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Chapter 20

Bladewing, now back as Halo, stood at the double graveside with Sam and Mikayla. Miles had had to leave, family emergency, so it was just them. Well, them and the Autobots, who were all in their alt form, parked a little way away. The two graves had already been filled in. Checking to see no one who didn't know weren't around; Halo conjured a wreath of flowers, all white, and handed them to Sam.

"Thanks." He said, his voice throaty from tears. He knelt down, and placed it against the gravestones. He stayed in that position for a moment, before standing, and brushing the dirt from his suit trousers. "Let's go."

Mikayla nodded, taking his hand, and Bladewing smiled sadly at him, and even though her eyes were shaded with sun glasses, the other two knew her eyes were filled with the same tears as theirs, even though they were far more like her optics than eyes now.

Over the last couple of weeks, the change to Bladewing and Snakestrike was becoming far more permanent. Their eyes were almost exactly like their optics, and parts of their bodies were still panelled, and wired. They looked like cyborgs, and Ratchet estimated that it wouldn't be as long as he'd first thought before they were unable to change back to human anymore. But for now, Bladewing was taking full advantage of her continued ability to change, to accompany Sam to his parents' funeral publicly. The others were all waiting at a bar. After much persuading of both Ironhide and Barricade, Bladewing was allowed to go out to the bar. And, after Snakestrike had talked Ratchet round, so was he. Talk about overprotective parents. Mind you, they'd had to convince Bee that it would probably be best for Sam to be able to go too. E had seemed to have taken Sam in as his Sparkling, just like Ironhide and Barricade had done with Halo before she'd become a sparkling.

So, Bladewing climbed into Ironhide's cab, where his holoform was waiting. He was frowning.

"What's wrong, papa?"

"I'm still not happy with you going to this bar. Remember the last time you got drunk."

"Yes. There was also an evil megalomaniac after me then. He and his followers are all gone Papa. I'll be fine. And besides, I think Sam needs to have a drink, just to relax a little."

"Bee's not too happy that he's going, either."

"Oh come on. Tonks will be there! And Bee will be right outside. Then you're coming to pick me up."

"Actually Barricade is."

"Alright then, Daddy's coming to pick me up, and give a couple of the others a lift home. Everything will be fine."

He sighed. "Fine, fine." He gave up. Bladewing reached over and hugged his holoform. "Now, what are you going to do about your optics?"

Halo pulled a compact from her purse, and took off her sunglasses. She placed a glamour over her eyes. "There. Has Ratchet finished the estimates for how long until Snakestrike and I are unable to change to human anymore?"

"At most, you have a year, and your transformations should become less and less complete over that time."

"Alright. We just need one night anyway." She said, replacing her sunglasses.

Ironhide made a non committal noise, and the rest of the way to the bar was made in silence. When they reached the bar she hugged Ironhide's holoform again and left. She joined up with Sam and Mikayla and the three walked inside. At a small cluster of tables were Snakestrike, Hermione, Fred, George, Tonks, Neville, Luna and even Lennox and Epps.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" Mikayla asked the two soldiers.

"You really didn't think that the others would let you come without some sort of adult supervision did you?" Epps asked.

Tonks pouted.

"So I came, and Epps tagged along." Lennox said, earning himself a shove from Epps, and then Tonks, who then leant over and slapped Epps across the back of the head.

"I am adult supervision, thank you very much." Tonks said.

"Yeah, well, the others wanted more adult supervision, after all that's happened." Lennox said. "So, first round's on me." He got their orders, and went to the bar.

As it got dark, Barricade's holoform walked through the door. He quickly located who he was looking for, and sighed when he saw that his sparkling was well and truly drunk. As well as most of the others. Except Tonks and Lennox. He walked over to them.

"Time to go." He said.

"Daddy!" Bladewing squeeled happily, grabbing him in a hug. He pulled her up, and looked at the others.

"Jazz and Optimus are here too. Come on."

They all stumbled up, and he noticed that Sam and Mikayla both had tear tracks down their faces. Bladewing had them too, but they were more faded. He knew she was a happy drunk and it obviously came out no matter why she got drunk in the first place.

Barricade placed her in his back seat, and Snakestrike somehow managed to pull himself into his front passenger's seat. All the others stumbled to Bumblebee, Optimus and Jazz, but Lennox helped Sam to Bumblebee. Barricade could almost feel the other mechs worry rolling off him in waves. Barricade's holoform climbed into the driver's seat, and made a show to look like he was driving.

Both the sparklings were soon fast asleep, so the drive was mostly silent, except for when their periodic check ups with base came round. The moment he drove onto base, he drove straight for the Autobot's hanger. His holoform disappeared and when he pulled up, he opened his front passenger door. Ratchet came over, and pulled Snakestrike out, and cradled him against his spark.

Ironhide transformed into his alt form, and parked next to Barricade. It was easier to leave Bladewing where she was, than to wake her up, and get her to change back, and place her in one of their carrying holds to recharge. Besides, she seemed comfortable.

When Bladewing woke up, her head was throbbing, her stomach was churning and her mouth felt as if a wasp had decided to nest there. She groaned as she sat up, and blinked. She had been lying across the back seat of her daddy's alt form, and her papa was parked next to him. They were both still in recharge. She remembered Sirius telling her about hangovers, and what he used the next morning if he couldn't get hold of a hangover potion. She got out, swayed for a minute, before heading to the human quarters.

In the first kitchen she could find, she saw Sam was already up, his head in his hands, groaning.

"Morning." She croaked.

"Morning." He replied. "How are you?"

"Hung over. You?"

"The same. You here for something to eat?"

"No, Sirius' miracle cure. Or at least half of the mundane version. I'll have to ransack Ratchet for the other half."

"Pain killers?"

"What else?"

He laughed. "So, what's this cure?"

"Something that will either settle the stomach, or make you throw up, making you feel better anyway, as it's out of your system then." Bladewing replied, rummaging through the fridge and freezer until she found a tub of vanilla ice cream. She then began looking for either some sprite, or orange squash or juice. She found the squash first. "Want some?"

"Go on, I'll try."

Bladewing nodded, and got out two glasses and spoons. She scooped up some ice cream, and dropped it into the glass, and then poured the squash over it. She then poured the squash over it, so the glass was half filled, and stirred until the ice cream had melted, and it had made the drink frothy. She did the same again in the second glass, and then placed one in front of Sam.

"It's not poisonous, I assure you." She said, raising her glass. "Bottoms up." She downed the whole thing, not exactly necessary, but she preferred it, even though she didn't mind the taste all that much.

Sam watched as Bladewing calmly pulled her hair back, into one hand, headed for the sink, bent over, and threw up. He looked at the drink in front of him, and then the retching Bladewing, and grabbed a bucket, before downing the drink. It didn't taste too bad, but it did make him throw. But after he was done, he was left with just the headache, and slight queasiness.

"Better?" Bladewing asked, washing out the sink.

"Much."

"Good. Now, how are you feeling about yesterday?"

"I needed the drink." He admitted. "I'm dealing, slowly. But I miss them."

"Just, try to remember the good times. It got me through Sirius' death. That, and my friends. Never shut yourself off from us Sam. You'll just feel worse. Know that, even if I'm having a childish moment, which are becoming far more frequent I'll admit, I'll be there if you need to talk to someone."

"Thanks Bladewing. I've already had lots of offers like that."

"I know. I just wanted you to know I was there too."

"Thanks."

At that point, Lennox came hurrying in. When he saw Bladewing, he relaxed, and breathed out. "Thank God you're alright. Ironhide and Barricade are going nuts out there looking for you."

"I was getting a cure for the hangover. Now all I need are the pain killers."

"You'd best get out there, to reassure them you haven't been kidnapped or something." Sam laughed dryly.

"You'd better come too. Who knows what Bee's thinking right now? Seriously Sam, you may have lost your parents, but you've gained another in Bumblebee. Even though from what I can gather he's in his late teens, early twenties by the Cybertronians standards." Lennox said.

"Early twenties, Lennox." Bladewing said.

Sam nodded, standing, and the three left the human's quarters. Bladewing hadn't taken five steps outside before she was scooped up, and cradled against her papa's spark. She was really glad she could keep the All Spark energy down, or it would be bye-bye papa right about now.

She saw that Sam was in a similar position with Bee, and couldn't help but snicker at the surprised look on his face. Bladewing could tell that no one had better get in the way of Bumblebee protecting Sam, or there would be problems with the guardian.

A/N: so, what do you think? Just a bit of a filler for now. I don't know how much further I'll be going now. I'm running out of ideas. But please review!

Please check out the poll in my profile on whether you want anyone changed into a sparkling, if so who. By the way, the site mixed the options around a bit, so the yes and no options are seperate. You can choose more than one of those listed, actually, it's all.