Disclaimer : I don't own it.

(Normal POV)

"I didn't expect you to honor their request."

"They haven't proven themselves to be a threat, I saw no reason to keep them from their homes." Optimus saw the glare on Ratchet's features and raised an optic ridge. "And what has you so irritated, my friend? I thought you wanted the femmes gone?"

"They're keeping something from us." He took in the surprised yet confused glance his leader shot him, as the larger bot slowly turned to give Ratchet his full attention. "When I told them you were approaching, Isabella requested a moment alone with her friend. Her optics grew shifty, and she insisted. Apparently they wished to discuss something privately."

"They are femmes. They were born human. There are any number of things they could wish to speak about that does not concern us."

"They are human born femmes, turned Cybertronian, who know far too much about us." Ratchet began playing back their earlier conversation, where he could tell they were only touching on what they knew, and he watched Optimus' optics brighten. "Whose to say they do not know more? Ironhide...may be right." He was loathe to say it, as his spark didn't believe it. "They may be spies."

"What does your spark tell you?" The question was quiet, and the Autobot medic could only curse just how observant their leader was at time. Then again, he wasn't Prime for nothing.

"It tells me...that I should have gone with them." He sighed, finally touching on the matter that truly bothered him. "We do not yet know if their bodies can handle the full transformation. I have a viable cover near them, that Will and Ironhide don't, and I won't shoot first and ask questions later if they so much as twitch the wrong way." The last comment was directed at the larger blue and red flamed bot, with a dry tone, as one yellow optic ridge slowly rose.

A low chuckle sounded, echoing slightly on the breeze of the tarmack. With a shake of his head, Optimus took a step back. "I only kept you here because we've received news of another inbound, but the signal is degraded. We cannot even tell if it's an Autobot, or if we've intercepted a Decepticon signal. I thought it best to have the Chief Medical Officer around, just in case."

With an almost longing look at the boat, as it sailed for mainland, Ratchet cycled his vents, nodding at Optimus, before turning and making his way back towards the main hangar. He wasn't pleased to be far from the femmes, but he knew that despite his outward appearance, Ironhide was a valued, loyal and trusted officer, who would know that if he harmed the femmes, he'd most likely end up with his cannons welded up his aft and rigged to fire every time he opened his mouth.

With a small smirk, he continued past oblivious bots, to his med bay, where he'd get ready to depart.

(Bella's POV)

Unlocking the front door, I tried to ignore the way my body wouldn't relax. Every sound was so much louder, every smell so much sharper, I was constantly on my guard, and I hated it. I rolled my shoulders, my eyes narrowing when one voice in particular seemed to pin my attention more than anything.

"You sure this is a good idea." The voice sounded like it was coming from right behind me, but a glance told me it was coming from Will, sitting in Ironhide's driver seat. He was staring at the truck's dash intently. "We dunno if they're safe, what they're capable, or really if...we can even trust them."

I turned back to the door, swinging it open and grimacing as the knob crunched a little, denting under my grip. Gonna have to get used to the new strength. I sighed as I walked in, almost cursing Rika for deciding to head to her own home. Then, I realized, I was much in the same position. I needed time to think. But...I didn't think 'thinking' would help. So far, all it had done was confuse me.

"Why did this all have to happen to me?" I murmured as I stromped up the stairs. I paused by Mrs. Craven's door, seeing something leaking under the frame. My heart..well...hummed hotly when I crouched down, squinting. Even with sharper eyesight, all I could make out, was it was dark liquid, the dark lights of the windowless hall not yielding anything else. She loves her coffee, even at her age. She probably just spilled a cup and went to get a towel to clean it up with.

Still, I frowned as I stood, walking past the puddle and up the stairs to my own apartment. Hearing the door open behind me, I nearly sagged on myself, not bothering to look back, because I didn't want to make it obvious I knew she was there. Hearing a wet squish, I shuddered a little before turning up another flight of stairs, pulling out my apartment key as I went.

Once I was in my place, I sighed and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place, but I walked over to my window and peeked out. Sure enough, the monstrous black Topkick was still parked in it's place, and I shook my head, before leaving the curtains. Instead, I popped over to my kitchen and began rifling through my cupboards. I'd just found my box of super buttery popcorn when I paused, remembering I couldn't eat it anymore.

"God! Why me??" I practically threw the box back in the cupboard, before turning and staring almost blankly across my apartment. "I can't eat... I have a scheduled sleep pattern." I looked down at my hands. "This is just...an alternate, alternate form for me, now..." I walked towards my bedroom, contemplating curling up on the bed. But that just didn't suit the mood I was in. In fact, as inviting as the bed looked, I turned and stared across the apartment.

"I wanted to come home. Now that I'm here, this place feels so...alien to me." It felt comfortable, familiar, but looking at it through new eyes changed too much. The light was too bright, bringing into sharp perspective every detail. From the bright yellow wooden floors, to the almost moldy green of the couch. The apartment looked so different, and there was just...nothing to do. I felt clueless, bored with no idea what to do to keep myself busy. Shaking my head, I sighed and walked over to the couch, I plopped down on it, sinking down into the cushions before relaxing.

Then my eyes caught a pamphlet on the table.

"School?" Rolling my eyes, I reached forward and knocked the pamphlet off the table. Yeah, lets go into medicine for humans. I only have to explain why I can't get any testing myself, never get sick, simply cannot get injured, and why I don't age or eat. I grabbed my cell phone and stared at it. Mechanics has a chance, though you get hurt a lot in that. Ok, so maybe it doesn't have a chance at all.

Is it so bad I'm a Cybertronian now? I looked down at the tiny cell, remembering the little rambo-bot from the first Transformers movie. I'll always be seen as different. At least we weren't alone. I mean, we had the Autobots. But they can't possibly understand. They were never born organic. Closing my eyes, I laid the cell phone on my chest, sinking down into the cushions even more.

Then a jolt ran through me, and I shuddered a little. A little zap hit my phone, and I jumped with a curse, brushing it off me to land on the ground. "Great. Make me feel like even more of a freak." I grumbled, reaching down to pick it up. When it flashed and disappeared into a ball of light, I gasped, jumping up and stepping back. "What the frag?!"

The light seemed to hover a moment, before floating towards me. I scrambled to the side, but it kept coming my way. I dodged again, but it changed course. In short, I was running around my apartment, trying to escape a ghostly light, but not doing much to put space between myself and it. I jumped over my couch, crying out painfully when I jammed my knees into the heavy wood coffee table.

Then I scrambled into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me so hard, it slipped open and slammed into the wall again, from sheer force alone.

"What now?" I panted, pressing back into a corner. I gasped, feeling the burning of tears in my eyes. "What now?! Isn't this enough?! I was born human, and had my whole fragging world taken away from me! I lost my family! How am I supposed to explain this to them?!" Still the light approached. "No, that's right. This family isn't even mine, is it? What do you want?!!"

The light seemed to hover over my chest. It glowed, but the light brightened and ebbed, almost like a heartbeat. I watched the tiny little ball of light flash in front of my chest, and before I knew what I was doing, I was reaching out towards it.

Then I paused, my hands hovering in mid air before it. What the hell am I doing?! I wanted to pull my hands back, but something inside me, something almost instinctual, screamed not to. Staring at the little light, I was struck with an intense feeling of familiarity. Why do I feel like I've seen this before? The tears continued, and my chest constricted as I just stood there.

I tried to think of what it could be. Little flashing light that looks like it's flashing to a set beat. I frowned a little, still very much afraid. "What are you?" Finally, I willed my hands to move, and gently cupped them around the light, which only seemed to grow stronger at the touch. The light gave off a heat that was almost soothing, and it...strangely enough, it felt like it belonged in my hands. The light also illuminated my hands, and undoubtedly my face, bathing them in a bright white.

I have to call Ratchet. I grimaced. So much for a secure line. Getting an idea, I hopped forward, I cupped the little light against me as I ran back out into the living room. Very gently pressing it against my chest, I practically threw the curtains open, wincing when they ripped right off the hook and fell to the ground in a heap. Then I slid a corner section of my window open. "LENNOX!"

His head popped out of the truck instantly, and he looked up.

"Get...uh..." What was Ironhide's holographic name again? "Get your-" Wait, if I'm gonna have to go down there... Another idea hit me. "Call Richard!" I winced at the name, though the pain wasn't quite as bad. "I need his help, like, now!" I moved my hand and showed him the light. Then stuck looking down, I watched as a seam appeared in my chest. "What-"

I backed away from the window, hearing Lennox calling to me. My sharper hearing could hear Lennox informing Ironhide to call Ratchet, and then heard doors slam, but my eyes were fixed on the little light.

The seam in my chest grew, and before I knew what I was doing, I was reaching down with my free hand and pulling apart the chest plates, revealing the covered section that was my 'spark chamber' I guessed.

The light pressed forward even more. I swallowed heavily, instantly afraid, when it went for the spark chamber, but the almost gentle heat about it had the cover sliding back. My eyes glued to my new heart, this being the first time I'd really taken to look at it.

This...can't be so bad. Sure, we can't eat or drink anymore, but now we have a chance to really make a difference. I remembered the movie. We can save lives. Suddenly, it hit me. Lives...life...heart...spark... My eyes glued to the little glowing form that hovered in the air. Spark...ling? But I thought they were baby robots? Like, conceived and then carried in a femme or mech?

Then again, I really didn't know what to expect. I didn't have a degree in Cybertronian mechanics, or anatomy.

I realized I was taking a risk, but if I was right, it might very well be worth taking. Besides, what else was I going to do? Sacrifice a possibly innocent, new life? I pressed the light towards my heart, and there was a snap, and electrical surge. My body felt suddenly really hot and heavy, and my legs gave out, causing me to hit the ground with a surprisingly loud thud.

For a moment, I was terrified I was transforming right there and then, which would kill my downstairs neighbors. My vision blacked out, and my ears filled with ringing. My body shuddered as I was wracked with energies, but slowly, I took a deep breath, and my vision and hearing cleared. I could hear the sound of my door breaking open, and something moving with inhuman speed.

A red flash filled my vision, and my chest almost snapped shut over the little light, which now seemed stuck to the chamber wall, next to my own heart. I ducked and rolled, gasping as my heavier-than-normal body responded sluggishly, and yelped as a flash of red and silver went sailing by over my head, with a threatening whistle.

Spinning in place, I gasped to see a blood covered little silver bot with crimson eyes. He looked sharply familiar, but I grimaced, knowing it wasn't possible. Then he sneered, raising another blood covered shuriken. "Frenzy?!" I wondered if he was really as evil as some stories told, or if he was more neutral. I screamed, ducking the incoming shurkien as I stood shakily, my vision swimming. Then a sharp pain caused me to scream again, and clutch at my arm, were purple dripped down it. Huh, that really is weird!

He paused at the sight. "Human born? Cybertronian femmes?" His voice was deeper and slower as he cocked his head, his fingers tracing over the edges of more stars in his grip.

Before he even had a chance to mull over whatever thought had flitted through his tiny little processor, the window behind me smashed. I yelled and jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding being picked up in a big black hand.

"Hold still, femme!" Ironhide's voice growled as he reached further, knocking the bot aside. His hand came my way, and I put my hands over my chest, almost protectively, as his fingers curled around me. Then I could only blink in surprise when I was removed from the room, surprisingly gently. I was set on my feet before I knew what was happening, and staggered as the fingers let go of me, only to fall into a pair of warm, human-sized arms, and groan.

"Ow. Jeez! You guys look human-sized, but you're still heavy as-"

"Are you calling me fat?!" I allowed enough warning in my tone as I lifted off Will, my hand still pressed over my heart as I leaned up and shot him a look. Then I shook my head, standing slowly. "We need to get outta here! I need to..." The pain flared again, before I reminded myself I could transform now. "I need to see Ratchet!"

"Get in!"

I followed Will to the truck waiting patiently behind us, engine gunning. Hopping into the passenger seat, I only raised an eyebrow as the seatbelt slid over me of it's own accord. That's kinda cool...once you get past the freakiness factor.

"What the slag did Rumble want with you?"

"Rumble? That was Frenzy's twin? Slag! The stories weren't kidding, they really do look alike." I shook my head. "Hell if I know, why was he covered in blood?" I held up a hand then, closing my eyes and groaning a little. "You know what? Never mind. I really don't wanna know."

"Why did you tell us to call 'Richard'?"

The wince didn't come, though my heart thrummed hotly in my chest, causing mild discomfort. "I... I think I zapped my phone. I mean... I put it on my chest, then there was a shock, then it turned into a glowing ball of light."

"And what did it do then?"

I glanced briefly at Will, before tugging on the seatbelt that had suddenly gone tight around me. "Can't tell ya if I can't breathe!" I gasped, a discomfort appearing in my chest, only to disappear as the seatbelt loosened again. "And are we gonna pick up Rika?"

"The Arcee triplets are watching over her, and Ratchet is waiting at the med bay for you." Ironhide answered gruffly. "Your arm is damaged."

I looked over to where the purple energon had begun to dry, leaving the upper half of my arm drenched in it. "Yeah, I noticed. I mean, the searing pain when it happened barely caught my attention..." I rolled my eyes.

"You never did answer what that light did." Will was eyeing me nervously, not even bothering with the pretense of driving, even though we were in a busier section of the city. "Why isn't it with you now? What happened?"

"Uh, it... It is with me now." I looked down to my chest again, my fingers trailing lightly over the exposed 'skin' that peeked out of my black tank top.

"What? Where?"

The cab of the truck went silent as I pondered that question. There were so many ways to answer, but I didn't know if I wanted to. I knew I should, but it was hard to tell myself that they needed to know. It felt like my secret. A secret I wanted to keep all to myself. Then I looked at the dash. Ironhide... He's supposed to be amazing with Annabelle... "Ironhide?" The gruff grunt was my only response. "What... What does a newborn spark look like?"

The truck slowed a moment, causing a driver behind us to honk angrily. As if the sound was the key, Ironhide picked up speed again, and Will turned to the front, placing his hands on the wheel. He kept glancing at me, but paid more attention to the road in between glances.

"Why do ya wanna know?"

"I just... Does it...look like a tiny glowing orb of light?"

If the truck had been moving fast before, nothing prepared me for the sudden swerve around a corner as it sped up even more. "How do you-You learned of this through your 'Transformers'?"

I take that as a yes. "No. It was never really touched on in the movies. I just remember reading a lot of people list newborn sparks kinda like that, although I dunno anything about how or when their bodies develop."

"They don't."

I blinked. "What?"

"Bodies aren't developed, they're built by mature Cybertronians. Inactive shells just waiting for a spark to be placed within."

I thought about that a moment. "What if a sparkling doesn't have a body?" My heart hummed in dread, and I pressed my hand more firmly over my chest, almost not even wanting to hear the answer.

There was a long moment of silence, and a glance told me even Will was curious to the answer, his eyes now darting to the dash. I had to admit, upon inspection, he was a good looking man, but I just wasn't attracted to him. Thank God. Like I need to piss someone else off. I turned back to the dash, my heart dropping further at the length of time it was taking Ironhide to answer.

Finally, there was a sigh.

"They die."

Note : Ok, I never understood why Frenzy had blue eyes, if he was a Decepticon, so I went with red. Also, I know next to nothing about Soundwave's casseticons, so what I'm going with is basing the above mentioned bot off Frenzy, with a little background discussion with greenleafprince to help iron out some details.

Written : Jan 25, 2010

Hope you like it.

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Tenshi