Silence…..a silence so heavy and profound that it smothered the senses and gave the entire situation a surreal and unnatural feeling. For nothing about what Bumblebee's optics were showing him could possibly be reality.

Sam, his Sam, was collapsed bonelessly on the ground beneath the tree, cooling body still flickering with static. Frantic bio-scans showed no life and the Autobot scout could do nothing but stare blankly at the still form that, a moment ago, had been vibrant with life.

"Primus…..Sam…" the stunned whisper slid unnoticed from his vocals, vanishing into the evening air. Something on his scans flickered, but quick movement at his feet jerked his attention away.

"Sam?!" Mikeala lunged forward from her prone position, only to get jerked up short by Bumblebee.

"What the h Bee?!" her voice cracked and chocked, and she struggled against the large hand holding her back.

"Wait….." There was a crackle against Bumblebee's scans, residual energy that the mech dared not let Mikeala get exposed to. Once sure she would wait he crept forward, spark falling with each step. Sam showed no signs of life, and his body was cooling.

Without warning the Autobot's audial receptors were bombarded with a static burst of panicked mechanical shrieks. Bee jumped, optics going wide.

He jerked forward, searching frantically for the source of the sound. Movement under Sam's shoulder drew his scans, and he felt his processor stutter to a halt as a tiny mechanical form was revealed.

"Primus……." The oath slipped from him again, and the screeching hiccupped in response to his voice. But its silence only lasted a moment before it whined fitfully, the mechanoid struggling with futile strength to get out from under the dead weight atop it. Bumblebee started, reaching forward with hesitant fingers to shift Sam's body. His spark flickered in agony, but his focus was almost immediately snapped to the mechanical creature that was revealed.

It was tiny…..and very obviously had a moment before been Mikeala's cell phone. Transparent wings that had been the phone's screen quivered on its back, a barbed tail arched up between the 'wings' like an earthen scorpion. It stood on six spindly legs, much like a praying mantis insect. Tiny blue optics stared up at him, wide in the fear and shock that Bumblebee could see plainly in its oddly human features. It gave a confused and terrified squeak and Bee's spark jumped.

"……..Sam….?" The scout seemed to have lost control of his vocal processor this morning. The tiny mech nodded and gave a staticy burst of clicks, wrapping its foremost limbs around itself, shaking and whining up at him.

"Oh sweet Primus….." Bumblebee knelt by Sam's body, offering his hands to the tiny mech, spark aching at the stark pain in those bright optics.

"Bee? What…?" Mikeala's voice made the scout jump, he'd forgotten she was there, but he didn't look away from the form stumbling on shaking limbs toward his hands.

"Stay there Mikeala." He knew his voice was sharper than needed, but his focus was elsewhere. The sound of her approach stalled and backed away, and he could feel the stunned look she was giving him, but she listened.

Her distance allowed Bumblebee to turn his full attention to the tiny mechanoidtrying clumsily to get onto his hands. It scrabbled against the slick metal almost over its head before it fell back, landing awkwardly on the hard ground with a whine. It was shaking, the garbled and warbling vocalizations turning into angry frustration as it failed to coordinate itself enough to even stand with any degree of stability.

"Sam….?" The mech jumped at Bee's voice, falling over again as it attempted to right itself. The yellow scout winced, and gently scooped the tiny form into his hands. It screeched, clawed fingers of all six limbs latching onto Bumblebee's much larger digits.

"Easy Sam…..it's okay……" the cell phone mech calmed slightly, but was still shaking, and Bumblebee couldn't blame him. The boy had just seemingly spark-jumped into a mechanical body….that was not even a fraction of a size of the form he'd been born in. The problem with that was that humans didn't have sparks…..and the transfer should not have turned the cell phone into a Transformer.

The Autobot scout sent a frantic data-burst to Ratchet, not taking the time to fully explain the situation. He couldn't, the terrified minibot had all his scanners focused. It was clicking softly, the quiet sounds punctuated by garbled trills and warbles. Bumblebee had the sinking feeling that Sam was attempting, and failing, to speak.

"Sam?" Bee kept his voice soft, remembering how it had startled his diminutive charge before. Tiny blue optics blinked up at him, wide and afraid but no longer panicked.

"Are you capable of speaking?" Sam just stared at him, optics shuttering rapidly. Bumblebee waited for nearly full minute before the transformed cell phone whined and shook his head, again wrapping foremost legs around himself.

Bee sighed, gently cupping fingers closer to Sam. He could feel the mech's shaking ease, and felt his own spark relax that he could provide even that small bit of comfort to his shell-shocked charge.

"Bee?...What's going on…..?" the yellow mech jumped slightly at Mikeala's voice. With an internal wince he stood, carefully making his way over to where the small femme was impatiently waiting.

"I'm not sure…." The girl chewed her lip at his subdued response and glanced to where Sam's body lay.

"But what…." She was cut off as Bee knelt by her, dragging her gaze from Sam's body to the boy's new form curled in his large hands. Mikeala stared, eyes flicking from the still form by the tree to the tiny mech that hadn't seemed to notice her.

"…..Sam….?" The minibot yelped at her voice, spinning around clumsily and falling over his too-many legs again. He shrank back against Bee's fingers at her incredulous gaze with a soft warble.

"It is Sam." Bumblebee's optics never left his charge's shaking form as he confirmed Mikeala's guess.

"But…..how….?" the girl hesitantly reached forward only to jump in surprise as the minibot chirred softly and grasped at her fingers as if they were a lifeline.

"I don't know." The Autobot's voice was pained at his own ignorance. Mikeala shook her head.

"How do you know it's Sam?" The odd catch in the girl's tone had Bumblebee cocking his head at her. Her gaze didn't waver from the tiny warbling mech clutching at her fingers….and her organic optics were watery bright.

"I know Sam's energy….." Bee kept his voice soft, realizing that she needed his reassurance in this strange situation, "despite appearance, and actions, this is Samuel Witwicky." The scout knew his words had been right when Mikeala relaxed under his utterly confident tone.

The boy-turned-bot in question blinked up at both of them, chirring softly and nuzzling Mikeala's fingers as if he knew something was wrong but couldn't figure out what. He whined, eyeing them both with confused optics burning with a spark-deep pain.

"Sam…" the tiny mech chirred at Mikeala, cocking head at her as she spoke, "are…..are you okay…?" the mechanic bit her lip. Sam just blinked at her, cocking his head and clicking as he seemed to contemplate the question. It took far longer than it should have for him to respond, eventually he nodded slightly. Yet he was shivering, transparent wings vibrating with fitful energy.

"Sorry……stupid question……." Mikeala's tone was rueful, and the tiny mech clicked in slight amusement, curling into her touch as she spoke.

"I don't think it matters….." Bumblebee was hesitant, and winced as the girl looked up at him, eyes wide.

"What'd you mean?"

"He seems to be having trouble processing your language." The scout was not happy at having to give up the admonition and Mikeala's stare just made it worse.

Sam whined, loudly, trying to break the sudden tension and Bumblebee responded automatically with a set of low, hollow clicks. To both human and mech's surprise, the cell phone transformer nearly purred under the attention. He released Mikeala's fingers, scuttling further onto his guardian's hands and settling into a chink in the armor of Bee's palm.

"Primus…" the deity had to be getting tired of hearing his name by now, "he's acting like a sparkling……"

"Sparkling?" Mikeala tested out the unfamiliar word, a little thrown by the faint awe in Bee's voice. The scout's blue optics glanced at her.

"The equivalent of a human child….a very young child." He paused, cradling the tiny form close to his spark. Sam clicked at the movement, shifting his hold but otherwise remained calm.

"I was one of the last….and that was a very long time ago." That there was unlikely to be anymore sparklings went unsaid.

"Oh……" the girl sounded dazed, and Bumblebee immediately turned his scanners on her.

"Are you alright? You're not malfunctioning are you?" Mikeala laughed softly at the worry in his tone.

"I'm fine Bee….this whole thing is just…..d."

"Yes…it is….strange. More so from your point of view I suspect…….seeing that your 'boyfriend' was just seemingly transformed into a sparkling."

Mikeala shuddered and glanced toward where Sam's body still lay, "It's better than the alternative." She wrapped her arms around herself, leaning against Bee's leg.

"Is….is he gonna be okay?" her dark gaze was locked on the mechanical for Sam now inhabited.

"Yes.." but the scout's voice wavered. They both knew that they didn't know the answer to that question.

After a moment of silence Bumblebee gave an approximation of a sigh, "Ratchet will be here soon…. And we'll get this all figured out." Mikeala snorted, and both fell quiet as Sam clicked and chirred to himself. The tiny mech was half in recharge, calm now that his guardian held him close.