Optimus looked around himself as Bumblebee, himself, Salvage, the four sparklings, and Cody prepared to leave.
The sparklings were all nestled in his cab, safe in deep recharge after being filled with pure energon so that Cody could easily look after them as they traveled.
Salvage, Bumblebee, and Optimus carried all of Cody's belongings, as Optimus insisted that if Cody was to spend 20 years with them as a 10 year old, he might as well have all the comforts of his home with him too.
So at first the whole team packed up Cody's entire room and placed it inside just Salvage, after, of course, the garbage truck transformed to make room for it all.
Optimus even insisted they keep up on Cody's schooling, so that way he doesn't forget anything in 20 years.
Cody was not too pleased about that, but Optimus was firm.
He was not going to let the youngest Burns fall behind in his learning, and even offered to help him advance in his classes.
Graham got a tad jealous at Cody's opportunity, but his little brother was reluctant to accept.
Secretly, he had hoped for a loooong vacation from school, but obviously it was not to be.
But in the end, he had agreed to the extra help, if only because refusing would be ungrateful to the alien's kind offer.
Doc Greene had provided Cody with thousands of notebooks, equipment, and pocket-sized gadgets in order for Cody to conduct full-scale research for him while he was there, with Optimus Prime's permission of course.
This they had to load into Bumblebee, making him promise over and over to be careful, and not to damage any of the fragile equipment he carried.
In the end, skeptical of the speedy car's ability to go slowly and carefully, they swapped out the gear into Salvage, and stuffed as much as they could into Bumblebee of Cody's belongings, and the rest into Optimus.
Bumblebee was happier to carry Cody's stuff anyway, and he was most interested in his video games and comic books.
Cody figured he would have a friend to play against now, and happily showed his prize possessions off as they were packed.
They had no need to take Cody's bed, because Optimus assured them that he already was in possession of a human bed, tables, bookshelves, books, desks, a computer, bedding, and other human stuff.
There was even clothing, he said, though he admitted it might be a bit too big for Cody.
Kade had asked sharply how he had all of that, but Optimus had merely hung his head and turned away.
Bumblebee had started to respond, but Optimus had suddenly found a use for him, and he had to leave to check on food for Cody, in case they did not have enough freeze-dried food at the base, though Bumblebee beeped softly under his breath, obviously grumbling.
Optimus ignored him.
Cody was trying to say goodbye to everyone all at once, hugging and making promises to friends and family alike.
Graham made him promise to bring him home some samples of new technology, and any new laws about math and science while he was there.
Dani wanted to know if there were any new flying tricks he could pick up from any airborne Bots he met.
Frankie had made him promise to make a video recording everyday for her to watch when he returned, and to bring something back home for her, and to help her catch up to him in school as well.
Kade just sulked, saying that if he weren't coming, why would he want anything from there anyway.
Once again, Cody had to seek the Prime's permission before promising anything, but the great leader seemed almost amused by the humans' requests, and had granted them all their wishes.
The Burns who were not going, well, most of them anyway, were making themselves useful.
Despite his disappointment, Graham had graciously accepted he was not going along and cheerfully helped with the preparations, as did Dani.
Kade, however, was extremely upset he was not coming as well.
"Are you 100% sure there is not enough what's-it-called for me to go along too?" Kade pleaded for the seemingly hundredth time.
"Serum. And yes, I am 100% sure." Optimus patiently told him, keeping in a sigh of irritation.
He was unused to how humans worked, and was not prepared for Kade to not accept what he was told the first time and keep arguing.
However, he noticed that none of the Burns's seemed surprised that the firefighter kept begging, so he kept his temper in check, though he wished he would stop asking.
It made his audios ache just thinking about answering the question once more.
"Stop being jealous, okay? It's not like Cody's winning the Grand Prix without you or anything." Dani gently chided her older brother.
"I'm not jealous." Kade snapped, then looked to the floor. "It's just…" he sighed softly, then glanced back up at his sister. " What if Heatwave doesn't remember me, and all the stuff we've done together when he gets back?" he had a look of despair on his face, and Dani was sharply reminded how much the bad-tempered red Bot meant to her brother.
"It'll be fine." She told him tenderly, bringing him into a quick embrace.
Kade didn't respond, but his eyes searched out Optimus's imposing yellow optics once more and looked into them pleadingly.
Optimus gazed back sternly, before breaking eye contact and turning to the rest of the team once more.
"Are we all ready to go?" he asked.
"Ready!" they all replied, and Optimus transformed and opened his door for Cody to enter.
"As soon as we leave the town, we will need to return to Bot mode and carry the sparklings. It is too dangerous to leave Cody with all four sparklings the whole journey back to the base. They may roll and injure him or themselves. I will move slowly, so as not to jostle them. You will need to keep watch for Decepticons the whole time, as they will see we are in a vulnerable position at once."
"Unless you took me!" Kade, seeing his opportunity, squirmed away from Dani and took several eager steps forward. "With me inside, I can help Cody keep watch over all the babies while you all transform. You'll move faster that way, and if you're avoiding Decepticons, it would be better to move faster." He added deliberately.
Optimus turned to look at him, and this time his look was tinged with sympathy.
"No." He said firmly, then turned away from the frantic firefighter. "Autobots, move out!"
"No." Kade whispered, tears springing into his eyes, and in desperation, he ran full tilt into one of the tunnels, paying no heed to his family's shouts, calling him back to them.
"Optimus!" Chief Burns looked pleadingly at the leader, who had frozen in place when Kade disappeared into the tunnel.
"We must hurry if we intend to leave before your son comes to harm." Optimus stated gravely.
"We will look for him while you move." Chief Charlie stated.
Optimus disagreed. " When I rip the time curtain, he will be frozen in place. When we return, you can send Heatwave to find him. I am sure he won't make it far, as he cannot move faster then us, even at a slowed pace."
Chief Burns looked unconvinced, but nodded anyway.
Starting to go, Optimus hesitated. " Bumblebee," he said and the yellow car transformed quickly back into Bot mode. " I want you to find Kade and return him before we leave the island. Can you do that?"
Bumblebee nodded furiously, and pounded into the tunnel Kade had taken.
"Thank you, Optimus." Chief Burns looked gratefully at his old friend. " I appreciate it."
" It is our duty. So long, Chief, We will see you shortly." Optimus promised, and left with the others.
As the Autobots rolled out, none of them spotted the lone figure hanging from a tree over looking the road and no one saw him gingerly drop down onto the back of Salvage's garage truck, and cling on for dear life.
Kade had noticed Bumblebee was not with them, and he figured the yellow scout must be searching for him.
He just hoped that he was not discovered back here.
All he knew was, wherever his Bot went, he was going too.