DMK: This is the prologue to a fic I was thinking of writing. I know this is similar to the one Ashana started, but I couldn't help myself! This idea just popped into my head and I HAD to write it! So don't hurt meh! ::cringes:: If I copied anybody else in any way and you don't want this fic posted, tell me and I'll take it down, okay? Now that this has been said, go ahead and read! Sorry if the POV is a little funky, too. And this first chappie is a semi-songfic thingie to 3 Doors Down's When I'm Gone. Never done a songfic before, so be nice.

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Chapter 1


There's another world inside of me
That you may never see.
There's secrets in this life
that I can't hide.


Death.

It can strike in the blink of an eye. Or can creep up as slow as molasses on a cold day. And it can take anyone, anywhere. Right now death was taking its sweet old time, and well, the anyone' it was claiming?

That's me.

I have the Autobots standing over me. All of them are worried or scared. Or both. Red-Alert is trying his very hardest to keep me alive. But he hardly knows anything about human anatomy. I tell him it's okay, that this happens.

And to just let me go.

He wouldn't dare, I know that. He shakes his head and answers me in his stern voice that he couldn't just let his friend die without trying, without giving me another chance.

But he has tried. There isn't going to be another chance.


Somewhere in this darkness,
There's a light that I can't find.
Maybe it's too far away.
Or maybe I'm just blind...


The three kids are nearby, too. Alexis is hugging Rad, crying her eyes out. Rad and Carlos are shedding silent tears. They can't believe death is taking someone that was always there, that they couldn't picture leaving them.

I can see Hotshot is both sad and angry at the same time. He's trying to keep his feelings hidden, but his fists are clenched and his teeth are as well. He doesn't want me to go. Then, I discover Transformers can cry. A tear of Energon forms in the corner of his optic, and then travels down his metal cheek to fall and hit the floor.

Optimus' optics are wridden with several feelings. But I can sense fury there. He's not mad at me, no way, he failed in keeping us safe while here on Earth. He's kicking himself for messing up. I tell him that it's not his fault. That stray missle could've hit anyone. He looks down at me, apologetically, then says he's so sorry. He knows I won't survive.


So hold me when I'm here, Love me when I'm wrong.
Hold me when I'm scared, And love me when I'm gone.
Everything I am, and everything you need.
I'll also be the one you wanted me to be.
I'll never let you down, even if I could.
I'd give up everything if only for your good.
So hold me when I'm here, love me when I'm wrong.
You can hold me when I'm scared, I won't always be there.
So love me when I'm gone...


Smokescreen is silent. Well aware that I'll be gone in a few moments' time. The orange and blue mech still can't grasp it somehow. He had survived his tangle with death, right? Well, why shouldn't I be able to do the same?

Jetfire is standing nearby, and tells me to try and fight It, to try and hold on. I say; If I could, then I would, but I can't. Sorry, Jets. He steps back involuntarily upon the grim realization of what was to befall me.

Blurr is being his usual quiet self. Though I can see his orange optics are pitifully trying to squint those Energon Tears away. His arms are held losely at his sides, not up high like they typically are.


... Roaming through this darkness,
I'm alive, but I'm alone.
Part of me is fighting this,
But part of me is gone.


Sideswipe, is openly crying, though silent. His teeth are gritted as well, as he attempts to stop those tears from falling.

Scavenger tries to stay stoic, though I can see he, like all of the others, is devastated. He is no longer standing tall with his arms crossed like always and that stern look in his eyes. Currently, he was the exact opposite. Poor me, I was probably one of the only humans that had trusted him in the beginning.

In all of their minds, I was the last person they thought would be struck down.

That's how it always is.

Then, I get the warriors' salute, much like Smokescreen did when he fell in battle. I smile one last time at my surrogate family.


So hold me when I'm here, Love me when I'm wrong.
Hold me when I'm scared, And love me when I'm gone.
Everything I am, and everything you need.
I'll also be the one you wanted me to be.
I'll never let you down, even if I could.
I'd give up everything, if only for your good.
So hold me when I'm here, love me when I'm wrong.
You can hold me when I'm scared, I won't always be there.
So love me when I'm gone...

Love me when I'm gone...
When I'm gone...
When I'm gone...


As my eyes begin to close for the last time, I hear Red-Alert telling Optimus that there may be one last way to save me. One last glimmer of hope that could keep me from being lost in the black void of death forever. But it's never been done before. The procedure might not even work.

The last words I hear before my consciousness fades are Optimus': Whatever the risk, we must take it. For Caitin's sake.

TBC


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DMK: Now was that sad or what? Heck, I even got a little misty-eyed writing it! I had to stop about three times to pull myself together, too. I know this idea isn't original, but I really wanted to give this a try! Please, please, don't get mad at me for using your idea, Ashana!
Hotshot: No, go ahead! Get mad and hit her with this nice, wooden baseball bat...