A/N You can thank dreamer_way from LJ for this. This was one of their plot bunnies, and I just had to write it.
Disclaimer: I don't own, have never owned, and will never own Transformers
Sacrifice (-verb)
1. to forfeit (one thing) for another thing considered to be of greater value
2. to sell or give away at a loss
"Perhaps Jazz and I could use our processor over matter to bring the Allspark fragments together."
"You really think you can do that?"
"Do we have a choice?"
Prowl was seated next to Jazz on top of Sumdac Tower. There was a dull humming noise coming from the pair. To any bystander, it would look as if they were meditating. Relaxing. But they were far from relaxed.
They strained their minds to try and reach out beyond the city of Detroit. They needed to find the remaining Allspark pieces that lay, scattered, throughout the city and the surrounding area.
There! Prowl located a piece. He reached out and grabbed it, using only his mind, and brought it back to the tower.
Jazz also found a sliver of the Allspark. But this wasn't enough. The pair went back to trying to gather all of the remaining pieces in the outskirts of Detroit.
Prowl vaguely processed that he was being shot at. He could hear a distant voice whining about having a 'splitting processor ache'. This was the least of his worries at the moment, for right now he had a job to do.
As suddenly as the shooting and whining had started, it ended. He briefly wondered what had happened to the 'bot, but pushed the thought aside.
In front of him and Jazz, the Allspark was beginning to reform, it's glow reflecting off of the two ninja bots.
But they both knew that they hadn't gotten enough pieces. They both knew that they needed more power if they were going to protect the city.
Prowl reached out one last time, not expecting to find anything- wait! There was a piece! And there was a few more!
He concentrated on bringing back the remaining pieces that he had managed to locate.
When they got to the tower, the last pieces merged with the Allspark. It glowed vibrantly in response, and seemed to pulse with life.
Before the two ninjas could react, a beam of light shot out of the Allspark and into the sky.
Prowl looked over at Jazz, who met his gaze with a smile.
"Looks like we did it."
"Yes, it appears that we did." Prowl couldn't help but feel a slight tug of guilt at his spark. Why? He wasn't sure, but he didn't have time to stop and think about it.
Megatron was defeated. He wasn't offline, but he was in the Elite Guard's custody and on his way to the stockades.
Optimus and his team were going to return to Earth, only to gather their things from the base and to say their goodbyes. Sari was going to miss them all, but she knew that they belonged on Cybertron. Besides, they all promised to try and visit her.
Only when they were about half way back to Earth did anyone speak up.
"I was thinkin'" Ratchet started. He paused for a moment before continuing, "Thinkin'… maybe we should try and find Wreck-Gar. You know, he may want to come to Cybertron."
"And we could also try and convince the Constructicons to come back with us," Bulkhead said. "They're good guys, just need another chance."
It was decided that when they got to Earth, they would set out to find their remaining friends.
"Huh… I can't pick up Wreck-Gar's readings," Ratchet grumbled. He would assume that his scanner was malfunctioning, but he could pick up his team's signals just fine.
"I can go circle the city and try to find him that way," Sari offered. She turned on her jetpack and flew a few feet off the ground, showing how eager she was.
"Alright," Optimus sighed, "Just a quick search-" But Sari had already flown off into the sky. Optimus just shook his head, his optics shut.
The waited a few kliks before Sari reported her findings to them. "Uh guys? I think I found Wreck-Gar."
Optimus and his team quickly transformed into their vehicle forms and sped down the road, following Sari's energy signal.
When they reached Sari's location, they were outside an alley way in downtown Detroit.
"So where is he?" Ratchet demanded.
Sari wordlessly raised her arm to point at a mass of grey metal a little ways into the alley. Everyone's optics widened at the sight. Prowl felt a tug on his spark. It was guilt.
The medic took a few steps towards the mass. He winced mentally as he confirmed it to be Wreck-Gar. The 'Bot was lying down on his side, his back to Ratchet and the others.
"Wreck-Gar?" Ratchet asked quietly, kneeling beside his friend. He got no response from the fallen 'bot.
Ratchet gently put a hand on the other's shoulder. He turned him over, and gaped at the sight that greeted him.
Wreck-Gar's face was contorted in a look of sheer pain. Ratchet momentarily realized that he had never seen him express any emotion such as this before. Wreck-Gar had always been happy and cheerful.
Ratchet's optics traveled down the other's body. His chest had a gaping hole in it as if something inside had torn it's way out. Fingers tracing the hole, Ratchet saw that Wreck-Gar's spark was completely gone.
"How?" he started to ask. Sure he was a medic, but he still didn't understand how this had happened, how Wreck-Gar's spark had simply been torn out.
"Processor over matter…" Prowl muttered quietly. Everyone turned towards the ninja bot.
"What'd ya say?" Bumblebee asked.
Prowl gritted his dental plates. "Processor over matter," he repeated. He balled his hands into fists. "Jazz and I used processor over matter to collect the Allspark pieces." He looked up to fix his gaze on the offline 'bot. "I-I took his spark without realizing it."
"It's not your fault, Prowl," Optimus quickly assured him. "You couldn't have known where it came from."
"But I should have known!" Prowl protested. He shook his head in annoyance. "I should have known."
"Well, there isn't anythin' we can do now," Ratchet pointed out. He slipped his hands under Wreck-Gar and lifted him up. As he stood he said, "The least we can do is take him back to Cybertron for a proper ceremony. He deserves it."
With Wreck-Gar in his arms, Ratchet made his way back to their ship as the others followed behind him.
Bulkhead now had an even greater urge to go and look for the Constructicons. He needed to know if they had survived or not.
"You comin', Docbot?" Bumblebee asked Ratchet as the others began to get back off the ship.
The medic shook his head slowly, "Nah, you go ahead. I'm gonna stay here."
The doors slid shut as Bumblebee stepped out, leaving Ratchet alone. He sighed and made his way to the medbay.
Once there, he put Wreck-Gar's body on an empty berth. With a sigh, he took a seat next to the berth. He wasn't sure if he liked admitting it, but he was gonna miss that kid. Sure, he was annoying as slag most of the time, but he was a good kid.
He looked up as the doors to the medbay slid open, and saw the others come in. He wasn't surprised by what he saw them carrying.
About two cycles had passed since Ratchet had returned to the ship. He hadn't left his spot next to Wreck-Gar's berth.
Between Optimus and Prowl was a grey Mixmaster, his face looking much like Wreck-Gar's. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were carrying Scrapper, while Sari had Dirt Boss.
Ratchet wordlessly nodded towards some empty berths for them to put the bodies on.
As soon as Mixmaster was put down, Prowl attempted to leave to medbay as quickly as possible.
"Prowl, wait!" Optimus stopped him.
Prowl turned his head back a bit, waiting for Optimus to continue.
He came up to Prowl and put a hand on his shoulder. "This isn't your fault, Prowl."
The other jerked his shoulder away from Optimus' touch. "I should've been able to know where they were coming from." With that, he walked briskly out of the medbay.
The rest of the day was spent gathering things from the old base and saying goodbye to everyone. The Autobots were leaving the next day and they weren't sure when they would be back.
As night neared, Prowl still hadn't returned to the ship. He was at their old base, sitting in his tree and looking up at the stars.
He knew that it wasn't completely his fault about what happened to Wreck-Gar and the Constructicons, but how could he not feel guilty?
After another cycle of staring at the night sky, Prowl decided to go back to the ship. He jumped down from his tree and walked out of the warehouse for the last time.
He wasn't sure if he could ever forgive himself, not completely anyways.
But, as he looked at the stars twinkling above him, he just knew that they were resting peacefully in the Well of Allsparks.
Notes:
A cycle is about 1.25 Earth hours
The Dinobots are alive, because Sari's key brought them to life, not an Allspark piece.
Starscream and his female clone both suffered the same fate as the others. The Autobots just didn't find their bodies.
-Panic Switch