Author's Note: Well, it's certainly been awhile, hasn't it? First, I need to thank each and every one of you who continued to read this story and review during my temporary absence. Your words warmed my heart during a time that was particularly difficult for me. While I can only hope that this chapter measures up to the rest of the story, I'm not sure that it does, and I hope you can forgive me if it's not entirely up to par. I promise to make up for it with I also hope?the next chapter, which I feel will be much more enjoyable a read. to not take nearly as long with the next chapter, and I feel I can stick to that promise, as it's already partially written and things in my life finally seem to be calming down. With all that said, I now present…

Dance with the Devil

Chapter 7

By Morgan O'Conner

It's been a week, Ratchet, why hasn't he woken up yet? Bumblebee growled.

I don't know, Bumblebee, the medic replied, and he sounded tired. I told you both from the beginning that I could not predict what would happen once the change entered his brain. I do not know why he is still in stasis, all scans show his readings as normal. Or, as normal as possible considering the circumstances. The bonding of the two halves is complete, and he should have exited stasis three days ago.

That's not good enough! the yellow 'bot yelled.

It's going to have to be! There is nothing more I can do until he shows signs of waking!

Sam wanted desperately to tell his two friends to stop arguing. He could hear them, and it was giving him a headache. Maybe because the yelling was so loud. Or, maybe not loud, but…close. He thought that was strange, upon further inspection. The yelling didn't seem to be coming from an outside source, it seemed to be coming from inside him, all around him. It took him a few very long moments to process the fact that they were transmitting the argument, not actually speaking out loud, and another few moments to realize that he was really hearing the transmission and it wasn't his imagination.

You two have been at each other's throats for days, he suddenly heard another voice pop in. He recognized Ironhide's growl. Give it a rest. He'll wake when he's ready, and you two tearing each other to pieces won't help anything.

It was a very strange way to 'hear' things, Sam thought, but it definitely had its perks. Especially since he was pretty positive they didn't know he could hear them yet. At least listening gave him something solid to focus on. Despite what they thought, he had been 'awake' to a degree for two days. But upon first being aware that he was awake, he couldn't make sense of anything. Sounds were disjointed and muted, all feeling had been totally cut off, and he could not move no matter how hard he tried. At first he had been terrified, until he remembered Ratchet telling him that his human brain and the new Cybertronian side of him would take some time to get acclimated to each other. Until that happened, he would be pretty much useless. He wondered a little why Ratchet hadn't been able to tell he was awake during that time.

The conversation between the two Autobots was the first thing he had been able to make any sense of since he had become aware again, and he was grateful. If he could make sense of transmissions between the bots, it had to mean that soon enough he would be up and moving again.

Behind his closed eyes, he began to see strange words and symbols racing across his vision, and he was startled to realize that he was speed reading what had to be the Cybertronian language. His body was running a diagnostic scan of itself if he was reading it correctly (which he was almost positive he was, however crazy that was), probably something he had set off completely by accident.

Least it looks like I'm healthy, he thought as he watched the words fly by, giving him stats on everything from how well his organs were functioning, to how regular his breathing pattern was, to the exact time it had been since he had last gone into stasis, and how long it would be until he should again. He thought it was pretty kick-ass that the readings were for his human side as well as the Cybertronian half. Hybrid, indeed.

Well, he thought, I'm going to have to try opening my eyes sooner or later. Might as well make it sooner. He was afraid of what he would see when he did, though. Behind closed eyelids, the changes he knew he'd gone through were relative. Sure, he could hear transmissions between the bots, but he could still pretend they were really speaking. And sure, he could run a diagnostic scan on himself and suddenly read a foreign language, but he could pretend that was his imagination. But when he opened his eyes, there would be no going back.

Here goes nothing… It was a struggle for a moment. His body, which had been unconscious for five days and unresponsive for another two, rebelled against any sort of movement. But he was determined, and a second later, his eyes fluttered open.

He blinked a few times, first against the brightness of the room around him, and then to try to adjust. He could see, and that was a hell of a good start as far as he was concerned. But everything was…well. Intense. He realized he was seeing two different ways simultaneously. He could 'see' in the sense he'd always been able to. Simple – light and shadow, color, movement. But overlaying that was this new perception, where everything was tinted blue, and everything he looked at was given words, stats, and diagnostics that ran through his brain in milliseconds. He stared across the room at a wooden rocking chair, and instantly knew what material it was made out of, how old the material was, what the device itself was used for, and the threat level such an object presented. Along with a whole bunch of other mumbo-jumbo he decided not to try and sort through.

It was the rocking chair that clued him in to the fact that he wasn't in his own room. In fact, he didn't know where he was, because he knew Mikaela's house pretty well, and this wasn't it either. Which meant if he wanted to figure out where he was, he was going to have to get someone's attention. And wouldn't that probably cause a stir.

Still, his friends had obviously been very worried. It wasn't fair to keep them in the dark any longer.

He glanced around (his neck rebelled painfully against the movement), but didn't see anyone else in the vicinity. While he was relatively sure he could speak, he was just as sure that his voice wouldn't be loud enough to actually call for someone. Which left one option that he wasn't even sure he was capable of yet. He'd have to try, though.

He closed his eyes (and wasn't ashamed to admit he was grateful when that blue tinged, alien sight was replaced by darkness) and turned his mind inward. He let himself sink into a meditative state as Ratchet had taught him, and focused his thoughts on his best friend. Bumblebee, he thought. He waited a moment, but all was silent. It hadn't worked. He sank deeper inside himself, grasping at the energy he felt pulsing around his heart.

Bumblebee!

He knew it worked when he heard startled exclamations from outside, but the effort had exhausted him and even if they had replied using transmissions, he knew he wouldn't be able to do more. He drifted back up through consciousness, and kept his eyes closed while he waited for someone to come.

He didn't have to wait long. He heard the door to whatever room he was in burst open, and quick footsteps moving to his bedside.

"Sam?"

Mikaela. It warmed him knowing she was there. He forced his eyes open and turned to her, a small smile on his face. "Hey 'Kaela," he said, his voice scratchy. She pulled a bottle of water from the pack she had by her side.

"Here, let's get you sitting up," she said, moving to help him. His muscles screamed in protest, but with her supporting him, he was able to sit up enough to take a few small sips of water without choking. "That better?" she asked.

"Much. Thanks."

She laid him back gently against the pillows and just stared at him. "Jesus, Sam," she said after a long moment. "You had all of us pretty freaked, you know."

"I'm sorry." And he really was. The last thing he wanted was all the people he cared about worrying about him.

"How are you feeling? And don't scrimp on details…I'm to report straight back to Bumblebee and Ratchet, and they'll want details since Sarah will kill them if they try to step foot in the house."

"Sarah…this is Will's place?"

Mikaela nodded. "It was the safest place we could think of to bring you. The air force keeps an eye on the place, even though Will isn't part of it anymore, so if any Decepticons showed up, we'll at least have some backup."

"Oh…Oh! The transmission! Did I -"

"You didn't start transmitting until a few minutes ago, Ratchet thinks because you forced a direct transmission to Bumblebee. Things are quiet right now, but they're watchful, and Will just called in the government to keep an extra eye on things as well. All he told them was that he had reason to believe Decepticons would be scouting the area, he didn't tell them why though."

Sam wasn't sure whether to feel relieved that they had things under control so far, or ashamed for unintentionally causing problems all by himself.

"So? How are you feeling?"

"Sore," he replied, thinking about it for a second. "Probably from lying here for so long, more than the changes. And a little strange…my sight is…weird, but I can still see, which I'm taking as a good thing. I'm healthy…I accidentally ran a diagnostic on myself, so you can tell Ratchet that I guess, though it probably won't be good enough for him. You can also tell him that I've been awake for two days…I just couldn't do anything."

"He'll be happy to hear all of that. So will Bee. They were both afraid you'd be awake, but incoherent. At the very least, still unable to cope with certain changes. But you seem all right." She paused for a moment. "Sam…you may not like this, but…your eyes…"

He glanced up at her quickly. "What about them?" he asked, panicked. "I can see fine…weird, but fine…I can even still see like normal, sort of."

"Well…look, no one knew what to expect with all of this, right? Don't freak out. I don't think even Ratchet expected this, but…well, just don't freak."

"Yeah, because you're doing such a good job of helping me not freak out," he growled. "What is it, 'Kaela?"

She reached into her handbag and pulled out a small mirror, the same one he'd seen her use countless times in the past to fix make-up, straighten hair, check for food in her teeth…All the usual "girl" issues. She flipped it open and handed it to him, and suddenly he was terrified of that tiny reflective piece of glass.

With a shaking hand, he raised it to eye level…and stared. His right eye was completely normal. Chocolate brown iris, deep black pupil, a little bloodshot from being unused for so long, but normal. The left eye, though, glowed blue. The eye itself…the shape of it, the texture, even the moisture he could see…was as it had always been. But it was totally blue, glowing from spark energy. "Damn," he said, his voice little more than a whisper. He handed the mirror back to Mikaela and stared up at the ceiling.

"It makes sense," he said after a moment. "Sort of, I guess. I mean, it couldn't be as simple as flipping a switch to go back and forth between totally different optic structures, right? So it makes sense that this would be my body's way of dealing with the need for both human and Cybertronian sight…just give me both simultaneously. I bet if I were to transform, it would be the same, they'd just become metallic or…Cybertronian…rather than…flesh, or whatever human eyes are. Or something."

"You're probably right," Mikaela agreed, nodding slowly. "Are you okay?"

He took a breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah…yeah, I mean, if that's the worst of it, it isn't so bad. Obviously I can't go to school with it…maybe I can get a patch. That'd be cool, right? I mean, it's not like my skin turned irreversibly to metal or something. Just one eye I can't control what it looks like. It could have been way worse."

"That's true." Mikaela grinned. "And a patch would look pretty dashing. Still…you're going to have to tell your parents now. Tell them something, at least. Walking around with a new patch will fool the people who don't live with you, but they'll have questions. Especially Judy."

"Aw. Damn."

Mikaela stayed for another half an hour talking with Sam before she finally decided he should be resting, and she should be reporting back to the Autobots. On her way out she grasped his hand for a moment and ran a hand through his hair. "Get some rest, I'll see you when you wake up."

And for an instant, it was like old times, when he didn't have to worry about protecting her, when he could smile at her in that special way and she could lean down and kiss him and everything in the world would be right and perfect.

But she didn't lean down, and everything was not nearly right or perfect, and the moment was lost. Sam promised himself it would not come again. He couldn't let it.

He took Mikaela's advice and allowed himself to drift off for a bit, feeling that he needed the extra rest as he still needed to adjust to everything. When he next woke, the room was dark except for the green glow of the alarm clock he hadn't noticed before, sitting perched on a small table across the room. It was dark, at least, to his human vision. His newly acquired alien vision was just as perfect and strange as it had been in the brightness of the day. It startled him a bit, but he thought he might be getting used to it.

"Sam?" The voice was quiet, hesitant, and warmed Sam instantly.

"Bee," he said, looking over to the human projection of his best friend, who was seated quietly in the rocking chair, now placed carefully next to the bed. "How long have you been here?"

"A little over an hour," was the quiet reply. "It was the only way Sarah Lennox would let me anywhere near the house."

"An hour? But how?" Sam asked, surprised. "The last time…"

Bee smiled. "I have not been idling my time away while you've slept Sam. I've been practicing with Optimus and Ratchet. My control is considerably better than it was."

"You…did that for me?"

"Of course I did," Bee replied, as though it should be the most obvious thing in the world. "How are you feeling? Mikaela said you were sore, but coping better than we had thought you would be so quickly."

"I'm okay. Not even sore any more, as much as I was." To prove this to himself as much as to Bee, he stretched, slowly working kinks out of his arms and legs, and was surprised to realize he really wasn't that sore anymore at all. His body was acclimating ridiculously quickly. "Only thing still really weird is the eyesight thing. Haven't really thought about much else that I'm sure I can do now."

"Yes, the 'eyesight thing'. It is a bit disconcerting. Are you beginning to grow accustomed to it?"

Sam snorted. "'Disconcerting', he says. Understatement of the century, Bee. But yeah…starting to get used to it. Mostly. Mikaela and I were talking about what I could possibly tell my parents. That's got me more worried right now than anything."

"Whatever you decide to tell them, I will be there with you. The Autobots will all support you, and help to explain your situation in any way possible. Mikaela also mentioned something about a patch you could wear during the rest of the time?"

"She thinks it would look dashing," Sam laughed. "And it could be cool making up some story about why I have to wear it. Some heroic tale about losing an eye while saving some gorgeous…" He trailed off at the look Bee was giving him. "All right, all right…well, something anyway. And really, a patch is the only thing I really can do to hide it from everyone."

"Hmm, that's probably true. I could attempt to teach you, or have Optimus teach you, to project a hologram over the area of your normal eye, but that would take a focus that I barely possess, to both hold it for a significant period of time, and keep it cemented to one area."

"I'll stick with the patch," Sam said. "I've got enough to learn without adding a new trick to the pile in the course of a week." He glanced up and noticed Bee's hologram waver, just a bit. "You should go, you must be exhausted."

"I am still learning," Bee admitted. "But I wanted to be here when you awoke."

Sam smiled. "You're the best friend a guy could ask for, Bee. Thanks. Now go get a nice recharge, before you blink out of existence like last time."

Bumblebee nodded and stood. Before he left, he reached over and grasped one of Sam's hands, so much like Mikaela had earlier that it startled him for a moment. "Everything will be all right, Sam. You will get through this. All of it. And I will help you in any way I can."

Caught up in emotions he could hardly name, Sam could only nod and squeeze his hand tighter. Bee shimmered again, and Sam released him to go get the rest he required. As the human projection stepped out of the room, Sam smiled with the knowledge that maybe, things really would be okay.

Now he just had to face one of his worst nightmares.

His mom and dad.

Chapter completed on May 22, 2008