Not Quite Gone

Missing

"We're here!"

Sam jolted awake at the sound of his father's voice, snapping out of his dream.

It had been a nice dream too. In it he and Bumblebee had driven through a huge pine forest filled with mythical creatures. The odd thing was that all the creatures had appeared mechanical, almost like Cybertronians. 

The teen sighed and got out. He looked down in surprise when he heard pine needles crunch under his boot. His parents had refused to tell him where they were going, but he had thought they were going to some cheap campsite near home. He had no idea where this was.

How long had he been asleep?

"Uh, Mom, Dad? Where exactly are we?" He asked, looking around.

His dad took a deep breath in. "Canada, son. We are in the great Canadian Boreal Forest." he said, grinning. 

Sam blanched. Canada?! It was bad enough that he hadn't even been able to contact the bots to tell them he was leaving, now he was far enough away that if a Decepticon attacked, he had no chance of finding a phone to contact them with. Ratchet had talked about a tracking chip, but he held off until Sam was fully healed.

Sam really wished he had put it in.

-----------------------------------------------------A few hours later-----------------------------------------------------

Sam huffed, sweat dripping down his brow. He had spent the last few hours helping his parents set up the camp. He might not like his current situation, but he didn't want to make it worse by not having everything ready by nightfall. 

He placed the wood he was holding down, hands stinging like he had touched hot metal. He spared a quick glance at them to insure that no blood was dripping out. All seemed fine, despite the pain in his hands and other parts of his body. He had quite a few cuts on his back from all the broken glass and other debris. He was supposed to go see Ratchet tomorrow about them.

'Sorry Ratch, looks like i'm gonna miss my appointment.' he thought guilty.

Bumblebee watched as Ironhide was given Annabelle to hold. The war scarred mech melted when the baby was placed in his servo, a cushy blanket and pillow protecting her. The infant gave a toothless smile as she gurgled at Ironhide, tiny fists swinging around happily.

He couldn't hold back a small chuckle as Ironhide allowed a goofy smile grace his face. The tiny baby squealed and laughed, kicking her tiny legs. Will and Sarah smiled as well, glad that their daughter wasn't afraid of the black mech. 

A small, consistent tapping noise caught his attention. He turned his head, looking towards Ratchet. The almost lime green medic was tapping his fingers on a railing absentmindedly. He only did this when he was worried about something.

"Ratchet, you okay?" Bumblebee asked, walking over to him.

The medic sighed. "Sam is suppose to come in for an appointment tomorrow. Im worried about him, he appeared fine, but i know that he couldn't have gotten out of that battle unscathed. Im glad he agreed to come and see me but..." he trailed off. 

Bumblebee nodded in understanding. He had wanted to pick up Sam and force the boy to go see Ratchet, but Sam had insisted on going home, wanting to see his family. Bee had relented only because he himself had been injured to the point where he was base bound. He had been healing nicely, but he still wasn't allowed out.  

He should have refused. He was Sam's guardian! The boy had been injured! They needed to know how bad! He winced slightly, remembering the distinct crunching sound of Sam hitting Optimus's foot. Sam had been through so much, and while he deserved rest, it should be here, where they could monitor him. But the logical side of him knew that keeping him here would mean having to reveal themselves to Sam's parents. Primus knows they would try to keep Sam away from them.

He felt his spark twinge at the thought of being forced away from Sam. He wouldn't be able to take it. He wouldn't allow anyone to take his charge away, even if it was Sam's parents.

'Could they have had something to do with Sam's absence?' he thought to himself.

Come to think of it, he hadn't seen any member of the Witwicky family, not even their chihuahua. Had they moved away? Had something happened?

'No. Sam would have told me... right?' he pondered, growing worried all over again.

"Bumblebee, are you okay? Your stress levels have spiked." Ratchet asked, placing a comforting hand on Bumblebee's shoulder. 

"Ratchet, what if Sam moved away because he decided he didn't want to be around us anymore? Maybe that's why i can't contact him and why i haven't seen him or his family around." he said sadly.

Ratchet's brow furrowed. "You can't contact him? Odd..." he stopped talking as a truck pulled into the hanger, Mikaela stepping out.

"Mikaela! You're early." Ratchet said, kneeling down to offer his hand to step onto. 

Mikaela stepped on, gripping onto a grove in the mech's palm as he lifted her up. The girl smiled up at the two Autobots.

"Hey guys! Yeah i know im early, but i wanted to ask you something." she said, her smile being replaced by a concerned look. 

Bumblebee and Ratchet looked at each other. Ironhide looked over as well, handing little Annabelle back to her mother. 

"Have you guys seen Sam? He's not at home, neither is his family, and he won't answer my calls." she said.

Bumblebee's spark flared in panic. Sam definitely would have told Mikaela if he was moving. Something had to be wrong.

"No Mikaela, we haven't. We were hoping you had." Ratchet said, concern dripping into his voice. 

Bumblebee flicked on his comlink, broadcasting it to the others. 

:Somethings wrong. Sam would have told Mikaela if he was going somewhere. Optimus, what do we do?: he asked, doors twitching anxiously.

:I will go with Mikaela to investigate Sam's home. If there is signs of struggle, then i will alert N.E.S.T. and authorize a search. Sam sustained much damage, and i fear he may sustain more if something has indeed happened.: Optimus answered.

:Well we need to hurry. I recently began researching human health, and they are even more fragile than i imagined. Wounds can get infected and cause fatal illnesses, that fall onto your foot, Optimus, probably caused some internal damage. Factor in being tossed around and squeezed by Megatron, the stress put on his body from the harmful environments he was exposed to, pushing the ALLSPARK into Megatron's spark, which no doubt caused some burns, PLUS the elevated heat from this area, means that there may be more wrong with him then i had even begun to imagine.: Ratchet explained, voice stressed.

Noises erupted across the com line. Angry and worried beeping from Bumblebee, a low whine from Optimus, and a loud engine rev from Ironhide. 

Optimus shifted into his alt form. He wanted to get to Sam's house as fast as possible. Now he had been worried before, but he had pushed those feelings back. It was in a Prime's nature to be protective, and those instincts only grew when it came to younglings. But he had tried to ignore them, reasoning that Sam was at home resting. But now he knew that Sam wasn't at home resting, he was missing and hurt. Hurt because they, HE, had dragged him into this war. He had injured his youngling, and his spark was screaming at him because of it.

'He's not your youngling!' the logical side of his processor argued. But he wasn't really listening to that part right now. 

He rolled into the hanger and pulled to a stop beside Mikaela, who had been told the plan by Ratchet. The girl hopped in, and the two sped away towards Sam's home.