Chapter Nine: A Matter of Recall

Samantha leaned into the turn as Knockout banked right. Her hands gripped lightly to the handle bars even as her legs hugged tightly to the angular frame of the Autobot's terrestrial disguise. A slight smirk graced her lips from under the blue, silver, and black, full-face motorcycle helmet William Lennox had bought for her online.

She really did love Knockout's alt. mode.

He was taking her now to go talk to Optimus Prime. Ever since Spring Break when Jolt had arrived, which had been barely two weeks ago, she had been trying to process the fact that she was never going to get the chance to have her normal, human life. She had figured it out on her own that even if the Allspark left her, she would still be apart from the other humans. It still wrenched her heart to think that she was going to have to watch her parents age and died, her friends, and Heaven forbid if she had children…

Shaking her head quickly to free herself of those disturbing thoughts, she allowed her mind to drift back to a week ago when she'd gotten to meet Kaminari Ishihara, who insisted she call her Kami. The woman was a literal whip with her mind. The cyberneticist had been easy to befriend and already they had a shared shopping day set, Autobot escort included of course.

She and Kami had argued with the Bumper-Car Twins over the proper use of the elder woman's computer. It had been quite humorous for those passing by to see the duo literally fritzing out when they could think of nothing to say to Kami's reasoning.

The woman didn't really fit the bill of a stereotypical cyberneticist. When one thought of a cyberneticist, they might think of a Steve Urkel of sorts, maybe even Jerry Lewis. Surely no one would picture a woman with long, tanned legs, dark brown eyes, sleek black hair hanging down to her buttocks, and pursed pink lips. She held a kind of exotic beauty that most women wished they could have. Mike had met the woman as well, but he claimed that Sam was more beautiful. She'd just laughed at his loyalty to their friendship. Sure she was pretty, but she wasn't 'all that'.

Knockout soared up the incline leading to the bluff and Sam felt herself hug closer to his tank or whatever it was under that imitation piece. She still got confused on what parts ended up where when any Cybertronian underwent a transformation. The smaller the Cybertronian, the more confused she got.

When Knockout came to a standstill Samantha sat back, braced her feet on either side of him, and set her eyes on the Peterbilt semi sitting somewhat inconspicuously before them. It wouldn't be fair to say that Optimus totally fit into the scenery around him especially here. A rest stop parking lot? Sure. At the precipice of a bluff overlooking the small town of Tranquility? Not so much.

"Hello Samantha." The Prime spoke with a deep level of warmth that made her fight back a blush.

"Howdy." She called back from under the facemask of her helmet. With a smooth flick of her right leg she dismounted from Knockout. The smaller Autobot revved his engine before engaging his hologram which happened to be a stunningly gorgeous Channing Tatum-type guy and roared off down the incline to give them privacy. Samantha chuckled as she watched Knockout perform a flawless wheelie before disappearing from sight.

"Why do y'all take on holograms so attractively designed? Wouldn't it be more, I don't know, unnoticeable to other humans if you used average looking holograms?" She queried as she strode up to the semi.

"As we do not frequent the same locations with the exception of Tranquility often I allow my soldiers to choose their holograms at will. It is our way of relating ourselves as closely as we can to humans." Optimus explained simply.

"So you're saying that if you were human the holograms that you are showing us are pretty exact to how you might look?" When she received approval of that theory, she huffed. "Well dang! A whole faction of warrior supermodels; I'm a lucky girl."

With a chuckle she pulled the helmet from her head and shook her braid free. Her hair had grown longer in these past months. It now licked at her upper thighs and was constantly growing. It got to the point that she had to cut it every couple of weeks or else she'd have six more inches of hair by the end of two months. Her nails were just as bad.

"How do you enjoy the riding outfit Major Lennox purchased for you?" The Prime queried as she stripped out of the matching black and blue motorcycle jacket. She looked over both the items before setting them carefully onto the ground.

"They're wonderful. The jacket is heavy, but that's just because of all the padding. I love the helmet. I'd never seen a design like it. I especially like the glyphs Jazz put to the right of the visor. He told me that they mean sacrifice and victory." She beamed up at the grill of the semi. "They're great, Big Guy. Thank you all for getting them for me. I know that Will didn't pay for them with his own money."

"It is not our money, either, Sweetspark." Optimus assured her with a chuckle as he underwent his shift back over into his bipedal form. "It is the money belonging to your government. A great deal of what is funded to NEST is secured for our private use. We have very little need for the funds outside of militant purposes."

"Ah." Was as all she said.

"Come here, Sweetspark." Optimus commanded softly as he lowered his right hand so that she could mount it. With a light smile she did so. The Prime lifted her up towards his chest even as he sat down facing the drop-off. She knew that while he looked exposed, Optimus was well aware of everything around him. If anyone were to come up to the bluff he'd be transformed back into his semi form before they could see anything.

Besides that, Samantha had little doubt that Knockout was keeping an optic open even farther out to give them even more warning.

"So," she began with a deep sigh, "what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Of my past, Sweetspark." Optimus gazed down at her from his substantial height before returning his optics back out onto the horizon. The sun was coming close to licking over the rim of the distant mountains now. The sky had begun to take on its fading hues. "And of you and your future. With us."

"Oh." She mumbled, settling herself fully back into his warm chassis.

This would be the first time that she'd get to hear of the real Optimus. She'd become as close to him as any of the other 'bots, but the Prime chiefly kept to himself. She couldn't begrudge him this. He had fought for centuries, led his men in a war that seemed never-ending, and served as the backbone of the entire Autobot faction. She thought that he deserved his peace and some solitude when he could afford to relish in it.

"Before I was Optimus Prime, I functioned as a data clerk. My name was Orion in those times." Optimus began, his optics growing darker as he remembered back to the times of his 'youth'. "I was literally Sparked to be a data clerk. I was the best at what I did. I could call up any file, any image, any words spoken half a world away in a nano-klik. I had Intel that could have usurped our High Council and brought a devastating end to our way of life. Of course any change such as that would not be welcomed at all.

"You see, Cybertron had centered around what humans call a caste system. Any Cybertronian was Sparked for a certain purpose and lived a certain way in a specific station. I was made a data clerk and I would have offlined as a data clerk if the War had not begun."

Samantha thought on that a moment. She'd learned about the caste system in Social Studies years ago. Unbelievably, even in the 2000s, the caste system was still in use. The rich were born rich and would always be rich. The poor were born poor and would always remain that way. A plumber's son would become a plumber as well. A lawyer's son would become a lawyer. There was no room for movement and even if there was it would not have been permitted. Unlike in America, at least the America that is broadcasted to the rest of the world, these countries had no chance of making a better life for themselves. There were no rags to riches stories. In these countries if you were born on the lowest rung of society you would remain there for your entire, pitiful life.

"In the time before the War there were battles held underground in gladiatorial rings. The High Council turned a blind eye to these battles as they helped to relieve the tension created in our society. The gladiators were of the lowest castes. They were the manual laborers that worked in our mines deep underground. I had intercepted wavelengths from these rings and become quite obsessed with them. I spent countless hours entering data-pack upon data-pack of information into our logs on the gladiators, their battles, and their revolutionary ideas."

Optimus was silent a moment then, his optics flaring brightly as a wave of regret, anger, awe, and finally apathy washed over their shared bond. Sam had to press a hand to her head to sort through the chaotic emotions running through her.

It was always so stressful upon her body to have to handle not only her emotions, but the other 'bots as well. It was one of the main reasons that she was trying to fortify her mental shields. It would keep the other 'bots out to a certain extent and keep her from entering theirs through her side of the bond.

"There was one Cybertronian that never lost in the gladiatorial rings. He was superior to all and sought to act outside of his caste. He gave himself a name, a name once held by one of the original thirteen Primes.

"His name was Megatronus."

Samantha gasped in disbelief as her eyes bulged. She whipped her head upwards to gape at Optimus, but he was not looking at her. He was staring out onto the horizon with distant optics.

"Megatronus was a radical. He spoke out against our way of life. He acted against it. In his battles he was later given the name Megatron. He was unstoppable. His words, his speeches, I idolized him, but I was also confused. So I held council with my mentor and supervisor, Alpha Trion. He encouraged me to keep an optic on Megatron and continue collecting data.

"I needed to do so much more, though. I was inspired by Megatron and his ideals. In time I sought to speak with him in person. We were never silent amongst each other. We always got into one argument or another. Megatron was a revolutionary and preferred physical confrontation. I was the inspirational speaker, so to speak. We were as different in some regards as the Sun and moon. The only fact that we agreed upon was that Cybertron needed a new way of life. We needed to get out of the caste system and into something better, grander. We needed to get back to the time of when Iacon was first created.

"Megatron and I became what you might call 'brothers' after a time together. We fought for the same ends and supported each other without question. Although we shared no bonds our comradery was something to behold. We were closer than business partners, but lesser than familial. Our brotherhood was similar to that of two children brought together through marriage and declaring an attachment to the other as family, though there is no blood similarity."

Thinking on it Samantha thought that she understood. There were many families that married together and the children would come to see each other as family even though they did not share a collective genetic similarity. The movie 'Four Brothers' came directly to mind when she thought about it.

Optimus had grown grown close to Megatron and he to Optimus in their struggles to overcome their stations in life. They relied upon each other. They trusted each other. It was simple to assume that they became attached to one another. No amount of trust is exchanged without at least feeling some depth of feeling for another being.

In hearing this Samantha had to wonder to herself what the old Megatron had been like. She couldn't imagine Optimus joining a cause with a madman even if he was 'young'. The Prime affirmed that Megatron had always been a physical being, but maybe in those earlier times he hadn't been as bloodthirsty. She had to think that there was something, somewhere along the way that messed with the Decepticon leader's circuitry. Fighting was one thing, Ironhide liked to fight, but insanity was another. Starscream was insane and obviously Megatron had slipped into that realm somewhere along the line.

Optimus's voice brought her back from her musings with a start.

"I inadvertently revealed myself as a 'revolutionary' when I supported Megatron on one of his radical views through the data wavelengths. I then became a full part of the organization and took part in the movements against our society. It is with great regret that I tell you that the more power our organization gained, the more violent our movements became. Though Megatron denied his involvement, he plotted the destruction of Six Lasers Over Cybertron, a kind of amusement park that only those of the highest castes were permitted to enter. He was unable to refute, though, the kidnapping of Sentinel Prime by Sentinel's own Seeker bodyguards. You would know one of the Seekers by the name of Starscream and his trinity, Thundercracker and Skywarp.

"In time Alpha Trion garnered Megatron and I an audience with the High Council. They were hostile with us from the very beginning. Megatron disproved of his involvement in any of the violent movements against the High Council, but held to his guns that the caste system should be eradicated…including the High Council. He was awarded the title of Decepticon then. It had been a name coined by his followers. His testimony was not taken to Spark as his thoughts and words were brash. He could not make the Council understand in a way that they could understand and was not willing to conform to reach that understanding.

"When it came time to plead my own case I was more diplomatic. I made them see that we had fallen as a race and would continue to fall if we remained as we were. Before I was Sparked there had been a freer society for all in which we overcame many obstacles. In our then current system we would have had no hope of defending and bettering ourselves as we had in the past. Halogen, a High Council member, had deemed me an Autobot by my words then.

"I came to discover later that the Council had seen the wisdom in my words that day. They were forced to look into themselves and see how low our society had fallen as a whole. They had realized some time before either Megatron or I arose that our society was doomed to fall to the Pits if they did not change their ways, but often change is frightening. The High Council was old even by Cybertronian terms. At their age the effort it would take to bring about a change would have been detrimental to their continued existence.

"Though they were enraged with Megatron and I for how we had deemed to back our cause they had seen the possibilities through us. When they accepted our audience that day they had been well aware that we would usher in a new age for all of Cybertron, but they were testing us. They needed to find the one of us that would truly lead everymech into the new world. It was my plea that solidified my new place in society as a whole.

Halogen appointed me a new status, something entirely unheard of in the vorns since Iacon had been constructed, and given me a new name. While it was true that they accepted me as a new leader, as the 'revolutionary mastermind' that had been trying so desperately to bring us out of our own Dark Ages, he understood that a data clerk was not going to garner the same respect as one of the Elite. So in that moment I was no longer Orion Pax, data clerk; I was designated Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots and Commander of the Cybertronian armies."

Samantha sat in complete awe as she listened to Optimus's tale. She had been allowed to know certain facts of Cybertronian history and had been forced to witness some of the more devastating incidents within her dreams, but she had never heard the tale of how the Autobots and Decepticons had come to despise each other. How the War had actually started.

Now that she was getting the chance to hear the story she wasn't sure if she still wanted to know. She had a weird feeling that this was all just going to get worse.

"Megatron was vindictive. He believed that I had planned all along to usurp him and be elevated in status. He was so enraged that he offlined Halogen at that very moment. In order to avoid further offlining I pled with him to take the battle outside of the Council halls. It was a strategic retreat on both of our parts, but that was far from the end of things.

"Iacon became the Autobot stronghold as Megatron led a path of destruction over the rest of the planet. With the Wreckers' aid we were able to combat the Decepticon combiners such as Devastator, who was a monolith in size and power. It was at the battle of Praxus that the decision was made to launch the Allspark into space to keep it out of Megatron's claws. We could not withstand his advances as it was. If he harnessed the power of the Allspark we would have been no more. Bumblebee lost his vocorder during the subsequent battle on Tyger Pax. In truth he was quite fortunate. At Tyger Pax more Sparks were lost than could be counted.

"In searching for a new combat method since the Allspark was no longer at his disposal Megatron harnessed the power of Dark Energon. Starscream had revealed to him the location of the only vast stores of the Unicron infused energon and Megatron was more than willing to use any weapon at his disposal. Dark Energon has the same properties as pure energon, but yields the same results as cocaine might on a human as well as packing a punch ten times that of pure energon. It is an addictive power source. Without it a Cybertronian will go mad if they had been exposed to it beforehand.

Megatron became greedy. He fought and fought our armies to the brink of destruction, all the while infusing Dark Energon into his mechs. He eventually sought to control the Plasma Energy Chamber to turn Cyberton's core into Dark Energon on top of controlling the Tripticon Station which housed his only other stock of rapidly depleting Dark Energon. He destroyed Sentinel Prime in order to obtain the necessary power to wield the Plasma Energy Chamber.

"We failed in our efforts, even with Omega Supreme's help, to keep the Plasma Energy Chamber out of Megatron's claws. Omega Supreme, a literal Cybertronian city-sized Autobot, could not withstand Megatron's advances under the influence of Dark Energon. Without preamble, Megatron converted Cybertron's core to Dark Energon and succeeded in providing his army in a limitless source of the vile energon."

Samantha began to rub her palms over Optimus's chest plates, deliberately releasing small amounts of Allspark energy as she did so in order to calm the hulking leader. She could feel his hazarding emotions and it sickened her. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she had little doubt that the impact his emotions were having on her were going to cause her to 're-live' his experiences in a Night Terror tonight.

It always happened like that. Whenever any one of the 'bots told her stories of their past, when their emotions were at their strongest, she lived through their memories as if she really was one of them. Countless times already she had found herself on the battlefield defending some outpost against the Decepticon scourge.

Yet she could not tell any of the Autobots of her dreams. How could she? The dreams were too vivid and taxing on her. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that some part of her body was accessing their memory cores and playing their experiences back to her. If it was the Allspark's doing, she would learn to harness the ability in time. If it was simply the nanites taking control…well, she didn't want to become a permanent resident of Ratchet's infirmary if she could help it.

And keeping quiet about the 'Recall', as she had come to call it, would keep her away from that overprotective medic at least for a little while.

"We were able to retrieve the Plasma Energy Chamber from the core of Cybertron thanks to Bumblebee's scouting, but the Dark Energon did its damage. The Cybertronian race was forced to flee the planet due to its inhabitable terrain. It would recover over vorns, but to stay would mean losing all those left from the War due to starvation. It was not an option that I was willing to take. I had shouldered enough offlining to crush me a million times over under its weight. I would not be the one to condemn what was left of the Cybertronian race to destruction.

"Many Autobot and Neutral ships were destroyed when we tried to abandon Cybertron. The Decepticons wanted to see every Cybertronian, every Autobot, offlined. Alpha Trion helped us to create the Ark, the largest spaceship ever created in Cybertronian history, which we fled on. Alpha Trion stayed behind with the Wreckers and Omega Supreme in order to defend what was left of our stronghold. The Decepticons followed after us in the Nemesis, Sparks set on seeing to our end. It was only through the power of the last remaining spacebridge that we were able to flee. It sent both ships to separate areas in space and saved the Autobots from being annihilated.

"It was on the ship, though, that my second in command, Prowl, picked up on the signal of the Allspark. We have been searching ever since."

"Oh, Optimus." Samantha huffed out, her cheek coming to rest against the warmed metal of his chassis. She concentrated hard when she received no response from the Prime and nearly choked when two voices echoed in her mind as clearly as if they had been spoken aloud.

"We will always be brothers." A hauntingly familiar voice growled out. "We are bound together. You cannot escape me, brother. I will hound you across the stars if I must, until every star in the galaxy has burned itself into a cinder. I will hunt you, and I will find you, and when I find you, I will, as I promised, see what the Core might have sequestered inside the body of the so-called Prime."

"Hunt me then, brother –" Optimus chided in return, his voice just as gravely as Megaton's, "if your hunt means Cybertron will escape your madness."

With a gasped breath she pulled away from the Prime and stared up into his ice-blue optics which were now entirely focused onto her. She felt his worry bombard her. She didn't have the energy to rebuke it as she was stunned by what had just happened.

Did I just hear his thoughts? She asked herself.

"Are you well, Samantha?"

"Y-yes." She stuttered out, her eyes crossing before her as she tried to dispel the questions suddenly plaguing her. She wouldn't try to decipher all this now. She had to speak with Optimus. She could think on this new development later. With a calmer voice she continued. "I'm fine. I promise. So, Megatron, in a way, inspired you to become who you are today?"

"Yes." With a definitive nod Optimus stared back out onto the horizon. The sun had begun to fall almost entirely out of sight now. The skies glowed with red and pink fire even as the darkness encroached from behind them. "Megatron was not always so ruthless. At one point in time he had been a visionary. 'Freedom is every Cybertronian's right' he had once preached. He had been a little violent, a physical mech by design, but overall a sane mech.

"It was not until the Dark Energon tainted his very being that Megatron truly lost his battle with sanity. His generals, Soundwave and Shockwave, were truly mad, but Megatron had been above them. I do not know if it was their doing or another's, but the Megatron that I once knew was a revolutionary and a capable, solid mech. Something changed him."

Samantha shrugged her shoulders as Optimus set about rubbing her back with his thumb. Warm tingles shot up and down her spine with every movement. It helped to ease her tension. That was definitely a perk to having an autonomous robotic organism for a friend. They were able to radiate electrical pulses through various parts of their bodies and those pulses succeeded in loosening any amount of tension in human muscles.

"I don't know, Big Guy. I only know the Megatron that attacked me. I only know the Megatron that was as mad as a hatter." At the internal prodding for information, she giggled. "It's a kids movie. 'Alice in Wonderland'. There was a character called the Mad Hatter. He was a little bit crazy and ten times weirder. He was kind of scary, too, in his own way."

"I see."

"So, you've been with the Autobots from the beginning? You were the first and only leader of the Autobots?"

"Yes." He confirmed with a nod. "Sentinel Prime was the Prime before I, but the torch was passed to me that day with the High Council. With the exception of the first thirteen Primes, only one Prime may serve at a time. The two separate factions were spawned the same day as well. Jazz knew me as Orion Pax when I was a data clerk."

"Really? You knew Jazz before everything started?" Now that was an interesting thought.

"Jazz was a cultural investigator. He bore a higher station than I at the time, but we were still friends and allies. He first took me to the gladiatorial rings. Jazz never fully trusted Megatron even then." Samantha got the distinct feeling of a depreciative snort coming from the bond between her and the Prime. "Perhaps I should have listened to his sage advice."

"You were deceived." She concluded simply. "It happens to the best of us, Optimus."

"Ironhide and Bumblebee stood beside me from the very beginning as well, and subsequently Ratchet as well through Bumblebee. Bumblebee served as a distraction when the Allspark was launched into space and paid dearly for it. I met Ironhide at Praxus. He did not trust me at first, but over time he put his faith into my leadership. It took far too long for me to realize that standing and fighting was sometimes better than tactical retreats."

"So, uhm, how did Iacon get destroyed?" Sam asked nervously, vivid images from that one night terror still plaguing her.

"It was in Megatron's search for the Plasma Energy Chamber. It was devastating to see our once great city fall. So many of the last Sparks ignited by the Allspark before we launched it were lost. It was in his hopes that in destroying the young Sparks that they could not join the Autobot faction. Many of the younger mechs chose to side with the Autobots and Neutrals were too easily swayed between the factions." There was such sorrow in his voice that Samantha had to fight not to cry.

"I saw it, Optimus." She sighed out, her right hand rubbing circles into the back of her neck. "Not all of it, but some. I saw Iacon in my dreams. I see so much of Cybertron in my dreams, Optimus." She wouldn't tell him that she knew frighteningly specific tales of each and every one of them, but she could let him know that she at least had a general idea of what had happened to all of them. She couldn't afford the attention it would bring to her if she told him of all the very personal things she had seen for herself.

"It is the Allspark." Optimus assured her with a softness that might have startled anyone else.

"How do you know?"

"Because the Allspark, whether it was on Cybertron or not, is connected to the planet itself. The Allspark holds the history of all of Cybertron within its core. Serving as the Allspark it only makes sense that these 'memories' are being made visible to you."

"But how?" She demanded with a snap. Wincing, she struggled to make herself calm down and have a civilized conversation. "I'm human, Optimus. I may have nanites in my body that give me certain advantages over other humans, but in overall body I am human. I am not Cybertronian. I don't have a processor. I don't have a Spark. It makes no sense that I can see or feel the things that I can."

"The nanites within your body are ancient, Samantha." The Prime sighed dejectedly. "They are older than Megatron to be able to alter your physical being as they have. Only an ancient Cybertronian's nanites held the ability to cooperate with anything other than Energon. I have read through scientists' records and experiments performed before the War. No Cybertronian of 'modern' times can infuse nanites to anything other than themselves for risk of destroying the other being.

"That being said we know very little about an ancient's nanites. We could takes samples of course, but the nanites are beyond our comprehension as our own have condensed and compacted to work solely with our systems. The nanites, in all likelihood, are reworking your physical structure so that they may work more efficiently.

"Ratchet has informed me of the circumstances you now find yourself in. Besides fighting off foreign bodies and prolonging your life, the nanites are very slowly multiplying. In time there will be enough of them to conjoin and reinforce your bones and organs. You slowly, yet surely, are making a transition into becoming a techno-organic being, Samantha."

Pick your jaw up out of your lap. Her inner voice scolded her. Slap yourself if you need to! Say something back Fight it! Accept it! Do anything that isn't just sitting there!

"Y-you m-mean –" She had to gulp and take several deep breaths before she could make herself speak coherently once more. "I'm not human anymore?"

"You are and you are not." The Prime spoke vaguely. She felt her anger flare. She wasn't in the mood for elusive conversation. She wanted the straight truth and she feared that if she didn't get it that she was going to throw a very not-adult-like tantrum. "You were born human and your general make-up will always be the same, but the nanites within your body are improving your physical form. They are solidifying the weaker spots and advancing your organs to a more operable level."

"Am I going to be made of metal?" She whispered, horror evident in her tone.

"No, Sweetspark." Optimus chuckled. His thumb grazed over her cheek before returning to its soothing course rubbing over her back. "You will not be made of metal. Your skin will remain as it is just as your bones will. The only difference will be that the nanites will be intertwined with the elements that make up your form to strengthen them."

"Meaning…?"

"It will be harder to cut you as the nanites will have solidified around your tissues to an extent. Your skin will remain pliable, but more difficult to separate. Healing will most likely be more rapid as well since the nanites serve as your white blood cells do."

"So how am I dreaming these things? What are the nanites doing there?"

"As I have stated, the nanites are becoming more prominent. They are adapting you to what you now must learn to accept as a part of your body. My guess is that the nanites are working in conjuncture with your brain to deliver images relayed by the Allspark. The human brain operates essentially by the firing of electrical impulses to the synapses. Nanites are electrical in nature so it is no real surprise that they can override the natural impulses with their own."

That was unnerving. In fact that was downright terrifying. She turned pleading eyes onto the Prime, her bottom lip fighting not to tremble with the thought that suddenly plagued her.

"If the nanites can override other impulses does that mean that someone can take control of the nanites and control me through them?" Oh please, please, don't let that happen. If it can, I will kill myself now. I swear it!

Optimus caught onto her encroaching hysteria and cut it off at the knee. She felt him shatter through the walls she had set around herself and engulf her with his calm, fatherly influence. He bombarded her with such calm that she was finding it hard to be mad at him for breaking through her shields, weak as they were.

She had been trying to make them stronger, damn it!

"Hush, Sweetspark. The nanites are too old for our comprehension let alone another human's." Optimus assured her, his hand stilling only to cup her to his chassis in a light hug. "You have no need to fear being controlled in this way."

"Thank Heaven." She huffed out.

Silence reigned between them for a short time, she taking comfort from the Autobot leader, and he taking pleasure from her presence. She wasn't disgusted that he was enjoying their companionship here. Any one of the 'bots couldn't help their base programming which was welcoming home the Allspark.

Which brought up her next question…

"Hey, Optimus?"

"Yes?"

"Why do y'all treat me like a baby?" When the Prime actually laughed, she leaned back and smacked him with the palm of her hand on the chassis. Of course it hurt her more than it did him, but it was the principle of the thing! "Don't laugh at me! I'm serious."

"I'm sorry, Samantha." Optimus chuckled softly before shaking his massive head. "We do not mean to. It is in our programming. Were you aware that you are roughly the same size of any of our sparklings? You know already that your age is infinitesimal in comparison to ours. To a degree we are even tempted into 'babying' William Lennox or Robert Epps. You are such a young race."

"But why me especially?" She queried, her lips pursed. "Sure you all defer to me at times and obviously listen to what I have to say, but most of the time I feel like a coddled child. Not to mention that ever since Mission City that need to submit to those feelings are getting worse."

"You are too young." Was his bland response. "The nanites are relating you to a Cybertronian even though you are a human. It is my belief that the nanites are working adversely upon your brain and body in that they are setting you to an age appropriate to your relationship with a Cybertronian. You are a sparkling in age, Sweetspark, by our standards."

"Oh no." She hissed out. "I am not going back to diaper days. No freakin' way!" She knew that she must look like a petulant little child right now, her arms crossed over her chest and her cheeks puffed out and flaring like a siren, but she just couldn't help herself. She was not a baby! She was a grown woman!

Why don't you just start stomping your foot and screaming, you twit. Isn't it bad enough that you're as affectionate as a puppy? Do you really have make matters worse by being so immature? Her inner voice chided her with something close to maliciousness in the tone. Obviously the 'little Samantha' was not taking kindly to her habit of always acting opposite of what she preached.

Once again the Prime laughed at her. This time his whole frame shook and his booming voice echoed over the valley. Despite herself, Samantha couldn't help but beam widely. That laugh was just too infectious.

And look! She's smiling again. Ugh! Maybe we've got ADD or something. The little her shook her imaginary head before disappearing back into her core for later back-seat commentary as she'd come to call it.

"You will not have to. You are simply more dependent upon us as your elders. Bumblebee was the same many vorns ago. In time your independence will be won back, but just know that you still are able to make choices on your own. You are an adult, technically speaking. Know that you probably never will fully revert out of your dependency, though, as you are always going to be younger than we.

"As for us? You are the Allspark. We are programmed to protect the Allspark. To add onto that, you are seen as a sparkling or youngling in our sparks and processors. We will want to, need to, protect you, help you, and care for you. It is in our nature. If you ever feel uncomfortable, though, inform us. Autonomous robotic organisms we may be…mind-readers we are not."

"Okay." She allowed a little easier now that she had some understanding of the situation. She uncrossed her arms before kicking her legs over the side of Optimus's palm. She couldn't help but think that with her legs dangling and kicking in the air that she was not doing herself justice as an adult.

Am I always going to act like such a child? She wondered.

"Now, if you will allow, I wish to discuss the future with you." At her nod of ascent Optimus trudged on. "Do you understand that the Allspark cannot be transferred out of your body while you still exist?"

"Yes." She deadpanned, afraid to allow herself to examine that truth too thoroughly. She knew that if she did, at least right now, that she would dissolve into a fit of tears or start pacing like a caged lion.

"None of us is sure how long you will survive, Sweetspark, but we will not allow you to pass away easily when your time comes. The bonds you have created with us are as strong as mating bonds, but not fundamentally the same. We do not know if when you pass if we too will pass, but we do not want to see this come to fruition. You will be guarded, Samantha. At all times."

"I get that." She groused, not liking where this was going.

"You are learning to use your powers, we can all feel this, but you are still vulnerable. Your pain is our pain. Your despair is ours. Even if you were able to control the Allspark fully, a feat that I firmly believe no being is capable of, you are fragile. We cannot have you getting hurt, Sweetspark. We cannot leave you.

"I need you to understand now, my little Sweetspark, that your life is paramount. If Earth falls to the same fate of Cybertron, then so be it. I do not relish in the thought of this planet coming to an end, but if it must be then so be it. But if Earth does fall, if my mechs all meet their end, then it will have been for your continued existence. Ask any of them and they will tell you the same as I am now.

"If we must leave Earth then you must leave, too. Precautions will always be taken where you are concerned, Samantha. Your health and safety defeat every other objective my mechs have."

"Do you have to sound like such a pompous asshole?" She demanded haughtily, her jaw clenched tightly. She felt Optimus internally reel back at her sudden show of aggression. She wasn't a big cusser, so when she swore it often caught their attentions.

She motioned for the massive Autobot to let her down. Reluctantly he did as she asked. Once she was deposited onto the ground she began to pace like that lion she had thought of earlier.

"What gives you the right to determine how my life is going to turn out! I can't even decide that! Why should you?" Flinging her arms out widely, she gestured at nothing in particular yet emphasized herself completely. "Do I look like I can't take care of myself? I took Megatron down for Heaven's sake! I'm not going to break despite what everyone seems to think!"

"Of course you're not." Optimus tried soothing her ruffled feathers, but she was having none of it. She'd worked herself up to a good mad and she was desperate to see it through.

"Then don't walk on eggshells around me!" She thundered, her voice coming out at a dangerously loud level. Her voice echoed over the bluff and down the craggy incline until it disappeared into the air around them.

"Sweetspark…" Optimus tried to pacify, but she growled at him in return.

"Don't you 'Sweetspark' me, you overgrown vacuum cleaner!" She snarled, her mind still reeling on the fact that her life was being controlled for her. Her eyes blazed a dazzling purple and white, light shining through their depths that was entirely inhuman. "I'm not a child. I'm not a soldier at your command. I'm not even of your race! I am Samantha Jane Witwicky. I was born August 24th, 1989 in Tranquility, Nevada. My favorite color is blue. My favorite author is Celeste de Blasis. I am an accomplished dancer and enjoying hanging out with my friends. I always wanted to be a dancer when I grew up and travel the world. And you know what, Optimus?

"None of that has changed!" She stalked towards the metal giant, her chest heaving. If she had cared to taken any notice, she would have seen that Optimus was leaning away from her and the angry Allspark power radiating just below the surface of her skin. She would have seen the true trepidation in the Prime's optics and felt a small twinge of fear coming from him and all of the Autobots that she shared a bond with.

But she didn't care. She wanted them to know what she was dealing with. She needed him to see what all of this was doing to her. She had been walked on long enough. It was time to put her foot down.

"Your war, while important, makes no difference to me, Prime. I still want to travel the world. I still want to be the dancer that I know I can be. I want to see my name in lights and dance on Broadway. I want someone to love me unconditionally, a man to hold me and make love to me like a real woman. I want to have a family of my own. I want to have a big house filled with the sound of my children laughing and playing and a kitchen filled with the scent of dinner cooking and a pie sitting on the windowsill. I want so much more out of my life than what you are offering me."

With a flourish she whirled around to face back out over the bluff, hot, streaming tears poured from her eyes as she bore her soul out to the Prime and allowed her emotions to fully swath every one of her bonds. She needed them to feel what she was feeling. She needed them to know how hard this was for her.

The fear any of them had felt before was quickly swallowed by their all consuming regret at what she was having to live with. The fear of what she could do if given half the chance was still there under the surface, but it was muted now that she wasn't frontally aggressive towards the Prime.

"I won't get the chance at a lot of that now and you know it. It's possible that I can't be the dancer that I want to be because my 'fame' would attract too much attention. I can't travel so much because I have to be around you all for both my protection as well as my own insecurities. I can't stand to be away from you all for too long. It hurts to do it.

"What's worse, I can't have children or a husband without having to live through their entire lives and watching them die, be buried in a cemetery plot or have their ashes scatted to the four winds. I can't do that to myself, Optimus. I just can't! I wish that I could be a selfish bitch about all of this. I wish that I could tell you all to kiss my ass and go to Hell. I wish that I could just walk away from all of this and have the normal life that I've always wanted, but I can't.

"And I don't really want to."

She choked on a sob with her next words and it took her a long moment to regain her ability to speak. For a second she felt like she might collapse, curl into a fetal ball in the grass, and cry her heart out. It was a very near thing.

"I don't want to lose what I have with you all. No matter how much grief I get from all of this, no matter how much I end up hurting in the end, I can't bring myself to regret getting inside Bumblebee all those months ago. I've seen and done things that no other human will ever get to do. I've made closer friends than I would have ever had if I'd never met any of you. When I think about not having you all in my life, I feel like my heart is going to implode. I think that if I were to be taken away right now, I would die. I just can't leave you. I can't leave any of you."

She let the tears fall silently down her face for a few minutes more and Optimus allowed her the time to grieve for what she knew she was going to be losing. With a resigned sigh she half turned to stare back at the monolith that was Optimus Prime, the stars sparkling behind him in all their glory.

"I need you to promise me something right now, Optimus. I need you to promise me that you'll always be there for me in one way or another. I can't do this alone. I can't be alone now."

Everything was still for so long that Samantha feared that he would say no. She feared that he would walk away from her and her heart would shatter. She was connected to them all. She couldn't stand to go it alone anymore. She needed them to be there for her to lean on. She needed them to help her through all of these changes she was going to have to make in her life now that most all of her dreams had fallen to the wayside.

Then, almost in slow motion, she watched as Optimus came towards her. The monolith fell to his knees before her, set both hands to either side of her body, and actually groveled above her. She was in awe as she viewed his prostrate form. He was bowing in submission to her. Somehow she knew that this is what he was doing.

"I, Optimus Prime, Leader of the Autobots, pledge to you, Samantha Jane Witwicky, to always serve at your side. You have my life and loyalty. If you require anything ask it of me and I will come at your call. This I swear to you."

Samantha fought the urge not to let her jaw unhinge completely. As it was her mouth was gaped open like a landed fish and her eyes were comically large. It took her a long minute to compose herself, but when she did she raised her hands to either side of Optimus's face to graze her fingers over where his cheeks might have been if he were human.

"That's nice, Big Guy, but I only need your friendship." She pulled slightly and the Prime lowered further so that she could kiss his nose plates. "Thank you, Optimus."

Optimus rose slowly to his peds before glancing back over the bluff.

Samantha allowed herself the next several minutes to truly calm herself and wipe the tear tracks off of her face. She would have to try and process some of the things Optimus had told her at a later time as well as figure out where her life was headed, but for now she was just soaking it all in. She needed to get herself under control otherwise things would only end badly for her and everyone else.

She had been right, she knew that. She would outlive her parents, any lovers she might take, and all of her friends. If she had children she would most likely outlive them unless the nanites passed on to them. It was a curse that she did not want to risk passing on to future generations anyway. It would be cruel. To never know a true love to outlast eternity with, or at least that's how long it would seem to her, would be a fate worse than being damned in purgatory.

And she was living in that place in between Heaven and Hell right now.

She was living in between a normal life and one of pain and eternity. She would have no meaningful relationships with a guy, maybe even finding a husband, because he'd be gone before she could even blink.

What the Hell is so appealing to girls nowadays about being a vampire? Her inner self griped. Flawless skin? That's just being narcissistic. All the wealth obtained over the centuries? Materialistic. Never having to face death? I would far prefer it to seeing until the end of time alone.

Oh Hell. She cried inwardly. I'm practically immortal.

Trying to get her mind off of her own miseries she was finally able to process the fact that she had literally frightened Optimus Prime and the other Autobots through their had to fight back the urge to smirk. They underestimated her. They knew that she could harness the Allspark's power, but in the recent months she had become more and more adept at drawing it in and out of herself. Not to mention when she drew it out she was learning to use the power more accurately. Instead of being a wave of power it was turning into a whip or bullet, very precise and just as deadly.

It seemed to her that the 'bots were too consumed with the thought of her being helpless to understand that she was a very capable individual. For months she'd been using her Sony boom-box as test subject for her exercises. She'd sit in front of it for hours, concentrating on the layer of power resting just under her skin which she had come to know as the Allspark's energy, and pushing it out towards the boom-box to activate or deactivate certain key sequences within it. She was able to circuit certain features differently and pulse power into area of the machine to make it move and work in ways that it had not been able to do before. Heck, without really understanding how she had been able to use the Allspark's power to pick up telecommunications from across seas through the receiver as easily as any local radio station.

While she was still young and physically weak, the Allspark was pure energy. It had the ability to be just as violent as it could be gentle. When she was worried for another's welfare she could use the power as a gentle caress. Under duress she could make all those around her wish that they were never born by flaring the power out in such a lash that one would think a fire-storm wimpy.

Apparently everyone was forgetting that she had enough power at her fingertips to bring a mech's frame back to full functioning from a continent and an ocean away. What then did that say about her ability to destroy even if she would never act out upon that ability?

Oh yes, they had a very good reason to be afraid of her if she so chose to hand down punishment.

Shaking her head she resigned herself to the fact that she would never do anything like that to anyone, at least not under normal circumstances. Only if a matter came down to a life or death decision would she make her stand. That didn't mean, though, that she couldn't place a healthy dose of cautiousness into the mechs.

The sound of an engine revving drew her attention outwardly. Her eyes scanned downward until they landed upon the green motorcycle behind them.

"Knockout has come to take you home." The Prime informed her stoically.

"All right." She affirmed softly.

She donned her gear once more, albeit a bit sluggishly. She was still absorbed with everything that had been said tonight. With a depressed sigh she mounted Knockout.

Looking up at the Autobot leader with her visor raised away from her face she allowed a faint smile to come to her lips. "Thank you for telling me your story, Big Guy."

"You are welcome, Samantha."

"And I'm sorry for blowing up on you like that. It's not excuse, but all the stress just kind of built up and I needed to let it out." She flushed with embarrassment and looked down at the handlebars.

"It is all right, Sweetspark. I pity any being that has to endure what you are being forced to." He admitted to her tenderly, his love for her swamping her heart. A fresh tear found its way to her red, overtired eyes. "Sleep well tonight."

"I'll try Optimus." She promised delicately before flicking her visor down and letting Knockout carry her away and home.


Optimus relayed what Samantha had spoken to him to the others and made sure to keep it stored within his databanks where all other information pertaining to Her resided. His soldiers all sent a confirmation that they understood what must happen now.

:: She will not understand the Pledge, Optimus. :: Jazz supplied through a private comm..

:: In time She will. For now She only needs to know that She has our loyalty. :: Optimus

:: I'll make my Pledge to Her tomorrow evening after Her practice at the studio. Knockout has already confirmed along with Bumblebee that they will Pledge to Her tonight when they drop Her off. :: Jazz

:: Very well. :: Optimus stated before cutting the communication off.

Sighing through his intakes, a gesture entirely too familiar to him for having resided on Earth for such a short period of time, he turned his optics up towards the stars. His processors played back images of a time when he and his Spark's brother had been comrades…a time of tolerable acceptance.

"You would have liked Her, brother." Optimus spoke to no one in particular, though his words were meant entirely for the one that had once been known as Megatronus. "She is a lot like you were. She is so full of life and fire. Given the chance I am sure that She could have softened your raging Spark."

Shaking his head to clear it, Optimus shifted on his peds before refocusing his attention out into the stars.

"Come soon my brethren. She is waiting for you all." Transforming back into his chosen terrestrial disguise, the Prime pressed onto the accelerator and made his engine roar. His attention focused inwardly as he remembered back to that time so long ago when he'd been forced to make a choice. To this day he wondered if he had made the correct one.

Rolling off down the hill, Prime allowed himself a heartfelt prayer. He tentatively stroked his bond with the little human femme and felt heartened when he received Her welcoming emotional embrace.

"May She guide us all home."


Note: Howdy. Thank y'all for making this story even more popular than my first installment 'All the Stars In the Sky'. I am so thrilled over that fact! I know that this chapter is out pretty quickly since the last chapter, but I've had it in the cooker for a while now and was just tweaking it a little bit. A fair portion of Optimus's history was obtained through the book 'Tranformers: Exodus' by Alex Irvine so I would recommend you to read it. It was very enlightening to the history of Cybertron before the War and having come to Earth.

I also wanted everyone to make sure to check out my forum site if any of y'all wanted to see anything in particular from me. The link is here. Feel free to post what you want. Just replace the forward slashes with back-slashes and the (dot) with an actual .

http:\\fanfiction(dot)net/myforums/unbidden16/1719964/

As always I welcome reviews and criticism so long as you don't use vulgar language directed towards me and my readers. I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.