Kudos to Autobotlover56 for guessing who Starsong was hearing in her spark. The mystery is revealed in this chapter and the next two. :)

Warning: This chapter contains some child abuse with Megatron hurting a sparkling.

Chapter 3: Saving and Realization

Arcee and Cliffjumper were patrolling a hidden road that Starsong had reported seeing on her patrol the other day, keeping an optic open for Decepticons.

"Not much going on, I guess," said Cliffjumper.

"It's been a bit too quiet," said Arcee.

"True," her partner agreed. "I've never known a 'Con to keep quiet this long."

A sharp cry startled them. "Mommy! Help!" a voice cried out.

"Silence!" came the all-too-familiar roar of Megatron.

Arcee and Cliffjumper immediately went on alert and looked around the rocks nearby and were shocked to see Megatron beating a small form into the ground. "Stop, please!" the first voice cried out again as the form lifted his head.

"It's a sparkling!" Cliffjumper said in shock as he sprang forward, firing his weapon at Megatron. "Get away from him!" he shouted as he heard Arcee come up to get the sparkling out of the way. The small form was so battered he barely moved when Arcee picked him up, noticing there was no faction symbol on him.

"Cliff! I think he's a neutral!" she said.

The red Autobot didn't stop firing as Megatron took off. "Keep it!" said the Decepticon leader as he flew off. Cliffjumper growled at him, but then turned when he heard the sparkling cry out again.

"Mommy!" he called out.

Arcee looked a bit lost and so gave him to Cliffjumper, who immediately started rocking the small one. "Shh, it's okay, we've got you," he soothed. "Megatron's gone and he's not going to lay another claw on you."

"Mommy! Where's Mommy?" the sparkling hiccupped.

"We need to get him to Ratchet," said Arcee as she called for a bridge and for sick bay. The green portal soon appeared and the two went through and the red Autobot gently set the sparkling down on the sick berth. The others were shocked.

"A sparkling?" asked Jack.

"Megatron was abusing him," said Cliffjumper, a look of disgust on his faceplates. "He was abusing a sparkling."

Said sparkling was looking at Ratchet fearfully and shaking. "Mama!" he called out, crying harder.

Starsong had been coming down the hall to head for patrol when she heard the cry and it sounded very familiar to her. She even felt the same feelings in her spark again, only they were stronger now. She quickly ran to see what was going on and saw Ratchet by one of the berths. "It's alright," he said, trying to soothe the patient on the berth, but the little one was still afraid.

"Mama!"

Starsong moved around Optimus and gasped in shock. The sparkling was gravely injured, but she recognized his red and black paint scheme anywhere.

"It can't be," she said softly before going over to the berth. "Frenzy? Is that you, little one?"

Frenzy heard a voice he hadn't heard in many years and opened his optics to see a femme he knew by spark. "Mama?" he asked hopefully. "Is that really you, Mama?"

Starsong gently sent a wave of love through a bond she thought had been gone and Frenzy felt it, sending back love to her. "Mama! You're alive!" he said, crying again as he reached for her. She didn't hesitate to pick him up.

"Frenzy, my little one," she said. "I can't believe you're alive. I thought you, your brother, and your father were gone."

"We've alive, Mama. We thought you died," said Frenzy, his voice hiccupping a little from his crying. "Don't leave again, Mama," he begged.

"Shh, I'm not leaving," she said comfortingly and then set him down on the sick berth. "Frenzy, Ratchet is going to help you, okay?"

The sparkling looked afraid and Starsong sent her son comfort. "Ratchet is a kind doctor. He won't hurt you," she cooed, letting Frenzy hold her hand tightly as she nodded to Ratchet, who immediately used a rejuvenation field he had constructed to heal the more severe of Frenzy's injuries. Once that was done, he tended to the minor injuries and made sure the sparkling wasn't in pain before he turned to Starsong.

"This sparkling is your son?" he asked.

She nodded. "I haven't seen him in a long time," she said. "I thought he and the rest of my family were gone."

"How?" asked Bumblebee.

Starsong turned to them. "There's a part of my past I never told you about," she said. "Brace yourselves."

Seeing how serious she was, they all turned to her as she stood by the berth her son was resting on and began her story.

Read on! It's going to get really good, I promise.

GoldGuardian2418