A/N: I just realized I made an egregious error in my last chapter…Blitzwing contemplates Prof. Sumdac to be one of the culprits who took Lugnut's body…which would be impossible since the good Prof. is imprisoned in the Decepticon base. (smacks forehead) Geez...SO disregard that singular crazy musing of Blitzwing. The Prof. is still prisoner in the Con base. As for the timeline its sometime before A Bridge Too Close…but I'm not following it too closely in case anyone cares.

Baby Con

Chapter 11: "What is THIS?"

Much later at Autobot HQ…

"NO! We have to get him back!" Sari protested.

Optimus massaged the bridge of his nose, "Sari, we don't know where the Decepticon base is and we haven't been able to track their signatures since our battle on Dinobot Island. We wouldn't even know where to begin."

"That's what you said about my father." she spat bitterly.

"And we still don't know where he is." Bumblebee added.

"I don't care how impossible it is, we HAVE to try!" Sari waved her arms, "We can't let Megatron have him."

Ratchet finished examining Bulkhead, though there wasn't anything wrong after Sari's key fixed his damage, "Sari, even if we knew where to find him, it would be too late. He's a Decepticon, pure and simple."

"No!" the girl's eyes watered, "We were making a difference with him. You saw it! You ALL saw it!"

"I also saw those flittering glimpses of his Decepticon programming." the medic muttered. "They would've only gotten worse the longer we kept him."

Sari shook her head fervidly, "He had good in him! Why can't you see that?"

Ratchet turned from his work stating sharply, "Because when you've been online as long as I have you come to understand the way of things. And a Decepticon will always BE a Decepticon."

The girl's eyes burned, "And MAYBE you've been online so long you've become blind and deaf to the possibility of change!"

Before Ratchet could retort, Sari stormed away in tears, not wanting to continue the conversation. She raced into her room and flopped onto her bed to cry. Her heart ached. First her father went missing and she had no idea if he was alive or dead. Now she'd lost Luggy to the Decepticons. Sari had never had a brother or sister and despite the absurdity of it, Luggy felt like a little brother to her, just as the Autobots had become her big brothers. She knew she had to get him back though she didn't know how.

There was a knock against the wall of her room. Sari ignored it.

"Sari?" Bumblebee's voice called cautiously.

"What?" the girl croaked.

She heard the yellow bot step into her room, "Are…are you ok?"

Sari shook her head, burying her face deeper in the pillow. Very gently his hand covered her back as he sat on the edge of her tire bed.

"Look…if you want…I can help you look for him." he said out of the blue.

The young girl lifted her tear-stained face, "What?"

Bumblebee shifted uncomfortably, "I know we don't have any idea where they are but…"

Sari embraced his car hood chest, "Thank you Bee."

Decepticon HQ…

Blitzwing paused outside the chasm entrance to their hidden base. It was against the rules to hover over a secret entrance for the obvious reason of giving away their location. The jet compromised and hovered inside the pit-like entrance but didn't descend. Squeaks and growls of protest announced his cargo's unwillingness to be confined. Then the harsh banging within his interior made Blitzwing grimace. Curtly he opened his cargo bay door, dropping the Sparkling out. He quickly transformed, snagging the green and purple mechling in his hands before he fell too far. Little Lugnut buzzed angrily, biting the black fingers.

Hothead barked, "STOP that you little…!"

The echoing of his voice in the chasm was much too loud so Icy took command in a quieter voice, "I would advise you to stop…" he pried the beaky jaws from his finger, "…that."

Lugnut growled but stopped his biting. He was finally out of that dark, cramped cargo space…and was flying! The sensation of flight changed his mood immediately. His optic blinked and he let loose a loud, trilling squeak.

"WHEEEE!"

"SHH!" Icy placed his hand over Luggy's mouth. "Be quiet."

Luggy growled and wiggled his head until he bit Blitzwing's finger again.

"Ow…ow…ow!" Blitzwing hissed, prying his finger free.

"Little grease spot." Hothead growled.

When Blitzwing finally landed he paused. He still wasn't sure how he was going to explain this "unfortunate" situation to Megatron. The warlord had little patience when it came to failed missions or bad news. Well technically he DID achieve his goal, but Megatron wasn't going to like this—his top lieutenant reduced to this little scraplet.

Sparkling Lugnut made a moan of disappointment when they stopped flying.

"Shh!" Icy hissed but didn't put his fingers anywhere near Luggy's beak this time.

He held the Sparkling out in front of him, "What have you gotten yourself into Lugnut?"

Hothead's face flipped around, "You pain in the aft!"

"I could just squeeze you to pieces!" Random cooed almost darkly.

Icy reappeared, "How am I supposed to explain this to Megatron?"

The single red optic blinked at him. Blitzwing frowned and then sighed.

"Well…it's not going to get any better waiting around."

With cautious steps the triple-changer moved down the dark tunnel that led to their central command room, Lugnut tucked under his arm. As the purple lights grew brighter he felt the odd sensation of dread fill him. Normally he didn't have time to feel that, but if there was one thing all three of his personas agreed on was their fear of Megatron's wrath.

"So you're back?" Megatron's deep voice echoed somewhere in the room.

Blitzwing stood at attention, hiding Lugnut behind his wing struts, "Yes, Megatron."

"And for your sake I hope you have found something." Megatron's crimson optics lit up across the room from his command seat.

"Yes…"

Megatron rested two fingers on the brim of his helmet, "Then deliver your report."

"Sir, after searching the perimeter of Detroit I postulated that a pinging signal sent into Lugnut's communicator would lead me to his location." Icy Blitzwing explained quickly.

"And…?"

"It worked."

"Excellent. So you found his body." Megatron's optics narrowed dangerously, "Why do I not SEE it here?"

Blitzwing felt as if his freezing cells had ruptured and were slowly leaking into his circuitry, "Well because…"

The warlord's dark fist impacted the armrest, "You DIDN'T bring him back?"

A loud squeak sounded from behind Blitzwing's back.

Megatron frowned, "What was that?"

Making a grimace of dread, Blitzwing knew he couldn't hold out on his secret for much longer. He brought the Sparkling out from behind his wings and then placed him on the floor. Little Luggy sat on his bottom, looking around the vast cavern that was the Decepticon base.

"WHAT in the name of the ALL SPARK!" Megatron rasped, leaning forward in his throne.

His voice immediately caught Lugnut's attention. The Sparkling's head jerked upward at the imposing figure of the Decepticon leader. His optic shrank

Blitzwing gestured to the Sparkling, "This is how I found him, Megatron. He was with the Autobots outside the city."

Very slowly Megatron stood up. He approached the small scrap of what was left of his loyal lieutenant. Luggy didn't move a piston as the gigantic mech loomed over him like a dark, skyscraper. His optic widened, taking in every detail of the daunting warlord's silhouette before finally leaning back too far and toppling onto his back.

"What caused this?" Megatron asked in a low voice.

Blitzwing merely shrugged, "I don't know."

All at once the former lieutenant was on his feet staring up at the biggest and most magnificent mech he'd ever seen. He hinged jaw lifted in a smile.

He recognized this red-eyed titan with the huge arm gun! He's seen him on the TV and his memory core was whirring non-stop to piece together why he looked so familiar.

"This is unacceptable!" Megatron barked with a fierce gesture, "My forces on Earth are practically non-existent as they are, and NOW…"

The action was sudden and unexpected. Like a magnet Luggy latched onto Megatron's calf plate. A happy purr vibrated in his little chest.

"Mega-tawn"

There was a beat of silence. Icy and Hothead had to fight off Random's inevitable laughing fit which threatened to get them all slagged. Megatron growled deeply, clenching his cannon fist.

"Remove…him." he commanded dangerously.

Quickly Blitzwing bent over and ripped the Sparkling from his leader's leg. Luggy growled with protest, swinging his arms at the offending mech.

"NO! Bit-zing!" the Sparkling whined.

"It seems he remembers us…" Icy offered. "A bit."

Megatron's hand forcibly gripped one of Blitzwing's cannon barrels and yanked him closer, "I want you to find out how this happened."

"Sir?"

"If the Autobots have developed a new weapon that can do this I want to know about it." his voice was very serious. He gave the Sparkling reaching for him a look of disdain, "And until you do… keep that little pestilence out of my sight."

With that the Decepticon leader shoved Blitzwing away and resumed his watch over the monitors nearby. Blitzwing was switching his faces but none of them were saying anything as he held little Luggy awkwardly. Then he doggedly marched down through another tunnel away from Megatron.

"Ja…" Icy groaned.

Random squealed, "We're gonna be Daddies!"

"NO we're NOT!" Hothead fumed, "We should just throw him in the river!"

Luggy squirmed to look around Blitzwing's boxy shoulder for one last glimpse of Megatron. He squeaked and buzzed, kicking his legs and reaching out as if he could magically free himself.

"Stop whining!" was Hothead's curt remark.

Luggy whimpered one last time, but stopped. At last Blitzwing arrived in another chamber more specifically geared to examine the new arrival. He plunked the Sparkling down on an examination table, overshadowed by a scanning probe. Icy reappeared and switched on the device which hummed quietly. He passed the scanner over every inch of the Sparkling from all possible angles until the schematics appeared on the screen. Then he brought up Lugnut's adult schematics for comparison. There were notable differences but nothing to suggest how the change occurred.

Blitzwing leaned forward as he noticed something interesting, "Hmm. It seems someone has disconnected your transformation relays."

Randomflipped around, "Aww! The Autobots didn't want him to have any fun."

He tweaked Luggy's wrists. The little Con swiped at him with a growl.

The crazy face only cackled, "OOO! Still grouchy isn't he?"

Blitzwing resumed his research, trying to successfully pinpoint how Lugnut was transformed in this manner. He didn't have so much as a theory. He drummed his fingers peevishly.

Luggy watched Blitzwing with great interest. That mech was so weird…but so familiar. It was like he knew him a long time ago. He stared at the twin guns mounted so brazenly on the Con's back. Then he caught his own distorted reflection in the metal surface of the examining table. His red optic dominated the obscure likeness.

"Bit-zing?"

The triple changer cast him a sterile glance.

"Why red?" the Sparkling asked.

"What do you mean?"

Luggy pointed to his optic and then to Blitzwing's, "Why red, not blue?"

Blitzwing stared at the screen again but said, "You wish to know why our optics are red and not that accursed blue color?"

Luggy bobbed his head.

The tall Con faced him, leaning on the examination table, "It is because you and I are Decepticons."

"Ceper-cons?" the Sparkling fumbled.

"DE-cep-ti-cons" he enunciated every syllable.

Never in his life did he think Lugnut would ever forget what faction he was part of. He lived, processed, and vented everything that was Decepticon. Nothing else was important as long as that purple insignia and Megatron were at the forefront of the universe.

"We Cyba-tonian?"

"Yes. But we are Decepticons too."

Luggy was slightly confused. He'd heard Ratchet and Bumblebee call him a Decepticon, but he never knew what it meant. He just knew when they said it they looked mad or HE was in trouble.

Seeming to anticipate the next question Blitzwing's serious blue face smirked, "The BLUE optics belong to Autobots."

"Auto-bot?" he pronounced the word slowly. "Pime Autobot?"

"Yes."

The Sparkling thought a moment, "Mega-tawn De-cepercon?"

"Yes."

Luggy scratched his head with his clamps. He understood the optic color identity but he wasn't sure about the rest of it.

"What De-cepercons do?"

Blitzwing smiled enigmatically and turned back to his research, "Oh…you'll learn soon enough."

Random reappeared snickering, "We're gonna teach you to blow stuff up!"

"Boom?" Luggy sat up straighter.

"KA-BOOM!" the jack-o-lantern face grinned.

"When? When boom?" the Sparkling bounced on his bottom.

Icy returned, "Just as soon as we figure this out."

Blitzwing smirked at the Sparkling's obvious enthusiasm. Though there was still much he didn't know, Lugnut seemed to retain traces of his old mind. It would probably be an effortless transition to train him in the Decepticon code. That is…if Megatron would tolerate the presence of a Sparkling. There was still the high probability that Megatron would have him done away with. Decepticons were warriors, soldiers, mercenaries—not care-givers. It wasn't in their programming. A Sparkling had no place in their ranks.

The triple-changer stared at the monitors for a long time. Lugnut didn't have any marks on him to indicate an attack, nor did he have any ion traces which would've pointed to a weapon discharge. But he was seeing residual All Spark energy readings. The triple-changer began to investigate further.

Bored by the inactivity, Lugnut scooted toward the edge of the examination table.

"Don't move." Icy warned.

The Sparkling huffed quietly.

This was boring! He wanted to make explosions and play!

Whilst Blitzwing became engrossed in his work, the Sparkling sneakily crept for the table ledge. His clamps firmly gripped the edge as he swung down and then dropped down onto the floor with a bang.

Blitzwing turned, face spinning, "HEY! Get back here!"

The big Con made a swipe for him, but Luggy squealed and took off like a shot down the tunnel. His voice echoed resoundingly in every mine shaft. He liked the echo so he squealed again. The Decepticon base became filled with Sparkling laughter.

"Lugnut! I swear I'll put my boot up your exhaust if you don't GET BACK HERE!" Hothead shouted murderously.

Lugnut didn't seem to hear the booming threat as he ducked into a much smaller tunnel. He ran a ways until he felt the ground begin to decline. It didn't slow him. But suddenly he picked up too much momentum and tripped, rolling down the dark incline. He buzzed repeatedly until at last he rolled out of a small exit hole into another big chamber. This one didn't have all the cool gadgets in it but it was covered with rocky debris, metal rails, and old wooden scaffolding.

Somewhere far off he could hear mad Blitzwing ranting.

Luggy shook the dirt from his metal hide and began to explore the abandoned mining equipment for something to play with.

Maybe there was a ball somewhere?

"Hey, hey Mix! Get a load of this!" a Bronx accented voice sounded.

Luggy turned around to see the treaded ankles of a very tall mech. He had almost fluorescent green plating with purple hands and arms. A claw-like scoop seemed to comprise his chest and his hands bore the same spade-like design. Funnily enough his lower jaw had that same scooped design. Luggy saw the red optics and knew he was a Decepticon too.

"What the front-end loader are you talkin' bout Scrapper?" a second Decepticon asked with the same heavy accent.

Luggy saw the other Decepticon was the polar opposite of the first. He was a bit shorter and much squattier in build. His chest appeared rounded like a big cement mixer. Yet he had the same exact color scheme as the slender mech.

"Whoa!" the bulky Con caught sight of Luggy, "Now where did that little bolt biter come from?"

"I dunno." Scrapper bent down, claws on his knees, "Where'd ya come from little guy?"

Luggy pointed his clamp to the tunnel he just rolled out of.

"Hey, wait! I know this guy!" Mix snapped his fingers.

Scrapper cocked his head, "Hey yeah! I do too!"

"Yeah. He looks like that guy, Lugnut." Mix pointed repeatedly at the Sparkling.

"I didn't know Lugnut had any kids."

Scrapper picked Luggy up underneath his arms to give him a better look. The Sparkling didn't protest. These two fast talking mechs weren't incredibly familiar like Blitzwing or Megatron, but they were sure interesting to listen to.

"Yeah…poor kid. Looks just like his old mech." Mixmaster shook his head ruefully.

Scrapper snickered but shrugged, "Eh, I dunno. He's kinda cute ya know?"

Mix just shrugged his bulky shoulders and then guffawed, "Man oh man, I'd hate to see the femme that agreed to help Spark that!"

The tall Con bounced Luggy a bit in his hands, "So uh…what should we do with 'im?"

"Whadda we look like? Sparkling sitters? We got work to do." Mixmaster adjusted his hip armor around his ample waist.

Scrapper gave Luggy a look and plunked him down on the floor.

He held up a clawed finger, "Just don't get in the way."

Luggy watched as the odd pair hefted up bundles of I-beams and hauled them to some unfinished project across the room. Then with uncanny precision the pair threw the beams of metal into various positions, welding and bolting them down. In mere minutes they'd built what looked like part of an inner structure. The Sparkling had never seen anything so neat. He watched with rapt attention.

Blitzwing was stuck on Hothead as he tried to find Lugnut. The Con's red face was seething and cursing about how many horrible punishments he would bring upon the missing Sparkling. Icy was trying to logically determine where Lugnut would've gone.

Random of course wasn't helping Hothead's mood as he was sporadically singing "Oh where oh where has our Lugnut gone…oh where oh where can he be?"

Icy finally decided Lugnut might be in the one place he shouldn't be: the same room as Megatron. All three personas dreaded hearing the warlord rip him a new exhaust port and perhaps blow a limb off if that were the case. But thus far they hadn't heard a word from their leader. Still…better to check.

When Blitzwing finally made it to the control room he peeked in to see Megatron's back facing him from across the room. His keen optics scanned the floor for any signs of Lugnut.

"I know you're there, Blitzwing." Megatron informed flatly.

The triple changer swore his Spark stopped for a second.

"My apologies, Megatron." Blitzwing entered.

"Report your findings."

He clicked his heels smartly, "I cannot determine precisely how Lugnut has been changed but he does have faint traces of All Spark energy emanating from his frame."

Megatron faced him, appearing to think, "Are there any All Spark fragments on him?"

"No, Sir. Just residual traces…I suspect a fragment could've been the cause though." Blitzwing offered.

"So it's not the result of a weapon."

"There was nothing to indicate a weapon discharge."

"Is the change permanent?" Megatron asked.

Blitzwing sighed, "I am unsure."

Snorting harshly, Megatron turned away, "He's useless then." Megatron paced away for a second, thinking, "You said you found him with the Autobots?"

"Yes Sir. They even tried hiding him when I approached."

The silver and red mech's optics brightened slightly, "Then it stands to reason the Autobots have been caring for him all this time...that Lugnut has been WITH them."

Blitzwing could see a plan of some kind already beginning to cook in the warlord's mind. The Decepticon leader was brilliant in the area of strategy.

"Bring him to me." Megatron commanded shortly.

The cream and purple Con nodded but was inwardly cursing. Now he just had to FIND Lugnut again.