This is a little different. I divided chapter 23 into three, but I added half of the next chapter to this one. Good luck figuring that out, even I'm confused!
Original comments: Hello again! Here's another chapter, and I shall have mercy on you, but not on Sam. Poor boy...Anywho, please enjoy.
Sam crouched in the corner of the room, invisible to anybody who didn't know he was there. It had been two weeks since he and the rest of Kup's team had arrived on Earth. So far, nobody had figured out who he was. Sam was used to the habits of all the mechs in the base as he'd known them longer than they thought. The twins were the hardest to dodge; they loved trying to get his cloak off to see his face.
"Silverstreak!" Perceptor called and gestured to him from a table. Sam hurried over to the red scientist, easily leaping to the top of the table.
"Yes, Percy?" he asked in a very low voice in English.
"Sit with us," he said gesturing at Wheeljack. Sam complied eagerly. Not talking to most everybody on the base got lonely at times, and he was glad to have company.
"Gonna tell them yet?" Perceptor asked conversationally.
"No," Sam said shaking his head. "I can't stand the idea of being treated like a fragile human. It's bad enough that the twins treat me like a, and I quote, 'a cute, shy little sparkling who just needs a friend to play with.'"
Perceptor and Wheeljack both burst out laughing. "Are you serious?" Wheeljack choked out.
"I am serious. They treat me like I'm a toddler. The rest are pretty good at treating me like a youngling, though."
"Oh? And how would that change if you told them your true name?" Perceptor asked.
"You've seen the way they treat humans! And the way they talk about them! Please. Let's change the subject."
"Do you like being back on your home planet?" Perceptor asked in a very low voice after a moment's thought.
Sam smiled and was about to answer when an ear-shattering alarm blared through the room. Sam's spark was beating wildly and he looked around to see what was going on. Kup hurried up to them and scooped up Sam, gently placing the boy on his shoulder.
"What's going on, Kup?" Wheeljack asked.
"Six Decepticons landed and are now destroying everything in sight. We have to go stop them. Move out!"
Sam felt a smile stretch over his hidden face. He hadn't been in a battle since Cybertron. He was finally going to get to fight again! Kup, Perceptor, and Wheeljack raced out the door with the other Autobots. When they got outside, they all headed to the transport. Sam felt his optics brighten as they stepped onboard and settled in for the flight. He was growling impatiently by the time they took off. He wanted to fight, and Kup's reminder to stay patient did little to help. The transport seemed to take forever to the eager youngling. When they finally landed, the Autobots flooded out of the plane and Optimus groaned at the damages that littered the forest. Sam gasped as the Decepticons came into view, weapons ready to fire. The six Decepticons were the exact same six that had ruined everything on Cybertron for him. Now they'd come to Earth.
Sam quickly found himself hiding behind a tree, cloak curled close to his body. Kup had ordered his team away from the battle at Sam's urging, though they all knew what had to happen at this point. The boy knew that the Decepticons had come to Earth to see if he had brought the Autobots here. So far, all of Kup's team had managed to avoid being spotted by any of the Decepticons, but Sam was still tense.
"C'mon!" Hot Rod hissed impatiently. "Just tell them who you are already so we can go fight!"
"Hot Rod, it's the boy's choice. If he wants to hide who he is, let him," Kup whispered back.
"Where the hell is Kup and his crew?" Ironhide yelled to Optimus.
"I don't know, Ironhide!" Optimus shouted back. "I saw them in the transport!"
Sam gasped as the Decepticon leader smiled wickedly and said something to the biggest of his mechs. The big mech grinned then charged straight for Bumblebee. He grabbed the yellow mech and easily separated him from the rest of the Autobots. As soon as they were far enough away from the main fight, the big mech and another Decepticon began to beat him mercilessly
"No!" Sam moaned as his guardian began to bleed.
"Silverstreak! Come out, come out wherever you are. Or the yellow one gets it!" the Decepticon leader's voice was sing-song and playful, but the threat was very real.
"What are you going to do?" Perceptor asked softly. "Silverstreak? Where did he go?"
"Silverstreak! Get back here!" Kup shouted after the boy.
Sam was heading towards the Decepticon leader. The mech allowed his soldiers to continue beating Bumblebee until the boy was directly in front of them. When Sam halted five feet in front of him, he commanded them to stop then stared at the youngling.
"Let Bee go," Sam whispered, keeping his head down.
"Fine. Release the mech," the leader drawled lazily.
Just as Bumblebee was released, a bubble of energy engulfed Sam's body and lifted him up into the air. The see-through bubble was suspended about seven feet above the ground with Sam kneeling, still completely covered in his cloak, in the middle of the bottom. Sam realized that the entire battle had stopped and knew, without even looking, that everybody was staring directly at him.
"L-leave Silverstreak alone! T-take me instead!" Bumblebee gasped, trying to push himself off the ground.
"Tell me boy. Why is it your own guardian calls you by your second name?" the Decepticon whispered, walking around the bubble and tracing it with a long finger.
"You know why," Sam whispered back, not moving.
"They don't know," the Decepticon confirmed then smirked. "So now is the perfect time to tell them!" The last was said loudly enough for all to hear.
"Tell us what?" Optimus asked carefully, keeping his weapon trained on the Decepticons.
"You heard him, Silverstreak. Tell them. Tell them who you really are." When Sam didn't respond, the Decepticon continued. "Tell them how you're not really dead. Tell them how you've been on Cybertron the whole time. Tell them how, even back here on Earth, you've hidden from them like the cowardly child you are. Tell them, Samuel, and show them your freakish new face." The Decepticon paused. "Or else your precious guardian gets it, and I know you don't want that."
Sam felt his body go strangely numb as he listened to the Decepticon spill his secrets yet again. He flinched when the dark mech threatened Bumblebee, and knew in his spark that he couldn't let the yellow mech get hurt. Not when he could prevent it. He reached up slowly, his hands trembling as they emerged from the cloak to the watching Autobots and Decepticons, and lowered his hood. Gasps came from the Autobots as they stared their old friend.
"You know, back on Cybertron you actually looked normal. Here you look ridiculous!" the Decepticon leader snickered, and then they all burst out laughing.
Sam leaned forward slightly and let his silver hair cover his face as his eyes filled with tears. All the Decepticons were throwing humiliating comments his way about the way he looked. But even the comments couldn't stop him from looking up through his hair to see his guardian's reaction. Bumblebee's face held hurt, confusion, and shock. When Sam looked into the yellow mech's optics, he had to look away quickly. The light blue depths held a single question: Why didn't you tell me?
Sam brought his knees up to his chest and buried his face in his arms as tears slipped down his cheeks. He was such a horrible person, to have lied to his old friends, and he knew they'd never forgive him for this. Suddenly the Decepticons laughter was cut off by a metallic clang. Bumblebee was on his feet, optics blazing with anger, and the Decepticon leader was on the ground.
"Nobody teases my boy!" Bumblebee snarled as he lashed out at the next mech.
The battle resumed quickly, this time with more heat from the Autobots side. This time they had something more precious to fight for: the honor of a friend. Meanwhile, First Aid and Perceptor were trying to figure out a way to get Sam out of the bubble. The boy was being no help, instead, still curled up and silent. Perceptor finally sighed.
"Wheeljack!" he shouted across the battlefield. The inventor was quickly by his side.
"Yeah, Percy?" he asked. Perceptor rolled his optics, a gesture he'd picked up from the humans. The nickname had carried over into the English language, unfortunately.
"Do you have some of those charges? I'm pretty damn sure those things are the only way to blast this open."
"It'll burn him!" Wheeljack exclaimed.
"He's had some pretty bad burns before. He can take it," First Aid replied tersely. "He has to get out of there, and he's in no condition to help. He's emotionally distressed, and we can't get through to him."
Wheeljack relented and placed a charge on the bubble. He set it, grabbed Perceptor and First Aid and ran a distance away to escape the power of the explosion. Sam heard the beeps and knew what was coming, but he couldn't really be afraid. The explosion indeed got rid of his circular prison, but super heated his cloak. He managed to get the cloak off, but not before suffering burns on his hands, forearms and chest. He shivered as First Aid picked him up and carried him into the shadows of the forest. Sam still said nothing as the medic began to cleanse and wrap his wounds, all the while staying silent himself. First Aid knew that Sam would need to speak with his old friends. Kup came up to them, dusty and tired looking.
"How is he?" the green mech asked gently.
First Aid shook his head. "He won't speak and he barely moves. He's really upset."
There was an almighty explosion and a cry from Bumblebee as a huge cloud of smoke erupted into the air. Sam looked up sharply at the cry of his guardian. Bumblebee's arms were being held by one Decepticon while the leader was beating him. The yellow mech was in pain, and Sam didn't like it.
"Bumblebee!" Sam shouted. "Let him go!"
Sam grabbed up his now cool cloak and jerked it around his body as he ran out to the battle, ignoring the cries of protest from Kup and First Aid. He felt electricity snapping against his fingers as he ran. As soon as he was close enough, he tossed out a rope of electricity and threw it around the Decepticon leader's neck. He jerked back trying to pull the mech away from Bumblebee. The Decepticon turned around and shot at him, but the boy threw up a shield and blocked it. When Bumblebee whined in pain, Sam's eyes blazed as Pyro's temper became his own. He sent a violent jolt to the mech through the rope, using more power than he ever had before. The Decepticon gave a single cry before he burst, the electricity too great to be contained. Energon and metal flew in all directions, coating the mechs that stood too close. Sam himself was completely covered in the energon, cloak and all.
The battlefield was dead silent for a moment, and then the Decepticons panicked. The one holding Bumblebee threw the yellow mech away from him and ran as fast as he could away from Sam. The other Decepticons quickly followed, tripping over each other in their haste to get away. The Autobots, on the other hand, were all standing in shock, staring down at the bloody mess that lay all over the ground.
"Silverstreak!" First Aid cried out, running out of the forest toward Sam.
The red and white medic broke the others out of their shock and movement suddenly filled the metal-strewn field. First Aid was over beside Sam already. The boy's knees had given way and he was now kneeling in the energon soaked ground, shivering as his fresh burns throbbed. He felt dizzy and weak, but at least Bumblebee was safe. When First Aid's gentle hands closed around him, Sam relaxed. Voices demanding information and full of concern buzzed around him. The boy closed his eyes and let his tired, aching body rest, letting the lull of voices pull him into the warm, welcome, and painless embrace of sleep.