Disclaimer : I don't own it.

(Normal POV)

'What do we do with them?'

'Keep them in the med bay for the next 24 hours. We're preparing a hangar for their place of recharge, and they will be requested to remain there until I have had a chance to speak with them. Have they disclosed anything else?'

'Oh Primus! You have no idea! Apparently Soundwave has, or will be, making an appearance in earth's orbit in the next six months, and will hack into one of the satelites to overhear a conversation giving the location of the allspark shard and Megatron's rusting body. The femmes claim to be from a year in the future, and they claim to know of a great battle approaching us.'

'And what do you think?'

Looking down over the still form on the berth before him, he reached out, sighing as his fingers worked in the damaged areas, replacing broken tubing with new. Fixing the spinal strut, and repairing all energon lines he could reach. 'I'm not a security officer. I cannot say. My personal opinion?'He paused, looking over his shoulder to the door that led to both femmes, who were currently under Jolt's watch in the main infirmary. He honestly didn't know what to think. His head told him it was too suspicious for them to know what they did. Yet his spark... Looking into Bella's eyes as he spoke to her, he couldn't deny the feeling in his spark. 'I do not believe they are a threat. At least, not purposely.'

'Purposely?'

Ratchet wiped the energon off his hands, looking down at the body below and wincing, knowing he'd done all he could. Turning to the next table over, he began working on the main parts of a shell, making the body small, as the spark didn't appear to be that big at all. In hindsight, he thought to get extra materials. It's better to have extra shells, just in case.

'They know our base. They know about us, about our human allies. Bella carries a sparkling. If they truly know as much as they do, if the Decepticons get a hold of them, they can be tortured for the information.'He frowned deeply, his optics flashing as he fisted a tool for the shell. 'We should have interrogated them earlier for their information.'

'They'd been through a lot. I believe it's in our best interest to act like allies, rather than aggressors.'There was a faint hint of reproach in Optimus' voice.

And the reproach was shot right back at him in Ratchet's. 'Perhaps, but if they know about us, they'll know the plan for what it is.'

'They will also know we mean them no harm, Ratchet. They are innocents, as far as I can see. I do have questions as to their knowledge, but if they really are sent from another dimension, chosen by the allspark, I believe we should afford them a little trust. Status on the sparkling?'

He knew the change of topic for what it was. Despite what had happened, Optimus did not feel the least bit remorseful for failing to interrogate the femmes earlier. He felt he was in the right then, and still felt that way.

With another sigh, Ratchet returned to work, first starting with the most vital part of the shell, the spark chamber. 'A little femme, and thriving from what I can tell. Despite her only recent acceptance of the sparkling, Bella has also shown signs of bonding, at least partially, with the sparkling within her.'He pursed his lips plates, playing back their earlier conversation for himself, before making a quick decision and sending a copy to Optimus.

Then, he returned his attention to the sparkling shell, knowing he should have more then enough time to finish it, but it would be tedious, difficult work, and he'd have to make sure all variables were covered. Zapping one of his fingers with a welder, he cursed slightly, turning optics on the silver form next to him.

I wish Wheeljack were here. As disasterous as some of his experiments were, sparkling shells were something he had a talent with.

(Bella's POV)

Looking around the drab walls of the 'temporary quarters' we'd been stuck in, I sighed. I remained where I was, lying on the ground, as Ratchet had warned me my body might take a little while to adjust to the sparkling within it.

"You're really carring a baby bot." Rika's voice held quiet disbelief. "Why do I feel like we're living someone's fanfiction? I mean, this sort of thing just doesn't happen. Ok, so I believe it's happening, it's all been too...weird not to, but now you're pregnant? Your phone got you pregnant? Damn, that must've been some radiation poisoning." She shook her head a little from where she sat, curled up, in a corner.

"Don't forget about you." I looked over at her. "You probably have the same ability, and you haven't used it yet. If you could chose what to use it on, what would you do?"

"Not a sparkling." She grunted, before wincing at what I'm sure was a pretty sour look on my part. "I just mean, who knows what they're like? It-She's gonna change your life forever, and neither of us even know where to begin taking care of her." She looked distant. "Do you think the shard in my body has the same effect as the one Sam has, and the one the Autobots have?"

"What're you thinking?"

"Well... I wanted to tell them before to just use one on Jazz, but we don't even know if it'll work. Then there's the fact that, we'd have to let slip Sam had one-"

"We're gonna have to tell them that, anyways, or we risk him dying." I put in with a frown. "And Lord knows what else, after it. Although, if we interfere, it might stop Sam and Mikeala from admitting their love for each other. Or the Decepticons might learn of just what we know, and come after us. We'd be hunted."

"Yeah. Join the Decepticons, be treated like crap all the time, and die-"

"As opposed to...what?" I looked around pointedly. "The royal treatment we're being given now?"

Suddenly, she shifted. "Yeah well, at least if I asked nice enough, I'm sure someone would take me to a throne, and I sure as hell could use one right about now. Remember my comment about Cybertronian pee, before?" When I nodded with a face, she grimaced. "Well, if the burning in my gut is anything to go by, they apparently do."

"Nice to know." There was a sound at the door, and I looked over towards it, just as it began to open. Seeing familiar legs on the other end, I raised an eyebrow, even as Optimus Prime himself ducked underneath. "Here to stick cuffs on us? Maybe decided to throw us in the ocean?" I shook my head and lay back again, mentally cursing myself for opening my mouth. Give them ideas, won't you?

"No." The tone sounded odd, before there was a sigh. "I am here to ask you what you know about us."

"A little late, don't ya think? Shouldn't interrogations be done in, like, the first 24 hours of capture?" I kept my hands relaxed over my chest, not bothering to look at him. "Though I'm not complaining about being set free, even if it only lasted a couple of hours. Damn Rumble."

"Do you know what he was after?"

"If I did, I probably would have told you the first time I was asked." Now I did glance over, my eyes narrowing. "As for what we know, as we've told Ratchet, it depends on the topic. Pick a topic and we'll tell you what we know about it."

He seemed to hesitate a moment, before nodding. "You mentioned an upcoming battle, I believe in...Egypt?"

"Yeah, I'm sure you've noticed Decepticon activity increasing." If I hadn't been watching his face to carefully, I probably would have missed the minute twitch of one of his eyes, even as Rika spoke. "They're looking for this big-ass weapon that can fry our sun in minutes and harvest energon from it." His eyes brightened.

"When will this happen?"

"We don't want it to." This time it was me who answered, and he turned his full attention on me. Slowly, I sat up, my neck hurting a little from having to crane it way back to see him. Then, I blinked, as he crouched down next to me, his eyes surprisingly gentle. "Uh... Well..." I frowned. "If it happens, not only will your secret be out to the entire world, but Sam and his family and Mikeala will all be put in the middle of a huge battle once again." And you'll both die.

He frowned deeper. "What can we do to stop it?"

"That's the hard part. We know what'll happen if we don't stop it, but we're not entirely sure what the key factors are in the war. The machine is one, but it's simple enough to tell you where it is so you can blow it up. The only problem is, if Soundwave's hacked into one of the satelites in space-"

"That was so wrong."

I bit my lip as I watched her shudder out of the corner of my eyes. Then I focused once again on the Autobot leader. "Look, the reason we're not spilling our guts is... Well, some things are really difficult to talk about, especially since you're all real." My mind ran over his death, from the movie, and I turned to see Rika's eyes dark. She caught my eye, before looking away, and I turned back to him.

"Other things we're worried might only make the whole issue worse."

He was quiet a long moment, his eyes fixed on me intently. They'd flash over to Rika every now and then, and then he sighed. "Well, I can tell you are sincere in what you are saying, and I can see your perspective, but we do need to know what to do to stop the battle from taking place."

"Sam has a shard of the allspark."

I nearly jumped at the blurt that came from Rika, turning to see her eyes wide. "I dunno what telling you this will do, but... If he touches it, he'll be given all kinds of Cybertronian knowledge, and the Decepticons will know immediately that he has it. They'll be on his ass about it."

"Like they're not already on his ass, but still." I shook my head. "Soundwave will use the compromised satelite to hack into even the most secure communications, and through an interview with General Morshower over camera, and Inspector Galloway's interrupions, they'll learn the location of your allspark shard, sending Ravage and another mini-con after it."

"And they'll use it to bring back Megatron. Funny how they thought to do that, and you never thought to use your shard to...bring..." Rika's eyes went wide. "Oh slag." She groaned and shook her head, muttering about keeping her mouth shut. "Never mind."

Almost as if I could read her mind, I knew what she was thinking of. Her mind had run to a certain silver Solstice who'd been taken out of battle. She'd once again almost let slip about reviving him with the shard, although now that I thought about it, would that really be such a bad idea? She could save her own shard, and she'd told about the one Sam had, so now they had a spare, so to speak. "Ri?"

"What is it?" Optimus' eyes were dim.

"Who're you talking to?" I asked, seeing the silent, pleading look she sent me and recognizing it for what it was. This was something she didn't want to discuss in front of him, and I'd go along with it for now.

When he shot me a look, I sent him my own silent plea, and he shook his head. "I was informing Bumblebee of the possibility of Sam's possession of a shard, and asking him to scan the house for it. Covertly, of course. I was also checking in with a few of our human allies to see if they'd gotten a look at the satelites surrounding earth, for a Decepticon-"

"Posing as a satelite." Rika shrugged a little, her eyes distant.

His eyes remained dark with confusion and wariness, but he nodded a little. "Is there anything else you can tell me?"

I thought for a moment, looking for information I could give, that couldn't possibly backfire on me. As long as the shards aren't lost to the Decepticons, they can't bring Megatron back. If Sam's not infected, they have no real reason to go after him, other than boredom. And as long as they don't find out the location of the key... "Oh!" I snapped my fingers, before staring at them a moment, still not used to all the changes. Shaking my head, I once again focused on the red and blue bot in front of me. "The weapon won't work without a key, and the information in Sam's head would have been the key to, uh...find the key."

"Though we know where it is without that knowledge."

I shot Rika a dirty look, and her eyes widened in horror as she realized what she'd just let slip. Shaking my head, I sighed. "Ok, so we do, but we're not telling anyone." I shot Optimus an equally as dirty look when he opened his mouth, the expression on his face once of protest. "Listen, we did just say Soundwave would be hacking into world communications soon, if he hasn't already, right?" When he nodded, I raised an eyebrow. "If you tell anyone about it, the Decepticons will be after us even more than they already might be. Thanks but no thanks."

He seemed to be lost in thought another moment, though this time his eyes didn't dim. Finally, he stood and stepped back. "I would like to trust you, but you must understand your possession of such knowledge is quite unsettling. I must think what is best for my troops." He almost seemed reluctant to speak, and I realized that, at best, we'd be stuck here for a while. At worst, we'd either be kicked out or killed.

"It's no big deal." I slowly stood, my voice harsher than I'd intended. "After all, we're just trying to save your life. Save Sam's life, but hey-" I shrugged. "-do what you want. If you don't feel safe with us here, kick us out. We'll find..." I hesitated a moment. "Something to do, somewhere to stay." I frowned a little, trying to figure out what size of place we'd need. Well we can transform human, so not too big, but with a huge garage or something on the property. Also, we'll have to move a lot.

Rika semed to be following my train of thought and got up as well. "That's not gonna be easy, Bells. We're freaks." I'd been watching the troubled look that crossed Optimus' face at my words, as it morphed into a look of mild insult. She seemed to see that too. "I'm not calling you guys freaks. Think about it, you were born-or...created or whatever, as Cybertronians. You're thousands, if not millions of years old. We? We were born human. We have adult bodies, but know as much as one of your sparklings."

"We can't live as humans. We don't eat, can't be hurt as easily, don't age as fast." I sighed, shaking my head. "We don't belong in that world anymore." My heart clenched as I said the words, even as a strange numbness filled my being. "But we don't belong in yours either. We'd be all but useless in your war, and know nothing about your race. We're freaks. We don't belong anywhere." The burning was back in my eyes, but my eyes were glued to the ground.

"You may stay with us if you like." His voice was soft. "I never even thought about having you leave. I simply meant, that-"

"You should have us leave." Now I looked up, trying to blink back the burning in my eyes. "You said so yourself, you have to think about your troops and they don't trust us. Ask Will or Ironhide, they kept us below deck on both trips. Let us leave, and we'll never bother you again. We've told you the biggest things we could, that should stop the battle, if you keep an eye out."

He was frowning. "No. You will remain here. My troops are suspicious of you, granted, and I am not certain of your purpose here myself, but I will not allow two helpless femmes, new to our world, to wander aimlessly, with no home and no place to go to for help. Especially not an expectant femme." His eyes locked on my chest as his voice grew firmer. "You may believe you are freaks, but I believe you were sent to us for a reason." He stepped back. "I must go inform my troops of the information you have given, but you do need to remain here for the time being."

"Can I go to the med bay?" Rika spoke up, not meeting his eyes. "There's something I need to talk to Ratchet about." Almost hesitantly, she glanced my way. "And I could use my best friend at my side." The last was spoken almost hopefully.

I nodded immediately. "Sure." Then I turned to Optimus.

Once again he seemed hesitant, unsure. He seemed to mull over her decision a long moment, before his eyes went dim. It only lasted a second, but felt like forever, and he was back with us, nodding. "I've sent your request to Ratchet and he approves. Come. I will take you there."

I knew that it wasn't an act of courtesy. We'd need an escort going anywhere, for a while.

With a small nod, I sighed. I gestured for him to lead the way, before following him and Rika to the med bay. It was a quick walk, and I firmly kept my eyes glued to the ground, or Optimus' back, as he led us. I refused to look where I heard Ironhide grumbling, and I refused to look up at the sounds of blasters a little distance away. Once we were inside, Optimus left us with a nod, and I turned to Rika.

"He's still here, isn't he?"

Ratchet frowned at the question so obviously addressed to him. Leaning against the wall, he folded his arms over his chest. "Optimus left. He's currently on his way out of the hangar to go to the docks, where Jolt is returning from a mission."

"Not Optimus." She bit her lip a moment. "Jazz." His eyes brightened, and she shook her head. "No. I know he's...dead, offline, but his body... Is it here? I just...wanted to see him."

Suddenly, it all clicked. I knew what she wanted to do, and I turned to Ratchet. "It couldn't hurt. He's dead, it's not like there's anything we can do to hurt him, or use him against you or anything." I added in, feeling it as Rika very slightly leaned against me.

There was a moment of hesitation, before Ratchet sighed, gesturing to the door next to him. "Do not touch anything."

Nope. Nothing at all. Someone maybe... I nodded, following Rika as she walked briskly across the room. I entered it behind her and stopped cold, even as the door swung closed with a hiss behind me. Jazz... My heart burned seeing his lifeless form. One of the best bots out there, and Bay killed him off. Way to go dumbaft! I thought darkly as Rika walked over.

Then my eyes drifted over to a workbench across the room, and almost as if I was on autopilot, I found myself walking over. Is that...? It was so tiny! It barely resembled anything Cybertronian, but was silver in color. From what I could tell, it looked like the basic shape for a sparkling shell. At least, that was my guess. It looked a little like my protoform had, only without all the tubing and wires. It also had no head or face, but inside, I could clearly make out the spark chamber.

One hand came up over my chest, as I realized the little spark growing inside of me would be going in there. My other hand drifted up, barely ghosting over the still, cold frame on the table. Then I stepped back, almost afraid the next to intangible touch might have damaged the shell.

And I wasn't a moment too soon, either.

Hearing a yell, I turned to find Rika leaning over Jazz. I watched as she glowed brightly, and gasped loudly, before falling down on her ass next to Jazz's body. And speaking of his body, it began to convulse on the table, lightning wracking over it, even as the door to the room shot open.

"What the slag?! I thought I told-" The yell was cut off as Jazz, with a loud gasp, shot into a sitting position. The black visor blocking his eyes shot up, revealing the gorgeous, bright blue they'd always been.

For a long moment, the room was left in silence. Ratchet stared, open mouthed, at Jazz, as Rika gaped up at him like a fish. Me, for my own part, I was surprised it worked, but that was about it. I watched as Jazz looked around, first taking in Ratchet, then turning to me, glancing beyond me, his eyes widening, and then down to the ground as a tiny squeak escaped Rika.

"Whoa." He slowly and carefully hopped down, before bending down to help Rika up. "Someone wanna tell meh wha' happen'?" He looked from Ratchet, to me, to Rika, once again. "'Ey there lil lady." And of course, he cracked one of his infamous grins.

Written : Jan 26, 2010

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Tenshi