Yellow, people! This plot bunny was tearing my brain apart all week and I had to put this down. I don't own jack, Hasbro does.

Hope you enjoy reading this!

Let's get this show on the road!

Wheeljack, what is it that you are working on?" I peered over the Wrecker's shoulder, curious. The white mech had arrived at the base and asked Ratchet if he could use some of his tools and a workbench. It seems the Wrecker knows more than a little about inventing. The Jackhammer's weapons system is testament to that.

"What, this? It's just a little stasis grenade I've been working on." Wheeljack was sitting at one of Ratchet's workbenches and poking at the small device in front of him. I kept quiet, silently prompting him to continue. I never knew the Wrecker like to invent things... but, we do not know much about him to start.

"It's basically meant to put a bot into instant forced recharge if the grenade makes contact with them. It lasts for twelve Earth hours."

This was beginning to peak my interest. "Do you mind if I get a closer look at it?"

"No, go ahead." Wheeljack handed the grenade to me and I brought it up to optic level. This was built for a smaller servo, but impressive nonetheless. Once he is done working all the problems out, perhaps he will allow us to use them out on the field. They could prove to be very useful. I continued to stare at the device as Wheeljack explained the circuitry and wiring of the grenade, speaking of exactly how it will go off.

"The wiring's still a bit loose so it's pretty easy to set off-" Wheeljack stopped as soon as he heard something from the nearest hallway.

"HEY BOSS BOT!" I jumped, practically throwing the grenade up in the air. Thank Primus I was able to catch the bomb before it hit the floor. I looked up to see Wheeljack on the other side of the room, optics wide in horror. Miko was currently laughing hysterically at my startled reaction to the loud greeting she gave me.

"Miko, I would greatly appreciate it if you wouldn't scare me like that." It would be completely futile attempting to deny that she scared me. I am just pleased that the only ones who saw that were the human girl and Wheeljack. I secured my servo on the grenade and carefully placed it back down onto the workbench. It didn't appear to be malfunctioning. I heard Wheeljack sigh in relief and walk to stand next to me.

"Man, I gotta go tell Bulkhead! That was gold!" Miko laughed running off back down the halls she came from. The Wrecker stared after her for a moment.

"How do you live with these humans around?"

"You become accustomed to the activities of the youngling humans." I answered, voice monotone. Suddenly there was a loud hissing sound coming from the workbench. Both of us brought our attention to the now smoking device. Both of us jumped back, assuming our respective battle stances. The lighted seams along the grenade had begun to glow a strange green. Sparks started coming from the grenade, forcing me to take action. I lunged forward and swiped the bomb. This device may be small, but Wheeljack's grenades are known to have a very wide blast radius. I cannot afford to have this invention fail in the silo. I punched in a set of coordinates to the Ground Bridge monitor that I knew for certain led deeper into the surrounding desert. I'd have to dispose of it through the Bri-

There was a very bright flash and then, darkness.

...Ratchet's POV: Elsewhere in the Silo...

I had just finished cleaning my favorite wrench when I heard a loud boom coming from the main control room. Startled, I dropped to wrench. As it clattered onto the ground, I raced towards the room, fearing a Decepticon attack. I really hope it's not that. If the Decepticons found our base, the war is as good as over.

I was joined by Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee as I raced down the hall to the room. They all were concerned. I could also vaguely hear the children trying to keep up with us. I slowed a bit and glanced over my shoulder at the children running after us.

"If there is danger of any kind in the main control room, I will be personally escorting you all home." I will not have the children getting hurt for any reason, not now, not ever. We ran into the smoke-filled room. It grew very dark as us bots stepped cautiously into the dark grey smoke. Suddenly, I heard a weapon powering up and saw a very bright blue light close to my optics. I jumped back and activated my surgical blade; ready to cut down whoever the frag is pointing that weapon at me. Wait a minute... That looks like...

"Wheeljack?!" Bulkhead exclaimed. The smoke was starting to settle and it was easier to see in the room, though you couldn't see much. Wheeljack lowered his blaster and shifted it back into his hand.

"What in the AllSpark is going on in here?!" I yelled, shifting my blade back into my servo. I glared hard at the Wrecker. When dust settles completely, it becomes nearly impossible to clean all of it off every surface. You know what? I'll just make him do it.

"I'll explain later. Where's Boss Bot?" Wheeljack said in an uncharacteristically hurried tone. Optimus was in here with him? If he was, we would have at least heard him by now. It takes a lot more than smoke to kill the mech.

"Last time I saw him, he was over by the Ground Bridge." Wheeljack informed us. I scoffed.

"Well, he couldn't have gotten far." I walked through the settling smoke towards the glow of the Ground Bridge controls. Suddenly I saw a set of large bright blue optics very low to the ground. Hm. Optimus must've fallen in the blast. I am going to murder Wheeljack if Optimus winds up hurt. I crouched down to scan for any injuries. The smoke is still making it difficult to see. I grumbled angrily as I attempted to fan away the smoke from my face. That smoke was really getting on my- Oh Primus.

I stared, dumbfounded. How on Earth did this even happen? I glowered hotly over my shoulder at Wheeljack.

"What the Pit did you fragging do?!"

...Optimus's POV...

I sat up slowly, feeling a massive processor ache pounding in my helm. Rubbing my sore helm, I looked around into the now dark room. There was smoke filling the room and I could barely see in front of me. In these cases, it is a wiser idea to remain here. I do not know what happened, but I am sure the others heard the blast.

Instead of feeling worse, as I had expected, I felt unharmed. If not lighter than before. This is highly unusual... I glanced up to see Ratchet approaching me. How did he become so much taller than me?

Ratchet got closer and looked over me for injuries. As soon as he completed the task, he looked over his shoulder.

"What the Pit did you fragging do?!"

"Ratchet, I assure you, I am unharmed. " I stated. My claim was ignored, much to my frustration and annoyance. Those emotions were quickly overshadowed by the sound of my voice. Instead of hearing my own baritone vocalization, my audios were met with a higher pitch. When I spoke I heard English, but it sounded strange, broken and chopped.

Soon the others gathered around me. Something is not right here. Arcee is taller than me. The smoke cleared out and I was able to see myself. I looked at my servo to see a small one instead of my larger one. I realized that I was sitting on my behind instead of on my knees. The explosion was strong, but not strong enough to knock me down completely.

The looks on the others' faces were very disconcerting. They all had the same expression of shock and utter surprise. Something is very wrong. Bulkhead was the one who spoke first, laughing.

"Man, Optimus was a shrimp when he was a sparkling!" That is when it all struck me at once. Wheeljack's invention malfunctioned and exploded without warning.

I am a sparkling.

Before I could control myself, I felt my optics brimming up with tears. A tiny sob escaped my lips as the tears streaked down my face. I squeezed my optics shut, clenching my tiny black servos into fists. I should not let my emotions get out of control. This behavior is extremely undignified.

Suddenly, I felt myself being lifted off the ground and pressed against a warm chassis. I was overcome by emotions again and sought the comfort of the warmth emanating from the chassis, leaning into the comforting heat. It only occurred to me exactly who I was snuggling until it was too late.

"Bulkhead, you made him cry!" Arcee glared at the green mech, who put his servos up in surrender.

"Sorry, but he's so... small." Bulkhead could not help but smile slightly when he looked back down at me in Arcee's arms. Then I heard my tanks rumble. My shoulders slumped, embarrassed. The... transformation may have used a considerable amount of my energon. Ratchet motioned for Arcee to come closer to him.

"Arcee, bring Optimus over to my medical berth. I will scan him to try to diagnose exactly what turned him back to this state." Said femme repositioned me and held me on her hip, as I had more than once seen a human femme do with her own child. Before long, I was sitting on a medical berth, looking at Ratchet. A panel opened in his wrist and a green beam of light moved over my frame. Bumblebee went over to me and leaned down, buzzing melodically. His optics grew brighter and doorwings forming a playful 'V' on his back. I am sure he is very happy to see another youngling. Though I am not I not in the most ideal situation, I am pleased to see that the youngling was so joyful.

"There appears to be no damage done. However, His repair systems seemed to have been driven into hyper-overdrive by a high energy boost..." Ratchet trailed off, pulling into his own thoughts.

"But right now, all that matters is that Optimus is unharmed, no thanks to you, Wheeljack." Ratchet glared over at the Wrecker, who just shrugged and rubbed the back of his helm. My tanks rumbled, louder this time. I could feel my faceplates heat up in embarrassment.

"Ratchet... could you get me some energon?" I am accustomed to getting it myself, but in my current condition, I doubt the medic would even let me retrieve a cube for myself. Ratchet's attention snapped back to me, an irritated look on his face. Bulkhead snickered and Arcee had an amused look in her optics.

"It's Ratchet, not 'Watchet'."

I gave him a vaguely confused look. What was he talking about? I said his designation properly... The change must be affecting my voice box and my CPU is not registering it as a problem. This glitch in my systems allowed me to only hear the normal English language setting, rather than the strange child-English I was evidently speaking. I was suddenly picked up and a cube of energon was brought close to my face. This time it was Ratchet holding me in the crook of his arm, rather than Arcee. He was even warmer than Arcee and I instinctively shifted closer to his chest. The energon he offered smelled diluted with some sort of solution. I reached towards it, trying to take the cube from him in order to refuel myself. I may be a sparkling, but I am not utterly helpless.

"Nah ah ah. You'll just spill it all over yourself." Ratchet said firmly, gazing down at me. It is useless to attempt to engage in an argument with Ratchet when he used that tone. I swallowed my pride and took the tip of the opened cube in my mouth, prompting Ratchet to tilt the cube. The smooth, sweet liquid soothed the unpleasant feeling in my tanks almost instantly. Swallowing steadily, I relaxed further into Ratchet's arm. I heard Bumblebee release a long beep that sounded suspiciously like 'awww' as my engines started to make a low, purring sound. Once I was content, I started to feel recharge creeping into my processor.

"As much as I'd love to stick around, I need to go find Jack." Arcee stated, stepped forward. The school day had ended two hours before and the other bots brought their respective charges to the base. They had wondered off to explore the unseen parts of the silo after working on their homework. The thought of the children seeing me like this made me abruptly alert. I vigorously shook my helm in protest. I would rather not be seen by any more people like this.

"Yeah, how will the kids react?" Bulkhead snickered.

Yeah, I kinda wanted to do that for a while now. But that was so fun to do! It is too easy to mess with Optimus. Next chapter may consist of tough adjustments to life as a sparkling and the kids' reactions. I'll definitely go farther into detail about exactly how the stasis grenade turned Optimus Prime into Sparkling Prime. Drop a review and let me know what you think! :)

Toodles!