Not Quite Gone

Sam's house

Cold.

That's all Sam felt. The thick blankets he had cocooned himself in seemed to be as thin and useless as wet paper against the howling wind. It slashed and cut at him, battering the tent. He could feel the cold, stiff ground through his sleeping bag, and he groaned. Cold sweat sat uncomfortably on his brow, and a shaking cough bounced around inside his chest, trapped by his battered ribs.

He shivered violently, from the cold, and from the fear he felt. He was having a nightmare. Megatron was slowly pulling out his insides, laughing. He gasped and shot up, body quivering. His breaths came in hoarse gasps, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. After what had probably only been a minute, it felt like hours, oxygen found its way into Sam's lungs, filling them.

Sam coughed, pain flaring in his chest. He closed his eyes and shoved his face into his elbow. Had his eyes been open, he might have caught the small flicker of blue lightning that jumped between his fingers. He hissed between coughs at the hot pain in his hands, like someone had slashed his palms over and over with a electrified knife. After he finished coughing, he looked at his hands, horrified to see blood seeping through the bandages. Dammit. Now, he could clean the wounds, but if this kept up he would run out of bandages.

He sighed miserably and began unwrapping the bandages, cursing the Allspark and Megatron.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Optimus parked a block away from Sam's house, trying to appear as normal as possible. Mikaela jumped as a man suddenly fizzled into existence beside her. He was fairly buff, appearing to be in his mid forties. He had bright blue eyes and pale skin and black hair, tinged with silver. His bangs were dyed blue and red, bright and colourful. He was wearing a red and blue flannel jacket and black jeans, a dark grey Autobot insignia printed on each side.   

"Classy. Okay, let's go." Mikaela said, slipping out of Optimus's alt form. Optimus, or, at least, his holoform, jumped out as well. The two swiftly made their way to Sam's house. Mikaela strode up to the door, avoiding the grass. Optimus cast a sad glance at where the bird bath had once been. They really should get Sam's father a replacement.  He followed the girl up to Sam's door. Mikaela knocked. 

"Sam? It's me, Mikaela. Are you there? Everyone is really worried... are you okay? Did something happen? Hello?" she said, knocking again.

After a few minutes of silence, Mikaela cursed. 

"Okay, that's it. SAM, IF YOU'RE IN THERE, WE'RE COMING IN!" she shouted.

She produced a small gold key from her pocket. A small 'click' was heard as she unlocked the door. It creaked open, and Mikaela and Optimus stepped inside. 

The house was empty. No noise was heard, aside from their own footsteps and Mikaela's breathing. The two looked at each other before splitting up, Optimus searching the first floor while Mikaela made her way upstairs.

Mikaela peeked her head into Sam's room. Empty. She stepped in fully and began searching for signs that Sam had been kidnapped. Nothing seemed out of place, but a few of his drawers were open. A lot of clothes were missing. She turned toward his bed, and was surprised to see his phone laying on the bed. She turned it on, and saw that none of the messages had even been read, or the voicemails listened to.

'So he's not just ignoring us, and nothing is destroyed, so where is he?'  

She left the room, closing the door gently. She quickly checked the other rooms, but found nothing. She went back downstairs, seeing Optimus exit the kitchen.

"Find anything?" he asked, a tinge of hopefulness seeping into his voice.

Mikaela shook her head. 

"No. Some clothes are gone, but his phone is still here. There's no sign of a break in, but he hasn't seen any of the messages Bee and i sent him. I don't know what's going on and it's really freaking me out Optimus!" she said, voice wavering.

Optimus placed a comforting hand on the girl's back. Mikaela turned and hugged the holoform. Optimus blinked in surprise before returning the hug, rubbing her back soothingly. It was a common thing for cybertronians to comfort their close friends and loved ones through light rubs and pats, as it displayed trust. Trust that one wasn't going to harm the other. It then occurred to Optimus that none of them had really gotten the chance to really interact with Sam yet. Bumblebee had begun marking the boy, just through light touches and a quick nuzzle or two, but it wasn't enough to solidify the bond the two shared.

He wondered, suddenly, that if Bumblebee and Sam had established some sort of bond, that pulling them apart during the fragile imprinting stages could cause some real damage, emotionally, mentally and physically. Especially for Sam.

A shudder ran through him, piercing his spark. They needed to find Sam. Now.

It was time for a little back up.