I had this first segment written in a really cool format but ff didn't like it and kept eating the words so deal with this much less cool but I suppose still mostly effective formatting instead.

Everything felt so slow

you are so brave for one so young

The air was warm even though it had been cold

everything will be alright

I was about to die but i wasn't scared

you will not die this day

I felt so calm in that moment

hold on small one

Was this how raindrops felt when they fell

~oOo~

Everything came together in an instant. Something exploded not far off, gravel was raining down around me, my ears were ringing so loud, I could feel my own heartbeat in my fingers and my toes and my throat-

I hit something hard, but it was much too soon to be hitting the ground, and instead of splattering on the concrete I was cradled, laid on something warm and metallic and emanating safesafesafe. I managed to pry my eyes open as my savior spoke, a deep rumble that was just as familiar as the red and blue paint I could only sort of see. Optimus.

He cupped his hand, bringing me in close to his chest where the grill of the Peterbilt sat, and as quickly as I was caught we dropping again- a controlled fall this time, with Optimus digging the fingers of his free hand into the buildings on either side of us and the sidestreet.

He lurched when something hit him hard, and we dropped the last five or six stories in one go. Optimus managed to kick off Megatron, and to somehow dump me on the ground without even making me stumble. "Angel, If I lose this fight, you must unite the cube with the spark in my chest. I will sacrifice myself to keep it from the Decepticons. Promise me." I had barely managed a nod when he turned to look over his shoulder, turning fully even as he warned me, "stay behind me." And then they were at each others throats, literally and figuratively.

The fight was brutal. Metal was bent and rended from their bodies entirely, buildings crumbled and collapsed when they threw the other into the walls. Blades and blasters spun in and out of their arms at a rapid pace, and all the while I clung to the Allspark, holding it to my chest like a baby- or a teddy bear, only one made of metal. Every swing seemed like it would be the last, every hit seemed like it would have to be the death blow, but they kept rising again. Until they didn't.

Optimus was sprawled on his back, struggling to force himself back into the fight, but Megatron was already moving, crawling from his crater in the street and snarling incoherent words. Optimus yelled to me- he wanted me to do it, sacrifice the cube, sacrifice him- but we didn't stand a chance with him gone, I couldn't- and the cube, they needed the cube- Cybertron-

I felt another strange pulse in my chest, the ones I was starting to think weren't as imagined as I first thought, and I got a thought- if it will kill Optimus, it will kill Megatron too- but it would still destroy the Allspark- the allspark cannot be destroyed, it is energy- everything will be alright-

I ran towards the crawling maniac before I could think too hard about exactly what I was about to do. His frame, even on his hands and knees, still towered over me, and I wasn't even sure if I could reach his spark from the ground, but his arms half collapsed, and with him on his elbows I was just tall enough. I thrust the Allspark into the air, only inches from his chest, and the cube bust into light and heat and pain and it will be alright everything will be alright

There was barely a sliver of the cube left when he lurched backwards and it was ripped from my grasp, I was vaguely aware of him clawing at his chest as I stumbled back, but I couldn't think clearly it was all pain, pain and burning and death and loss and a sorrow so deep it felt like it would swallow me whole and pain pain pain in my hips in my hands in my head everywhere everything hurt and I'd destroyed their only hope for Cybertron I'd killed their planet I'd killed them gods what had I done?

The loud, heavy thud behind me was lost to the splatter of bile on the ruined pavement. I heaved until nothing was left and it felt like my stomach and my lungs and everything else in my guts was trying to squeeze out my mouth and slowly sat back on my heels. Belatedly, I lifted my hands off the dirt and gravel that used to be Main Street and noted the heels of my palms were an angry, wet-looking red, now covered in debris.

The part of me still horrified by what I'd done hoped it would get infected.

I heard Optimus approach from behind me and tried to wipe my mouth on the tattered sleeve of my jacket. It probably smeared dirt everywhere rather than actually help with how I looked. "Angel, I owe you my life. We are in your debt."

"Don't say that." My voice shook so badly, it nearly tipped me face-first into memories of court dates and gunshot wounds and hit-and-runs. "The Allspark Is gone, you… you can't fix Cybertron now. Because I had to kill him."

"Had Megatron succeeded, he would have done far worse. We may have lost the Allspark, but Cybertron has been lost to us for a very long time. Without their leader, the Decepticons will scatter. You have saved many more lives than you have taken. You gave us aide when you had every reason to leave. You saved me, and you have saved all of these brave warriors from the future Megatron had planned. Do not play yourself as only your shortcomings when there is so much more to what you have done."

I sniffled, wincing at the sting of bile on raw nerves and the throbbing in my skull. "You make me sound like some great hero."

I managed to lift my head as the tow truck pulled up close to the scene, Sam swinging down from the cab and nearly collapsing if not for a rescue by one of the soldiers, who limped him in our direction. I wobbled to my feet and managed to hold steady as he got close enough to pull me into a hug. The only thing keeping me from melting into it was the knowledge that if either of us didn't pull our weight we were both going down, and we probably wouldn't get back up.

"God, Angel, I thought you were gonna die." He half breathed into my hair.

I gave a broken little laugh. I've been through worse, I meant to say, a bit of sass to lighten the mood, but instead out spilled "So did I."

Ironhide and Ratchet thumped into my view over Sam's shoulder, Jazz' barely whole body supported carefully by the two of them. Gods, he looked so small. "Prime, we need somewhere to stabilize him." The tiny tiny bot's eyes flickered with light, and he gave off a strange digitized noise, feebly waving his hand in dismissal.

Optimus looked, for just a brief moment, beyond pain and frustration. I swallowed. "There... I think there was a semi and trailer… a block down, and to the right. I don't know how clean you need it for operations, but… it should be big enough, and when we're told where to go from here it'll be safer than trying to move him again." I pointed off down the road, and the larger bots adjusted their holds until Jazz was fully supported by Ironhide and Ratchet was safe to run off to retrieve the flatbed for his makeshift operating table.

Optimus flashed me a look of gratitude for so much more than knowing my surroundings and I turned to hide my face in Sam's shoulder, returning his hug with a vague mockery of one. I was very quickly feeling exhausted and much more aware of the throbbing ache in my bones the longer we stood still, and when the two of us gave a dangerous wobble a couple of soldiers hurried over to help support us both.

"We have lost much today. We almost lost a good friend. But we have gained new ones. Thank you. All of you. You honor us with your bravery."

Bumblebee made a quiet whirring a few steps off to our right, then- "Permission to speak, Sir?"

The Prime's face twisted into a smile. "Permission granted, old friend."

Sam jerked around to stare at Bee in awe, even as he continued, "I wish to stay with them."

"If that is their choice."

Sam looked down at me, and I gave him an expectant look. He smiled. "Yeah."

"Hell yes," I added.

The camaro whirred contentedly behind us. Ratchet returned not even two full minutes after he left, flatbed in tow, and he and Ironhide started working on repairs. Optimus, after a very short discussion with Lennox- who i belatedly noticed was one of the two that had rushed over to keep Sam and I upright, along with Epps- took a half-request-half-order from Ratchet and left to scrounge up parts to replace what couldn't be patched on Jazz. I wasn't entirely aware of what had been done in between, but the next time I could think clearly, Sam and I had been herded into a mostly unharmed store, close to the intersection where Megatron's corpse lay and where Jazz was slowly but surely being pulled back from the brink. Someone had scrounged up blankets that might have actually just been thrown on a pile of clothes in a makeshift bed and we were both sprawled on it, a thin sheet tossed half-heartedly over our torsos. I was settled on my right side, the only way I had been able to reliably stay comfortable since I'd been hit some three years back, with Sam beside me on his back with his broken leg propped up on a box to keep it from being nudged while we waited. Despite it barely being sundown, I was exhausted. I had, of course, been up and running for almost forty-eight hours now.

We hadn't really said anything about it, but once we'd settled in, my head had found the crook of his neck and my legs had tangled with his good one and his arm was wrapped loosely around me, a hand sitting on my hip. As his breathing evened out, I slowly lifted myself up on an elbow to look at him. It protested the effort with another flare of burning, aching pain. I tried to ignore it. Maybe part of me expected him to have spontaneously turned into someone else, as dreams are wont to do, or I expected him to stare back and say some really cliched movie line. He looked peaceful, though, face relaxed, eyes closed lightly, despite the mess of dirt and the thin, shallow cuts that left flaky streaks of blood. He looked good.

My free hand came up and lightly traced over his cheekbone, then followed the line of a cut down to his jaw and from there to his chin. His eyes opened tiredly, and after a moment he smiled. "So how's that for a date, Angel? Cars that turn into intelligent robots, explosions, can't say you've done that before."

I smiled back, rubbing his jaw with my thumb. "It was definitely original." I rubbed his chin a bit longer, but when he didn't move to speak, I added quietly, "Everything that happened… Whatever comes next… I just want you to know. I'm. I'm glad I got in that car with you." His smile twitched ever-so-slightly wider, and after a moment to think 'what the hell,' I leaned down and kissed him. Very lightly, and only for a couple of seconds because even sore and exhausted I knew I smelled awful and my mouth would taste like vomit, and he didn't try to take control or push it, just pressed his lips back gently and gave a smile that showed his teeth when I pulled away to settle back against his side. His hand held a little tighter to my hip, and I could hear the soldiers still yelling to each other over short distances as they swept the city a few blocks at a time looking for civilians and soldiers, alive and dead, and moving anyone in need of medical attention to their triage station a couple blocks away where they wouldn't see more of the autobots than they had to before the choppers and ground transports could get them out of the city. The short range radio handheld that had been given to Sam and I squawked status updates and sitreps every minute or so, volume turned down so the static wasn't too bothersome and the orders were only barely heard.

I slept better than I had memory of doing in almost a full year, at least for a few hours, and somewhere inside, I felt like things really were going to be alright.

That is the official End of Thicker than Water. If I can find the muse for it, I'm very fond of the idea of continuing this as a series to cover at least the first three movies(because I hate the 4th and 5th as they relate to Canon and therefore will probably ignore most of their plots) but please do not hold your breath waiting because you will probably suffocate.