Author's Note: This is the revised version of chapter 7.

Key:

:Comm. Link.:

-Bond Talk-


Chapter 7

Ratchet was not going to leave his med bay, nope. He wouldn't. He may be glad that Sam was out of the med bay finally, but this celebration was a little overboard. Was he really that rude to his patients? Did they hate him that much? Well, he would not join in on the partying. He had records to go back over, parts to rebuild for other mechs, and some discoveries he made while going back over scans of Sam. The boy-turned-cybertronian appeared to be emanating Allspark energy. Which could be either good or bad at the moment. It appeared to Ratchet that the energy was what was causing Sam to change. Each day, less and less of Sam was human, and the only things that were still left were his skin, the insides of his mouth, and hair, although those were changing as well.

Soon, Ratchet feared that Sam would no longer be... Sam. The CMO had yet to tell the male this news, mainly because of the party.

Why is it that all of his current problems came back to the party?

. . .

Megatron hated parties for several reasons. The main reason was that he found them simply too loud and closed in. He wasn't one for close contact, especially of the joyous or recreational variety. A good bout of hand to hand combat was okay, though. But actually standing directly next to several mechs that would give anything to kill you? Yeah, Megatron was many things, but stupid wasn't one of them.

Secondly, he didn't exactly like Samuel James Whitwicky. The human killed him, so who could blame him? The boy was the bane of his existence! Even Optimus, his dear 'brother', would not deny him the right- Megatron still hated himself for using that word to prove his point- to hate his murderer.

Thirdly, he didn't have a good feeling about all of this. He told Optimus that something felt fishy about this all, but no! There was no reason to believe that something bad will happen, Optimus had claimed. Well, the Prime didn't have a Decepticon's premonition like Megatron. Megatron settled on his berth, shuttering his optics. He would simply rest as the others celebrated, waiting for either Optimus to return to their quarters or for a reason to say 'I told you so.'

Megatron only hoped that he won't have the right- that cursed word again!- to say it after tonight.

. . .

Bumblebee watched affectionately as Sam slept on the human-sized couch in the rec room. His charge was quickly exhausted after a game of Just Dance 3, and had been sleeping on the couch for the past fifteen minutes. The mech turned on his holo-form and found himself sitting on the one bare spot on the couch, just above Sam's head. He let one of his hands lace its fingers into the smooth brown hair, his mech mode transforming and pulling up next to the couch.

"Huh?" Sam asked sleepily, reaching a hand up to swat at Bee's hand in his hair. "Stop it. My hair's hard enough to keep neat as it is."

Bumblebee chuckled, scruffing up Sam's hair even more. "You know you love it," He teased, ice blue eye glinting with something Sam has come very accustomed to over the past week. Affection.

"Whatever," Sam replied, a small smile playing on his lips as he rolled onto his side. He lay there for a moment in silence, ignoring the other as Bee continued to card his fingers through the brown mess. He closed his eyes and allowed the sounds of the others partying to filter through his mind. He could pick out each and every single one of the voices, a feat made possible by the changes that had taken place in his body. He hummed silently as his processor sorted through each thing said and filed it under various designated keywords.

He noticed three voices missing. Megatron's, whom he had not expected to come, was missing of course. Then there was Ratchet as well; the medic had instantly refused the invitation to the party. But, only Megatron and Ratchet had thought to refuse. Everyone else had accepted their invitation.

A moment of cross referencing with all the invitations and the voices of the Autobots in attendance showed him exactly who had missed out. And oddly enough, it was Red Alert, the Autobots' security officer. That was funny... Sam thought to himself as he shifted a little, resting his head in Bee's lap. Red was really excited about the party, even if it was a "security violation".

Sam opened his once green eyes to stare into the equally blue eyes of his boyfriend's holo-form. He adjusted himself once more as he sat up and tossed his partner a worried glance. "Hey, did Red catch a virus or something? I just noticed he isn't here."

Bee blinked slightly at the statement, thinking back to everyone he had seen and heard. After a second of cross referencing in his own processor, Bumblebee realized Sam was right. "Hmm, that is strange." He muttered, scanning the area absentmindedly. Red Alert had to be around somewhere. "I'll be right back."

Sam suddenly foud his butt connecting with the couch cushion as Bee's bipedal form rose beside him, holo-form gone. He watched as Bumblebee hurried over to Inferno, an urgency in his optics Sam hadn't seen since Egypt. It worried him because if Red Alert was really just sick, then he'll recover. Inferno didn't look too worried, so why should 'Bee? They were both just worked up over nothing, obviously. That had to be it.

"Hey, 'Bee!" Inferno greeted happily, a thing of high grade in one servo making it obvious that he was nearing what the humans referred to as "drunkenness". "How's it hangin'?" Bee noticed how Inferno's speech was a bit slurred, another effect of the high grade.

"Everything's great, Inferno," Bee replied, trying his best to not appear worried. "I was just wondering where Red Alert is."

The other mech froze on the spot at the question, though he did not appear to be extremely upset or anything. His voice came out softly as his optics connect with Bee's. "Red said he needed to check the security settings... Stupid worrywart just left me here." A sad tint enters the dull blue optics as he looked away, "He hasn't answered any of my comm's either."

Bee felt for the poor mech; Sam had an appointment with Ratchet a few days ago and had insisted that Bumblebee did not come. It hurt the bot, especially when Sam refused to answer any of his own messages. Then, when the boy came back later slightly distant, Bee almost lost himself in grief and worry. It took him an hour to coax the boy into telling him what was wrong before he had to bring Sam back to the med bay. He rested a comforting servo on one of Inferno's shoulders, causing the other mech to look back up at him. "It is okay, Inferno. He's just a bit overprotective, that's all." And the statement was partly true; but, anyone who knew Red Alert, knew that he was checking on the security measures because of his glitch, not really his overprotective urges.

Inferno offered him a weak smile in return, quickly returning to his boisterous laughter as Ironhide fell over. Bumblebee found himself being pulled into the excitement, his own laughter adding to the mix. Bee and Inferno endd up leaning on each other for support, the force of their laughter throwing off their equilibrium sensors slightly.

"Red!" Sam called out as he could just barely see the mech from around the edge of the door. He put on a grin as he stood from the couch, readying himself to scamper over to the friendly security officer.

Until he noticed how everyone else was frozen. What was going on?

With a brilliant flash, a plasma shot exited Red Alert's spark chamber, a strangled cry coming from a damaged vocal processor. He toppled forward as his optics began to dim. Red Alert had let his guard down for a second, and this was what he got. He was right to be so cautious over the years, he just knew it now. He felt his spark chamber, or rather what was left of it, begin to detach from him as he neared the ground. He took that last moment, his last moment, to send out a message to Inferno over their bond. An apology that he had gone against his mate's wishes, and now this happened.

-I'm sorry I didn't stay for the party, Inferno. I shouldn't've been such a worrywart.- His voice began to go in and out slightly, and he felt his end of the bond waver. -I... L-love you, Inferno.-

The last thing Red Alert heard were the anguished screams of his beloved sparkmate and the shouts of shock from everyone else. Then, he was consumed by blackness.