The final chapter of this story. As promised, I didn't take a year to get it out. And as implied, I'm not satisfied with it. Sure, I had the first part of this written before I published the first chapter, but that's not the part I'm iffy about. The first half I'm actually plenty alright with; I just have an issue about leaving things on cliff hanger endings. I like to leave an implied ending that could possibly allow for a sequel even though I don't intend for one at all. So I had to write more, to give it more of an 'ending' feel instead of a 'I guess you're going to have to wait until the next chapter for the juicy stuff even though in the next chapter I'm going to leave another hanger' feel. So here it is, and for the last time in this particular story, I hope you enjoy it!

~Bumblebee

We've spent over a millennium searching for the Cube, fought the Decepticons with every fiber of our beings to find it first, and lost too many friends to count. We have sacrificed what we'd rather preserve, and even ushered a world-destroying war onto an innocent planet. All in the name of the Allspark; all in an attempt to salvage what was lost, and protect what we have no claim over.

And all of it ends in one spark-shattering moment, mid battle, when we realized that the Cube has been destroyed.

It's gone. Everything we've done- everything we've been through was in vain. What have we done?

The battle is over, the American Government has put us into quarantine while the aftermath is sorted through so that they can decide how to react to us later. Silence bares down upon us, as it surely does the Decepticons wherever they maybe. However, unlike them, our general sense of failure and helplessness is marred with guilt.

Suddenly, the silence was broken.

"Did anyone else feel that?" Jazz asked.

We all looked up at him. My hands felt empty, only reminding me of my deprived new habit and adding to the morbidity of the situation.

"The destruction of everything?" Ironhide retorted bitterly.

"Ironhide." Optimus reprimanded him for being so short with Jazz, but even Prime couldn't bring himself to say more on the subject.

Silence for a minute longer, but I watched Jazz as an odd expression came over his face.

"No." Curiosity joined the atmosphere. "An object that powerful would leave an energy charge traceable from any point on this planet for centuries after." And I can't sense anything from here, just a few miles from the remains of the battle.

"The Allspark can't be destroyed." Optimus backed him up from a different angle, catching on at the same time as the rest of us. "The Allspark wasn't in the Cube."

Immediately, Ratchet went off. "We would have noticed if that were true!" He was skeptic. "Where could it have gone? The Allspark's lived in the Cube for as long as any Cybertronian has lived."

Silence. Our hope flared as brightly as our fear.

"The Allspark left the Cube before we ever arrived on Earth." Optimus went on to confirm. "We were too caught up to notice." As this new revelation settled in, another did with it. If we could figure it out, so can the Decepticons. Now we need to know where it went.

We all looked to Optimus. As a Prime, he knows the Allspark's nature better than anyone else alive.

"It would have left because it knew of the Cube's inevitable destruction." He started. We all knew of it's consciousness and it's awareness of the future. Sparking less protoforms just before times of strife, providing more Energon just before more energetic cycles; it's rather prophetic, similar to Jazz's clan. "In light of this war, it would have taken a manipulable host to project it's will onto. A living host would be optimal, but that host would surely undergo changes due to it's presence. Considering an organic's short life-span and the Allspark's need to keep a constant host, I have no doubt they would have an elongated life cycle. The Allspark would easily be able to mask itself in a living being's signature, even to our scans. The host would receive the Allspark's ability to perceive the outside world as it had from within an inanimate object."

I hummed, thinking as he went on.

"Human, naturally. They are the dominant species of Earth, most mobile and with the most power for change. Using the same knowledge it had to leave the Cube, it would probably choose a host that is likely to cross our paths. And as for it's purpose, the host would unknowingly- or perhaps knowingly -be influenced by the Allspark's will. Against this war, they would be unable to take anyone's life. Quick to be at ease amongst it's creations, and be far more naturally inclined towards a Cybertronian's presence than a fellow human's."

All of the sudden, a commotion broke out beyond the doors. "Catch him!" Someone shouted.

The doors burst open and in ran a blind boy. His eyes faded over and unfocused, but in he came, fleeing doctor and soldier alike. They stopped in the doorway as he rocketed past, skirting around Optimus and towards me like he knew exactly where each of us stood. I scooped him up when he came in range, looking to his pursuers. His heart was beating fast, and he pushed himself as far from the humans as he could.

"Get back over here, kid." They called for him, unwilling to enter. "You haven't finished your check-up!"

"He's perfectly healthy." Ratchet stepped up, as defensive as I was. "A check-up is unnecessary."

"Ah..." They were obviously nervous to be in our presence while the boy's heart calmed only when his cheek pressed to my armor again. Slowing, calming, just like that very first night.

"Perhaps you should send someone in to discuss the boy's custody." Optimus helpfully supplied. "Until then, we'll keep him in here."

"But-" They began to object, but found no possible way to argue. They fear us, though we are no danger. My hands no longer felt empty.

"Alright." Another insisted, pulling the others away to shut the door and leave.

Ratchet leaned over to look at Sam, who had calmed down completely. He looked back to normal, but this just showed how more at ease he was with us than his own kind. This blind, human child that made his way around like he could see just fine. By now we were used to it, but it's still a curiosity.

"Why were you running from them, Samuel? They are humans attempting to help you." Ratchet demanded quickly.

Sam's eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms. "Why'd you hide me then?" He challenged. Yes, he's back to normal. But he had honestly been disturbed before; I decided then to not let him be alone with the humans again. If I'm right, then I don't think the others will object.

"Because during the short time we've had you, we've become rather fond. But, you realize, they are the world to where you belong." He tested.

I looked to him, unsure those words were true. A glance to Prime told me he was thinking the same. And... I don't think we're the only two.

Suddenly, we were all staring at Sam with this new revelation.

The Cube is destroyed, but the Allspark had long since left it. There was a human boy on the Nemesis that was blind, and yet he could 'see' as well as anyone else. Now we have a human boy who is so at ease with us and had been so protective of the Cube.

"What?" Sam asked, his demeanor completely changing. He had no idea what we were thinking. I glanced to Prime again, unsure on what to say. Does Sam even know?

"Would it be alright if we were to ask you questions you'd been reluctant to answer before?" Optimus asked him, which made the boy cautious and apprehensive. He doesn't act blind at all, save for around our holoforms. And now even that makes sense.

"Now that depends." He hesitated. "What are you getting at?"

"Why did the Decepticons have you to begin with?"

Samuel obviously still didn't like the question, but he was far calmer and open to us then the last time we perused the topic. Nevertheless, he was silent for a long minute.

"Sam?" Ratchet questioned, concerned.

"I don't know." He finally spoke. "They took me almost a decade ago, I don't remember everything that happened. Most of my memories before were heavily visual, and I don't really remember what it's like seeing. So most of the memories are hard to comprehend."

"You have no idea why they kept you?" I mused. Maybe the Decepticons hadn't known? We didn't. It took the Cube's destruction to make us put it together.

He shook his head, lowering his face. "All I could assume is that they kept me around for entertainment. I'm pretty sure I've had a million broken bones, healed only just to break them again." He shivered and I resisted the urge to pull him close and cover him again. A habit I've gotten, reinforced by his calming reaction when I do.

"You didn't show signs of healed fractures or bone healing." Ratchet mused in passing. "In fact, you had severe damage to your spinal cord and femur when we first found you, indicating that you wouldn't be able to walk comfortably for weeks, let alone run."

And he was running back in the battle field. For that matter, he hadn't acted like he'd been in pain for very long at all.

"What are you getting at? Humans heal quickly; it's just what we do. If you're going to beat around the bush, you might as well drop me off now." Sam insisted, getting irritated- and nervous -about this interrogation.

"The average human takes about two months to recover from the injuries you had, Samuel. Humans take moderate time to heal." Ratchet insisted. "And they don't typically perceive the world around them so well after loosing vision."

Sam turned pale and ducked his head. My eyes shot around to each of them, wondering if I should stop this now. I have no idea how much Sam does know, but it's clear he wants to keep it secret.

Ratchet didn't speak again. He didn't know where to go from there. So we all turned to Prime once more.

"You've known about our struggle to obtain the Allspark since long before we found you, I'm sure. But do you actually know what it is?"

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

~Sam

I bowed my head and took a deep breath. The Decepticons didn't pay enough attention to me to notice. They hadn't known anything about normal humans to compare me to. I hadn't even run into a bump in hiding my secret from them. But only a couple days with the Autobots and everything is lain on the table for everyone to see.

All of their attention was focused on me. Five familiar and trustworthy auras close to me. That alone was strange enough for me I almost didn't know what to do. The last couple of days while they've been watching me, I've been figuring out how to handle being around people I can trust.

So maybe my instincts to hide this can be ignored now? Maybe them finding out wouldn't be such a bad thing?

They didn't rush me, so eventually I swallowed and lifted my had slightly. Not far, so I still didn't face at any of them, but enough to be heard easier.

"I used to think it was a weapon. Just something they were looking for. Powerful, obviously. Something they could use to win some war. I didn't really care. But it wasn't, was it?"

Bumblebee shook his head behind me, and I pursed my lips. No one answered verbally.

"I'm still not a hundred percent sure on what it was, but it was huge. Not physically- well it was huge physically. I mean, it really was powerful. But it was life. It was the opposite of a weapon. It was old, and respected, and it should have been protected. Not destroyed. It sounded like..." I faltered a moment, not sure how to describe it. The only thing it was similar to was that thrum of their sparks, but it was more than even that. Nevertheless, I'm not sure they would recognize the sound of their own sparks. What do I know, though?

"Sounded?" Jazz questioned when I was quiet for a moment too long.

I nodded. "It sounded like a million thrums." I stood and took a step to the edge of Bumblebee's hands, toward him. He brought me closer either to avoid me accidentally falling or because he caught the hint. I pressed a hand onto his armor, above his spark casing. "A million sparks, thrumming together. Incredibly peaceful, but almost vocal. And, it told me things."

"What sort of things?"

I can't honestly tell if they were humoring me or not. Objects don't talk, and I probably sound crazy... but then again I really don't know what the Allspark was.

I shook my head and smiled slightly. "I'm not sure. There weren't actual words, but I understood perfectly. Being here-" I removed my hand and gestured around us to Sector Seven, "-was defiling it. It needed to leave. The Cube needed to be protected... it told me stories of life. But they weren't stories... more like impressions. Impressions of life... ah... like any living being has a story. I call them auras."

"Aura?" Optimus pursued. We're getting closer now, and that made me increasingly uncomfortable.

I nodded. "But the Allspark had thousands of them. It sounded like a thousand thrums, but it felt like just as many auras. All in synchronization, though, like a single lifeform."

"Tell me about these auras." Optimus pulled me back in the right direction, blatantly ignoring my attempt at a sidestep.

I shrank back. I know what he wants to know. I took a deep breath and sucked it up. If I really can trust these guys, then why am I so reluctant to talk?

"That's how I see. Every living life form has an aura, that follows their physical form. It blurs a bit when they're sleeping, and it gets sharper when they're changing as a person. But..." I looked between their auras and settled on Bumblebee again. I put a hand over his spark.

"You're the youngest one here. You haven't seen as much war as the others, but you've still had to fight for your life on several occasions. You've never killed anyone personally, and anyone who you've been a part of bring their demise was a Decepticon. You'd die for anyone here, and you're more attatched to me than you want to let on."

"Oh, do me." Ironhide raised his arm. Ratchet hit him.

"Shut up."

I grinned and tilted my head. "You like to fight. You're older than most of the others, and you're real protective of them. You have been on the battle field a lot, and you've personally killed a Decepticon. But like with every Autobot I've met so far, your auras are still pure and I like them." I hesitated cautiously.

They were silent for a couple minutes and I started to get nervous. Maybe I should have dodged longer. Maybe I shouldn't have been so indepth about it? Did I go too far? They just wanted to know how I 'see' the world around me, and what I knew about the Allspark. Probably because I'd been so attatched to it. Or why I destroyed it. But one of them seem upset.

"What? I know I'm weird, but there's a reason I didn't want to talk about this. The Decepticons never found out, and I don't want any humans finding out."

"Of course not, Sam." Optimus had an odd tone. "But, I wonder, how long have you been able to sense this?"

I tilted my head curiously. "After I went blind, I started to notice it. A couple months afterwards I'd perfected getting around this way. Why does it matter?"

"Because I don't believe the Allspark was even in the Cube when it was destroyed." Optimus paused a moment. "Somehow, at some point in your early life, the Allspark chose you as it's new vessel. However it is that you sense the world around you, it's how the Allspark had during it's time in the Cube."

I jerked my head back, surprised at this accusation. "No no no, nonono. I'm pretty sure I've never been anywhere near that Cube before. Even before I was taken from Earth. We lived in California, and I'm pretty sure we never left California."

"It might not have occurred through such proximity previous to your meeting the Decepticons. But I believe the Allspark remains intact and now, with a voice." He reached forward to poke me gently.

I shook my head, unable to believe it. Yeah, I'm the first to admit I'm a little weird. I can sense things others can't, but having their species' source of life? That's just ridiculous!

Everyone else had fallen completely silent, as if it were just Optimus and I here now. But I still felt their auras- and Bumblebee was still holding me up. Prime stubbornly went on. "It explains your immediate connection with the Cube. Since before our race has been around, the Cube had housed the Allspark and even still it would carry remnants of it's presence. The Allspark within you would hold sentiments towards it's former home, and so would you. The Allspark created each of our sparks; it would make sense that you can read them."

"And the Decepticons never found this out about me? You didn't? Wouldn't you guys, of all people, be able to recognize where the Allspark is? Scan me. I'm completely human." I spread my arms. It was rhetorical; I wasn't actually inviting them to scan me. Nevertheless, I felt a scan coming from Ratchet's general direction and I glared at him.

"The Allspark may mask itself." Optimus went on. "Tell me this doesn't make sense to you? You are obviously naturally comfortable among us, while other humans are reluctant to accept us."

"I spent eight years with Decepticons. I don't really have another choice." I crossed my arms. But I was comfortable enough there, aside from the physical pain.

"You said you could hear the Allspark in the Cube. You heard it within yourself." He acted like I hadn't spoken. It was the greatest sound I'd ever encountered. "I suppose this is just speculation, but to me it would seem you are more concerned with it than our war. I suspect you have negative views on the war itself?"

"Who likes war?" I scowled. No, I don't like it. I didn't like Megatron using me as a stress ball when he got angry at these guys. I don't like them having to tear through a city just to get to me. Me and the Allspark! Because they were after the Allspark, not me. I just held the Cube. I'm not actually the Allspark. Not to get to me, to get to it.

"Samuel, you are the Allspark." Optimus insisted. I just faced straight ahead, unable to focus on anything because I didn't want to use that sensory. That's the Allspark? No, I just... no. It can't be. That thing that I encountered here in this very dam, that thing those humans were taking advantage of, what they've been looking for for so long...

"I don't believe it. Maybe it's messed with me? Or something? It reached out to me, I can accept that. But it's not in me." I denied. They were using it to create life (then destroy that life, but I try to forget that part), and there's no way I could do that. The implications of that... nope. Can't do it. I shook my head vehemently.

"Samuel, its-"

"No." I squeezed my eyes shut. I can't handle this. That thing that had been so important, I've had it all along? That's just not right! That isn't fair, and that isn't true! It's impossible!

"Calm down. This isn't a-"

"No." I denied once again. Just... just stop talking! I need to figure out how this can't be true.

"Bumblebee." Optimus turned to the face above me, seeking help. I was quickly covered and pulled back again to his chest armor. Just like any time I've freaked out since we met, and without even recognizing I was adding more to their point, I automatically pressed my cheek to the warm metal I was pulled to. Forcing my breath to shallow, I listened for that thrum. That calming, peaceful thrum that I had first encountered when I had first met an Autobot. For the Decepticons had never brought me this close.

There it is. I immediately calmed and my head cleared. So I'm the Allspark. Even if that's true, what does it even mean? Am I the Allspark, or do I have it? What's the difference? I can hear this and feel this connection with this thrum because of the Allspark, and there's no denying it. But why?

I let out a breath, briefly loosing the sound of Bumblebee's spark. When I first heard this- I don't know who's spark it had been -I had no idea what it was. I've slowly figured it out, and I don't ever want to lose my connection to this sound.

So what does it mean?

I can hear them talking over me, but I didn't care to intervene back in. They win. I can't deny it now, but I don't want to. I lifted a hand like I had earlier and touched under where my ear was pressed. I can feel his aura and his spark, and I can still feel the pain from his legs which he hid so well. He cannot stand; everyone is sitting in here. The suits had stuffed us into a small room where no one might happen upon us unless they were looking for us. As if I were put here too, instead of fleeing to this location.

I let out another breath, and tried to prove them right or wrong. This is it. Am I actually the Allspark?

Bumblebee gasped in surprise, adjusting to uncross his tortured legs but kept me close against his armor.

"What is this?" Ratchet demanded, coming closer.

"Sam?"

"That's amazing."

"Is he doing that?"

"How does it feel?"

"Sam, you don't need to do this."

I shook my head and withdrew my hand, not wanting to speak. Bumblebee got to his feet, pulling me away now, and stood upright. He, being the shortest here, could stand without stooping down in this small room, even with his legs nearly full healed.

"Sam, you did this?" Ratchet probed, staring straight at me. I nodded silently, clenching and clenching my fists. I can heal.

"We aren't letting the humans have this kid, right?" Ironhide questioned, and Bumblebee just started laughing.

"Allspark or not, Samuel decides where he stays." Optimus reminded in all seriousness.

"Oh, come on. He just ran away from them! He'd obviously rather be here."

"Clearly." Optimus glanced at me and I shifted uncomfortably. Yes. Clearly. "But only at his own violation. So long as he knows this is true."

I gave a small smile and lifted my chin. "Looks like you got the Allspark to choose you then, instead of just capturing it." I tried to accept this, but it's still weird. That thing that I'd felt was so... I can't describe it. And the idea that that was me... I just don't know what to do.

Sam is the Allspark! Hizzah! Yes, I had this planned from the beginning. It wasn't a last minute thing I tried to squeeze in there. Unlike my other stories- I have a lot where Sam has the Allspark in his brain -Sam actually is the Allspark. If it wasn't clear enough, he's been able to feel these auras and the physical world around him since the day he was born, it only took going blind to let him recognize this sixth sense. He doesn't have it in his brain, manipulating him. He is an organic, literal incarnation of the Allspark that, because it's never had an actual brain/processors before, doesn't exactly know that.

As I said, I'm not completely satisfied with this ending. I tried- I tried hard not to make it a cliff-hanger-implied ending, but I think it was anyways. We still don't know what comes after this. Do they stay on Earth and fight the Decepticons in a revenge-war like they do in the movies? Since they do have the Allspark, do they leave Earth and try to heal Cybertron? Well, I'll try for a sequel to answer some of this, but I by no means guarantee that this will happen. Especially soon.

If you want a sequel, tell me in a review. But if you do, please tell me if you want me to write it out- or most of it -before I start working on it or if you want to deal with my erratic updating of a story I don't have written our ahead of time? I've got other stories to work on, and the final installment of my 'Fallen Scout' series to do, but I'm willing to add a sequel to this into the workload. So long as you decide if you want it all together but later on, or the chapters as soon as I finish them. It's really up to you, if I get enough feedback and interest into a sequel.

On an unrelated note, I hope you guys are ready for new stories again. The 'original' story from my older archives that I'll be spending some focus on is "Sam 'Allspark' Witwicky', and the next one that I haven't uploaded at all is a short (maybe oneshot) called 'Human' shining a bit more light on my rarely elaborated friendship between Sam and Ratchet.

Please, leave a review about your sentiments towards my approach on a sequel outlined in the second paragraph. Or, just tell me how much of a let-down the ending really was. Either way, I'm okay with that. im 0k with a l0t 0f things.

0_0