Credit goes to FrontlinersShadow for giving me the idea to erase peoples' minds of knowledge of the Transformers' existence. Disclaimer: I own nothing
Bumblebee gently but haphazardly placed Raf on the catwalk. Sam had no time to register his surroundings as Bumblebee instantly grabbed Sam, tearing away the IV line attached to Sam's skin, and engulfed him in a hug by cupping Sam with his right servo and pressing the boy against his spark chamber with his left servo. Sam snuggled against Bumblebee's chassis as if he was trying to find entrance to Bumblebee's spark and bask in its warmth. Sam didn't care if the metal chassis was uncomfortable and far from snuggling into a fluffy dog's fur. This was Bumblebee – his best friend, his brother whom he hadn't seen for five years. Tears started to leak from Sam's eyes.
"God, Bumblebee, I missed you so much," Sam whispered but loud enough for Bumblebee to hear.
"But I miss you more than I did yesterday," Bumblebee replied. Then he added, "I love you."
"I love you, too. I thought I'd never see you or any of the Autobots again since you guys thought I was dead. Shockwave liked to rub that in my face." Sam choked on a sob. Just even seeing the yellow color on Bumblebee's armor was like witnessing Jesus Christ rising from the dead – beautiful, loving, and exhilarating with enough relief and happiness to drive away the grief.
Bumblebee felt red, hot anger burn in his spark. Shockwave took Sam away from him and made sure Bumblebee never came back for him. Shockwave made Sam feel despair. Bumblebee wanted to rip Shockwave apart, but Bumblebee pushed back his anger temporarily and comforted the most precious being that was cradled in his servos. "I'm here/nothing can harm you…I'm here, with you, beside you, to guard you..."
Sam chuckled. "Using The Phantom of the Opera music is a bit cheesy, you know?"
At least he appears not to be mentally scarred, Bumblebee thought with relief. "…yeah, I know…But…Hey, whataya want from me…?"
Sam laughed, and the two brothers just hugged each other for what was hours in their own little world, drinking in their presences and basking in the warmth of Sam's heart and Bumblebee's spark. However, the love fest had to come to an end when Ratchet persuaded Bumblebee to put down Sam so Ratchet can scan him for any injuries. It took Ratchet twisting Bumblebee's arm behind his back and a direct order from Optimus Prime, but eventually Bumblebee reluctantly complied. However, he didn't let Sam out of his sight as Ratchet scanned Sam and gave him a clean bill of health.
"Who are you?" Sam asked as he watched the red and white Autobot medic scan him.
"You don't remember me, Sam? I'm Ratchet."
Sam's mouth went agape. "Ratchet? You're-You're alive? I thought Shockwave killed you!" As a last minute thought, Sam added, "And you look completely different."
Ratchet chuckled. "It takes more than just a single Decepticon to take me down. Actually, I never died. I was so injured that I needed a whole new frame. Actually, this frame looks more similarly to my Cybertronian frame than my original Earth frame."
"Do you still transform into a Hummer H2 rescue vehicle?" Sam asked.
"No, I transform into an ambulance now."
"Well, at least you're alive." Sam smiled, and Ratchet continued examining his patient.
When Ratchet was finished, he remarked, "You shouldn't even be awake right now, and you should still be injured, but you're not. I'm assuming it has to do with either the AllSpark energy or the Dark Energon or perhaps even both stored in your now techno-organic body. You should have aged more and yet you look like you're still twenty-three. You should also be dead."
Sam shrugged. "Shockwave did a lot of stuff to me with faking my death being one of them." Bumblebee didn't like how Sam said it so matter-of-factly with little elaboration. Neither did Ratchet nor Optimus Prime.
Sam looked around and noticed that this place was nowhere he had been before he "died". All the other Autobot bases were active military bases like Edwards Air Force Base or NEST's main headquarters at Diego Garcia with plenty of room to hold a small army of Autobots and humans and were above ground. This one appeared to be an old abandoned, underground building fitted with a mixture of Cybertronian and human technology with very limited amount of space. Sam also saw two teenagers and a preteen – an Asian girl, a black haired Caucasian boy, and a brown haired Caucasian boy, respectively – on the catwalk. The Sam saw a bulky green Autobot whose name Sam might have heard in passing, especially from Breakdown. What was it? Bulgehead? Bulkhead?
Sam also noticed the differences of each of the previous known Autobots that weren't there before Sam's "death" especially in Arcee and Ratchet. Arcee went from a pink Transformer, only a couple feet taller from him, with two wheels for feet to a very tall blue femme with feet rather than wheels. Even her face was different. I wonder if she still transforms into a motorcycle. Ratchet went from being completely green with a rounder face, and slimmer build to a red-and-white Transformer with much more bulk and a pill-shaped head, from a Hummer H2 rescue vehicle to an ambulance. Optimus was now mainly red with a blue head and legs with more metal showing; gone were his blue body with red flames. His upper body was bulkier than before. At least it appeared that Optimus still transforms into a truck. Bumblebee changed the least. His grill and little horns were gone, but other than that nothing changed. Sam did notice that all of the Autobots had metal eyebrows and their exposed metal was a much lighter shade.
Now the bombardment of questions began. "Where am I? Who are they?" Sam pointed to Miko, Jack, Raf, and Bulkhead. "And what happened since I was gone?"
"You are in an abandoned Cold War missile silo handed to us by the US government and fitted with Autobot technology and converted to Autobot Outpost omega One, our secret base located just outside of Jasper, Nevada," Optimus explained. With a smile, Optimus greeted Sam, "Welcome back."
"Thanks. Why do you need a secret base? What about Diego Garcia and other NEST bases?" Sam asked.
"Sam, a lot has happened since you were gone," Optimus said.
"I can see that. You got some new human alleys. Did you pay them a visit in some random alleyway?" Sam asked humorously.
Arcee smiled. "More like they stumbled upon us."
The kids decided to take this time to introduce themselves, starting with Jack. "I'm Jack Darby. You already know Arcee. She's my guardian. Nice meeting you, Sam."
"You, too."
"I'm Raf Esquivel. Bumblebee's also my guardian, too," Raf introduced himself shyly.
"That's interesting to know," Sam mumbled to himself. A flicker of hurt crossed Sam's face, but it was too slight for anyone to see.
Miko went ballistic. "I'm Miko Nakadai, and this is my best buddy Bulkhead! I heard you killed Megatron! Can you tell me how? Were you scared? What was it like being captive of the Decepticons? Can you show me your Cybertronian form?..."
"Miko, that's enough," Ratchet said firmly. "Sam's been through a lot, and he doesn't need you bombarding him with questions."
"It's alright, Ratchet. Nice meeting you, Miko," Sam reassured. Then he turned his attention to Optimus. "What exactly did happen while I was gone?"
"When Ratchet gave word that Shockwave was chasing after you and Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Arcee, Chromia, and I sped off after you two. We found Ratchet severely injured and in emergency stasis lock. I had Sideswipe stay with him and commlinked First Aid and Hoist to meet Sideswipe at his coordinates and tend to Ratchet. Arcee, Chromia, and I left to find you and Bumblebee and offer backup, but by the time we arrived, Shockwave was gone, and Bumblebee was cradling your dead body, or so we thought. There were many Autobot and human casualties including Leadfoot, Roadbuster, Topspin, SASF Agent Graham, General Morshower, and Charlotte Mearing. We held funerals for all our fallen comrades including you," Optimus explained.
"Not long after Megatron makes a surprise attack followed by Starscream, Soundwave – all of whom were somehow resurrected and rebuilt differently – and other Decepticons – launch an attack."
"It was because of Megatron that I was given a different frame. My wheels where blown off by his fusion canon, and my head took some damage. My head was rebuilt albeit a bit differently, and I was given two legs because First Aid said two legs would be eaiser for balance when in the heat of battle, or so he says." Arcee rolled her optics. "At least my legs make me taller."
"Why are you blue?" Sam asked. "You used to be pink."
"Because Chromia took some severe damaged, too, and Hoist mixed up who's who, and painted me blue and Chromia pink. Chromia was not happy so she got new paintjob. I, however, liked my new coloring, but got some pink highlights as a homage to my old self and to keep others from confusing me and Chromia."
"Oh. It looks good on you," Sam said.
"Thanks."
When the short conversation was over, Optimus continued, "Our numbers were small, and we thought for sure we would fail, but Megatron decided to leave Earth and take his Decepticons with him. I made the decision to chase after him with the only remaining Autobots I had; there weren't enough to stay behind and adequately protect Earth. However, in case of a Decepticon attack on Earth, the UN wanted all humans to forget about our existence with the exception of remaining NEST members, themselves, and anyone who was previously given clearance to our existence before the Fallen let our secret out such as your parents, Carly Spencer, and Mikaela Banes. I refused as erasing part of a person's memories seemed to the right of freedom, but I was convinced that it was for the best; most humans only heard of us never seen us so no real memories were being tampered with, and it wasn't true erasing but distorting hiding certain thoughts and memories, making them forgettable. However, I still wonder if I made the right situation."
"Hold on!" Jack interrupted Optimus Prime. "Earth knew about you guys before?"
"Yes, you three might have even heard about us. You three were alive and well when we left Earth."
"It seems kinda dark," Miko said.
"How did you guys manage to do it?" Raf asked.
"Before Que, our Autobot inventor and engineer, died, he created a sound code that when uploaded to audio forms of entertainment whether be television, radio, or music, it subconsciously retrieves certain memories from the conscious and keeping them locked up in the subconscious. You do not hear it nor does it drastically change your personality and your psyche. Simply, your subconscious picks up the code; the code programs the subconscious to retrieve and lock up certain memories, and the subconscious does what it's commanded to do," Ratchet explained. "I uploaded the sound code into Earth's satellites when Prime gave the order, and for those we do not want the sound code affecting, we gave them distortion ear buds which are like your Earth hearing aids but rather than help you hear, it prevents the subconscious from picking up the code."
"Anyway," Optimus continued, "a year later, we found signs of Decepticon activity on Earth. Megatron wasn't among them, but Starscream was, and I knew Megatron will return to Earth. I gathered a team consisting of Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Bulkhead and made landing on Earth. The US government did not want human casualties happening again so rather than reinstating NEST, they gave us an old missile silo which Ratchet fitted with Cybertroinan technology. Not too long after. Cliffjumper and Arcee arrived, and we became known as Team Prime. Three years later, Starscream terminated Cliffjumper and Megatron returned. Jack, Miko, and Raf stumbled upon Arcee and Bumblebee in their true forms. Because any human perceived as our ally is a Decepticon target, we took them in, and ever since then, they have become valuable allies and close friends."
"So that's the story?" Sam asked. He lay down.
"Yes," Optimus said. "I understand there is a lot of mystery concerning you, but it's perhaps better if you rest first before you tell us your tale."
"Sure. My little escape plot did take a lot of energy out of me." Sam smirked. Then he yawned and closed his eyes and fell asleep under the watchful, loving optics of Bumblebee.
When Sam was fast asleep, Arcee said, 'I'm more cursious in what he did to his arm back in the desert and what kind of firepower he's using."
"I ran some scans concerning the AllSpark enery and Dark Energon inside the boy. The AllSpark energy isn't taking over his mind like last time. Sam appears to have control over it, but unlike humans, the dark energon has no mal effect on him. Actually, it doesn't even seem to be corrupting his mind like in Transformers or poisoning the AllSpark. Primus and Unicron's powers never coexisted," Ratchet said.
"They did at one point, Ratchet, when Primus and Unicron coexisted together as Order and Chaos in The One," Optimus said.
"Who's The One?" Miko asked.
"An extra-dimensional entity that created Unicron and Primus," Optimus explained.
"Why?" Miko asked.
"Perhaps another time I will tell you," Optimus said gently. His focus was on Sam right now. He turned to Ratchet.
"Still, I am very interested in what has been done to Sam, and if it's reversible. However, my expertise is limited to this kind of stuff, and Shockwave is not here to explain. I can only rely on Sam's words," Ratchet said.
"Sam has been through a lot, and the way he talked about what Shockwave's done to him worries me. Sam will tell. That is if he's ready to face his demons," Optimus stated with sadness tainting his voice for the boy who became Earth's savior and his.
Songs used
"But I miss you more than I did yesterday," – "Give 'Em Hell, Kid" by: My Chemical Romance
"I love you." – "I Love You" by: Chris Brown
"I'm here/nothing can harm you…I'm here, with you, beside you, to guard you..." – "All I Ask of You" by: Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson (composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber)
"…yeah, I know." – "Yeah I Know" by: Ciara
But…Hey, whataya want from me…?" – "Whataya Want From Me" by: Adam Lambert