’s leg and lifted with a breath of effort and ripped sharply upward, severing the Decepticon’s wiring. The Decepticon wailed at the sudden pain and shot Hot Rod with another blast of plasma, the force blew both backward and Hot Rod’s chest plating was severely damaged. He was going to malfunction and screw something up if this didn’t end soon, that idiot kept using plasma like he’d never been taught how to control it. It was growing clear that the enemy would kill itself trying to kill him; a very dangerous enemy indeed. A small switch turned over deep inside Hot Rod and his eyes went blank, a slow red crept into the dark oculars. He adjusted his cannons and slapped his arms together, morphing his firing shafts. An ominous glow built up inside the singular weapon, and with a drawing of air that shook the earth around him, Hot Rod blasted the Decepticon with his most powerful weapon: Balefire. Nothing was left where the Decepticon had stood, save for where the rubble had melted into a glass-like substance reminiscent of basalt from a lava flow.
“Bumblebee, the enemy has been dispatched. Recover what you can of the girl’s. We leave in an hour’s time.”
“Roger that.”





A/n: “Balefire” is used a lot in fantasy settings, and commonly reused as a powerful weapon amongst authors. I give credit for learning of it to Robert Jordan and the Wheel of Time series. His idea of it differs greatly from mine however, but I thought I should mention the reference nonetheless.