Chapter 5: Incarnate

Sam stared long and hard at the pair of feet in front of him before raising his head.

A boy, who looked Sam's age if not a year or two older, stood before him. His dark hair made his already pale skin appear even paler. Dancing along one arm were many darkly tattooed marks that, if his memory served him, were identical to the runes on the All Sparks' old container. The marks would catch the light and glint as though they were not made of ink, but of molten silver.

He was staring at Sam with strange, equally silver, eyes and a tiny smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Hello again, Samuel."

Jazz continued on his way through the city.

Re-scanning every possible area in his sensor range before he was able to get a better idea of where the All Spark energy had come from. It was stronger than the first instance he had picked it up, and it was steadily growing in strength.

Sam remained where he was on the ground, slack-jawed and stunned by the sudden turn of events. The All Spark, however, appeared momentarily unconcerned. It was marvelling in its new found limbs.

"I have only ever been confined to my first vessel …" The boy turned one bony, pale hand around at the wrist, flexing the fingers in an almost child-like enthrallment. "I shall admit…I have never felt this before. Such…such physical freedom. It feels fascinating." The All Spark closed its eyes and stretched, sighing heavily.

Sam, pulled out of his stupor, continued to stare before words found him.

"S-So…I- you-? You're a-a guy?"

One silver eye opened as the other followed, watching Sam with an amused look, chuckling quietly in the same airy tone the All Sparks mental voice had.

"Nonsense, my dear Samuel. It is impossible, for I am energy and therefore, have no gender. I simply had to choose one or the other to act as a…new vessel. It is amazing, to see without feeling, to feel without seeing..." The All Spark trailed off and did not elaborate. Sam shifted his gaze from the strange boy-All Spark to the clear blue skies above his head. His mind still felt foggy and now he was even more confused.

Jazz continued to get closer and closer to the exact location of the energy source. On his way, he had pinged the frequencies of every bot on the Earth team.

No response.

The All Spark slowly brought its hands back down to its side, looking down at Sam, its head tilted in curiosity.

"Samuel…why are you still on the floor? Do you require my assistance?" It did not wait for an answer as the All Spark extended an arm to pull the shorter boy back to his feet, "Are you alright, Samuel?"

Sam nodded his head, and allowed himself to be pulled up. He felt shaky, and his face was paler than normal.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, just… a little weirded out I guess."

This was definitely the understatement of the year. He was feeling…unnerved, amongst other things. Seeing the All Spark in such a form was strange in the non-familiarity of it, something which would have been funny any other time. He was all too used to the shimmering, metallic, engraved Cube the All Spark had resided in the first time he had ever laid eyes on it. The boy-All Spark frowned,

"Samuel…I would most appreciate it if you no longer thought of my previous confines." Sam didn't acknowledge the All Spark request and instead blurted out something that had been bothering him for a while.

"You sound different…. Er, I mean from when you were inside my head and, yeah…" He trailed his sentence off lamely. Besides, in his head was the only place he had really ever heard the All Sparks voice before.

A small, almost sad smile briefly flashed across the All Sparks human face before it became unreadable,

"Of course, Samuel. I will admit to you that I have never, how would I put this, had many things to be emotional about since the day I was created. Being in this human form may also factor in differences in my vocal patterns. As energy, I had no need to speak what I wished to convey out loud." The boy reached for Sam's hand again begun pulling him towards the open sidewalk.

"It is best we do not stay here for much longer."

Optimus had locked himself in his office.

Paperwork had become a wonderful excuse to be alone. Especially with all that had happened in the last month. Ratchet was currently working on repairing Jazz's…body, so that proper arrangements could be made. Ironhide busied himself in the gun range. And Bumblebee…

Optimus vented.

The scout had volunteered himself to survey the surrounding cities and towns, checking for Decepticon activity. Though Optimus had been reluctant at first, unsure of how their youngest team member was coping, he allowed Bumblebee to take the mission. Some days he agreed with his decision, perhaps it was best that the youngling had time to himself; but other days, he wondered…

Had he made the right choice? Had any of his decisions helped them in the future?

Part of him said yes, with Megatron gone, this planet would be safe and they would have a new home to greet their surviving comrades.

Another part of him, a larger part, disagreed vehemently. The war had ended for now, but in ending this war, he had lost his brother, and they had missed one Decepticon, Starscream, who would no doubt bring an even greater number of Decepticons than they could Autobots. So, in that, they had failed Earth. He had failed to keep this planet from feeling the deadly grasp of their war. Would this young solar system become just as burned out and dead as Cybertron was now?

He could only hope.

Jazz had turned down the next street, much less crowded than the last, and noticed the signature was moving now. Not very fast, but definitely away from where it had been moments ago.

Sam was being all but dragged behind the All Spark as it set a brisk pace, determined to get them away from the alley as quickly as possible. There weren't many people, or even cars for that matter, on this particular stretch of road and sidewalk. Sam looked to the back of the All Sparks head, wondering just where in the world they were going, when a flash of silver-grey caught his attention.

"…Jazz?"

Oooh. I'm evil. I wanted to continue this, but decided against it. :D Sorry this thing took so damn long. I've been stuck in the middle of absolute nowhere for two weeks for 'family vacation'. Half of it was the rest of my family having a bitch-fest, but other than that, I had no inspiration for this until a while after I got back.

AAH! There's so many scene changes! -_-'

Also, sorry it's so short. I can't write long chapters because I enjoy cliffhangers. -apologizes-

-DrHooksTowingandCo