Megatronus ignored his emotional programs, pushing them to the farthest corners off his processor in order to maintain his menacing exterior as he stalked through the halls of the Nemesis, looking for his only other trusted ally, Soundwave.

However, after doing this for roughly three human hours, Megatronus decided to sit and wait for something interesting to happen in his throne room, as he needed to think about the full extent of what he had to do now that he was cured of his possession as well.

-

The steady, heavy footfalls of an approaching mech brought Megatronus out of his musings. Watching Knockout approach and kneel at his throne, the Decepticon Lord waved him to his peds, waiting to hear any information the medical officer could have found.

"My Lord, as you know, the Allspark creates our energon. As you have the Allspark's power in your spark, you should be able to create energon by extension. My processor believes that by willing it so, you can infuse cubes with energon. I brought an empty cube in for testing."

Raising an opticplate in curiosity, Megatronus took the empty cube Knockout presented him with, looking at it as he pondered the possibility. "Yes, that would make sense. Thank you, Knockout."

The mech smiled brilliantly as his shoulder plates dropped lightly in relief. However, the light on his faceplate dimmed after a few moments. "Uh. My Lord, I would hate to inconvenience you, but could I- possibly- scan your spark once more? Simply to compare my earlier data, of course."

Megatronus inwardly grimaced at the medical officer's pitiful worry whenever he had to communicate with his 'leader', but outwardly, nothing on his faceplate changed. "Of course, Knockout."

-

Megatronus watched the red and white mech with growing interest as his shoulder plates elevated themselves and his body scrunched inwards. His faceplate was streaked with stress while his optics narrowed in worry. He was frantically scrolling through and comparing his data when Megatronus' fuel wiring began to chill.

"...this doesn't make any sense."

Hearing those words did not ease the warning screen that popped up inside of Megatronus' processor.

"What is the problem, Knockout?"

The 'Con jumped, looking up with wild optics, as if he had forgotten Megatronus' presence in the room whilst he had been in his processor. "Oh- my- my Lord! It is nothing. I'm sure... Just a glitch in my systems... Yes- just one moment..."

Slamming his servo down on his throne, Megatronus didn't necessarily take pleasure in the second jump he scared out of his subordinate.

"What is it, Knockout?"

The mech was silent for a few moments, optics flickering up to his leader and down to his data, before he responded.

"The Allspark energy is gone, my Lord."

-

Harry sighed as he looked up at the pouring sky, thinking it reflected his mood pretty spot on. Until his vision was blocked by a wet piece of paper, that is.

Sitting up with a groan, the Arcane Healer picked the paper off of his face and took a look at it, noticing a picture and large font on the front. The photo was one of a big german shepherd, and the message was of its disappearance. The family had posted a reward to be received if the dog- Nala- was found and brought back to their address.

Smiling at the pretty pup, Harry wiped his glasses clean of rainwater and stood up, looking around as he did so. There was no one out on the streets due to the bad weather, and so Harry pulled out his wand and cast one of the most basic tracking charms he knew. "Point me to Nala, the dog."

His wand spun quickly on his palm before pointing steadily SouthEast. Looking up in that direction, the wizard sighed when he noticed a large fence innocently standing there.

Casting a disillusionment charm, Harry leapt up into the sky and decided to track Nala this way, rather than run into more obstacles, as the man noticed several other buildings sitting directly in the path his wand continued to point to.

-

Finding the german shepherd ended up not being a problem for the Boy-Who-Lived, but getting the dog would prove difficult, as Nala had somehow managed to land herself in a pound.

Looking through the bars of her large cage, the Arcane Healer felt a pang in his heart. Nala looked up at him with a wagging tail and panting face, uncomprehending of the fact that some family was worried sick about this big dog.

Harry sighed gently as he looked at Nala's information and saw the price tag of the runaway pup. With Harry, having a lot of money on hand wasn't exactly a priority, as he had access to Gringotts in almost every country in the world. The only problem with that- and as Harry realized it, he mentally kicked himself- was muggle currency. Most of the US currency he had on him had been spent on food with Megatronus, and now he definitely wouldn't have enough money to buy Nala back.

Nonchalantly turning an eye to spot for security, Harry noted camera positions and frequency, relieved to only see two covering each isle. It would be difficult, but not as dangerous as many of the things he had had to do in the past. Saving prisoners of war and foreign diplomats was, unfortunately, one job his spidey sense gave him a lot.

-

Clasping his invisibility cloak around his shoulders and flipping the hood over his head, Harry cast an intangibility charm on himself to slink through the walls of the pound. Entering the way he had a few hours ago, Harry took a left rather than a right at the doors leading to the housed dogs in order to sneak into the security room. The setup was not as high-tech as what he was used to, but it still warranted a bit of caution.

Placing the guard watching the monitors under a time-deactivated sleeping spell, and making sure the cameras were not recording, Harry snuck back out of the room.

Walking into the first isle, Harry grimaced as he saw that he had the undivided attention of every canine he passed. The Arcane Healer forgot that dogs had the ability to see things humans couldn't. Quietly humming a gentle tune, Harry made his way to Nala's cage- luckily near the front of the building because of her recent arrival.

Unlocking the door with a basic 'Alohomora', Harry snuck the happy german shepherd out of her cage. Unfortunately, this was too much for the other dogs to handle, as they went ballistic at the sight of one of their own escaping. Dogs' barks and howls filled the room, causing Harry to flinch and urge Nala into a run. Absentmindedly casting an intangibility and leashing spell on the good girl, Harry chased her out of the pound.

A few blocks away from their jailbreak, Harry clutched his knees as his lungs worked double time. "G-good girl... Nala!" The dog happily wagged her tail, not realizing she had run through the walls of the pound, a few buildings, and two fences to get to where she was now.

-

"I don't wanna go to school!"

Paige sighed as she leaned forward to hug her crying daughter. She had been depressed and resistant like this ever since Nala had run away a few days ago.

"You have to go to school, Sweetie. Maybe when you get home Nala will have come back."

Her daughter's teary eyes widened as they pleadingly looked up at her. "You promise?"

Wrinkling her brow in consternation- Paige hated lying- the mother was saved from answering by her doorbell ringing.

Both the females' eyes brightened in hope at their unexpected visitor, the same idea popping up in both of their minds. Nala had been found.

The little girl, fit to jump right out of her chair in anticipation, pouted at her father as he pushed her back into her seat when he walked past. "I'll get it Darling, and no, Pumpkin, you need to finish your breakfast before you can be excused form the table."

Paige, walking after her husband in curiosity, side eyed their daughter to make sure she stayed in her seat. Charlotte had the bad habit of sneaking away when Paige wasn't looking.

Derek opened his door cautiously after spotting a tall man when looking through the blurred glass. "Hello?"

Paige gasped in delight when she saw the dog happily wagging her tail next to the man. "Nala!"

The man smiled widely as he stepped back, allowing the mother to bend down to hug her precious pup who barked happily.

Derek chuckled at his wife before jovially beckoning the man to enter. "Good morning, sir! Please- come in."

With another brilliant smile, the man walked into their house, taking a seat in the living room as directed by Derek.

Moments later, the adults heard a loud squeal as a blur shot through the room, stopping in front of the teary Paige and pleased Nala to reveal the couple's little girl, Charlotte.

"Thank you, but there's no need to call me sir- I'm just Harry."

Paige took a second to recollect herself, wiping her eyes and dusting her shirt, before taking a seat next to her husband to properly meet the man who found Nala. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Harry. I'm Paige, this is my husband- Derek, and the little firecracker that just ran in here, even though there is no running in the house, is Charlotte."

A disgruntled yell of 'Mom!' caused Harry and Derek to chuckle as the mother in question smiled.

"Thank you so much for bringing Nala back to us. I don't know how we can repay-"

"Whoa! Are you a model?!"

Harry turned amused emerald eyes to the little girl obsessively petting Nala. Her mouth was open in shock, displaying a gap in between a few of her little teeth, and her blue eyes were wide and shining.

"You look like my daddy; he's a model too. You're prettier than Daddy though," and here little Charlotte turned her contemplative attention to her dad, where a wide grin suddenly split her face, "but you're still the bestest daddy ever, Daddy!"

All the adults began laughing again, as Derek got up from his seat to hug his baby girl. "Come here you." Charlotte squealed in delight as he planted kiss after kiss all over her face, and Nala barked, sticking her muzzle into the father-daughter embrace curiously.

As Harry watched the wholesome family moment happily, Charlotte's mom's 'faithful wife' personality shut off as she turned professional eyes to the kind stranger.

Elizabeth blinked in shock at her first glance, before a pleased smile twisted her lips. Harry did indeed look like her husband, sharing his chiseled jaw, dark eyes, pale complexion, and crazy hair, but that was really where the similarities ended. Harry was a bit more lean than Derek was; his eyes were actually green versus Derek's hazel; Harry had pitch-black hair while Derek had salt and pepper; and a curious scar, branching out across most of his forehead, hid underneath Harry's fringe, whereas Derek had no scars.

"My daughter is right, you know." Those electric green eyes turned to Elizabeth inquisitively, a smile lighting up aristocratic cheekbones. "You have great bone structure. Do you model?"

"No," the man chuckled, "I've honestly never even thought about it. I only moved to the US recently."

Charlotte squealed from where she sat, still being hugged by her father. "I knew you were different! You speak funny!" she giggled. Both parents inhaled in disapproval, but Harry just sat back and gave a full-belly laugh.

Wiping his eyes to calm himself down, Harry turned his smile to the little girl who was frowning at him. "Well, to me, you are the one speaking funny, Charlotte."

Derek and Elizabeth smiled as Charlotte looked affronted, pouting at the mean adults around her.

-

Harry walked away from his most-recent rescue's house with a small bounce in his step. It was always nice talking to happy people who didn't act fake to get his attention. And thinking of magic...

Harry's spider senses went off again as he whipped through space, a forced apparation knocking the breath out of him. Luckily, the wizard didn't land on his back, but that was only because he immediately fell into the ocean.

Spluttering and treading water, Harry spotted the reason his magic had brought him to wherever he was through his damp bangs. A research boat was out on the waves, seemingly anchored from its lack of movement. Harry could spot people crowding around one spot on the deck, but they seemed to be watching something rather than actually doing anything. Closing his eyes as his heart started to slow, Harry quickly cast a bubble-headed charm and sunk as he focused on his healing magic to lead him to where he was needed.

Green eyes snapping open in surprise, Harry fused his muscles with magic and dove beneath the tumultuous surface. Turning glowing, magic-amplified eyes to the sea floor, Harry searched for what he believed had gone wrong, and sure enough, he spotted the problem.

A small metal cage was descending quickly, a limp chain flailing in the after current. Two people inside were obviously panicking, hugging each other and staring out of the cage into the swarm of sharks lazily circling it as it fell. Harry had to act quickly, because if that cage or chain hit a shark, it would send all the predators into a frenzy.

Quickly casting an illusion spell so others would think he was wearing diving gear, Harry propelled himself towards the chain. Harry winced as it struck him in the ankle, but quickly grabbed the retreating link, wrapping both of his hands around the chain to pull. His lean muscles full of magic, Harry pulled with all he had, the chain going taught in his hands and nearly ripping from his grip. But the wizard held on and he swam towards the surface with everything he had. The chain was groaning in protest, until, with a pop, Harry couldn't feel any weight anymore.

Growling, because, of course, the chain was weak if it had already broken once, the annoyed Arcane Healer dove through the sharks, making a break for the cage about to strike a coral reef overhang.

Anything could happen if the cage hit the coral, but almost every scenario Harry could think of as he neared the bottom of the cage ended in the sharks going into a frenzy and making a safe ascension to the surface nigh impossible without obviously showing his magic.

Harry strained his magic to turn his body vertical as the wizard managed to get himself under the cage without a moment to spare. His hands clamped around the bottom bars of the cage tightly, and his feet came down nearly perpendicular on the reef just in time. The chain must have hit him a lot harder than originally thought though, for Harry gave a sharp shout as he fell down to one knee with the force of the cage pushing down on him. Tilting his head, Harry balanced the cage with his arm and one of his shoulders, taking a moment to catch his breathe as his bubble-headed charm worked overtime. Hopefully, his ankle was only sprained.

As his breathing slowed, Harry could vaguely hear the crying and thanks from the two people above him, but the wizard merely smiled up at them. If he spoke with his 'scuba mask' on, they would immediately wonder why his speech wasn't hindered and muffled. The camera pointed directly at him was a surprise though, as Harry blinked. He hadn't really expected for anyone to take his picture, but that was one of the reasons he had applied his illusions.

Groaning lightly, Harry grit his teeth and forced his ankle to work as he pushed off from the coral reef with all he had. The cage went up a little bit before it began to fall back down, but Harry pushed his body passed its limit with the help of his magic to keep the momentum of the cage moving upward.

Luckily, the sharks didn't seem agitated by the rising cage, and so Harry continued on the hard journey. It would take the better part of an hour to get all the way to the surface, but Harry was going to save those people no matter what.

-

Bulkhead vented quietly as he walked down a hallway in the NEST hangar the military had given the Autobots. Moving past his training room, the burly mech turned his optics away, gritting his denta. The temptation to go in there and test out his rocket aim or the timing of his grenades was strong, but with the smaller energon ration Ratchet had imposed, all the Autobots needed to watch their energon consumption, and that meant no training with energon weapons for Bulkhead.

The most that the green Cybertronian could do was review any footage from the last battles with the Decepticons, watch the comm channels for any activity, and wait. Which was what Bulkhead was headed to do now, even if it was boring as slag.

Entering the huge meeting chamber a few hallways down, Bulkhead moped over to the huge supercomputer that Wheeljack was hunched over, clicking and swiping furiously as he reviewed 'Con activity and signals. The crazy scientist was going even madder than usual with his experiments being taken away from him. Bulkhead could hear Wheeljack muttering as he took his spot next to the mad-mech, but the weapons specialist didn't bother listening in. He had heard the same rants over and over in the last two weeks, and Bulkhead's processor could only take so much.

Turning his eyes to the huge screen in front of him after making a quick scan of the vacant room, Bulkhead tapped a small button to split the screen up, allowing the two mechs to work side-by-side without getting in each other's way. Another tap was all it took to bring up the footage that the government managed to collect from the several battles and small fights the Cybertronians had gotten into over the last couple of weeks. There had been a lot of skirmishes since the Battle of Mission City, but neither side really had anything to show for it. Bulkhead dully noted that most of the fights were between Arcee, Bumblebee, and the 'Cons. Those two lucky rust buckets got to go out into the field because their bodies were smaller and required less energon to run, and thus, could spare a bit of energon for fighting. It was only when their energon situation got tense like this that Bulkhead cursed the Decepticons for making them fight over the Allspark in the first place. If this entire war with the 'Cons had never gone on, then there would be no energon shortages. Frag, they wouldn't even be stuck on Earth. They had gone and done it now too, destroying the Allspark at the end of the Battle of Mission City.

Bulkhead felt like smashing the recording of Megatron crashing through buildings with his huge fists. That stupid mech started this whole mess, and when the Autobots finally thought they had ended his reign of terror- even at the cost of their beloved Allspark- the glitch had the nerve to still be alive. It didn't matter the whole 'we don't know for sure' slag the human lieutenant colonel said, Bulkhead could practically feel Megatron's spark sucking up all that was good in the world.

"Bulkhead."

The huge mech raised his helm as his processor cleared of his thoughts, and speak of the devil, as Sam had always said, the lieutenant colonel was standing to the side of him on the catwalk.

"Yeah?"

Lennox looked a bit crazed, but Bulkhead wouldn't judge. He was standing next to a mech who experimented with his spark just for fun- for Primus' sake- he had no space to judge.

"Do you know where Optimus is? Sam's on the phone and I think whatever's got the kid freaked is imperative to you guys."

Raising his opticplates in surprise, Bulkhead tapped into the Autobot comms link to notify their leader. "Optimus? Lennox has Sam on the phone, and he wants you to hear what the boy has to say."

"Sam Witwicky? I will be there shortly."

Bulkhead nodded silently at the Lieutenant Colonel- who was apparently talking to Sam on the small black device in his hands. A phone, the boy had once called it.

It was only a few kilks of Lennox talking softly to Sam before Bulkhead could hear the telltale 'thud's of Prime'd pedes coming down one of the halls. Bulkhead was silently glad that Sam has decided to call, whatever the reason. This gave him an excuse to stop staring at Megatron's ugly and infuriating mug.

As Optimus gave him and Wheeljack- who was still muttering madly to himself as he calibrated signals and whatnot- a nod of acknowledgment, Bulkhead idly wondered what Sam was calling about. Was there a Decepticon sighting near his college? Was he in trouble?

"Sam Witwicky?" The giant mech knelt down next to the catwalk so that he could put his audio receptors closer to the phone still held in Lieutenant Colonel Lennox's hand. A whoosh of air could be heard after the Prime's question.

"Optimus? Oh, am I glad to hear your voice." The staticky transmission of Sam's message grated on Bulkhead's receptors, but the burly mech listened in on the conversation anyway, his curiosity piqued. Sam must be really worried about something.

Lennox was quick to get to the point of the matter, as he bluntly questioned, "Mr. Witwicky, now that Prime is here, what was it you needed to tell us?"

"Oh, uh... you see. Remember when I threw the Allspark at Megatron and it kinda... exploded?"

Both leaders' faces went stony at the reminder of the possibly failed attempt at defeating Megatron, and Bulkhead felt his spark flicker. In the end, Optimus replied, "Yes, Sam, we remember your quick thinking."

"...Right. And Bee told you that I found a small shard of blue glass in the sweater I was wearing that day?"

The Autobot leader shared a look with Lennox before they both looked back at the small phone. Bulkhead wondered why Bee hadn't called it in. Surely he hadn't forgotten? "Negative. Bumblebee has been away on missions and unable to return to base. What exactly happened Sam?"

"Uh, well, when I picked the shard up, it started to glow and get really hot. I, uh, then dropped it, and it melted through the floor of my room to the kitchen below me. It blew up, and all the kitchen appliances turned into little killer 'bots. Bee managed to kill them all, and I'm in my dorm now, but all these symbols are flying around my head and I can't stop seeing them everywhere. I even yelled at my professor in front of my entire class today! I was saying that there were seventeen dimensions! I feel like I'm going crazy, but I'm not right? This is just something to do with the Allspark, right?"

Bulkhead felt his optics grow wide as he listened to Sam talk. He was seeing symbols? Could they be Cybertronian? Did he gain some of the Allspark's knowledge when it blew up?

Turning his slack faceplate to Optimus, Bulkhead figured the same kind of thoughts were going through his processor, since the leader's mouthplate was curled steeply downwards.

"Sam?"

"Yes, Optimus? I'm not crazy right?"

Optimus vented as he ran one long digit up and down, between his shut optics. Bulkhead mused that his processor must not be operating at full capacity with everything that has been happening lately. "No Sam, I do not believe you are. However, I no longer think you are safe at your school. I would like to request you come back to our base for your protection and proper analysis of these symbols."

The response was immediate. The phone blew up with a mountain of noise as Sam yelled, "What?! Optimus, I just got here! We literally just put Megatron six feet under! There's no way the Decepticons will come after me! Plus, how would they even know I'm seeing symbols?!"

Bulkhead spied Lennox shooting a pitying look at Optimus, and the wrecker felt the same. His leader didn't need any more on his chassis right now. First the energon, then the Allspark, then Megatron, and now this.

"I know Sam, but not everything is how it was when you left. We have uncovered some unsettling news regarding Megatron. And if you indeed have intelligence from the Allspark, the Decepticons will be able to sense it and come after you, whether they have a leader or not... It would pain me if something were to happen to you because I did not take preventative measures."

There was silence coming from the phone for a few kilks before Bulkhead heard Sam vent loudly, muttering under his breathe. Perhaps his circuits were fried. "Of course, Optimus. I- I guess I can skip a few days."

The Autobot leader seemed to deflate a little in Bulkhead's optics. He didn't look as calm he usually did, though the wrecker doubted he'd be anywhere near as calm as Optimus was in this situation. "Thank you. I will have Ratchet send Bulkhead out to get you tomorrow morning." The wrecker's optics widened in surprise. He was getting a chance to get out of the compound? Slag yeah!

"Okay. Bye Optimus. And thank you, Mr. Lennox, for getting him."

The Lieutenant Colonel straightened up under Sam's praise, and the wrecker had to hide a snicker in his newfound good mood. "Of course, Mr. Witwicky. I will see you in a few days."

"See you."

A small 'snick' signaled the end of their conversation, but it also signaled the start to a whole new slew of problems.