The night was serene while a few days passed since Sam's arrival as he thought that peace had finally returned back to his life. Well, as much as he could get when living with the Autobots. And yet, there are times like this when Sam would stay up on his seat and stare at his bed like it was an other-worldly anomaly. Maybe more when he knows what'll happen the moment he falls asleep. The nightmares haven't stopped since the start as it began progressing much worse than he thought. Rather than they were stopping, Sam had hoped to at least get used to them as mere dreams. But every time one would come, there was no stopping him from coming to awake with buckets full of sweat and a banging heartbeat.
So this time, he'd thought and try to stay up as long as he could until the weight of boredom and tiredness brings him to sleep. He wouldn't know until he tried, so that night was the time to start when everyone else had turned in for the night, leaving the lights on for the few who still wandered around base as either guards or officials. Naturally, he'd try and stay within his room long enough for people to return to theirs. And by then, it had already been midnight. So ever so quietly, he snuck out of the room, deciding to roam the halls and corridors to relieve some time.
The plan was a success for the first hour of walking, but as it reached two, he felt his legs grow tired and his eyes shuttering many times before blinking back up. As he looked around, he was surprised to see anybody walking around. As far as the hour went, only once had he seen someone walk past him. He'd thought there'd be more if it was an army base, but he'd guess wrong on that one.
Another hour passed as he now struggled to keep from walking into a wall. Several times he had swerve quickly to dodge the incoming wall and had to take many stops just to rest. It was fortunate enough that he hadn't fallen asleep at those points. He could only imagine what the others would ask and say if they caught him sleeping at a bench. So when another bench had come into sight, he was quick to turn another way just to avoid it. As he did, he stopped and froze. It wasn't that he had seen anything or heard anything make him pause.
It was that he had no idea where he was. Going back a few steps, he looked down the unfamiliar corridors in search of a room he'd recognise. Even though he'd lived here for almost a week, Sam had made sure of himself to keep on path while he did. So when he was faced with a new location, he used whatever thought process he had to retrace his steps. But by the fifth step he took, he couldn't even remember the last turn.
Panic starting to set in, he searched for any sign of life, human or Autobot, that could save him. He didn't care if he'd be given an earful the moment a Cybertronian sees him, he'd rather be with someone than lost in the giant building. And in the heat of the moment, the Witwicky began running, taking whichever turns he could for something he recognised. Regrettably, his mind was only half-awake most of the time, which meant he had no clue whatsoever where he was going. Even though if he had stopped and thought properly for a moment, he would've noticed that he'd miss two main hallways that the Prime had shown him.
And as he looked ahead, another turn came up which made him twist his body, closing his eyes to blink away the sleepiness for just a second. In that second, yet another unfortunate outcome for him was that someone was taking the same turn, the two crashing into each other with Sam knocked back on his rear. There was a minute of mumbled apologies after apologies between the two before they looked up to see who the other was.
Sam blinked. Optimus blinked.
'Shit.' He thought.
"Samuel?"
"H-Hey, Optimus…" The young adult replied from his seat on the ground, feeling the worst coming.
"What are you doing up so late? ..." The Prime looked up and down the human. "And have you been running?"
"Y-yeah… Sorry about, y'know, crashing." Sam stood back up, dusting himself, trying to busy himself while he thought up a convincing excuse for the first question.
"You may repay with the knowledge of why you were running." Optimus crossed his arms over as he gave a suspicious gaze towards the young adult. He then noticed how the Witwicky was doing everything to not meet his eyes. Which for their friendship, was a sign of something being hidden.
"Uhh… You know… Couldn't sleep, so… I went for a nightly jog…?" He lied, as if he was reading off of imaginary cue cards. The leader raised an eyebrow as Sam continued to retain no eye contact. There was suspenseful silence for the two as Sam felt like he was about to lose it. The way Optimus would stare could be compared to having each and every cell of his body dissected. The trickle of sweat didn't help either as Prime only leaned forward the tiniest bit.
It felt like eternity before he pulled back, with a small exhale of air leaving his lips and coming out as a hum. "Right… In any case, you shouldn't be running through the buildings so late in the night. Accidents like these may turn into trips to Ratchet's med-bay."
A small shudder came through Sam as he remembered the stories told from other Autobots. Tip: never trust any doctor when they say 'it won't hurt a bit'. Reluctantly, he turned his head to the leader for a small moment, giving a small nod. "Anyways, I think I'll turn in for tonight then. Night big guy." The young adult swiftly turned on his heel to walk the other way, once again stopping when he realised the situation he was in.
Optimus must've noticed the sudden stop as he was fast ask. "Something wrong, Sam?" Cocking his head to the side.
The Witwicky grumbled under his breath as he gave up with a sigh and another bob of his head. "I have no idea how to get back…" He regrettably admitted, lowering his head as he waited for the lecture to come again. Either that, or a laugh which he highly doubted would come. So the former was a more reasonable reaction.
A sigh came from behind Sam as he knew it was coming. Instead, a few footsteps walked around him and had him look up to the Prime. Instead of a lecture or a laugh, a hand had reached out to grab Sam's as he soon found himself being dragged along by the leader. "Come, little one. I think it'd be best that I'd guide you rather than just let you wander aimlessly." Optimus said in a monotonic voice, albeit his spark was jumping for joy for unknown reasons.
Sam honestly would've replied with nervous stuttering if he weren't caught up on the fact that Optimus had his hand closely wrapped around his. A mental war broke out inside his mind as the reasonable part of him was saying that the man was just guiding him. The other side was arguing that the Autobot leader was flirting, and while they raged on in his mental landscape, the young adult had enough time for his head to go beet-red in a matter of seconds.
The battle soon ended with the sensible side of him winning as he now returned back to reality, only then for his mind to be entirely focused on the hand grabbing his. Larger and more rough, surprisingly. The 'larger' part was to be expected, but from the research they did, he had predicted that all the holoforms would have fine, soft skin. And even more surprising. It was warm. Like a soft flame coating his hand. Again, he'd expected them to be cold since they're just holograms. But he knew he couldn't predict everything they did. Now he was wondering if they were even capable of sex.
'… Wait a minute…' The blush consumed his head and body in an instant as he fought the urge to continue his last thought.
A few minutes was all it took for Optimus to lead the two back to the living quarters of human soldiers. He gave a look around to confirm it himself before turning back to the young Witwicky. "Here we are. I strongly advise that you don't go too far out of the main corridors. At least, not without anyone with you."
"…" Sam stood silent, his face still flushed. It wasn't very helpful of his mind to bring the last idea back to mind the moment he looked up to the Prime. Forget digging a hole and dying in it, he'd rather be gunned down by 50 Megatrons than walk hand-in-hand with the Autobot leader… Not that it was a bad thing… Sooner than he hoped, Optimus had noticed the colour red that stained the human's cheeks as he lifted a hand to a cheek.
"Are you alright, Sam? Your face is glowing red. Should I go get Ratchet-"
"No!" He had flat out rejected the idea, knowing the medic would more than likely give the same comment he did during their first time meeting. As much as he hated to admit it, he was blushing from the contact. If either the leader or the medic heard about it, they'd more than likely take it the wrong way. Most likely getting it right.
Optimus was caught off guard from the sudden response as he gazed confusingly at the teen, waiting for an explanation. "I-I'm fine. Just a… human thing." Sam lied. But technically, he didn't lie. He was just holding onto the whole truth. Sam noticed the man staring off into space as he quickly predicted that the Autobot was searching about it on the web and had decided to jump in before he figured it out. At least not while he stood in front of him. "Anyways," He spoke loudly, snapping Optimus back to reality and cutting off his search engine. "Thanks for helping."
"Anytime, Sam. But I have to ask, how did you get that far away from the route?"
"I guess, I spaced out more often than I thought."
A dark look swept across Optimus' face. "Something weighing your mind?"
"…" Sam immediately thought back to the nightmares, but not only that. He thought back to the story of Optimus' past, the pain from before returning. No one could've missed the pained expression on the human.
"Sam?"
"… No. It's nothing, Optimus. I'll be alright." Sam replied falsely, moving his gaze away once more. Suspicion aroused from the back of his processor, he was about to question the young adult. Before he could, the Witwicky had already begun talking. "Anyways, goodnight Optimus." Sam had bid, walking past the leader and heading for the room to his door.
By the moment he caught up, he turned around as soon as Sam closed his door. He was left with many questions as the anxiety festered within him when he thought about the human. He had the idea of prying a little to understand what was going on, but decided best for now to leave it alone until it became a threat to the young adult's life. And with that, he dissipated his holoform into mere light particles as they travelled back to his real body.
Three more nights had passed as Sam continued to carry out his plan to 'battle' the nightmares. Overall, it was seemingly effective. No nightmares had come since the night Optimus had caught him and he'd been able to sleep peacefully. Well, that didn't include any dreams either, but he'd give that up for waking up without jumping up in his bed. Only con about the plan was that it reduced his time in the morning with the others. That and the fact that dark rings were forming under his eyes with the Autobots growing more suspicious by the next day.
On the fourth night though, he had to halt his plan for he hadn't accounted for Bee to follow him to his room when it was time to turn in. It would've been fine if the Bee had come and go, but he just had to stay outside of his room. Sam could tell as the sound of footsteps leaving never came. He mentally cursed the Autobot for being such a great friend. Either that of he'd been following orders from Optimus or Ratchet to guard/watch him through the night.
So Sam pulled a book from the shelf installed in his room and sat himself at his desk, trying his best to read while his mind constantly pushed for him to go and rest. All the while, he almost alerted the scout that he was awake when he dozed off for a moment and slammed his head onto the desk. He withheld the pain as he jumped for his bed, throwing the blanket over himself just as the blonde opened the door. His heart whacked itself against his ribcage while his mind silently cursed the pain from both the slam and the jump. Bee had stared at the sleeping mass for a minute, as if to interrogate his friend while he slept, before moving out when he confirmed from his position that they were asleep.
A few seconds passed before the footsteps eventually faded, Sam relieving himself of a held breath. He waited a few minutes longer in his bed before lifting the blanket off and standing back up. Sneaking his way over to the door, he twisted it open slowly and popped a head out. The young adult gave a many looks to the side, confirming that he was alone once again. And like the last few nights, he pushed his body out and slipped the door shut. He had been wary ever since the night with Optimus and so had been sure to see and hear every soul coming his way.
So as he sneaked through the corridors, he made his way to the back of the base, where a small patch of forest had grown. It wasn't large, but certainly not small either as he had found it the other night when wandering about. He figured it'd be a safe enough place to stay awake while he waited for the hours to pass. So he quietly found himself a seat at a wooden bench and had gazed up to the stars. It had been a while since he's star-gazed, last time he remembered was about two years ago, when a college-camp had him out in another forest naming the constellations. It was easy for the Witwicky to remember as during that time, he had read through the assigned astronomy book on his first day. Hard to forget especially after the days that followed.
A small laugh escaped when the thought of how he had simply been wanting a car five years ago turned into living with extra-terrestrial beings for the past week.
…
"Having fun, I see."
"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!" Sam shouted, falling forward on his seat at the sound of somebody whispering right beside his ear. The young adult flipped over onto his elbows as he looked up to the one that stood beside him. Or more appropriately, the ones. Before him stood the three towering holoforms of the yellow Camaro, the Hummer H2 ambulance, and the semi-trailer Peterbilt, all holding a less than pleasing glare at the human.
"Uh, hey guys…"
"And just what do you think you were doing?" Bee questioned, his usual friendly tone now gone and replaced by an interrogator. Lifting a finger and opening his mouth to answer, Sam was stopped by the medic who held a more menacing glare than the other two.
"If you dare think about lying to us, I'd happily strap you down to a table and rinse your tongue with soap." Ratchet threatened, making Sam retract his finger and thinking more carefully on his next choice of words. Figuring he couldn't lie at this point, he went with plan C. Plan B was too have him confess everything. Plan C was to have tell most, if not some, of the truth without them knowing anything about the nightmares.
After a sigh, he turned towards the Autobot leader and talked. "… Like I said a few nights ago, I couldn't sleep. So… I did the next best thing. Snuck out for the past few nights and walk around a bit until I grew tired and go back." He explained.
"Then why'd you pretend to be sleeping when I came in?" Bee inquired as the human scoffed at the three and jumped up from the ground.
"Seriously? Do you see yourselves? I was only just taking a few steps out. Next thing I know, I have Bee standing outside my door for almost the entire night."
Optimus stepped in. "We were worried when we saw you in the afternoon with rings under your eyes."
"I'm old enough to take care of myself. I didn't need to trouble you guys over nothing."
"If it's your health, it isn't just 'nothing'." Optimus argued.
"I would've been fine. It's not the first time I've pulled all-nighters." Sam defended. Ratchet and Bumblebee noticed the direction of the conversation going downhill from that point as soon their arguments became shouting, leaving the two to flick their heads towards the next speaker after one had finished.
"That's not the point!"
"Then what is? I don't see the problem. I'm alive, you all are too, there are no Decepticons nor government agent after me, everything is peachy!" The Witwicky listed off, unconsciously walking towards the door leading back into the building.
Optimus' holoform followed while the dispute continued, the other two holoforms trailing behind with nervous glances. They had never heard the two argue before, so it was only shocking to watch while they did. But even still, someone had to speak up before it escalates, and Ratchet being the more sensible one out of the two bystanders, planned to step in.
"Prime, I think-"
The medic growled the tiniest bit when he was once again cut out of the argument, with the only thing keeping him from landing a solid fist to the human was Bee's hand on his shoulder and the Prime's presence in front of his. "It's no different when you all stay up!"
"Because we are combat trained and have some self-defence if anything does come. You, on the other hand-"
Sam abruptly turned to face the holoform. "So I'm basically useless without you guys?"
"That's not what I said-"
"But you damn well implied it! I can't sleep, I step out of my room and walk a few minutes. It's. That. Simple."
"You're calling the endangerment of your life is 'simple'!" Optimus questioned.
"Compared to everyone else's, yes!" Sam stated, raising the heads of the three Autobots. They froze at the answer that none would be pleased to hear. In their processors, the same questiond ran around their heads. Does he really think that? Does he think that we're higher than him? Optimus hated that belief. That one being was worth more than others. To hear it from a friend was too sad to be true. Many more questions continued to pile on as Optimus allowed one to slip out of his mouth.
"What in the name of Primus made you believe that?" His tone incredulous and dropping deeper.
"It's not a matter of belief. It's the social order of the world. I'm sorry if you don't think the same, but I don't see what I did wrong." The leader clenched his hands as his teeth grinded together, a pain from the past resurfacing in his spark. His memories rose from where he had kept them as they tormented him. And with a huff of breath, he turned to the medic while a dark shadow hid his expression.
"Ratchet, have someone stay with Sam 24/7 while he is on this base." Optimus ordered, bubbling shock and surprise from both races.
"What?!" The young adult blurted out, shouting at the leader's back while Ratchet crossed his arms over and gave wide-eyed stare towards the Prime.
.: Optimus, don't. From what you've told me, this'll only make things worse for him. :. The medic advised over the comm-link. The Prime knew of the consequences and disregarded the warning. He knew if it meant keeping Sam alive and well, then he'd rather be hated by the human instead of watching them waste away.
"You can't just decide that!"
"… Yes. I can and I will! I have never used my authority for personal issues, but-" Spinning on his feet, he glared at the Witwicky. "I will do what I must to protect others. And that is final, Ariel!"
It felt as if the world had been placed on mute while they stared in shock at the Prime. He was out of breath for a moment, looking at the others for some clarity in their gazes before the words that came out replayed in his head. Though in his eyes, he was watching two versions of how the scene played out, only with a different soul standing before him. The rest were frozen stiff on the last word to roll out of the Prime's tongue, Sam baffled in a state of shock as his heart ached to hear the name. It had only been a few days since he's heard the name, yet it couldn't be lost so easily.
So he broke the silence with a single syllable. "… What?"
And then Optimus was gone, extinguishing his holoform into particles and leaving the others in a state of shock. It was in an instant that he returned to his alt-form and began consulting in silence to himself on what had just happened. Did he just make a decision involving Samuel without the human's consent? In the time he had been on Earth, that was the one thing he aimed not to do. They were the ones that pulled him into their world, so they had no right whatsoever to control it. But, can't Sam understand that the order was to protect him? Thinking back to every word said, it had pained his spark to remember some of the things that he had said.
Spending the next few hours, he contemplated everything said. Both by him and Samuel.
As much as Samuel hated to, he was quickly moved to the med-bay for a few simple scans on his depreciating physical health and his barely stable mental health. It didn't take much convincing as they were all a little shocked by what the leader had ordered, the argument blanketing their minds. Mostly Sam, who sat quietly while the medic pulled up a few machines and the scout sat by his side. They thoughts the same thing, none choosing to voice it though. Obviously, they questioned how two of the greatest friends could argue so harshly at one another. But even they knew the saying; the closest friends, have the worst of arguments.
Something bugged Sam. And it wasn't the fact that the last name to come out wasn't his. No, it bugged him that the eyes the holoform held told him that the Prime had done this before. And since talking to the Prime is ruled out, he'd have to turn to the only other person that would know.
Giving a cough, he grabbed the two Autobots's attention. He then turned to his best friend. "Bee, I know it's kinda' late in the night, but can you grab 'Hide?"
The two Cybertronian gave weird looks. "Of course. But, why?"
"There's something I have to know. And I think he's the only guy that knows other than Optimus."
Bumblebee looked over to the medic as he did the same, sharing a nervous look before turning back to the Witwicky. "Alright, wait a minute while I wake him up." Standing up, he released the holoform and returned to his body, where Ironhide slept a few metres away in alt-form.
Re-materialising the holoform, the blonde stepped out of the Camaro and walked over to GMC Topkick, making sure not to make eye-contact with the Peterbilt he passed by. Carefully, he got close to the truck before knocking his knuckles on the door, waiting a few seconds before a holoform opened the door and stepped out.
"Bumblebee, you do realise what time it is?"
"Yeah, but Sam wants to talk to you."
"Something happen?"
"I'll fill you in on the way."
"Sorry…" Ironhide apologised, prompting the three to raise their eyebrows the moment he stepped in the room. When the black mech had given a small bow, Sam's curiosity had to kick in like the other two.
"Alright, I'll have to ask. What?"
The weapon's specialist lifted his head. "Sorry for what the Prime said. He… wasn't in the right mind."
"That's not your fault. I guess, it's partially mine. So, uh, don't worry about it."
"Would you like me to take a couple of shots at him?"
"Please don't." Sam immediately replied, once again receiving nervous stares. Before things could get too off track, he pulled the topic back to what he wanted to ask. "Anyways, Ironhide, there's something I wanted to ask."
"I've heard." The weapons specialist silenced himself as he was on the receiving end of two dangerous glares from the other Autobots. Quietly, he went and took the seat beside the bed. Sam dismissed the comment and continued.
"When you were telling us Optimus' past, there was something you left out, wasn't there?"
The black mech froze in his chair, looking up with weary eyes. Heaving a sigh, he found a comfortable spot while his arms laid on the arm-rests of the chair. He looked as if he was thinking back a thousand years ago, replaying his mind to get an actual image of what had happened. But he already knew.
"… Before Elita-1 was sent off on her mission, the two had a dispute. The exact details weren't given to me, but apparently she had placed her life in danger on her last mission. Optimus didn't exactly agree with how it went so they fell out for a few days until her next mission. The one she had disappeared on. I'm guessing he thought back to that point during this argument of yours. Shows that damn mech still hasn't moved on." Ironhide showed eyes of pity and mercy towards the human. "Don't hold it against him."
A dark air drifted into the room with the tension rising the longer the silence dragged on. The three were waiting for a response from the young adult. They had no reason to be so, but they all held an anxious feeling in the pit of their stomachs. And though it didn't help much to lift the tension of situation, it had done the job of reassuring the others that Sam was indeed fine with a simple smile.
"Don't worry, guys. I won't be holding it hard on him… I just want him to apologise for that order first."
Sam had long returned to his room, noticing how it was almost the break of dawn. Though the medic had discharged him with the instruction of one full day of rest, he still couldn't bring himself to sleep. Not yet at least. He knew he'd be fine with one or two more nightmares, but his mind would always track back to a few hours ago and think about what Optimus had said, and what Ironhide had recounted. And those thoughts were things keeping up.
For the fiftieth time that night, he rolled onto his other side, hoping to grasp the perfect position to sleep in. He stared boringly into the darkness while he waited for the pressure of sleep fall on him. But it was still no good. So he continued to review the night in his head. Not only the night, but everything that had been leading up to this point. In a way, they were all centered around the Prime. Sam starts having nightmare of the leader. The Prime invites him to stay on base. Optimus reveals to have a much darker past than thought. The leader catches him the first night he starts walking. And then they just so happen to get caught in a fight revolving around most of those things? If it wasn't the work of God or Primus or whatever, the human would be hunting down the one who schemed all of this up.
But he knew even that was improbable for one being, so the subject dropped into mere coincidences. So he shoved his head in his pillow, hoping to knock himself out with the lack of air. And before he could control himself, the areas where his eyes had laid begun to grow damp. No matter how many smiles he placed up, he honestly couldn't say that the argument hadn't affected him.
