Sam turned the corner as he spots the small particles of light floating in the air, travelling through the corridors at a quick rate. And at the sight of them, he was annoyed to all hell. Sure the argument between himself and the Prime left a bitter taste for everyone, but dropping one's holoform just as the other was as much as turn his way was just plain rude at this point. And obviously infuriating. Of course, there were times when he had turned the other way as well, but that only last three days-max. Which included the human locking himself in his room as did Optimus within his office. It was soon to reach two weeks since they talked and the base was choking on the thick air between the two. The mention of the other's name while one of them stood before them earned a death glare far worse than Megatron's.

After that night, Sam had strongly assured the Autobots that he'd get the right amount of rest. They had made him promise to do so, which had forced him back into his bed and continuing the cycle of nightmares. In return, he got his healthy complexion back, but at the price of some peaceful sleep. At a few points, he was about ready to give up and tell the others about it. But the thought of them being hindered by the human once more rose. So he kept his mouth quiet and smiled like he always did.

Will, Epps and the rest of the Autobots were given the rundown from Bee of what happened, warning them to possibly avoid the subject at all cost. Sadly, that was proving harder than it actually was for the group as most of their days cross over with at least one of the two. If not, then both. And it was only going to get much harder for the rest when a certain someone had requested them of something.

Pushing forward, Sam found the two well-known soldiers conversing between each other, looking as if they were arguing. Approaching them, the young adult listened in mid-conversation.

"Why should I tell him?" Lennox inquired, looking as if he been asked to swallow shards of glass.

"He's way more comfortable if you told him." Epps reasoned, the other soldier pressing his lips together and shaking his head. "What if I paid you?"

"No! I know the difference between an offer and a death sentence! No way in hell am I telling Sam."

"Tell me what?" The Witwicky questioned, curious and somewhat amused when the two older men jumped and gave each a curse. The two gave nervous chuckles as they shuffled further away, almost as if trying to escaped.

"H-Hey, kid. How've you been doin'?" Robert asked, Sam rolling his eyes when that famous line was brought up. Every time someone had used it, it meant they had something to hide. Most likely from Sam. He couldn't say why, but more often than not, people have trouble giving him the truth face-to-face.

"Okay, let's skip the part where I pretend I don't know what you're talking about and just tell me what you guys know." He spoke blatantly, his lips forming a straight line while his eyes revealed a slightly peeved expression. The two soldiers exchanged a glance, giving in with a sigh when they knew they didn't have a chance when facing the Witwicky.

"Well… Optimus asked us to tell you that he wants to speak with you in his office."

"Alone." Epps added after William had finished. And if Sam wasn't impressed before by the 'disappearing act' the Prime pulled off, then he certainly wasn't now while his lips made a frown. A new sigh escaped his lips as the passive-death glare was shot at the two.

"Tell him that I won't." The young adult instructed, turning his back and making way back to his room.

The two humans left behind looked between each other once more. After a short silence, Robert spoke up quickly.

"Not it."


Sam turned up to the sound of footsteps outside of his door. Not long after, a few quick knocks came. Sam didn't even bat an eye before raising his speaking volume.

"Forget it, Bee. He knows what he has to do."

There was silence, then the quick sounds of footsteps sprinting away from the door. Sam flicked to the next page of his book, wondering what other ridiculous plan he was going to try next.


Cramped into Optimus' office, six different holoforms stood in front of the Prime's table, where he sat and stared up at all of them. In a sense, this would be mutiny. Fortunately, the only reason they were there and crowding the small room was because of a couple complaints they had decided to compile together. There was no amount of words that could describe the awkward tension the room had generated.

Optimus looked to each of them and waited for one to speak up. Not too surprisingly, the medic had begun. "I would suggest to stop stalling and just face the boy."

"But-"

"Prime. You have no idea how hard it is to talk to him, or you at that matter." Mirage cut in.

"Think carefully on what you're going to say. If it's another excuse, I'm not afraid to lock you two in the same room." Ironhide warned as the leader shut his gaped mouth for a moment to think.

"… What exactly does he want me to do?"

"I think you can answer that yourself." The silver and orange twin said in unison, staring at each other for a moment before shrugging it off.

"You owe it to him, Optimus. Though we don't agree with what we heard him say that night, you spoke some harsh things to him as well." Arcee added.

The Autobot leader sat in thought while his hands drew together. Without haste, the group continued to throw word after word of encouragement towards Optimus. It was either that or death threats from the more violent ones out of the group. Each giving a different reason on why he shouldn't waste time. And in a matter of moments, he had made a decision.


When knocks came to his door the second time that day, he had to glance up at the kitchen clock. 9:47. The two hadn't talked for one week, six days, seventeen hours and thirty-three minutes. And in that time, it took the leader of sentient beings one week, six days, twelve hours and fifteen minutes to finally get the message… Not that he was counting. It was just too bad that the Prime had come when he was in the middle of cooking himself lasagne.

A sigh left his lips as he pulled off the oven mitts, throwing them onto the table while another set of four knocks came, much slower than the last set. One way Sam could tell it was the Cybertronian was by the knocks. Always four. He thought to himself. And as he made his way to the entrance, his hand slipped up and landed on the handle, twisting it open and pulling it back. Luckily, the scene played out differently than his first day on the base.

The two stayed motionless for a second while Sam observed the holoform's body language. Not surprising to see the man frowning a few centimetres lower as his gaze showed no form of emotion. It might have been regret or guilt, but the Witwicky wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. And as much as he wanted not to, the pity side of his head allowed the guest to enter.

"Come in." He said, stepping aside for a moment and the holoform trudged (yes, 'trudged') in with a small 'thank you' lower than a whisper.

If Optimus hadn't been guilt-ridden by his actions, he would have noticed that the first two words to come out of the Witwicky since a week ago had sounded more like an order than anything else. After the door had shut, the Prime watched as the human walked passed him, into the kitchen and pulled on two oven mitts.

"Take a seat." Another 'order' was given.

"…" The Cybertroninan abided the instruction as Sam went to work on cooking. Optimus said nothing for the time being, choosing silence over speaking. Probably deciding for the best. If he had spoken, Samuel would've been more infuriated of how Optimus talks while his back is turned. If they were going to have a talk, he'd rather do it face to face. And by the way they've been acting, this was going to be a real long talk.

Samuel continued until it was five past ten, when he had finally finished and had sat himself down with a plate of food, a glass of water and a few utensils. Letting the food simmer off on the side, Sam stared blankly at Optimus as the Cybertronian did the same. A few minutes passed as while Sam waited for the leader to talk, Optimus waited for the human to talk. This then began a mental battle of wits until the Cybertronian had pried his lips open to speak.

"I'm sorry, Samuel." The Autobot apologised. Sam stayed quiet a little longer. "I'm sorry for my last orders given. I'm sorry for raising my voice against you. And I'm sorry for trying to contact you via other means when I should have come face-to-face with you." Still, as Optimus kept his gaze on the young adult, no reply came. His eyes fell lower at this. "I do not wish of you to forgive me. I do not wish of anything from you at all. I only want you to know how I feel every time I see you… I'm sorry…"

"…" A prick of guilt struck his heart as he knew the mech shouldn't be the only one apologising in a situation like this. Down-casting his gaze as well, he found himself staring intently at the space separating them. A breath left his mouth for the third time that day. "I guess… I'm sorry as well. I know I worried you guys by staying up and all, but I do have reasons." Optimus turned his eyes up at the statement.

"It's just that… I can't tell you guys them yet." This troubled the Prime with the fact that the young adult had been holding secrets. Especially if it's ones that he couldn't even tell his closest friends. Soon about to question it, he was stopped by the Witwicky's palm raising. "Don't. Just listen."

Optimus stopped himself from talking, but that didn't include his mind which was still revolving around the subject. "These reasons I know, they're something you don't have to worry about… yet… If it gets too a point where it's needed, I'll tell you guys. For now, just trust me and let me this one thing."

There were many problems with this that the leader had wanted to point out. But remembering his position in the present as well as the reason he was here in the first place, he nodded and returned to his calm demeanour. After he had confirmed that he wouldn't question the reasons, Sam continued.

"Anyways, I'm sorry for not giving the full details on those nights and for making you all worry. But," He took a breath. "I can't say I'm fully sorry about what I said about my safety. I know how you guys think I might get attacked at any moment without someone watching me, but I'm not as useless as everyone thought out me to be. I've been taking classes on self-defence, I've been exercising regularly. And if I ever see a Decepticon, I know I have to run like hell or call one of you."

"But we don't think you're useless." Optimus defended. "We think you don't see the dangers of walking outside in the middle of the night. And when I say dangers, I don't just mean Decepticons. I've seen news, reports, cases where other humans do such violent acts upon each other. Humans such as Sector Seven, who've threatened you and Mikaela before. We fear that one day we wake up and you'd have disappeared off the face of the planet."

"I get that. But you know as well as I do that you guys can't be around at all times. Sometimes because of work, other times maybe because I need some space. But knowing that it's you guys, I won't be left alone for too long. So even if it's a little while, I'll be fine." Sam flashed a small smile before dropping it when the leader had returned his eyes back to the table. Once again, the two were left in silence.

"… I… I understand." Optimus hesitantly said.

"Do you?" The Witwicky questioned.

"… Yes, I do. Once again, I am sorry for everything; giving that order to Ratchet, and for reaching you via other means." A small bow confirmed those words as Sam looked to the Prime. Sam sat in his seat for the longest moment, waiting for one other thing he had wanted the Autobot to apologise about. Well, not so much apologise. Rather more 'explain'. A few seconds passed by before he figured the mech wasn't going to continue.

Almost awkwardly, he asked, "… Is that all?"

Optimus pulled his head back up and gave a unique expression to the question. Something between surprised and wonder on what he had missed. "Was there something I had forgotten?"

Another flashback came, this time revolving around how things ended that night. He wanted to say it, but chose best not to during a completely unrelated topic. A small shake of his head came before a reply. "No, it's nothing…"

Optimus must've had a sixth sense at this moment as he quickly picked up on the unsatisfied tone in the reply. That, and how Samuel had just turned his head away to a corner of the room. "Sam. If everything should return to the way it should, then I must address all the things I have done wrong. Please, tell me."

"… Seriously, it's nothing… Don't worry about it." He denied. But the Prime kept pushing.

"You paused. Please tell me what I have missed."

"I'm telling you, it's nothing. You're forgiven, big guy."

"Sam-"

The two turned to the loud slam of the door opening as they faced the holoform of the yellow Camaro standing there with a nonchalant look on his expression. They both raised their eyebrows towards the blonde.

"Bee?" The two said in unison.

"Sorry captain. Orders from Ratchet. No one but Sam in his room past 10:30."

Optimus had his brow rise a few millimetres higher. "What?"

"Told ya'." Sam whispered lowly.

"Sorry. Can't argue with the ol' medic. You know how he is about his patients." Bee reasoned as it took a moment for the other holoform to process it. Once he did, he gave a nod before the blonde left the room, leaving the door ajar. Optimus stood up from his seat as he looked down to his human friend.

"We'll have to continue tomorrow." The mech said regrettably whilst he pushed his chair in.

"If there is anything to continue." Sam returned.


The next morning was a piece of work for the Witwicky. Had to say, wasn't exactly surprised to see the Prime standing at his doorway, but he wasn't calm about it either. And so the leader began his interrogating once more, following the young adult around the entire day. He wouldn't have minded the company, but when the Prime had continued to ask about their last discussion every hour or so, it ticked the human off.

I mean, he thought the leader was trying to 'make-up' with him, not annoy him even further with overprotectiveness. He was used to the mother-hen that Bee and Ratchet would turn into every now and then, but with the way Optimus said it, it was like his life was in constant danger.

When they came to the rec-room once more, Sam busied himself with the television, trying his best to ignore the holoform who sat next to, occasionally asking once more about last night. When Sam had to ask 'don't you have any work you have to do?', Optimus answered that he had completed every form and files for the entire week. Sam had taken a moment to curse silently before others had joined the two in the room. The group included Will and Prowl only. Sam thanked the gods that someone had finally joined the two of them as nothing could make it more tensed.

Small greetings aside, the four took respective seats as they begun talking again, luckily the Prime had stayed silent within the conversation.

"So you think we should have a party?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah! A sort of… Early-Christmas. We've missed out on Thanksgiving (which just passed) because of Chicago and all the work we've been rushing about doing, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't prepare for Christmas!" Will suggested.

"Don't you have your family? Shouldn't you be with them on that day?"

"I will. I was thinking we have a small party a week before Christmas, giving us time to make it to our families before the day. From there, we'll take a week off until the next year." Will explained, realising what he just said while in front of the sole Witwicky. A pitying look comes over Lennox's expression as he looked to the young adult. "Ah, sorry…"

It took a moment before Sam realised what he meant. "Don't worry. I'm over it." A smile coming up to assure he was fine. Only, the smile twitched only had the Autobots noticing. "Anyways, how are you going to get it done? You all still have work. At best, I'd be the one planning everything while you guys are busy."

"True. But that's why I thought you could plan it all." He stated, surprise washing over everyone but the soldier. He coughed to allow himself to continue. "Well, not all of it obviously. Just some of the stuff we need like foods, drinks, music, etcetera, etcetera. We'll take care of the rest like schedules, invitations, and a few other things. We'll give you some money, seeing as you are out of work right now, so you can choose what to do with it."

Pressing his lips together, Sam shook his vigorously. "MmMmm. Bad idea. I wouldn't know what to do even if you told me."

"Come on, Sam. Have a little faith in yourself. You're a fully educated adult now. A few things shouldn't be too hard. We'll even make a list off the things we need." The soldier offered, still getting a nervous and flustered look from the Witwicky.

Sam was still nervous only planning anything. Best he could plan were dates, and even then, you couldn't expect much from him. "… I-I guess… I c-can try." He accepted, earning a respective smile from Lennox. "But don't expect much. I still don't have any clue on where to start."

"Don't worry. You got a full two weeks!"

"… That doesn't help…" He muttered.

"Sorry. The idea was on the spot. Didn't think of it until last night."

Sighing, he turned to the Prime who had been silent the entire time. "What do you think of this, big guy?" Optimus was confused on why the human would ask him, but nonetheless answered.

"Of the five years we've been here, we've never had the chance to explore the human holiday. And as much as I see that it is inefficient to lose a weeks-worth of work, I think that we deserve it after the battle with Sentinel. I approve of it."

Next, Sam turned to Prowl. "And your schedules?"

"If Prime approves, I'll try my best to cope." Prowl said, overlapping his arms over his chest.

"That settles it then." Will returned. "With Optimus' 'stamp of approval' and Prowl's agreement, we can start planning!"

"Great…" He responded in a sarcastic tone.

And so, the four began discussing the setup of the party. Most of which the two Autobots were clueless about in human customs and had allowed the two humans the spotlight while they gave small opinions when asked as well as other needs that had to be approved. It wasn't much though, so that saved them some time. Only an hour of talking had passed before Will had been pulled away by a soldier and Prowl remembered he still had training lessons with both sets of twins, leaving the two to roam around the building once more.

While they walked, Sam continued to busy himself with the few notes, Optimus trailing behind him at a slower pace. He had a few things he could do by the end of tonight which he could ask for some help from the leader behind him. But seeing as there was only one reason the holoform was still following him, there was fat chance that he'd ask. Speaking of which…

"Sam, are you ready to discuss that now?"

Sam gritted his teeth and allowed the notes in his hand to fall over each other as he huffed a breath towards the Autobot's way. "What is wrong with you?" Throwing his hands up and hunching his shoulders. "Why can't you just believe that nothing is wrong. You had apologised for everything you needed to. I forgive you as well as am sorry myself." He listed with his fingers. "There's nothing more beyond that, so can we just leave it in the past?"

Optimus crossed his arms and gave an unsatisfied look once more. "I tend to give friends and families the benefit of doubt most of the time. But at this point, I see from experience that you're not telling me something."

"Fine! There's something you missed when you were apologising!" He admitted, finally having enough of the pointless bother. It didn't matter at this point as Samuel is already over the entire ordeal. No harm could be done with him knowing Optimus' past… right?

"Glad you finally complied."

The young adult pinched the bridge of his nose and gave an exasperated sigh. "Look, the thing you missed out was-"

.: Optimus! :. The Prime jumped from the sudden comm from the weapons specialist, scaring the human in front of him when he saw the leader tense and widen his eyes. A Cybertronian curse left Optimus' lips as he replied quickly back to the black mech. It didn't take much for Sam to figure out that the holoform was having a chat in his head as he found they would be looking up at the ceiling when they did so. Great timing as well…

.: What is it Ironhide? I'm in the middle of an important discussion with Sam. :.

.: Oops. Sorry, but I think you should come to the communication room. :.

.: Is it important? :. He questioned.

.: Most likely. We just picked up a new distress signal. Cybertronian. :. Ironhide stated.

.: … Alright. I'll be there shortly. Try and establish communications while I do. :.

.: Already working on it. Over and out. :. The comm-link ended as the Prime returned back to reality. He was about to apologise to the Witwicky for the interruption, stopping himself when he found that the human used the time whilst he was on the comm to make a clean-getaway. In his real body, he could feel his processor heat up from everything occurring in the few minutes just now.

Thinking best, he turned on his feet and set off for the communication room.


Entering the domain, Optimus was met with a dimly lit room with cables running just about at every point of the room. He was surprised how none could not trip in such an environment, but he guessed most of the ones that worked here, usually switching between Ratchet and Prowl, are careful. Or at least as careful as they could be. At the back of the room were rows and sets of screens as each one held a different sensor. Behind them were most of the older Autobots, all huddling around the monitor showing a flatline.

Optimus stood behind the bots, opening his audios out for the conversation between Ratchet and the signal. It had seemed they had already established communication. But as a voice came over the radio, both the leader and weapons specialist had tensed.

"This is Lumos Aria. We have been stranded for many vorns now, undertaking hyper-space recharge to conserve energon rations. But we have steadily been losing more each vorn unless we can find a deposit. Please indicate if there are any around your vicinity." The voice asked in Cybertronian, sounding as if a plea.

Optimus pushed through the crowd to the front, earning a few 'heys' from those pushed. As he leant down to the microphone, he looked to the speaker and spoke Cybertronian. "Ariel, is that you?"

There was silence, then the voice returned. "Orion Pax?"

The Prime, had it not been for his pride, would've broken down on the spot. Joyous as his mate had finally returned.


A few hours later…

Optimus waited patiently as the ship holding his sparkmate and her team touched down beside the base, many troops and most of the other Autotbots waiting to greet them upon their arrival. Only one not present was the scout and his charge, most likely unaware of the arrival of anybody. Optimus believed it'd make a great surprise to introduce them to one another sooner or later. Ironhide, who stood behind him along with Prowl and Ratchet, thought otherwise. For occasions like these, the group had chosen their true forms, seeing as it'd be better that they had greeted their own race with similar faces.

As the fairly large ship landed, a large hangar door on the side of the spacecraft opened, revealing a set of stair down to the Earth, Optimus standing just before it with a smile tugging his metallic lips. When he met her optics, he used every bit of his willpower to restrain himself from running towards the femme and crushing her with a large hug. And as his sparkmate walked down the set of steps, he waited patiently.

Elita-1 looked the same as usual. Sharp edges in her external frame, a pale orange armour over her white body, and a small pistol holstered by a strap to her thigh. On the other leg, a hidden knife that matched her armour and had been cladded the same as the pistol. Her eyes resembling the blue of Optimus', but still darker than Bumblebee's.

And as the distance between the two decreased, the large mech noticed something, his face twitching just a second to reveal his concern.

There's no pulse. He thought. As far back as he could remember, every time the two would meet optics or come into a close radius, then there'd be a pulse shotting through his spark. A must for those who are bonded. Built into their body when a Cybertronian meets their sparkmate. It was something like that of a skipping heartbeat, in human terms. But more than that as one would be able to detect the other's emotions through it. And yet, nothing. Not even the revving of their engine's within their sparks had shown a sign of movement. And Optimus wasn't the only who had noticed, as the two stopped to stare at each other.

Their senses brought back to reality when a few more steps came down the staircase. Looking behind her, the other discovered her teammate, Firestar, proceeding down while she scanned her surroundings with a soft blue light. The second femme cladded crimson red and vermillion orange armour which covered her body from the neck to pede. Her body a pale yellow under the armour and like Elita, a gun holstered to her leg. Her green eyes differing from past Autobots.

"This look like a great planet. With this many organisms, Greenlight and Lancer would have a field-vorn on it." The red Autobot commented, making her way to stand beside her leader. Elita shook her head as an Autobot version of a smile had struck her face.

"I guess we should ourselves lucky that Orion had settled in the place before us." The Prime smirked at the comment and looked down to the human captain with him, noticing how he was signalling Optimus, 'what are they saying?'. Turning back, he cut in the short conversation.

"Before I forget, I would advise that we speak the language the inhabitants of this planet can understand. It'd make it simpler for me to introduce you to them." Optimus explained as he gestured to the smaller lifeforms below them. While small, there were many. And armed as well. The two took a moment of both download the English dictionary into their processors and had asked the same of their teammates, who were still inside, over the comm-links. The first to try out their vocals was Elita, who kneeled down to the beings while a small scanner of hers looked them over.

"Greetings, inhabitants. My designation is Elita-1, and I am the leader of this ship, Lumos Aria. And this is my co-pilot, Firestar." She greeted, her voice giving off a heavy American accent. "We are thankful that you have allowed us into your world."

Lennox, being the captain, was the one to step up and talk, placing his hands on his hips while he stood proudly before the femme Autobot. "No problem. I am William Lennox. Captain Commander of NEST Headquarters and temporary ambassador for Autobots and humans." Will introduced.

Elita nodded to this before standing back up. "Ariel," Optimus called as Ironhide clicked his glossa in the background. "I have to say I am quite overjoyed to see you after so long. But I must ask sooner or later, what had happened on your mission?" The femme looked worried to speak as her optics drifted lower.

"We should… talk about this inside… where only Autobots hear of it…" The Prime nodded before his servos pulled up to the femme's side in comforting gesture.

"Of course… But you should also be informed, events have transpired while your ship was away." Optimus spoke calmly as he began to lead his sparkmate towards the building with an arm wrapped around her side.

It was lucky he had his eyes on the femme, or else he would've noticed Sam's eyes as he had watched from the side, Bumblebee with him looking just as much as the same. After watching the rest follow in as a few more femme-Autobots exited the ship, Sam had left as well. His eyes the ones of someone betrayed.