From Teens to Sparklings

Chapter 4 Together, yet lost

Miko and Raf made their way through the twisting tunnel as fast as they could, trying to stay undetected by whatever was walking around. It could be a Autobot, or it could be a Decepticon. Raf stumbled, bad leg tripping him up. Miko grabbed onto her small friend, keeping him upright. The two ran and ran, until they came to a dead end. 

"Scrap!" Miko cursed. Raf slapped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. The sharp noise echoed, bouncing through the tunnel. The large footsteps paused, before drawing closer. Miko stepped in front of Raf, shielding her shaking friend. Miko swallowed in fear as a large, deep purple and black foot appeared from behind one of the tunnels corners. The Vehicon had it's blaster drawn, ready to fight. The Con stopped once it saw what was at the end of the tunnel. The mech stared at the two sparklings, unsure of what to do.

It reached for it's com, sure that this was something deserving to be reported. That, and the Vehicon had never dealt with sparklings before, and thus had no idea on how to approach the situation. It never got to, however, as not a second later a black and yellow fist slammed into the Vehicon's head. The con fell over, the force of the well aimed punch sending the droid into sudden recharge.

Bumblebee clicked an insult at the downed Con, before turning all of his attention towards the two shaking figures at the end of the tunnel. The scout beeped happily at the sight of Miko and Raf, even if their new forms threw him off a bit. Raf smiled and dashed towards his guardian, wanting the familiar comfort the yellow Camaro offered. Bumblebee scooped him up, careful not to injure his now even tinier partner. He rested his face against Raf, spark calming finally. 

Miko peered around Bumblebee, and cheered when she saw her partner.

"BULKHEAD!" the energetic femme yelled in excitement and happiness. Said mech halted, peering down. "Miko! Oh thank Primus you're okay." he breathed, putting his hand down so that his small partner could climb on. Miko was bigger than she had been before, but she was still dwarfed by Bulkhead's huge hand. Bulkhead held his partner near his spark, blinking back tears of relief.

Optimus slowed when he didn't hear any fighting. He rounded the corner, Arcee right behind him, Jack secure in her arms. Just as he had suspected, Miko and Raf had been changed as well. Jack turned and smiled in relief. 

"Miko! Raf! You're okay!" he said, grinning.

Miko and Raf looked at Jack, Miko craning her neck to see. Her eyes lit up.

"Cool! You're just like us!" She chirped happily. After a moment, she cocked her head. "You kinda look like Optimus, but less intimidating." she observed.

Jack and Optimus looked at eachother. They had been so concerned with finding the humans, that they hadn't even really took in what they looked like now. Before anyone could say anything, Optimus remembered something.

"Oh Primus, i forgot to tell Ratchet that the humans are okay." the large mech said, bringing a hand up to his forehead. Miko's eyes sparkled with mischief. 

"Wait, don't tell him yet. I want to scare him! This might be my only chance." she said, rubbing her hands together.

Everyone except Optimus, Jack and Raf smiled. Any opportunity to prank Ratchet was not to be missed. Optimus sighed, relenting. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

Ratchet sat by the monitor, optics closed in mourning. He hadn't known the children for very long, but they had grown on him, even if he would never admit it. Miko, although destructive and annoying, reminded him of a much younger Bumblebee, zipping around, making mischief. Rafael was the easiest to be around, and the youngster often times reminded him of himself. And then there was Jack. The boy had a strong sense of justice, and was good at keeping Miko out of trouble. Although young, Jack was very mature. He reminded Ratchet of Optimus.

His com buzzed, and Optimus's voice came through, static buzzing the connection slightly.

"Ratchet, open the Groundbridge." he said.

Ratchet sighed and powered up the machine. Would it be himself or Optimus who informed the children's parents that their kids had died on the Autobot's watch? He knew, even though Optimus would not let it show, that his old friend would mourn the children as if he had just lost a sparkling. Many members of the team would.

The old medic didn't even bother to look when the familiar whir of the Groundbridge came alive, green light casting a soft glow into the room. Footsteps echoed slightly as the team returned. No tiny pitter patter of humans running around, just the metal stomps of the Autobots.

Something scraped the surface that Ratchet was resting on, and the mech's head shot up. What had-

"ROARW!

Ratchet jumped and quickly grabbed a wrench, throwing it at the sudden attacker. A solid whack sounded out, quickly followed by a sharp pained chirp. Something went flying back, scraping against the floor.

"OWW! THE HELL RATCHET?!" a familiar voice said, wheezing slightly.

Ratchet's processors shut for a moment. What he had just heard did not match what he was seeing.

That had been Miko, he had heard the migraine inducing voice enough times for him to be sure. Yet on the ground lay something he thought he would never see again. A sparkling, clear as  glass. That should have been impossible. Had there somehow been a sparkling trapped in the mine? 

"Miko!" another familiar voice said.

A larger sparkling ran over, this one mostly black, with bits of blue and silver. Its white face scrunched up as it lifted the wrench off of the one on the floor. A third sparkling ran in, this one smaller than the others. It too helped push the wrench off. The one on the floor sat up, clutching its stomach area.

Wait. The biggest one had said Miko... And they had the same voices...

There was only one thing Ratchet could think to say.

"WHAT. THE. FUCK.  HAPPENED."