One and the Same

Chapter 8: Was Half, Now Whole

When Bumblebee woke, he realized he was in the Medbay. He tried to sit up, but someone gently pushed back down.

"Don't even think about getting up." Bee groaned in response. "Prowl brought you here, in case you're wondering. Gave Prime quite the scare, you being completely limp in his arms."

"Oops." A chuckle answered him. "I'm sorry, Ratch. I had forgotten about it for years after my parents died in the Crystal City attack."

"About what?"

"The...half-spark."

"Primus, Bumblebee! How in the pit do you forget about something like that!"

"I don't know."

"...Did your brothers know about it?"

"I don't think so, or else they would've schedule to get it removed."

"How long have you had it?"

"Since I was two?"

"You don't know do you?"

"Not really..." Ratchet sighed.

"Can you open your chest plates? Might as well get it done and over with." Bee complied and the medic scanned his spark. "Hmm..." He walked over to the monitors and typed a bit. "That's unusual."

"Uh, huh?"

"You're seventeen, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, when a half-spark is discovered in a sparkling, it's normally removed by the time they're your age, usually around ten to thirteen years of age."

"Okay?"

"Given that piece of information, it was assumed that mechs cannot survive with the half-spark. But in your case, it's no longer a half-spark."

"You lost me."

"A half-spark is the result of failed twins, where the weaker twin split too soon or too late from the original spark. It attaches to the stronger spark for comfort and eventually becomes extra spark material that's useless." A feeling of dejection that wasn't his washed over Bee at that last sentence.

"And?"

"It gets removed when the sparkling is old enough so he/she can survive. A half-spark has never been left alone for as long as yours has. And so, nobot knows what would happen. But it seems that, when left alone for a long period of time, the," he searched for the right word, "host, I guess, helps support the spark, gives it the materials it needs, and the half-spark becomes whole."

"Meaning?" Bumblebee asked, thinking he pretty much knew the answer.

"The half-spark is now its own being, minus the body. That's why you're getting the pain, your SHU cannot hold two sparks." Ratchet sighed, "but I don't know what to do with the spark, we don't have any materials for a protoform, and I don't know who to contact for that."

"I do." Bee piped up. "And you'll absolutely hate it." The yellow mech smiled. The medic looked at him for a second.

"No."

"Yes." Bee got down and went to the monitors.

"Kid, you're going to be the death of me yet."