A/N: OK so another fic, this time more speculative fiction than anything. Yes. Another on the AutobotGuy fic mountain. But I have had a really great idea for this one and it's my first type of fic like this. So hopefully, you'll all enjoy.

NOTE: I'm going by the canon timeline that only two years passed between Prime and RID.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Transformers, of course. Only my OCs.

PAIRINGS: SideswipexStrongarm

CHAPTER 1
A Transformation

Time passed by in the blink of an optic.

Before Bumblebee knew it, twelve years had passed since they'd taken out the so-called "high council". His team had indeed continued on as Cybertrons first ambassadors to Earth. But they had since been joined in the junkyard by more Autobots, including some members of Team Prime, who also worked as such. It was an initiative that had reunited him with their old ally - William Fowler, who now regulated their roles on Earth again. And in the meantime, they had grown to enjoy a sort of peace.

All was going well until one October morning.

It had happened at the worst possible time, what they would forever refer to as "the incident". It had been mere weeks since they had taken their biggest step of all: revealing themselves to the human population. It had deeply excited Bumblebee, given they would no longer have to be "robots in disguise" and could finally begin to make real strides in the human community. But that was when, to his utter shock, the news finally lit the airwaves - or rather came from Fix-It.

"Bumblebee!" The mech, who had been looking over data pads filled with different reports was quick to snap his attention to the small, wheeled brown minibot. "I have a possible sighting of a re-rat-rogue Decepticon in Jasper, Nevada!"

The words had almost stunned him - almost. Jasper? What were Decepticons doing in Jasper? Jack, Miko, and Raf had already grown and moved away long ago. His optics narrowed slightly, putting his hands on his hips in surprise. "Jasper? Are you sure it was Jasper?" Fix-It nodded vigorously. "What kind of Decepticon sighting?"

"Well, we don't know it's a Decepticon, per-say," Bumblebee looked up as another mech who had made his way to Earth, a former enforcer, Prowl, took steps forward to clarify. "It happened at a human education center. It's suffered some minor cosmetic damage and the humans are currently reporting witnesses say a "small robot" was behind it. It fled the scene and that's where the trail ends."

It was a rather odd notion. A small Decepticon? In a human school? What could he make of that? If it had just been Fix-It he might have wondered if he'd gotten his wires crossed. But when he and Prowl worked together, well, he'd never seen them be wrong. "That's unusual," Bumblebee noted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Do they have any idea where the mech or femme was headed?"

"No! But we managed to triangulate the location of an unknown spark signature near the area," Prowl explained as he motioned for Bumblebee to follow them. "There's something very unusual about it, Bee. I've never seen anything like it, before, after, or during the Great War."

Fix-It piped up with a notion. "It's almost def-det-diluted!" he told him with confusion in his own voice. "It has me stumped. Maybe a Predacon? But I would think we'd at least recognize that signal."

"We definitely would have," Prowl agreed as they approached the main computer, where Bumblebee could now see the odd spark signature for himself. "There's also the possibility a human presence is somehow disrupting it. Though I've never heard of anything like that before..."

Bumblebee arched his optic ridges, looking for the mech to explain. Prowl crossed his arms. "One of the other things being reported is that a young boy went missing at the same time. He was there when "school" let in, and disappeared when the attack happened," Bumblebee looked a bit stunned. "His name's Cole Fletcher. Fourteen Earth years... They're trying to contact his foster parents but having little success."

"All of this from a police report?" Bumblebee asked, Prowl shrugged. "That was filed awfully fast."

"It seemed suspicious to us too," Fix-It agreed. "Should we send someone after it?"

Bumblebee looked thoughtful - definitely perplexed, and unsure of what they would find. But all the same, a strange event like this didn't happen very often. "Go get Sideswipe and Strongarm for me," Bumblebee nodded. "We'll rev up and roll out as soon as they're here."

He had no idea what they were about to encounter. Or how it'd change the course of history as they knew it.

He was so, so scared.

Cole Fletcher could explain a lot of things, but he couldn't explain this. Even now, on the run, he felt a great deal of fear, not knowing what was going to happen next. What would happen when they found him? Would he be in trouble? Would he be taken into custody? His body trembled slightly as he tried his best to keep himself out of view.

He couldn't go back to school, he decided, not now. And he knew he couldn't go back to his foster home. No, they had no connection to him and would turn him in in a heartbeat. But it wasn't his fault, he told himself. He couldn't have seen this coming. It had come out of nowhere... The whole thing.

For the fifth time, he looked at the reflection in what had been his arm. Looking at the small, grey plated robotic face that looked back. It was not his face, but it was... He still hadn't worked out how exactly he had turned into a robot. One minute he was headed to class, and the next he'd gone metal. And in his panic activated what he could only assume was some sort of weapons system.

He'd always felt different. It had been that way his entire life. From the moment that he could understand what "different" meant he'd felt that way. Like some part of him was just... Not like the other people in the world. But in his wildest dreams he'd never imagined he was... What was he? A human? A robot? A cyborg? He hadn't worked that out yet. He didn't have time to.

No, he had to keep running.

And so, as the sound of police sirens filled the air, he again sprinted out of the alleyway. Using the power of his newly super strong, robotic legs to carry him down the street. "Stop right there!" Someone shouted from behind him. "I've got the Cybertronian on the corner of tenth and Broadway!"

Cole shut his "eyes" panic setting in as he bolted across the nearby street.

That's when the golden muscle car turned a corner to block him off, followed by a red Lamborghini. It happened in a matter of seconds, causing him to stop in his tracks with his hands in the air. What were these? He questioned. Detectives? "Stay where you are Decepticon," whoever was in the yellow car spoke up - making him even further confused. "And hand over whatever weapons you have. This doesn't have to turn violent."

"W-What? Decepticon? What are you talking about!?" Cole sputtered. "My name's-."

"If you're not a Decepticon, what business do you have attacking kids?" The one in the red Lamborghini shouted, causing Cole to cringe. "Nice try. Now where's that kid... Cole? Did you take him too!"

Cole's optics widened, they thought that he had kidnapped himself? No, no, no... His head was spinning in the panic, especially as a third police truck came driving in. "No! Please you don't understand!" he shouted. "I am Cole!"

As if on cue, he found that the near panic had triggered something. He watched in surprise as skin seemed to form back on top of the metal, enveloping him once more until he stood there. Looking as he had before this whole thing had happened. Giving the appearance of a tall, lanky fourteen year old with curly brown hair and electric blue eyes. For a long moment, the world seemed to stop, as he could see that all eyes were on him.

That's when the yellow car shifted, stood up, and transformed... Into a giant robot. One of the ones from the news recently? Cole couldn't tell, but he did note the look of utter shock on his face. "What on Earth," he breathed out sharply. "How did you...?"

As the other two cars followed suit, Cole shrank back slowly. His eyes darting from one robot to the other as his spark raced violently in his chest. Unable to find the words to explain his situation, he simply shook his head. The white and blue robot, and the red one with the spiky hair like appendages simply stood there - dumbstruck. But the yellow one tried his best to look friendly.

"Hey, it's alright, we're not going to hurt you," the robot attempted, keeping his voice and tone friendly. "We just have never seen-."

Noticing that their new forms gave him the opportunity to run, Cole began to run violently. Whatever this was, whatever he was, he didn't want this. He had enough that made him stand out as different. And now he was some sort of freak of nature too? With a possible connection to those robots on TV? No... No. This wasn't happening he told himself. He had to get out of there, and far away from all of this insanity.

He could hear them call after him as he turned into another alleyway. Hoping they couldn't follow him, he quickly turned the corner at the end, and disappeared. Refusing to stop running until he could figure this out.

A/N: So yep, we have a hybrid on our hands. Unlike most fics though this won't be a typical "Oh I'm super powered and special!" type of thing. This is going to be way deeper than that and go to some interesting places. So I hope that you will all stick around!