Bumblebee and Sam were silent the whole trip to the base, Sam constantly looking up at the sky in paranoia. The two jets were side by side, chrome warplane and black alien jet making good time with the same destination. Bumblebee opened his driver side door as they arrived but Sam would not come out when he saw Megatron transform. Bumblebee dumped him out on the grass by tipping the seat. He quickly shut the door and transformed. Sarah landed almost daintily and transformed back into her human form, then walked over to Sam. "Are you all right?" He paused. "…Yeah, just kind of nervous," he stuttered. Sarah stepped closer. "Stay close to me, if you like…" Just then, a loud, demented-sounding squeal filled the air and she paused. "…On second thought, maybe you'd better not." What looked like a huge cat came sprinting out like its tail was on fire, a spiky red creature clinging to its back for dear life and squealing incoherently all the while.
Sam stared at the two with an odd expression. "What in the," he started but was cut off by being tackled by the cat and red creature. "Ahh!" Acting as if she'd seen this a thousand times before, Sarah spoke up. "Rumble! Get off him!" The little creature made a slight grumbling noise, whereas the cat looked down at Sam and stared. "Why is it staring at me?" There was a hint of fear in Sam's voice. "Is it going to eat me?" Gesturing toward the cat, Sarah spoke in a firm voice. "Ravage, let him up." Ravage did as he was commanded and walked over to sit by her side. Sam stood and looked around, so many things rushing through his head. Rumble twitched nervously as he quietly stared at the boy. "N-new friend?" Ravage was also curious but he made a short low growl to show it, looking up at Sarah while doing so. "Yes, Rumble, he's our new friend." Rumble and Ravage looked at Sam who looked right back. Hearing Sarah's words, Rumble jumped up and squealed in delight, then tackled Sam, which irked Sarah. "Rumble! What have I told you about jumping on people?" He didn't move. "B-but, Buggie do it t-to Buzz-Buzz, all the t-time," Rumble whined as he hugged Sam's face. "Don't remind me," Bumblebee sighed. Just then, the boy currently wearing Rumble cut in. "Can someone please get this little hot tamale off my face?" Sarah turned to the little red Autobot. "Rumble, get off him." Rumble whined and slid off of Sam's face, only to hug Sarah's leg. "I missed you too, ya little spaz," she said with a semi-forced smile. "He's just like Frenzy, spaztastic and all," Sam said, wiping his face with his hands absentmindedly. Sarah had a question. "So that little blue dweeb back at McDonald's was Frenzy? I've heard of him a little."
Getting up, Ravage walked over to Sam, then bonked up against him like a normal cat. He wanted attention. "Heheh, nice kitty," the boy said cautiously as he slowly petted the metal cat's head. Ravage purred loudly. "That's all he wanted," Sarah said. "Hey, this guy isn't so bad," Sam laughed. "He's our resident spy. Back when the Decepticons were still in business, he'd sneak into their base and find out their plans," Sarah explained. "Affectionate and stealthy," Sam said, smiling to the robotic cat. Laserbeak squawked from on top of Megatron's shoulder like a mini parrot.
At that point, Sarah had only one thing to say. "Well… Uh… shall we head inside?" Sam nodded and stopped petting Ravage, which only made Ravage follow him closely. "Watch your head…" Sarah warned, looking up at the ceiling. "Why?" Sam asked, but soon got his answer as a metal scorpion and the red spaz, Rumble, came down and bonked Megatron on his head, making the former Decepticon leader groan and rub his head. The scorpion and Rumble both scuttled away laughing. Megatron growled and chased after them. "Why you little… I'm going to…" The yelling disappeared down the hall. "That's why," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. Sam fell over laughing. "That was priceless," he gasped out between laughs. "Scorponok does that to everybody," she groaned. "You're safe since he doesn't do it to humans, though. And that's why I stay in this form whenever I'm in here." She sighed as the boy rubbed his head in unconscious sympathy. "Well that's good news for me," Sam said. "So he even does it to Ironhide and Optimus?" Sarah nodded with a wry grin. "Yup. Everybody. He even has nicknames for everybody. You heard him calling Bumblebee Buzz-Buzz, right?" Sam laughed at the nickname, soon getting an evil glare from Bumblebee that elicited a cough. "Yeah," he responded. Sarah grinned even wider. "Optimus got christened Mister Truck," she whispered. Sam laughed again. "Sure does fit him." They both snickered. "Ironhide's called Big Guns," she added. Sam snickered again. "That definitely fits him." This time there was a pause, and a long one at that, before she spoke again. "Did you know that Jazz is back in business? I helped out there. Rumble calls him Loud Sound." Sam practically fell over. "But, I saw Megatron rip him in half," Sam said, astounded. Sarah grinned. "I was able to fix that. Of course, I also had to fix it when he tried to return the favor…" Her grin abruptly faded. "What do you mean?" Sam started but was cut off. "Hey, Sam, long time no see. How you been, man?" asked the familiar voice of Jazz. Sarah quietly backed down. She hadn't quite forgiven him yet. "Nothin' much, Jazz, how's it feel to be alive again?" Sam asked. "Pretty good, Sam, pretty good," Jazz replied.
All of a sudden there were thundering footsteps coming back towards them. Rumble screaming in fear as Megatron tried to grab him and Scorponok. Megatron went in for the kill and tackled the two sending all three of them rolling into a wall with a loud crash. All eyes were on them as Rumble stumbled out of Megatron's fingers, dizzy. Megatron rubbed his head. "Crazy little robot and his head bopping friend." Sarah shook her head. "Scorponok just never learns… or quits." Jazz snickered. "Never b-bopping S-silver 'gain," Rumble said as he took a few steps forward them fell backwards with a DING. Sam laughed. "Toast's ready." Sarah looked up at Jazz, who was glaring at Megatron. Sam and Bumblebee also saw this and gave Jazz an odd look. Jazz looked at them and raised his hands defensively. "What?"
"Sam, a lot of things have happened since you were last with the Autobots," Sarah explained. "Like what?" Sam asked. "I… don't know if you're ready to hear it," she said sadly. Sam looked at her sadly then looked back at the returning Scorponok and Megatron. The Decepticon was definitely getting a run for his money today. "Don't try to look innocent, Jazz," Sarah said. "I'm still mad at you for that stunt you pulled!" He turned to her. "Now just look here, little lady," Jazz cut in crossly. "Don't call me that," Sarah snapped. "You knew about the bond. You knew I was linked to him. And you didn't think I'd feel anything?" Both of them looked angry. "Don't start in on that again," Jazz growled. "It was supposed to just be him!" Sarah was very angry now. "You're lucky you failed. It would have been both of us if you hadn't." Sam decided to put his foot down. "Both of you shut up and calm down!" he yelled, getting both of the two's eyes to look down at him. "I'm getting the feeling that Jazz tried to kill Megatron and something about a bond that I don't get," Sam said slightly confused. Sarah took it upon herself to explain. "Sam, it's like this. I told you Megatron survived because the All Spark linked him to me," she said. "Well, that link is still there. If he's hurt, I feel it. If he dies, I'll most likely die too. And since Jazz tried to kill him…" She turned back to Jazz. "Yeah, you nearly killed me too!" The tension just about doubled between the lot of them in that instant. "I didn't know about the link, all right? Get off my back bumper!" Jazz growled, turning away from her and folding his arms. "I've said it all before," she growled back, turning away as well.
"Well, can't a guy forget?" Jazz didn't so much as turn. Megatron, Sam, and Bumblebee watched the two argue. The Decepticon growled wordlessly under his breath at Jazz as Sarah continued. "It's been two years. Two years! He had what he wanted… me… and he handed me over without even being asked, much less forced! And what's he been doing since then, huh? Who drove Barricade off that first time?" By now very flustered, Sarah cut herself off. "You know what? Screw it." She sighed comparatively loudly. "Eh, we've said and heard it all before. I give up." Jazz turned around and looked at her. Megatron growled lowly as he watched. The Autobot knelt down near her. "Sorry, Sarah, but if you know what it is like to be ripped in half, have to deal with all the pain and suffering of millennia of death from the hands of Megatron upon other transformers, and be dead for a year, then maybe you'll understand why I did it, but I guess you can't." Jazz finished and stood, walking off. He turned and looked at her before being completely out of sight. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt in the process," he said, then turned and disappeared.
"…You don't understand either," she said softly, sighing a second time and walking in the opposite direction. Looking over at Sam, Sarah gave him a look that spoke volumes. She knew a lot more than Jazz could even guess. Sam gave her a sad expression and went over and opened his arms, inviting her into a hug for comfort, much to Megatron's jealousy. "You'd think he didn't know that my dreams have allowed me to witness firsthand every last battle in this war." She hesitantly accepted his offered hug, uncertain. "…You'd think he had no darn clue that I already know how many died. I saw them all… I still do." She shuddered. "I'm sorry, Sarah," Sam said, patting her back. Even Megatron hadn't had any idea just how much she had experienced. "These memories… they're not even mine. The link… We share more than I ever let on before." Megatron looked down at Sarah, feeling guilty that she had to be link through him and see the horrors of the past. "You think that's bad? In my dreams I'm the one doing the killing!" This put a huge weight on Megatron's spark, knowing Sarah should never have to be put through that. "I'm sorry for putting you through this, Sarah," he said sadly, turning his head in guilt. She was shaking. She'd been through things that would terrify most any mortal and come through all right, but this…
Megatron lifted a hand and reached for her. "Sarah," he started, a hint of pity and sympathy threatening his voice. She seemed to catch herself in that moment, looking up at him in surprise. A moment later she was acting like someone else entirely as she flew into a silent rage. Her face flushed with embarrassment and twisted into a snarl that made her seem like someone else entirely. The blackest fury imaginable blazed in her eyes like the fires of Hell, reminding Megatron of himself in his darkest days… But only for a moment. It faded away as she crushed the agony she had been displaying previously, burying it deep inside her. Just like that, all signs of her pain were gone, forced away by sheer force of will. She'd let her guard down, let her weakness show, and now her guard was coming back up. "Like hell I'll let that happen again," she swore quietly. It was then that the link's dark side became obvious. It had brought light into the darkness that had been Megatron's spark… but it had done the reverse for Sarah. Megatron, Bumblebee, and Sam were staring at her in surprise, wondering what was going through her head. Shaking her head, she strode off. The knowledge was out, though… at least for one of them. In purifying Megatron, the link had tainted Sarah.
Either way, Sam had just been severely freaked out, so he and Bumblebee said their farewells and skedaddled as fast as they could. Megatron had changed a lot, this the boy now knew… That little exchange between the two of them had demonstrated this far better than any amount of explanation ever could. Laserbeak went with them as a parting gift. Through the mechanical bird they would have instantaneous contact with their friends, no matter where in the galaxy or the universe the rest of them might travel.