Silverstreak was awakened by a bright light and a murmur of confusion. He grunted and tried to turn over, but he found himself held securely by a large hand. His eyes popped open and he let out a burst of electricity. There was a cry of pain, and Silverstreak hit the ground. Immediately, he rolled to his feet, crouched, and put up his shield, ready for danger.

There was the youngling from his dream, sitting on the ground and holding his hand. He looked surprised, and he peered at Silverstreak warily. Silverstreak hesitated then lowered his shield and spoke.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I thought you were a 'Con."

If the youngling had looked surprised before, he looked stunned now. "You speak my language?" he marveled.

"Yeah," Silverstreak said, smiling. "Shocking, I know, coming from a freak like me."

The youngling leaned forward. "I don't exactly think you're a freak," he said. "You look nice. Smooth and silver and clean. I like that." He looked down at himself and his optics turned pink. "I'm nothing much to look at right now," he muttered.

"You just need a good solvent shower," Silverstreak said.

"None of them work," he muttered. "Nothing around here works."

"Can't you fix it?"

The youngling stared blankly. "How?"

Silverstreak frowned. This youngling really was hopeless. "Well, maybe I can do something about it?"

The youngling let out a snort. "You're so small! How will you fix something that big?"

"I'm strong for my size," Silverstreak said, smirking.

The youngling looked skeptical, so he turned and wrapped his hands around a metal shard four times his size. With a grunt, he heaved it up and lifted it off the ground. He struggled to hold it over his head, but he could tell that he had made quite the impression on the youngling. With a smile, he tossed it aside, and it crashed to the ground.

"Wow! Amazing!" the youngling crowed. "I've got to show you to the others."

Silverstreak rolled his eyes. "I'd rather be introduced than shown. I'm just as much of a mech as you."

The youngling flinched and looked down. "I'm not a mech."

"Huh?" Silverstreak tossed his hair over his shoulder. "You look like a mech to me."

"No. I'm a youngling," was the reply, small and ashamed.

"So am I," Silverstreak said, holding his chin up. "I'm a youngling and proud of it!" The youngling stared at him in surprise, and he smiled and bowed. "I'm Silverstreak. You are?"

"Mirage," the youngling replied.

"Good to meet you," Silverstreak said. "I've never met another youngling."

"Well, there's a few others if you want to meet them," Mirage said hesitantly.

"Really? You're not alone?" Silverstreak asked in surprise.

Mirage gave him an odd look. "Of course not. I'm not technically supposed to be out here, but I had to… do something important."

Silverstreak studied Mirage then turned to look out across the landscape to the well-preserved building. He immediately felt a strong desire to go there, and he took a few steps toward it. Mirage spoke, and it startled him.

"I need to get back before they really miss me. Hound is the only one that knows I'm out here."

Silverstreak stared at the youngling then turned to study the building again. "What's that place?" he asked.

"Huh?" Mirage looked up and his optics turned pink. "That's Primus's temple. Magnus says it used to be amazing and beautiful before the war." He shifted. "Look, Silverstreak, I really need to get back. I didn't mean to recharge out here."

Silverstreak didn't move for several minutes, then he pulled himself away from the intoxicating draw. "Okay then, Mirage. Take me to meet the others."

Mirage sighed in relief then stood up. He glanced at Silverstreak then away from the temple. He seemed torn about something, glancing back and forth from his intended destination to the silver youngling. Silverstreak was amused. Mirage obviously wanted to pick him up to carry him so that it would take less time. Silverstreak smiled and launched himself up to Mirage's shoulder.

"Let's go," he said, gripping an exhaust pipe that stuck out from the youngling's shoulder.

The look of relief made Silverstreak snicker. Mirage's optics flushed purple then returned to gold as he started walking quickly. Silverstreak had never seen golden optics before. He hesitated, unsure if it would offend his new companion, but he finally got up the nerve.

"Hey, Mirage?" he asked.

Mirage glanced over. "Yes?"

"Your optics… I've never seen a Cybertronian with golden optics."

The youngling grinned. "I was sparked to be a noblemech. Golden optics are a sign of status. Not that that matters anymore. I don't really remember much about my younger years. I think there were lots of parties and good energon and betting on races. But when my protector was killed, I was taken in by the Autobots. They were trying to save as many sparklings as possible. Our group was hidden in the mines until the fighting stopped, for the most part at least."

"Your group?" Silverstreak asked, fascinated.

"Yeah. There are about twelve groups of younglings spread all over Cybertron in little used areas. I don't know where they are, though. That's Magnus's business, not mine."

Mirage paused, glancing around. He pressed his audio receptor and sent a few beeps to somebody. Silverstreak looked around. There was some kind of barrier in front of him. He could see it shimmering in the air before him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Our protective shield," Mirage said. "It's to keep the Decepticons from attacking us. It's the most powerful they made before everything ended up like…" He gestured around vaguely.

After a few minutes, another youngling walked up, glancing around. He smiled at Mirage then caught sight of Silverstreak. He froze, his blue optics flashing white with shock. Mirage made a gesture, and the youngling hesitated before kneeling down to grasp a small sensor. He looked up, poised and ready. Mirage nodded, and there was a spark. In the split second of the fritzing barrier, Mirage darted inside. A strange, prickly sensation swept across Silverstreak. Mirage apparently felt it, too, because he shuddered. The other youngling stood up, eyeing Silverstreak.

"Hey, Mirage," he said slowly. "What… What did you find?"

Mirage smiled. "This is Silverstreak. Silverstreak, this is Hound."

Silverstreak smiled and stepped down onto a compressed shield of energy, which startled both younglings. With a flick of power, Silverstreak floated over to get a proper look at Hound. Hound was surprised, and his optics flickered uncertainly.

"What are you?" Hound asked.

"No idea," Silverstreak said honestly. Mirage and Hound gave each other a puzzled look, so he elaborated. "I used to be human, but the Primes of old turned me into a human-Cybertronian hybrid. I really have no idea what I am."

"What is human?" Mirage asked, his glossa stumbling over the foreign word.

"An organic being from the planet Earth," Silverstreak replied.

"Your language is funny," Hound said. He shifted. "Did you do what you wanted to?" he asked Mirage.

"Um…" Mirage's optics flicked over to Silverstreak and turned pink again. "I did it. But we'll talk about it later."

Hound nodded, and he turned back to Silverstreak. "You look really funny. Your race must be quite peculiar. And so small!"

"He's strong for his size," Mirage said, excitement building in his tone. "He said he'll look at the solvent system and try to fix it."

Hound was skeptical. "Even Magnus's patches wear off after one use. What can he possibly do?"

Silverstreak frowned, but before he could say anything, there was a call. "Hound? Mirage? Where are you?"

"Better get away from the barrier," Hound said quickly. "Come on, Mirage." He paused and glanced down. "You, too, Silverstreak."

"Yeah, I'll introduce you to the others," Mirage said happily.

Hound and Mirage began to hurry away, and Silverstreak watched them go for a moment. Then he turned around to stare toward the temple. It's song was magical, and it called for him. He needed to go there, but how was he to get out?

"Silverstreak!" Mirage called. "Want me to carry you?"

With one last long glance, Silverstreak turned and dashed away to Mirage and Hound. He flashed by them, and they yelped. Silverstreak laughed, bounding away through the wreckage. They cried out and tried to catch up with him, but he was just too fast. Silverstreak saw a flash of dull yellow and he gave a terrific leap, missing the youngling by less than a foot. The youngling shrieked and swatted at him, but Silverstreak had already settled on an outcropping of metal out of reach of the youngling, who was making quite the racket.

"What was it? What was it?" he screamed, batting the air around him. Mirage and Hound came running over, sucking in great gulps of air through their vents. Other younglings hurried over, looking bewildered.

"What is it, Sunstreaker?" a dirty red youngling asked. "Is it one of those little things that eat metal?"

"It jumped at my face!" Sunstreaker barked, looking around wildly.

"You didn't hit him, did you?" Mirage asked frantically.

Silverstreak burst out laughing, and everybody looked up to see him perched up high, his blue eyes twinkling merrily. Mirage looked relieved, Hound looked annoyed, and the rest gaped up at him. Then a red and white mech spun to Mirage.

"You were sneaking out again!" he roared, panic in his tone. "Magnus is going to fry us all! Fraggit, why can't you listen, Mirage!"

Mirage deflated, and Hound jumped in. "Don't start it, Red Alert! You're just as sick of being cooped up as we are! Don't pretend otherwise."

Then to Silverstreak's amazement, an argument broke out amongst the younglings. There were three sides, one for Red Alert, one for Mirage, and one that was trying to stay out of it. Silverstreak was stunned. He lay on his stomach and watched them screaming at each other. Things were quickly getting heated, and Red Alert lashed out, striking Mirage's face. Mirage cried out in pain, a whine slipped from his throat, and he disappeared from sight. Hound gave a roar of rage, lunging for Red Alert. A dark blue mech from the neutral group leaned forward and tried to mediate, but Hound shoved him aside. It was going to become a brawl!

Silverstreak stood up, and he threw out a shield to separate all parties. They all yelled as they brushed against the shields surrounding them and got a nasty shock.

"That's enough of that!" Silverstreak barked, a commanding edge in his tone that had never been there before. Everybody turned their optics to him again. Silverstreak studied them then lowered the shields. He hopped onto another compressed energy sphere and floated down to their optic level, frowning in disapproval. "Fighting like this will solve nothing. You'll only hurt each other. Now what is going on?"

There was silence for a moment then Red Alert spoke. "Mirage keeps fritzing the barrier and going on long walks. Ultra Magnus doesn't like it when he does that, and he said that if any one of us did it again, he'd punish all of us. Mirage doesn't care."

There was a whining hiccupping of vents. "I don't like being trapped!" Mirage exclaimed, still invisible. "And he won't know unless you tattle again!"

"I'm only looking out for all of us," Red Alert snapped.

"And who says that's your place?" Hound growled. "You act like you're high and mighty, but you're just like us! Just because you're a little older than the rest of us doesn't mean you're in charge!"

Red Alert's optics filled with purple, and his pedes scuffed at the ground. "Somebody needs to be in charge," he muttered. "This is chaos."

"It is," Silverstreak said, bringing every optic back to him. "But you can't just say 'I'm in charge.' You need consensus. And it seems like some here don't like the idea of you being in charge. That's not a consensus."

Red Alert glanced over. "Who are you again?"

"And what are you?" Sunstreaker asked, sneering. "You look like a pest."

Silverstreak snorted. "I'm Silverstreak. And I'm as big a pest as you are."

There was a burst of laughter from the assembled younglings, and the tension lessened considerably. Sunstreaker scanned him then grinned.

"I like you, Silverstreak."

"Good," Red Alert said sourly. "Because nobody else is leaving again."

"Still not in charge, glitch," Hound snarled.

Silverstreak frowned. This was going to be complicated. And still the temple sang a siren's song that called him to come in, to see what awaited him. What was he supposed to do? After a moment, another question burned inside of him. How am I back on Cybertron?

He had no answer for any of the questions.