Starscream's First Christmas.

Chapter Three.

"Sam!" cried Mikaela in alarm, dropping to check his pulse – Ratchet had been teaching her basic human first aid as well. Optimus and Bumblebee broke off their song at her call, and Ratchet went over and started scanning him. His metal eyebrows descended over his optics a little as Sam stirred and opened his eyes.

"Wha–what happened?" he asked in confusion.

"You fainted." Mikaela said. She helped Sam to stand as Ratchet frowned again.

"Gee, that was embarrassing, sorry." Sam said. He looked over at Optimus and Bumblebee. "I didn't mean to interrupt what you were doing." He said. "Carry on, guys."

"No, Sam, it is okay." Said Optimus. He turned to Bumblebee and nodded. Ratchet began scanning Sam again thoughtfully as the two began their song anew.

"Mikaela, get ready to catch him." Ratchet murmured quietly. Mikaela's eyes widened at Ratchet's order but she didn't argue, just moved to comply. A few seconds later she was carefully lowering Sam back down to the floor. As Optimus and Bumblebee stopped singing again, Ratchet shook his head.

"No, Prime, Bumblebee, keep going, I have a theory that I wish to either prove or disprove." Ratchet said. The two turned to each other and renewed their haunting harmony. Sam, whose eyelids had begun to flicker as the song has stopped, stilled again as Mikaela watched anxiously and Ratchet kept scanning him.

Another scanning bean joined Ratchet's, as Starscream also began to scan.

"AllSpark energy?" The Seeker said incredulously.

"That is what I am reading also." Ratchet confirmed. "I am reading an energy trace that is consistent with the energy the AllSpark used to produce when it was being used to enSpark bodies, or communicated with." Ratchet said.

At that moment, Sam twitched slightly as Bumblebee's and Optimus' songs changed in both tone and tempo, speeding up, a querying tone beginning to creep into Bumblebee's tune, an urgent note being added to Optimus' song. The two singer's optics were now fully shuttered in concentration, and around them any other activity had ceased.

A few moments later, Optimus and Bumblebee both ended their songs, tailing off and unshuttering their optics again.

Bumblebee moved over to crouch by Sam as he stirred again, and helped him sit up.

"What? Did I pass out again?" he asked in evident confusion.

"You don't recall anything?" asked Ratchet. Sam shook his head.

"The Essence told us that at the moment of the AllSpark's destruction, it had to transfer to avoid not only its own annihilation, but the obliteration of everything in the immediate area from its energy discharge," Bumblebee stated. "It could only transfer into something the Cube was in direct physical contact with." He said.

"And transferring into Megatron was out of the question because he was dying." Ratchet finished. "So it went into Sam?"

"Yes, it went into Sam, but the reason it did not go into my brother was because its very presence in him would have healed him, and Megatron would have then subverted its power for his own purposes." Optimus said.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"It seems the AllSpark Essence transferred itself into you after the battle of Mission City and lay dormant inside you. When we sang, it awoke and communicated with us." Bumblebee explained.

"So, the squishy is so much more than just a squishy?" Starscream asked.

"It would seem so." Ratchet said, stooping and picking Sam up and raising him to optic level: Sam squirmed uncomfortably at the close scrutiny. "I will have to run more scans and apply a few judicious and non-invasive tests to be sure, but I think they will confirm that effectively, Sam is the AllSpark."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Sam said. "Tests? What tests?"

He was effectively ignored as Starscream said "Then I suggest we extend the ceasefire indefinitely? As a scientist myself I can lend my skills to your research, and my own curiosity regarding this situation has been piqued." He put his hand out as if to take Sam from Ratchet, but Ratchet moved his hand across his body, holding Sam out of the Seeker's reach.

"You can help by all means, Starscream, but I will lead the research project." Ratchet growled. Sam began struggling and pushing against Ratchet's hand: Ratchet just tightened his hold to secure him. Sam whimpered as the medic and the Seeker argued, and Bumblebee moved round to try and take Sam from Ratchet but Ratchet curled his arm inwards and held Sam against his chest, his voice rising against Starscream as they debated the research team hierarchy. It only stopped when Mikaela ran over to Ratchet, gave his foot a hefty kick, and yelled "SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!"

Of course, Mikaela's kick didn't hurt Ratchet, but he did notice it, and her voice was at a pitch and volume that both of them could not fail to notice. Ratchet looked down at Mikaela , optics dilating to full apeture in surprise, and did not need to scan her brain activity and adrenaline levels to register that she was angry. Starscream too looked down at the human, who was glaring up at Ratchet with two flaming spots of colour on her cheeks and a big frown on her forehead.

Once Mikaela knew she had their attention, she spoke again, not quite shouting, but still loud and obviously angry.

"From Starscream I might have expected that sort of attitude, but not from you, Ratchet! What happened to your medical ethics? What happened to the Autobot ethos of freedom?" As Ratchet opened his mouth to speak, she spoke again, not letting him say a word.

"Look at you both, arguing about who gets to work on Sam and in what way, when Sam has not even been asked how he feels about all this, or even if he's willing? Look at Sam, Ratchet, look at him as a person with emotions and feelings, look at him, you're scaring him!"

Ratchet looked up from Mikaela to the small form in his hand, the small form who had put his hands over his face and was doing his best not to shake.

"Bumblebee, could you take Sam and calm him down?" he asked, reaching out to place the human boy in Bumblebee's waiting hands: Bumblebee held Sam close to his chest, stroking him with one finger.

"Mikaela's right, Starscream, we need to ask Sam if he's okay with that, in fact we need to ask Sam what he wants to do in general." Ratchet said.

"I can't answer right away, I need some time to think." Said Sam from where Bumblebee was holding him. His voice was shaky and sounded suspiciously as if he had at least been close to tears if not actually crying, but he had taken his hands away from his face and was looking at Ratchet. "Do I have to decide now, this is supposed to be a party!" he said.

"No, Sam, you don't have to decide anything now." Ratchet said. "I apologise for causing you distress. In my eagerness to find out about the energy inside you I forgot that you were a person who should have a say. It is no excuse, but may serve as an explanation for my actions if you recall that we have been used to dealing with a nonliving vessel for the Essence, in the form of the AllSpark Cube."

Sam nodded." I guess that makes sense." He said. "Can we leave discussing this for now and get back to the party?"

"Sure, Sam." said Bumblebee. He gave Starscream a look. "May I suggest we all give Sam a chance to get used to the idea, and let him approach and raise the issue again. After all, we have twelve human days - almost an orn - of the agreed ceasefire left, and if needed, it could be extended – I don't think we'd have any objections to that." He said, looking to Optimus who nodded and said "No objections at all."

"Very well." Starscream said, drawing himself another bucket of Ratchet's best high-grade energon. "I guess we should enjoy ourselves now, and discuss serious stuff later."

Bumblebee suddenly stepped forward and hoisted Sam into the air in both hands above his head.

"Bee, what are you doing?" Sam asked. "You're not going to process me round the hangar as the new AllSpark, are you? I want to get down, to dance, and have fun!"

Bumblebee's response was to turn to face everybody, still holding Sam aloft.

"I don't know about the theories we've all come up with in the last ten minutes, which of them, if any, apply to Sam, but there is one thing I know Sam is – and that is one of the best friends I have ever had. I'm not at all sure if I could bond with a human or not, so I'm just going to declare that if I knew I could, and that he wanted it too, I would bond with him."

Stooping, he put Sam down and then stood again.

"He has also made the most sensible suggestion of all of us. Let the party resume!"

Tuning into his radio, Bumblebee started blasting out some popular music tracks. Sam and Mikaela immediately began dancing. Once they had moved a safe distance from the humans, the Cybertronians in the room looked at each other, and joined in.