Chapter Four, Reunion: Breaking and Making

I do not own Transformers. The explanation for how Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were separated is taken from Glances into a Spark by Saesama, Chapter 28, used with permission (check out the fanfic, it's good)

Let me know how you think this is going

The screams drove Oscar to his uncle as fast as he could run, while Bumblebee tumbled with Wrecker. Ironhide was distracted for one second, and the bot it was keeping in the cave charged. Ironhide jumped on it, and desperately began to download, hoping against hope for help in the few seconds they would be in stasis while the cure passed.

Oscar reached Ronnie and found the lower half of his uncle's left leg was a bloody crushed mess. He used every rule in the first aid book on bleeding, and discovered to his relief that they actually worked. The bleeding slowed, though it did not stop. Ronnie's eyes were starting to glaze. Frantic to keep Ronnie awake, he asked if Ronnie had called for help. Ronnie nodded, panting. Shock, Oscar thought in dismay, he's going into shock. He talked, elevated Ronnie's legs, and worked automatically. He glanced up to see Ironhide on top of what looked like a triceratops's head. They were both still, and Oscar recognized the stasis that came with the cure download. Then he glanced over to Bumblebee, and discovered that Bee was getting help from something winged, which distracted Wreaker while Bumblebee fired on it. There was a pounding noise, and as Oscar turned again, a head about double the size of his own on an impossibly long neck said, "Oh my goodness! This is terrible, so terrible! Have you called for help? What is that bot doing to Slag?"

"Yeah, we called for help," Oscar said to the distressed brontosaurus. "Tell your flying friend not to touch Wrecker if it can help it, he's passing on a virus that makes bots attack humans! Slag got it and attacked my uncle here and Ironhide's passing on the cure, we'll get it to you as soon as one of them can!"

"I'll tell Swoop! And I'll stand over you so nothing hits you, oh but this is so very wicked!"

"Oscar, am I dreaming or is that a brontosaurus that's talking like an old maiden aunt?" Ronnie asked weakly.

"No, you aren't dreaming. There's a pterodactyl helping Bumblebee, and Ironhide's downloading the cure on a triceratops. Looks like they're finished." Ironhide jumped back, ready to fire, and the triceratops was shaking its head.

"Those bastards! I could have attacked one of the kids! Hey, you! Give that download to Sludge while I teach that piece of rust a lesson!" He charged past the humans and the brontosaurus.

"Yes, oh yes, I need that, and Swoop will, and Snarl and Grimlock as well, they're coming now. " Just then Ironhide started downloading. Slag rammed into the back of Wreaker, throwing him to the ground; Bumblebee finally got a shot at his head. Soon afterward, he was not moving anymore. At the same time Oscar heard the sound of an ambulance, just as Ironhide and Sludge broke apart. Ironhide and Bumblebee began dragging Wreaker to the cave.

"We will take that, we need the parts," a harsh voice said, and Oscar looked up, and up, and up. There was a tyrannosaurus standing there. Behind him was a stegosaurus. "I wish to talk later."

"Someone will come," Oscar promised, and by the time the ambulance showed, there was no sign of the dinobots or the corpse.

Hours later Oscar wished there was anyone else from NEST here. Ronnie was rushed into surgery as fast as they could manage The sheriff here was running for reelection, and he was giving Oscar all kinds of crap while some kind of medical person kept coming back to Oscar for more information on Ronnie. The overwhelmed soldier welcomed the noise he was hearing in the hall as something that distracted the idiot official. He was even happier, if stunned, when his grandfather walked in, accompanied by official looking suits.

"Sheriff Blankinship?" one of the suits said. As the pompous sheriff started to get huffy, the suit went on, "I'm Agent Reynolds from the FBI, Special Action section, and we are taking over this investigation as required," and he rattled off some kind of rule while Oscar edged back and around.

"Pops, you don't know how glad I am to see you," he said. Sam smiled and clasped his shoulder, knowing Oscar hated getting a hug in public. "Ronnie-"

"Stabilized, and I brought Isabelle for him," Sam said. He looked grim and imposing in his suit. "The kids are with her folks for a while. Your parents are fine, but Minnie's morning sick-"

"What? Finally?" Having doubts about her ability to have children, Minnie refused to set a wedding date with Jeremy until she knew she could get pregnant. "How'd you get here?"

"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are outside. I tried getting through, and the damn fool over there's been stonewalling everyone. Thankfully Ironhide and Bee had the word out. I had to pull some strings, and agree to some meetings to get past him. I know these guys, "hr indicated the suits, "they used to be NEST, and they're going to act as my bodyguards since NEST is stretched so tight." Oscar nodded. "Now, when have you eaten last?" Oscar had not, and he was starved. "Head on to the cafeteria then. Go to the surgical waiting room on the third floor and meet Isabelle. Look after her until I text you or I show up. "Oscar headed away, feeling comforted. Everything would be okay now. Pops was here.

After sending his grandson for food and hopefully some quiet, Sam braced himself as Reynolds came over. Blankinship was steaming, but not mad enough to piss off a famous man who could buy the county with his petty cash fund. While almost all of the profit from the company went to NEST and the bots, Sam still owned a percent over and above his salary, and that was enough to make him a very rich man. While Blankinship might have an election coming up and want to cover himself with glory, the sheriff knew when he was outmaneuvered. "All right, I'll secure the area-"

"I believe we made it clear that our people will deal with the matter," Sam told him firmly. "We're asking that you cooperate with us, no more, and refer any calls to Mr. Reynolds' office. I would like to check on my son's status now. We don't know yet if they were able to save his leg."

"I didn't know," the sheriff said, startled. "Well, we'll hope for the best, Mr. Witwicky. Let us know if we can help any." He finally left. Sam turned to Reynolds and his partner, who nodded and led the way to the surgical waiting room. They positioned themselves at the doors. Sam headed directly for Isabelle and Oscar. Isabelle was crying.

Sam put an arm around her shoulders and drew her into a hug.

"Tell me," he said, looking from her to Oscar.

"He's going to live," Oscar said quickly, "that's not the problem. They had to pour blood into him, but he was stable when you left. His leg-"

"It's too crushed," Isabelle said, and sobbed. "They can't save it. They tried, but there's too much damage, they can't repair it. He's in recovery now." Sam closed his eyes, absorbing the news.

"He's alive," he told her. "They can do great things with prosthesis now." A good percentage of the company's workers had artificial limbs. "Let's worry about the rest when we have to." Just then a nurse came in, glancing at the suits uncertainly, and headed for Isabelle. Ronnie was in a bed and awake. As they walked to his room, she explained what to expect. Ronnie looked pale lying in the hospital bed. Isabelle went over immediately. Sam and Oscar gave them a moment before going over to him.

"Dad," he said, surprised and relieved.

"How are you?" Sam asked. Ronnie considered for a while.

"They told me when I woke up about the leg," Ronnie said. "It could have been worse. I'm alive, thanks to Oscar. He took over, did everything he could. We got so lucky-"He stopped. Oscar looked embarrassed. "The others are okay?"

"They're fine," Sam said. "We had to pry the local law enforcement off Oscar's back. Annabelle's already arranged for a suite at the nearest hotel. I wondered why they attacked here, but Ironhide said there's an orphanage and school near the place you met."

"Yeah?" Oscar said, wondering what that had to do with anything. Ronnie looked like he was trying to figure it out, too.

"Think, guys. So far all the berserks have been in big cities, highly populated areas. This time the bots would have attacked kids at a school. There's a pattern." They nodded, looking horrified.

"Making us run to put out fires, and if they get caught, we're the ones best known," Ronnie said, "and the 'cons have a lot of their work done for them." Sam nodded.

"So when you acted, you saved a bunch of kids," Sam told them. "Maybe a school full." He saw their faces lighten a little. One of the suits cleared his throat. Sam went over and spoke, then returned. "I've got a meeting. I'll get hold of everyone as soon as I know more. Oscar, go down and talk to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker so they can pass the word to everyone else. "He walked over and gave Ronnie a hug. "You both did fine, and I'm proud of you."

Four hours later he came back, this time dressing in more casual clothes. Ronnie was asleep, and Isabelle looked tired and worn. Oscar was drooping. They agreed on a rotation, and Sam sent both of them for showers and rest. "I already ate at the meeting, and grabbed a shower on the way here," he explained as he walked them to the door.

He checked on Ronnie, who was still asleep, and pulled out his laptop to make notes and send e-mails, thanking all the deities he knew that the hospital had wireless. The meeting was grim but went better than he expected. He had two more in the morning, by which time he expected Ronnie to be able to transfer to the base infirmary. He glanced over at Ronnie occasionally as he finished his notes and began to deal with his endless e-mail.

He was almost finished when Ronnie stirred. He put up the computer. Ronnie looked around uncertainly. "Hey, big guy," Sam said. "Hurting much?"

"My leg hurts," Ronnie said. "How can it hurt when it's not there?" Sam recognized meltdown, and reached. Ronnie sobbed on his shoulder, able to break down with his father as he could not with his wife or his nephew. Sam said nothing, simply being there until his son calmed and was able to lay back. He fetched a warm washcloth and let Ronnie wipe his face. Soon after a nurse came in and did things, and offered medicine. Ronnie started to refuse, but Sam bent a stern eye at him and he accepted instead. When the nurse left, he said," You always refuse it."

"I'm a special case, and you know it," Sam said. "Besides, you know Jeremy and Sheena make me take it anyway, for the first hour or so. By the way, I asked and if you don't want what's on the dinner tray, you can have something else. No diet restriction." Ronnie nodded, but Sam could tell he did not really care. The nurse put the medicine in his IV, and it was hitting him already. Sam talked on light topics, about Minnie's attack of morning sickness and the plans Poppy was making already for the celebration party, about how the sparklings were getting into the obstacle course with him in the mornings if Ironhide did not catch them first and it was driving both he and Ironhide crazy, while everyone else thought it was funny. Then Isabelle appeared. Sam nodded and said good-bye before heading out. Tonight he had a meeting, but not with humans.

Ironhide was waiting with Bumblebee and Oscar. The twins would stay until the meeting was over in case Isabelle and Ronnie needed help. Then they would head back to the base. Sam climbed in Bumblebee as Oscar did with Ironhide. He talked to his former full-time guardian as they rode. Bumblebee remained Sam's best friend, human or otherwise, and even though the yellow flar was no longer his guardian, they still rode and talked frequently. Bumblebee described the events again, with Ironhide connected and adding to the story when needed. "So these guys took on dinosaur alts," Sam marveled. "How long ago?"

"Quite some time ago, from what they tell us. They were dodging Decepticons, and crashed into an old museum that had animatronics of these creatures, so they grabbed the alts. Then they discovered they were stuck with them. Somehow they lost the ability to transform at all. The only thing they can figure is that it got damaged when they came down. They discovered that they can hide by pretending to be statues, and that children like them. They like to watch kids, so that works out for them. The leader is Grimlock, the tyrannosaurus. "Sam shifted in his seat. He could see Ironhide behind him. While the bots were antsy about Sam leaving the base, they also knew that he needed to be near Ronnie and he was needed to clean up the mess. As several agencies wanted the chance to deal with Sam directly, they jumped at the chance to help out. Optimus helped organize the teams, recognizing not only the need for the father to be there for his son, but the All-Spark driving Sam again. For some reason, this mission was important. The deal had been that two bots escort Sam at all times outside of a building, and that inside a building, there be at least two trained bodyguards with him at all times. Sam accepted the terms without complaint.

The moon was riding the clouds, making interesting patterns of shadows on the ground. They stopped to speak to the NEST soldiers working on the perimeter, then drove in. Sam got out, and both the bots transformed. Soon after, other shadows appeared. "Come this way," they said, and moved. Bumblebee put Sam on his shoulder, and all of them went into a clearing with a streetlamp. In the better light, the dinobots still looked formidable, but Sam was too used to dealing with big bots to be intimidated.

"I'm Sam Witwicky. Oscar said you wanted to talk." Bumblebee put Sam down and he walked forward a few feet, facing the neutrals directly.

The dinobots focused on him. Sam waited patiently. Beings who live for centuries are seldom in a hurry unless threatened, and these were in their home territory. The human Cube could tell they were communing on a private channel. "We can feel your power," Grimlock said. Sam nodded.

"We've stayed out of this war," Swoop butted in. "We came here to avoid being forced into the Fallen's army. The fighting was senseless and never ending. We didn't agree with either side." Ironhide and Bumblebee hissed despite themselves. Sam held up a hand, and they backed down.

"For years we stayed here, enjoyed watching the humans, especially the children. Now the 'Cons want to make us their pawns with this virus. They would have managed," Snarl said. Sam could see why he chose his designation; the voice was harsh.

"I would have killed any human that showed up in front of me," Slag said, his voice tight. "Children, woman, man, it would not have mattered. I was a youth director on Cybertron. I do not kill if I can help it."

"I do not fight at all," the brontosaur said, in a distressed voice. "But I would have had to stop Slag."

"We owe you," Grimlock said. "What is the price?"

"Pass it on," Sam said promptly.

"We would do that anyway. It is not enough."

"It is. When Slag attacked Wrecker and Sludge stood over the soldiers, you repaid me. The hurt one is my son. The one helping him was my grandson," Sam told them. They considered that, communing again.

"How is the hurt one?" Grimlock asked.

Sam looked down and then up again. "He'll live, but he's lost his leg." At that Sludge made a grieving sound. They communed again.

"Why are you doing this?" Swope demanded. "Why did you create the vaccine in the first place, and why are you passing it to all the neutrals, without price?"

Sam looked up at them. "Because the cost of the virus being spread is higher than ignoring it, to begin with," he said. "Because choices, even bad choices, are the right of every living being. Because the virus solution was given to me to pass on to any bot that needed it." Because, he thought, when you come down to it, sometimes you just have to do the right thing.

They communed again. "Were you given a choice?" Slag asked suddenly. Sam asked what it meant. "With the All-Spark. Were you given a choice?"

Sam considered. "Yes," he answered, remembering Mission City, remembering seeing Megatron loom over Optimus and making his choice. "I didn't know the price then." How could anyone have known that the price was the All-Spark transferring to Sam? "But knowing the price, I would still have done it." The answer seemed to satisfy them. They communed again.

"We will work with you until this matter is finished," Grimlock said. "Snarl, Slag and I can fight. Sludge is a communications specialist, as good as or better than Soundwave. Swoop is good at analyzing, especially with the Decepticons. "

"How do you think we stayed away from the 'Cons so long?" Swoop asked smugly. "So what do you say to our thanks?"

Sam looked at them. Then suddenly, he glowed. Ironhide and Bumblebee found their minor problems suddenly fixed. "Transform," Sam said, and his voice echoed.

"We can't-" Swoop started, and Grimlock cuffed him lightly. Then he concentrated, and suddenly there was an original bipedal Cybertronian looking at them. The other dinobots transformed as soon as they stopped staring. Sam leaned on Bumblebee's leg for a moment, then straightened and smiled.

"You're welcome," he said.