Reincarnation.
Chapter Two.
A/N: A bit sad, this chapter, it didn't turn out as I originally planned it to.
Autobot Base, two weeks after Sam's disappearance.
"We've got Sam's image circulated to the civilian Police, the military Police, Interpol, and the police of every co-operative country on the globe, so if they spot him, we'll know where to get him," said Optimus to the downhearted Bumblebee.
"What about the non-co-operative countries?" Bumblebee asked.
"Epps and Simmons have assured me they have eyes and ears there too, and they are keeping them well open for anybody fitting Sam's description," Optimus said. "We've had an offer from the Decepticons to search their Base, which I think means there's no point because he won't be there, that's if they have him. They insist he managed to escape through a hole in the bottom of Starscream's hangar and know as much about his whereabouts as we, but they are Decepticons," Optimus said. "As such, just in case, we will take them up on their offer."
"Well, I've been out looking for him, but I wouldn't know where to start," Bumblebee said. "It's gotten a bit more complicated too. Mikaela says she's pregnant, and it can only be Sam's. Miles has offered to help out, but that is likely to only provide a temporary solution."
"Well, you are excused regular duties until further notice to go looking for Sam. If Mikaela needs any support, we will lend any aid we can. We've also arranged to have his case televised, minus the alien abduction," Optimus said. "Perhaps that will help to find him."
oOo oOo oOo oOO oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
"Now, we have a missing persons appeal for all you CNN watchers out there. Two weeks ago an eighteen year old human boy, Samuel James Witwicky, went out to the Tranquility Promontory, commonly known to the nearby residents as The Lookout, in his car. The boy has not been seen since. His car was recovered, although it had been wrecked. Here is his face, please look at it and remember. This boy's parents are worried about him, and a mystery donor has put up a reward of a million $US for information leading to his recovery. Please all viewers, call the number you will see at the bottom of the screen if you think you may know anything about Sam's whereabouts. This is CNN News."
oOo oOo oOo oOO oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Two years after Sam's disappearance.
Bumblebee commed to enter Optimus' office, and went in. Optimus motioned the smaller' bot towards the energon dispenser, but Bumblebee shook his head. The Autobot Leader had called him in here and he wanted to know why without distractions.
"Bumblebee, we have had many Autobots and humans searching for Sam now," Optimus said. "We have not found Sam, either alive or dead. We will never stop looking for him, but as the Decepticons have received more reinforcements and as they are attacking more human establishments to gain fuel, we must devote more time to defending them. Bumblebee, we will not abandon the search for Sam, nor are we assuming that he is dead, but if he is still near The Lookout after two years, I would be surprised.
"But – people have been found years after their disappearance, both on Earth and on Cybertron," Bumblebee said. "It's only been two years, the Decepticons may be hiding him somewhere else!"
"Most people who disappear for that long either want to, are too young to know any better, so don't realise they're missing people till their older, if ever, or else they are assumed dead." Optimus raised a hand as Bumblebee began to speak.
"You can still search for him while on patrol or during your spare time, but we must address the Decepticon problem we currently have. Who knows, Bumblebee, dealing with one may help deal with the other, we can ask any Decepticons we capture about him."
Bumblebee drooped, he knew Optimus was right. He looked up as he felt the larger 'bot lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Bumblebee, we are still asking the Military and the civilian police forces to look for him and follow any leads. We must have faith in them to do their job."
Bumblebee thought, but didn't say, that as the Decepticons had caused Sam's disappearance, the Police would be unlikely to find him, but he nodded and said "Yes, Optimus."
Leaving the room, he called Ironhide to find out if he was in his armoury.
If he had to fight Decepticons, he decided he needed to get some practice in.
oOo oOo oOo oOO oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Ten years after Sam's disappearance.
Bumblebee punched the wall angrily.
"They can't give up! How can they say he's dead without a body?" Bumblebee asked.
"I wish I could answer your question more positively, Bumblebee, but I believe that they are assuming that with no contact or positive sighting for ten years that they will now be looking for a body."
"Do you think he's dead?" Bumblebee asked in a small voice, his anger at the Police spent.
"I believe it is possible," Optimus admitted.
"I'll start looking for a body as well," Bumblebee said, his voice strained with hurt. "At least maybe we can know for certain. I know his parents believe him dead, perhaps if that's the case we can verify it for them, give them something to bury, and give them some form of closure. I won't give up hope of finding him alive, but I should assume that he could be dead." Without a further word, Bumblebee turned and left the room.
oOo oOo oOo oOO oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Thirty years after Sam's disappearance.
They stood, humans and robots alike, around the small memorial stone with Sam's name on it in the Autobot Base.
Ron and Judy had suspected for some time that Sam was dead, and they wanted some form of closure, even if his body had not been found.
"If he were still alive, he would have found some way to contact us by now," Judy said. "With this stone, even without any body, we have somewhere to go. I know we're not alone in this, when people are washed overboard their relatives have no body. If his body is found, we can bury it, but if not, we can have this."
Mikaela, who was there with Miles and the two children, one theirs and one Sam's, put her arm around Judy. Miles had lived with Mikaela for a few years before he asked her to marry him, for legal reasons. After all, he had argued, if Sam turned up they could always divorce. She had accepted for the legal reasons, but had ended up falling for him. Usually, marrying a boyfriend's best friend would be considered a cardinal sin, but this situation was somewhat different. So Ron and Judy considered her one of the family, after all, the oldest of her children was biological grandson.
Both Judy and Ron looked drawn and older than their actual years, although under Ratchet's care they were healthier than most sixty-odd year olds. Both of them were white-haired, although Ron only had a little around the back of his head by now, and both had lost weight, almost to the point of gauntness, despite Ratchet's attempt to persuade them to drink his build-up drinks. They said that it was the grandson who kept them going, he was also named Samuel, that otherwise they would have nothing left to live for.
"Bumblebee's concentric search around the Decepticon Base with ground-penetrating radar turned up seven bodies of varying ages and times of death, and have solved a few disappearances, but none of them were Sam," Optimus told them. "He went ten miles out before he decided to stop."
"I can go out further if you want," Bumblebee offered, and Ron nodded gratefully.
"If you could, we'd be grateful, but to tell the truth, he could be anywhere," Ron said.
"I'll keep looking. If nothing else, the Police will be grateful," Bumblebee said.
oOo oOo oOo oOO oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Forty-nine years after Sam's disappearance.
The memorial stone for Sam now stood in a rose garden that Judy had created in the Autobot Base, and was now kept company by a gravestone. Ron had died the year before, and Judy had asked that he be buried there. Knowing the Witwicky's religious views, and some of the fuss that might result if they did otherwise, they asked an Army chaplain to consecrate the ground, and Ron had been buried there with a wooden cross to mark the spot. The permanent stone, which would be placed once the earth has settled, was in the form of an open book, with the left-hand page containing the details of Ron's life and death, the right-hand page left blank, ready for when Judy died and would be buried beside him as she had requested.
Nobody had expected it to happen so fast, but it seemed the loss of both Sam, and then Ron, had sapped her of the will to live, and despite all Ratchet's attempts, she had gone into a rapid decline. When Ratchet found her cold and still in the bed he had put her in when he'd brought her in, he could not find any obvious reason for her death, and the Army doctor brought in to confirm it couldn't either. When an autopsy also found no obvious reason for her death, the doctor signed her death off as 'sudden adult death syndrome.' "It's as if her heart just stopped beating," the Army medic had said.
"Maybe, as you humans say, she died of a broken heart," Ratchet said. The Army medic had looked surprised.
"I'm surprised you come to that conclusion, I mean, you're robots, you don't have hearts to break, do you?"
Ratchet ignored the implied slur, knowing the medic hadn't meant it as such. "On Cybertron, we bond, and we have Sparks that beat together when bonded. If one of a bonded pair dies, the other will often follow, sometimes immediately, sometimes weeks, months, or years later. We say it's because with the death of their bonded, 'their Spark has been torn in two.' Much like a broken heart in humans, there is no obvious external damage, yet the partner declines and dies."
Now they were gathered there six months after Ron's death to put Judy in the ground next to him. Mikaela, Miles, Samuel, Robert (Mikaela's and Miles' son) and Rebecca (their daughter) stood with the Autobots, and with the Lennox and Epps families. The Army chaplain seemed unfazed by the four Autobots who had known Sam and his family attending the service, and when Judy had been interred, everyone went into the Base for a drink.
With Sam missing, presumed dead, and his parents dead and buried, Bumblebee ceased his search. He himself now had accepted that Sam was likely to be dead, and his body destroyed and unlikely to be found.
Turning from the graves and the memorial stone, he headed back into Base, checking his duties.
He was on patrol that day, he found, assuming the Decepticons didn't carry out any raids, which of course could not be assumed would not happen. They had been quieter of late, but past experience told that usually meant they were planning something.
He went to get a few hours of recharge, trying to ignore, as he had for the last fifty years, the Sam-shaped hole in his life.