Hiya guys! Wazzup?

So here's the first part of my Christmas countdown story. Actually, it has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas, I believe... It just popped up in my head and there was a story which would fit perfectly into four chapters. Might as well do an epiloque for new years day if you guys want one ;)

Alright then, enjoy the first chapter!

The Allspark Needs a Body

Part 1: The Meteor Shower

Third POV

"Marco. Marco!" Ratchet pressed a key on the big keyboard connected to the main computer and cut Miko's voice off.

"What is it?!"

He could hear her laughter from the other end of the line. "Dude, I thought Bulk had GroundBridge duty. Where is he?"

The former CMO rolled his optics and answered in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Bulkhead is with Bumblebee on a mission in the west of Europe."

He thought a moment of how he could get rid of the little plague when something came to his mind.

"Shouldn't you be in detention right now?"

Silence.

"I should... yeeeaah..." she answered slowly, obviously not liking the way this conversation turned out like. "You skipped it, didn't you? Bulkhead won't be happy about that."

That was the second when the GroundBridge opened and Arcee and Jack came through.

"So... how am I gonna get to you guys?" Ratchet cut off the connection and turned to his original employment – decoding the Iacon database. He smirked and could swear he could hear Miko's, "He just hung up? RUUUUDE!", even from across such a distance.

Jack laughed and Arcee leaned down to him.

"Do you think that was Miko?"

The human simply nodded with a wide grin on his face and threw his bag over the railing of the lower platform where it landed on a large couch placed in front of the TV.

Miko didn't try to call them again. She understood Ratchets message. It was her problem. He wasn't interested in helping her with something as unimportant as her way of transportation to the base. She would have to wait until detention was over, so that Bulkhead would come and pick her up. Oh joy!

An hour later, they both drove through the entrance of the Autobot base, accompanied by Bumblebee. Bulkhead waited for her to get out until he transformed and Miko gave Ratchet the well-known death-glare. It wasn't as impressive as Ratchets death-glare though. Ratchet didn't even notice it.

Irritated, the little girl stomped up the stairs and threw herself onto the couch where she plugged her MP3-player in and listened to some music. Bulkhead didn't look happy at all when he saw that. Normally, Miko would ask him what they should do or whether they could go out to beat some Decepticon tailpipes, play dune bashing – whatever that was –, but today, her mood seemed to be strangely bad. She never acted like this.

"What do you think Bulkhead? Probably a pretender?" Jack whispered to the girl's guardian in a playfully serious voice.

Arcee smirked and leaned against a wall a few meters away from Ratchet, "What did you do to her? She's never been so quiet before."

The CMO made no effort on answering, so the Autobot femme shrugged it off and opened a bridge for Bumblebee, so that he could go and pick up his charge.

"Ratchet," This was the first time Miko had heard Optimus' voice today. "Prepare a GroundBridge to the following coordinates. It appears that this night will bring us a meteor shower."

Miko abruptly picked out her headphones and stared at the screen with excitement, "Really? Bulk, I know what we're gonna do today!"

But Bulkhead just shook his head, "Isn't that dangerous?"

A short pause at the other end of the connection, "That is exactly why I want you to come here. It may be, though I am not entirely certain. Our greatest problem would be if the Decepticons find something valuable in the meteors. Otherwise, I doubt that our human friends would be in any danger. But we will still have to look out for any Cybertronian signals."

Miko wasn't the only one who smiled excitedly, like a little child that has seen the presents under the Christmas tree. Raf and Bumblebee had just arrived to listen to the conversation – now all three of them were cheerfully and silently staring at the screen above Ratchets head with a big grin on each face.

The connection cut off and Ratchet locked on to the coordinates Optimus had sent him. Jack and Arcee didn't seem to understand why they all were so agitated. Bulkhead just raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged it off and transformed so that Miko could get inside.

They arrived on top of a large mountain. Miko wasn't good with those things, but even she knew, where they were. Her parents had once taken her here in her holidays. They were in the Italian Alps. The sky wouldn't even have a single cloud glide on it and when she got out her feet met snow for the first time since over three years. Raf saw the snow for the first time in his whole life and couldn't get the smile off his face.

This is a good place to see snow for the first time, Miko thought.

Optimus stood in front of them in his Robot form. Apparently, he didn't believe that any human would cross their path. Jack sat on top of a rock near the abyss and Arcee obviously disliked that, but she didn't want to say anything. She didn't like to sound like Jack's mother and she knew that he wouldn't be so stupid and fall down.

"Sooo... when are the rockies comin'?" Miko asked in her typical stupid-question voice.

"The meteors will be visible after the sunset," Optimus answered, but Miko only shook her head and made a confused gesture that said 'go on or I don't understand a word'.

"In half an hour," Raf translated. Why should she know what time it was in Europe? That wasn't her job.

She decided to explore the area until the meteors would come. It was a huge mountain which went over into other huge mountains. Boy, this whole country seemed to be a huge mountain! Miko started to freeze slightly, because she only wore a T-shirt. How could she have known she would go from the desert of Nevada into the Alps of Italy? It wasn't her fault, after all. She wouldn't mind if she'd get a cold. That would only give her a reason to skip some school.

The heavy footsteps behind her, made it obvious to the girl that Bulkhead was following her.

"Where's the Doc?" she asked without turning around.

"Ratchet preferred to handle GroundBridge duty."

The little girl froze in front of the Prime's feet and he had to smirk inwardly.

Miko made a pirouette like movement and looked up at him.

"I didn't expect you to follow me, you know? I thought it was Bulkhead..."

The Prime ignored the mix-up with his graceful steps and the heavy, uncontrolled ones from his comrade.

"You should not separate yourself too far from the others. I want you all in my sight, in case Megatron found something."

Miko raised an eyebrow, "And? Did he?"

Optimus lifted her up and simply answered, "Neither their, nor our sensors detected any unfamiliar energon signals... yet."

She pursed her lips, aware of the last parts meaning. And as Miko was, she slightly hoped they would find something.

Optimus wasn't surprised that she hadn't expected him to get her back. Actually, he didn't like having the little girl out of his sight. Just as Rafael. He wanted them both safe. Since the accident with the Dark Energon had happened, half of his worries had been about these two human children. Jack, in Optimus' opinion, could take care for himself. Just as Ratchet had said, his character was very similar to Orion Pax's ones back on Cybertron. He wouldn't have to worry much about him. Even Optimus thought that Arcee was much too overprotective with him. But Miko and Raf were both so innocent. They weren't capable of understanding the reasons of this very war. Jack was and he also understood the dangers it brought with it to be a human involved.

They arrived back at the group and the Autobot leader sat her down next to Rafael, who was chatting with Bumblebee about the meteors. It appeared that none of their human friends had ever seen a meteor shower before, except for Jack, who looked slightly bored. Arcee stood next to Bulkhead who picked up Miko again and sat her on his shoulder. Optimus was glad that Bulkhead was her guardian. He was capable of looking out for her.

"Hey guys! Is that a meteor?" Miko asked excitedly.

Every gaze turned towards the sky and really; three, lightly glowing sparks headed towards planet earth. All of them had a glowing tail following after.

"Indeed, Miko." the Autobot leader answered and sent his medic a comm link to inform him. The respond was quick and short.

::Already scanning.::-Ratchet

Though Optimus wasn't entirely certain, whether his premonition was correct, he maintained alerted. Unlike Arcee, who was now making fun of a special little girl, who seemingly had worries the meteors could crash into them, which was why she had taken out her cellphone to take an amount of pictures.

"Bulk, can we get any closer?" she asked hopefully, when the first meteor disappeared in the atmosphere. Miko didn't even wait for Bulkheads answer. With a graceful jump, her feet slid down her guardians arm and landed unharmed on the ground. But they didn't stop at that. In less than a second, the little girl had disappeared around the corner and the last thing to be heard was a loud "Cool!"

Of course everyone followed her, though with a loud sigh, but just as it always was with Miko, she pulled trouble to her like a magnet. Her fragile, little frame had leaned over the rim to examine the area beneath her, just in case the meteor didn't got destroyed, but made a crash-landing down there. Nobody noticed that the only thing giving her hold was the, for them, friable rock. Unfortunately, she lost her balance, as the heavy footsteps brought the ground to shiver, and clung onto the rock to hard. It broke and her lips formed an 'o' as her body fell over and took her down the rim. None of them could catch her in time. There was a hollow sound when her small frame hit the ground and everything went silent.

"Aaaah," they heard her sigh. "Damn, why does it have to be stone? Why can't it be a mountain out of pillows?"

Jack, Bulkhead, Raphael and Bumblebee, fell into a deep, relieved laughter. Arcee laid a hand over her spark. Only Optimus stayed as he was. Not convinced. Something told him, this was much worse than it appeared to be.

That was, when the other meteors came.

Miko's POV

I gently rubbed my aching head, surprised that it wasn't bleeding, though the fall hadn't been that deep, because I'd landed on a ledge only a few feet beneath where I had fallen down, when the sky started to glow again.

"Oh, where is my cellphone?!" I called out irritated. Why did I always have to lose it, when the best opportunities for photos presented themselves?

I was too busy searching my cellphone, so that I didn't notice that one of the many meteors didn't disappear in the atmosphere as it should. Well, at least not until it got so close to me, that it was impossible not to notice it. It didn't come close enough that I could have touched it, though.

The meteor crashed, about 600 feet beneath me into the mountain. You could have thought that I was lucky it didn't hit me, but I wasn't lucky at all. The crash had brought the whole mountain to a shiver. Terrified of the unexpected movements in my ledge, I looked up to see where Bulk and the others were. My guardian and best bud just stood there, eyes widened in shock. Arcee and Bumblebee held onto the Mountain tight, just as they held on to Jack and Raphael. All eye pairs set on me. Except for one.

Optimus stared into a completely different direction. Well, not completely different, but not me either. He stared behind me, or above me or whatsoever. That made me slightly curious, for what was there, behind me. I turned around, and looked down. The rock crumbled away, nearly powdered and created a giant whole in the mountain, directly under me. I wasn't good in those things either, but even I knew that my tiny ledge wouldn't be able to bare this. I froze, suddenly aware of what had terrified Optimus like this and instead of leaving the world brave and in honor, I freaked out. No doubt I wouldn't survive this, if big guy didn't save me. But I knew he would. He always did!

I held on to my thought or hope or whatever it was supposed to be while I was hyperventilating and screaming at myself for not being able to move, but when I realized, that everything was in some sort of slow motion and with a sharp crack my ledge broke, I gave up and knew that not even Optimus would be able to save me now. So, I started to scream.

Optimus' POV

No matter what I would do, the quakes my body would cause would only make the situation worse. So I couldn't do anything else, than to watch how the little girl, terrified by what was about to happen, fell down the mountain with a high-pitched scream, a cloud of rumble following shortly behind.

::Ratchet, I need...::-Optimus

::The Decepticons are arriving! I can track their signals. But I can't tell how many of them...::-Ratchet

::Ratchet I NEED an Emergency GroundBridge!::-Optimus

Suddenly, the comm link went dead. No answer. Was Ratchet stunned about what he had said?

::But the Con's didn't arrive yet.::-Ratchet

::I need one for Miko.::-Optimus

The words were hard for me. Too hard. I had never wanted, or even thought I would have to say them.

When the rumble had ended and the mountain was stable again, we could see that Miko had not hit the actual ground, but another ledge. This time a much bigger one, which would also hold our weight. I transformed and raced down, sometimes transforming another time, to avoid hitting rocks and then transforming again, to become faster. I heard the others following me, less quick, because of their charges, but I had to reach her!

When my feet, hit the ground, I didn't need to search for Miko. Because all of a sudden, one corner of the ledge began to glow slightly. It was nearly an unrecognizable glow, but when I heard Miko's pain filled scream, I immediately knew what had happened. And I internally cursed myself for not having prevented Miko from this.

Miko's POV, shortly before

And again I felt the hollow impact with pain following shortly behind. But this pain was different. I heard the cracks of my bones when I crashed into the rocks and I felt how my skin got torn apart as the rocks rained on top of me. It was a miracle that I wasn't already dead, I knew that. But I had the bad feeling that that wasn't about to last very long.

Another rock. More pain. Blood. Don't cry. Then, there was something else, drowning the pain. Desire. What did I desire? My brain gave my body strange orders. Desire to the left! I looked left and my head asked me what the hell was going on right now, and so a strange rock, or meteor or whatsoever, came into my sight. Strange, because it was nearly a perfect cube, except for some shards which had already been torn out. There were odd signs or glyphs on it, which somehow reminded me of the Cybertronian ones Bulkhead had painted, back when he'd had the formula in his brain... I had to shiver at that thought. Seeing Bulkhead not remembering me, was the most horrible thing I could imagine.

I crawled closer to this rock-cube-thingy, ignoring the pain all over my body, and my hand, stretched out in awe, touched it. It was cold, felt somehow strangely soft and was obviously made out of metal, though no metal I had ever touched before... I guessed. This was probably what Optimus was interested in... But what could this thing do? It was a metal rock! He probably needed the inscriptions on it. Bad thing I lost my cellphone.

I just opened my eyes, to scream for Optimus, because my legs wouldn't allow me to stand up, when I realized, that all of the pain was gone. My fingertip, which was still attached to the rock-cube-thingy felt a slight vibration, a light stream of energy, when you touch something that is not as high powered as an electrical fence but stronger than a slight tingle. Why would this thing have electricity inside it?

Then, suddenly the pain came back, but this time more intense. I felt my bones healing and my cuts closing, but it burned so much, I wanted it to stop!

Just take your finger off that thing! I thought to myself. But it was impossible. My finger was like a part of that thing. And when the thing started to glow slightly, and I knew that there wasn't anything left of my body to heal, I felt my brain explode. And with another high-pitched scream of me, everything went black.

Optimus' POV

The first thing I saw was the blood, spilled into every direction. Then, her lifeless body, neither breathing nor giving any activity in the scanner, laid next to the Allspark, which slowly fell into dust.

"Miko," I whispered under my breath. The Allspark did not interest me at all. My hand carefully wrapped around her fully intact body. There was no possible injury that could have killed her. But she did not breathe!

::Ratchet, now!::-Optimus

The blue glowing tunnel appeared in front of me and I, without turning around, jogged through. I had a presentiment of what could have happened, but I needed Ratchet to prove it. He stared in shock as I carried Miko's lifeless frame into the base.

"What happened?" I did not answer. It was a familiar sentence with a déjà-vu effect.

Gently, my fingers laid her down on one of the berths in Ratchets medical bay. Immediately, a scan flew over her body. Then another and another.

"Is she..." I started, as the others came rushing in. Bulkheads head frantically turning into all directions until he spotted her.

"She is alive, but I don't really... I can't..."

Heavy footsteps running closer, "You can't what?! What happened to her?!"

Bulkhead furiously pushed me aside. I didn't mind. The only thing that mattered was Miko's well-being.

"The energy signature is stronger than everything I have ever seen." That confirmed my presentiment.

"Ratchet, what does that mean?" Rafael asked, his voice filled with concern.

"The Allspark," I whispered. Silence. I did not realize it, I was thinking too hard.

Could the Allspark's entire energy have been led into Miko's body? That would explain her healed injuries and her scream. Also it would explain why the Allspark's vessel got destroyed.

"I thought the metal dust there had been the Allspark," Jack stated dumbly.

Normally, irritating me was very hard, but Jack did it right now.

"The Allspark is not destroyable. Its energy can never be used up. Its knowledge can never get lost. The Allspark is only something existent when it has a vessel, so it always takes the next suitable form if its destruction is imminent. But now, that the cube is destroyed..."

Bulkhead sucked in the air around him, "Miko!"

Megatron's POV, Decepticon Warship

"Starscream!" My voice resounded through the aisles and several Drones turned around, just to bow or get blasted by my plasma cannon.

"Yes, my master?" My traitorous second in command sneaked into the control room.

"Failure is not being tolerated, Starscream. Where is the Allspark?" I hissed, pleased to see him wincing at my tone.

"We send our best troops to recover it Lord Megatron, but..."

I growled. How dared this unworthy flyer tell me he failed again?

"But?" I helped him with a dangerously gentle voice.

"It was... beyond recovery."

Beyond recovery? "WHAT is that supposed to mean?!"

Now, I stood right in front of him, glaring him down. He snickered nervously and turned around to shout at one of the drones.

"Bring me the Allspark!"

They bowed before me and hurried away, leaving Starscream and me alone.

"Should you truly have disappointed me again, Starscream..." I let my blade come out of my armor. He nodded hastily, stepping back a little. He knew better than anybody else what would await him.

One of the Drones reappeared with a small vessel in its servo. Starscream took it, and opened it, to present me... nothing. "Where is the ALLSPARK?!"

"R-right here, my master."

It wasn't nothing. Only dust. Metal dust.

"It got destroyed... by the Autobots."

Another growl escaped my throat, "You fool! The Allspark cannot be destroyed! If the cube got destroyed, the Allspark has now a new vessel."

Starscream's face went blank. He knew something.

"Where is the ALLSPARK?!" I repeated, but this time even more forcefully.

"The girl," Starscream suddenly whispered. "The human friend of the Autobot called Bulkhead! She touched the Allspark before it fell to dust!"

A grin spread across my face. Yes. This would be it.

"Prepare all troops! Get Soundwave in here! We will retrieve what rightfully belongs to me!"

Ratchet's POV, Autobot Base

There was nothing I could do. Her vitals appeared stable but her consciousness wouldn't return. The Energon inside her body did not seem to affect her well-being, but I had no idea of how her mind had reacted to the irruption of the Allspark into her. No doubt, she was now doing the job of the cube before its destruction. But to what price?

"Unfortunately, I cannot do anything to help her. We must wait and see."

Bulkhead, kneeling in front of Miko's berth, nodded sadly. Either the impact or one of the falling stones had cut the bands that had held her hair together, so that her black hair now floated over her shoulders like a thick, gleaming liquid. I had to confess, she looked more grown-up, this way.

Jack and Rafael sat next to her on the berth. Or next to her body. It made me sick to know that I couldn't help her coming back. That I couldn't help her at all. It was just the same as with Bumblebee. I had said exactly the same when the troops had found him back in Tyger Pax and I had examined his voice box after the rest of the body had been repaired: "Unfortunately, I cannot do anything to help him. We must wait and see." It had never left me cold. I had always hated that on being a medic. I had chosen this path to help, not to wait and see. That was Perceptor's job!

Third POV, Autobot Base

Three long days. Bulkhead had waited three long days for Miko to wake up. Seven times had the others driven away with their charges without him. Seven times had he sat alone in the base with a not-responding Miko at his side. Seven times had Optimus watched him with a pitiful gaze and had shaken his head. Thousands of times had Ratchet said he couldn't do anything. Bulkhead was so tired of it.

It was morning. The sun rose and the weekend started. Jack and Raf would come sooner and stay longer than usually. June had a further education and Raf's parents thought he was staying with Jack – which actually was true.

The gate opened and all four of them came raced into the main room. He was still in the medical bay. Not even attempting to walk over and say them hello. He knew they would come to him and Miko.

It didn't take much more than five minutes for them to come. And not only them. Optimus had joined them. Ratchet had been in the medical bay all along, but none of those two had even tried to start a conversation.

"Hey, Bulk," Arcee said in her gentle voice. She wasn't really the best one at comforting others, but Bulkhead didn't need comfort anyway. He needed Miko.

"She's gonna wake up, don't worry," Rafael said with a confident smile on his face and hopped up the berth.

Jack joined him, "Yeah. Miko's tough. Nothing's gonna get her down that easy."

Optimus laid a comforting hand on Bulkhead's shoulder, "Miko is strong. She will make it. I am certain with that." And though Bulkhead knew that Optimus would never lie to him, he doubted that the Autobot leader was right.

Shortly after everyone had returned to their original activities, Miko's vitals changed. Some of the lines on Ratchet's main computer rose and fell rapidly and others started to blink in a glowing red. The former CMO hurried over to the little girl's body and flew a quick scan.

"She's waking up!" he announced either nervous or excited. Everyone hustled around her berth, wanting to see her wake up, until Ratchet came. "Zap-dap-dap! What do you think are you doing? Give her space to breathe!" And everyone stepped back. The bots knew the consequences of disregarding his orders. None of them was in need of another dent from a wrench.

Jack and Raf didn't know and hopped onto the berth again when they thought the former CMO wouldn't see it, just to get sat back down on the ground by, guess who, Ratchet only seconds after they had touched the metal, "What did I just say?"

The only one Ratchet tolerated near Miko, was Bulkhead. But probably only because he knew he wouldn't get the colossus away from the kid.

It was silent, except for the Doc's footsteps, while he was looking at some of the ratings. Through the silence, a slight noise came to the ears of the present ones. A slight whimper. Everyone, except for Optimus of course, leaned closer. And closer. Closer...

"Hey! How many times do I have to repeat myself?!" Even Optimus winced at the CMO's sudden outburst and the sound of a wrench. Bumblebee rubbed his head and chirped complaining.

Her eyelashes flickered. Her lips moved and she mumbled something not understandable.

"Miko? Wake up, come back to me," Bulkhead whispered and surprised everyone with his choice of words. Bulkhead had never seemed as the soft type of guy and he actually, certainly wasn't. Miko had seemed to change many things in him. And when they all held their breaths, her eyes opened and each and every one of them stared into a tunnel of green. Then suddenly, a horrifying cry escaped her throat.

Ratchet was just about to give her a quick examination, when the agonizing scream tortured his audio receptors. Faster than visible, the little girl jumped off the berth and pressed herself into a corner furthest away from the Bot's on the upper platform. Her little heart beat about three times as fast as it should and the CMO doubted that was good for her condition. She should rest, not run around like a hunted animal.

Jack was the first one, realizing what was going on. He lifted his hands in a surrendering manner and walked slowly up to her.

"Hey, Miko. It's me, Jack. No need to be afraid."

The closer he came, the faster went her breath and her heartbeat. Miko pressed herself closer against the wall and looked around panicked. Obviously trying to find a way out. Jack came a bit closer. He now was separated from her by about three and a half feet. Only one more step and he would have overcome the distance...

That was when Miko attacked. She caught Jack totally off guard, when she suddenly jumped onto his chest, bit his neck and dug her fingernails deep into his flesh. Now, Jack was in the dilemma, to defend himself and to not hurt Miko. He grabbed her wrists and pushed her body back, so that she was on the ground again. To give her a little space, he stepped back.

Rafael closed his eyes, because everyone except for Jack had foreseen what came now. Miko came running at him, but instead of jumping on to him, she pushed him down the stairs and slid down the banister. It didn't sound good as he slid down the stairs on his back. Arcee wanted to get to Jack but he already stood back up and started chasing the now fleeing little girl, blood running down his shirt.

Ratchet was the first one to follow, when Miko started heading out of the base, closely followed by Jack. Then came Bumblebee with Raf and Optimus. Arcee and Bulkhead, both startled by the sudden incident, were the last to follow. Arcee caught up rather quickly and took Jack whilst he was running. He had a good condition for a human though. But Miko definitely had a better one. Ratchet wasn't able to catch up with her over the dusty ground. So Arcee tried, but had to make a harsh braking immediately, because Miko had come to a halt, too. Everyone drove to her and they made a semicircle around her, because she stood directly in front of a cliff.

"Miko," Jack got off of his guardian. Apparently, he just realized now that his throat was bleeding where she had bitten him. He carefully laid a hand on it and looked at it appraisingly, then murmured something like 'Nasty little Vampire.' and returned his gaze to Miko. She stood so close to the rim, that her heel touched the nothingness beneath her.

Then it was Optimus' turn to raise his hands. Not over his head, but on the height of his spark.

"Miko, we do not intend in harming you. Please, let us explain..." but it was already too late. The Prime's mistake had been his single step forward. With a graceful jump, she threw herself over the rim and raced down with the head in front. Jack wouldn't have followed her, if he had known that the canyon under her was filled with water. But Arcee did not seem to know that and before he jumped, he heard her panicked 'no'. The boy rolled his eyes within the jump. She was so overprotective.

Rafael glanced down the rim and shivered. He'd never jump down there. Not for a billion dollars. Was it even possible for Miko to survive that, when she got into the water with her head first? Bumblebee kneeled down next to him and beeped worried.

Are they going to be okay?

"I don't know, 'Bee. But I doubt Jack would have followed Miko if he wasn't sure he could handle the height."

"And Miko wouldn't have jumped down without thinking about it, would she?" Arcee added with pursed lips.

Ratchet glanced down the rim thoughtfully, "That would have been suicide."

Bulkhead tippled around nervously, "And? Do we want to just stand here and do nothing? They could drown!"

Last but not least, Optimus gave his word, "That outcome, however, is rather unlikely. Though I would suggest following them to make sure Miko stays safe would be..."

Arcee came up to him, "Miko? And what about Jack?"

Bumblebee rolled his optics, Oh come on. Jack is Jack. He can handle that.

Everyone had to smirk when Arcee's response was a low growl. She hated being corrected in things about safety. But in the end, all of them followed the canyon. It was a bit difficult to get to the water, because it was trapped inside the massive walls of rock, but when the Autobots were sure that no human was in visibility, they climbed down to where the water cut a rock filled area. Raf had to sit on Bumblebee's shoulder while he tried not to fall down.

All in all, it took some time for the bots to get onto ground again, but there was no track from either Jack or Miko anywhere to be found.

Okay, where do we search?

Optimus stood straight, his gaze wandered around the area.

"What the... aaah! What'd I do?"

"There," Raf answered while stating the obvious. Steps were heard. Running. Jack appeared on the ground as he maneuvered himself through a small crevice. Stones fell down from one of the higher rocks, directly above Jack. He hadn't noticed us yet. His eyes were locked onto Miko on top of the highest rocks. Her hair seemed to be already dry, or dryer than Jack's, though Jack's was much shorter. His clothes were entirely wet and his hair fell into his face with weird locks. Arcee thought his hair looked much better, this way. She knew she wasn't the only one who disliked Jack's straight hair.

"Miko?" That was Bulkhead. "What has gotten into you?"

Her eyes immediately flew to him and she gave him a threatening hiss, showing her white teeth.

"Thaaaat doesn't sound like Miko," Raf commented anxious.

"Probably because it isn't her," Jack answered in the same hissing tone as Miko.

Raf realized red lacerations on his older friends cheek, which went down his neck, probably even further down his back. Ratchet noticed them too, but didn't want to scan the boy in front of Arcee. She would probably freak out when she'd see them. That was why Jack provocatively positioned himself so, that Arcee faced the less injured side of his body. Though he still had scratches all over it.

"And who else would it be?" Bulkhead growled back. Bulkhead had never been mean or harsh to any of the children. Ratchet thought he overreacted, but Optimus didn't even seem to notice any of it. He stared at Miko; it was as if he tried to hypnotize her until he suddenly started to whisper to her in a firm tone.

Raf had never heard such a language before. Jack recognized it from one of the Insecticons on Cybertron. But for Rafael, it didn't even sound like a language. It was a mixture of clicking noises, growls and hisses, but sounded totally different at the same time. It was obvious that this wasn't a language spoken on Earth. He highly doubted that it was even possible for any organic creature to talk like this. Until Miko answered.

She didn't answer mean or harsh, neither did she answer firm like Optimus. It was more inquiring. The Autobots stared at them in shock, awe and surprise, while the two humans just watched them completely puzzled, confused and without understanding a word.

Finally, Optimus spoke English again, apparently wanting the humans to understand the conversation.

"Who are you?"

Miko titled slightly her head to the side and said with her high, clear voice that somehow wasn't hers at all, "I am you. I am they. I am everything and nothing. I am knowledge and wisdom. I am future, present and past."

Then Arcee interrupted her with an astonished yelp, "The Allspark!"

Miko's always so vivacious face was now cold and serious, "Yes, your kind does call me that."

Bulkhead's jaw fell down and he couldn't figure out how to close it again. Since when was his little friend the most powerful thing ever known?

"Where am I?" asked the fragile little person, sitting on a rock that was over ten times higher than she.

"We are on Earth. A planet, lightyears away from Cybertron and the core."

Ratchet was the only one that immediately understood what was going on when Optimus had said 'core'. Primus, let me be wrong! ,he prayed for a second and stared her in the eyes, searching for proof.

"The species, whose body you inhabit, is human. Just like they are," Optimus made a gesture to present her Jack and Rafael.

Miko watched Jack with interested eyes. He froze, didn't dare moving a single muscle under her gaze. Why did he behave like this? That was Miko, for Primus sake! But Rafael behaved the same. None of them recognized Miko in that frame on the rock. When she jumped down gracefully and got closer interested, he could see the coldness in her eyes. This wasn't the heavy metal loving, E-guitar playing, bad behaving girl from Tokyo. This was someone they had never met before.

But the saddest thing was Bulkhead wouldn't see that. The big bot grinned all over his face and couldn't get his gaze of his charge. He had worried so much about her within the last days that his joy was so big to see her alive and well, that he got blinded by it. The former Wrecker believed that he wouldn't have survived, losing her. If he hadn't killed himself, Wheeljack would've done it. His old comrade liked the little girl almost as much as Bulkhead did.

Jack didn't dare to breathe when the thing in front of him -yes, for Jack, this was neither Miko, nor a human- stretched out its hand and stroke over his cheek. Drove along the red lacerations. The skin tingled where Miko had touched it. It almost felt like electricity coming out of her fingertips.

Raf stepped back but froze again, when Miko's gaze met his and the boy felt like being hunted by her. Every inch of his body wanted to run away, or at least hide behind one of the bots, but he couldn't move under her eyes which followed every movement he made. Jack stared at him, being in the same situation as the boy, but Rafael suddenly noticed, that the part of the cheek, Miko had touched, was completely healed.

"Ratchet, I believe we need a GroundBridge," Optimus said to his medical officer next to him as if nothing had happened, but deep inside, the Prime heavily worried about the girl's future.

So this was it! Maaaaaany thanks to Challenger2011 for having so much patience with me and Betareading this story!

Please don't hesitate to R&R!

I wish y'all some snow and hot chocolate with grandma's cookies! At least that's how I'm gonna spend my advent;)