A/N: This bunny bit me while I was doing math, and I had to get it down (I kept on messing up the problems :P ). This is post-DOTM; about 16 years later. Well, it doesn't start off at sixteen years later, but the main plot is about sixteen years later. :) And I promise I'll get back to MBHE soon; I just have to get a few other things out of my bunny breeding farm first. Hope you like!
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not Wikipedia, not Youtube, and sadly, not Transformers either…
Warning: Alcohol use, and hinted abuse. Possible OOC Sam, but given the reason, it might not be OOC, and others are probably OOC as well, but, that's up to you to decide…
Not long after the Decepticon's defeat at Chicago, Sam proposed to Carly, who happily said 'yes'.
Their wedding had been larger than the average; due to the fact that everyone they knew and were acquainted to had been invited. This included military officers like Lennox and Epps, and obviously included were the Autobots, who felt honored to be a part of a sacred human ceremony.
Soon after they had been married, Sam and Carly announced that they were pregnant. Being a youngling, Bumblebee was confused by this and questioned how Sam could be pregnant, since he was a male. Sam explained to him that it was not literal; only Carly was really pregnant, and 'Bee made a noise of understanding.
During Carly's pregnancy, the Autobots asked many questions to her, which she answered as best as she could. The one's that she were too embarrassed to answer they googled…and promptly tried to purge their processors of. They searched Youtube and Wikipedia for 'child birth;' only Ratchet seemed entranced by it.
After nine months of pure torture (so I have been told…), Carly finally gave birth to a healthy young boy, who they decided to name Sam, after his father.
Little Sam (whom was soon nicknamed Sparkplug) was not entirely raised around the Autobots. When Sam had time off of work and Carly had some free time, they would go and see their friends at the N.E.S.T. base. Sadly, this was not often, and soon even Bumblebee did not get to see his best friend that much anymore, since he was with the other Autobots around the world protecting the earth from terrorists and the like.
When Sparkplug was a little over 2 years old, Carly had her second child; a son they decided to name, Spike.
Spike and Sparkplug now only got to see the Autobots a couple of times a year, and the rest of the time their parents told them stories about the battles fought with the Decepticons on earth that they had participated in.
4 years later, when Sparkplug was 6 and Spike was 4, Sam and Carly had one more son, and they agreed on calling him Daniel.
By this time, stories were all that remained of the Autobots and Decepticons in the Witwicky household, and even though their parents seemed to move on with their lives, the children desperately wanted to be involved in the Autobots lives.
Sparkplug would tell his brothers all that he could remember of the Autobots, and from what Spike and Daniel heard, they sounded very fun.
"One day, I'm going to join the army so I can be with the Autobots!" Sparkplug exclaimed to his first-grade teacher, who sighed and muttered something about 'childhood fantasies' as she moved on to the next student in her class; asking them what they wanted to be when they grew up.
His teacher's disbelief did not phase Sparkplug, nor his brothers, who shared the same dream.
When they told their parents what they wished to be in the future, however, they were stunned that they were discouraged from becoming partners with the Autobots.
"That's nice and all, but you should focus on doing something that will get you money; like maybe you could be a lawyer or doctor instead," Sam and said, and Carly added, "What the Autobots do is very dangerous, and good boys like you shouldn't be soldiers."
The years ran by quickly, it seemed, and by now Sparkplug was a 16 year old who worked in a mechanics shop, Spike was a studious 14 year old boy, and Daniel was almost 11.
The older of the two boys tried to take their parents advice all those years ago about the Autobots, but Daniel did not.
He still desired to be with the Autobots, and no amount of convincing could change his mind.
Life was going great for the Witwicky family, until tragedy struck one cold evening in a hospital in Chicago, Illinois.
Carly had been diagnosed with cancer a few years back, and it was thought that she only had 2 years left to live, but after surpassing that, the family thought that she would be alright again.
Oh, how they were wrong.
Quite suddenly, the cancer had resurfaced, and after a month of battling the disease, she passed away in the middle of the night.
The loss of their mother struck the boys and their father hard, and while Sam's parents tried to console with him, he refused to move on, and wallowed in his grief.
Soon, Sparkplug was fired from his job, Spike's excellent grades took a plummet, and Daniel's cheerful disposition refused to resurface. Sam took this loss the hardest, and sadly, resorted to alcohol to be his healing medicine.
His boys suffered greatly for this, as he started to become angrier with them, and one night, he actually struck Sparkplug across the face, and shouted obscene curse words at him.
The violence continued from there, and the three boys had to resort to sneaking out of the house in order to just go to school.
One day, as the school bell rang, Sparkplug's teacher asked him to stay for a moment longer. When the other students had gone, she asked him why he appeared late for school each day, and why he frequently came in with bruises all over.
He so badly wanted to tell the truth, but he knew what would happen if he did, and even though his father had become abusive, he felt as if he couldn't leave the only home he ever had, so he lied. "I guess I don't get enough sleep at night, and my dad tells me I sleep-walk, so I suppose that's the reason for the bruises."
Not entirely believing him, but not willing to push the subject, his teacher bid him farewell, and he went to meet with his brothers out by the front of the school.
The three boys each went to a different school, but they met daily outside of Sparkplug's when the day was done.
"My teacher asked me about the bruises," Sparkplug told the others in a hushed tone. "Mine too," Spike added, and Daniel nodded also.
"We can't keep living like this; we tried to get him some help, but he's still as bad as ever, and I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to end up in an orphanage," the other boys nodded to Sparkplug's statement, and Spike asked, "Well what are we going to do? We have no idea where either of our grandparents are, both Mom and Dad don't have brothers or sisters…"
"I have an idea," Daniel spoke up, and the older boys turned to give him the spotlight, "What about the Autobots? You guys remember where the base is, right, and I'm sure that they would let us live with them, given our current circumstances."
"Daniel, I don't think that that's…" Sparkplug started, but Daniel firmly interrupted him. "Do you have a better idea? And what happened to the dream we had of fighting side-by-side with the Autobots? I don't know about you, but even though Mom and Dad may have thought differently, I want to do what I want to do, and nothing in the world will stop me from doing it."
When Daniel finished, both Sparkplug and Spike were silent for a moment, each of them remembering the dream that had been tossed aside, but not discarded from their minds. Daniel was right; they had wanted to be with the Autobots, and if they honestly thought about it, they still wanted to be with them.
"Alright," Sparkplug conceded, "We'll grab as much as we can carry from home, and then we'll set off for the base; wet or shine, day or night; sound good?" The other boys nodded their agreement, and they set off toward home; their goals revived and purposes renewed, not knowing the adventure that lay ahead in their lives.
…..
When the trio of boys got home, the snuck as quietly as they could across the living room; their dad was asleep, and they had no desire to wake him up.
They reached their room without waking Sam, and packed as much as they could in their backpacks and headed out into the living room towards the door as quietly as they had entered. But to their horror, their dad was standing in front of it with his arms crossed, and an ugly scowl on his face that made them involuntarily take a few steps back.
"And where are you three going this lovely evening?" he said in that sickly sweet voice he had when he was in a drunken rage.
"Over to our friends' for a party," Spike lied, and Daniel frantically nodded his head in agreement.
Seemingly believing them, he said, "Good riddens, and try to die on your way there, Satan knows that my life is a hell on earth with you," and they got out as fast as they could, thankful that he didn't try to hurt them on their way out.
"So, Sparkplug, you remember the base best; where is it?" Spike asked as they walked through the busy streets of Chicago.
"Out in the middle of nowhere, but I remember the way like the back of my hand; the only problem is that it is way too far away to get there on foot, we could use a car to get there."
"Think we could call a taxi?" Sparkplug tilted his head in response, but then snapped it up and smiled as he saw a sign on a car in an ally that read, 'If you can fix it, you can have it.'
"That looks like a piece of junk," Daniel remarked from by Spike, and Sparkplug told them, "Maybe, but I think I could fix it; I am a mechanic after all." Finding some nearby tools in a dump, he set to work on repairing the many problems that he could with the tools he had.
"That should do it; now since there's no key I'll have to hot-wire it…" sparks flew as he tried to hot-wire the engine, and after five minutes of trial and error, the old car sputtered and roared its engine as it successfully turned on.
"Think we're gonna die in this?" Daniel whispered to Spike, whom replied, "Yep, it's a given."
"Alright my bros, let's get this road-trip started!" Sparkplug exclaimed as he climbed into the worn driver's seat, Spike and Daniel sitting in the back.
After jerking a few times, the car soon rolled smoothly onto the road, and while Sparkplug continued to focus on driving, Spike and Daniel sheepishly ducked their heads from the stares of bewildered passer-biers who were in shiny new cars.
After almost 4 hours of driving on the road, the boys were now in the country-side of Illinois, and Sparkplug soon exclaimed, "There it is!" startling Spike and Daniel out of a half-sleep.
"We're there?" Daniel asked, and Sparkplug nodded his head in response, continuing down the dirt road that led toward the base, which was a ways down the road.
When they got there, they hopped out of the rust-bucket car and ran up to the enormous doors of the base, only to find that the base they had once know as their friend's home now seemed like it hadn't been occupied in centuries.
Walking around the structure, they saw no way of entering, and they sat down on the grassy ground, tired and defeated.
"What do we do now?" Daniel cried, and Spike tried to reassure him that they would be there.
They rested on the ground for an unknown amount of time, until they heard an extremely loud screech that made them jump out of their skin.
"What was that?" Daniel cried, burying his head in Sparkplug's shirt, and Spike tried to look around for the source of the noise.
He couldn't find it, but he assumed it was the main entrance door that was now open, with two bots that looked almost identical standing in the doorway.
"Aw, man, this sucks! The Hatchet caught us throwin' glue an' glitter on his wrenches, and now we 'ave to clean this base, which we don' even use anymore! Where's da fairness 'n dat?" the orange one said to the green one, and they proceeded to bicker to each other as Spike told Sparkplug and Daniel what he saw.
"Maybe they could take us to the main base?" he suggested, and the others agreed it was worth a shot.
Mustering up courage, Sparkplug walked up to them and asked, "E…Ex…Excuse me?" Startled, the two Autobots jumped with their weapons out; ready to pounce on any intruders. "Who's there?" the green one asked, waving his weapon around, not even thinking about looking toward the ground.
"I…I'm Sparkplug…well, actually, my name's Sam Witwicky, but…."
"SAM?" they both exclaimed, and they transformed their arms back and picked up Sparkplug, excited to see him, "We thought ya'd forgotin' 'bout us!" the orange one said, as he fought with his brother over who go to hold him.
"W…Woah! Please…set me down…guys!" he cried, and they both stopped bickering with each other and did as he asked.
"The Sam that you know is my dad; I'm named after him, but you can call me Sparkplug, and these are my brothers, Spike and Daniel."
"We know who ya are; Carly alwa's brought ya over to the base 'ere; where are they anyway?" the green one asked, and he started to look around for them.
At that, Sparkplug's face fell, and he solemnly explained, "Mom…passed away earlier this year; and Dad…he's become…an alcohol addict…"
"Oh, man…Skids, that ain't good, right?" the orange one asked the green one, who was called Skids, "No it ain't, Mudflap, no it ain't," Skids replied, and they both stooped to the ground and asked in an uncharacteristic tone of voice, "Is there som'thin' ya need from us?"
"Yes, we need someplace to go, and we don't know of anyone we can go to, other than the Autobots; do you think you could take us to your base?" Sparkplug asked, and both Skids and Mudflap thought about it for a minute.
"Ah think we can do that; 'sides, it'll give us an 'cuse to not clean this scrap-heap of a base," Skids said, and they both transformed and threw their doors open for them to hop into.
When all of the boys and their belongings were in, Skids and Mudflap sped off toward the nearby shores of Lake Michigan, where a military cargo ship was waiting for them.
When they boarded the ship, before they could even transform a gruff voice said, "Back already? That place is scrap; it should've taken you far longer to clean it…"
"Woah…ease up Ratchet," Mudflap said, and Skids backed him up, "Yah, we's got somethin' interestin' to show ya; hop out boys!" Sparkplug, Spike, and Daniel all got out of the twin chevys, and they sheepishly waved to Ratchet who crossed his arms and raised an optic ridge, "And you are picking up hitchhikers because…?"
"No we ain't! These are the Witwicky boys, and they've got a story they need to share with the boss-bot," Mudflap said, and he ran off with Skids to do who-knows-what, while Ratchet stared in shock at the boys.
"You three are Sam and Carly's sons? You don't look as healthy as I last remember seeing you," he said, and everyone present promptly heard a happy sound coming from a yellow and black bot by some crates as he came up to Ratchet and looked at the boys with joy in his robotic eyes.
"Yes, Bumblebee, I am surprised they are here too; they said they have something they must say to Optimus, could you go get him?" Ratchet asked, and Bumblebee ran off to do as asked.
Too nervous to say anything yet, Sparkplug, Spike, and Daniel shifted their feet and looked around at the ship they were in until they heard a booming sound coming from ahead of them.
"Sam, Spike, and Daniel Witwicky, an unexpected yet pleasant surprise, what brings you to us?" Optimus Prime asked as he knelt down to the boys' level, and all nervousness Sparkplug felt vanished with the reassuring tone of Optimus' voice, and he told the bots that had gathered around them at the news of the Witwicky boys' return, "Autobots, we have come to you because our mother passed away earlier this year; our father had become an alcohol addict as a result, and he has not been treating us…properly lately," he finished, and he let Optimus process that information, while the others started to make angry statements about what they just heard.
"Silence!" Optimus' commanding voice boomed, and the cargo hold became silent.
"Sam…" he started, but Sparkplug asked that he call him 'Sparkplug' instead of 'Sam.' "Sparkplug, Spike, and Daniel Witwicky, you are welcome to stay with us as long as you desire; know, though, that we face many battles, and you may be put at grave risk, are you certain that you wish to remain with us?" he asked, and the boys each confirmed with a 'yes.'
"Then welcome, Sparkplug, Spike, and Daniel, to the Autobots."
….
A/N: So there wasn't much action in this chapter, but it is a start of action to come. Is it just me, or did Sam and Carly not really seem to enjoy being with the Autobots much? Although, I suppose frequently experiencing near-fatal encounters would not help with that, but still…
As you can see, I made a G1 tribute to their names; I thought it was appropriate. And I made Sparkplug's real name Sam because, let's face it, have you ever met someone who's name was Sparkplug? Didn't think so :P
So let me know if this seems interesting, because if you think this was pretty good, then you are going to love what I in store for next time :D
Ta-ta for now!
Starburst