Sam sighed heavily, though it came out as a deep vent of air. His fingers curling slowly as he tried to pinpoint each separate joint and forcefully tell himself to move each separate digit across his servos. The process was slow and tedious, yet Bumblebee, Arcee, and Ratchet had continuously encouraged him when even his optics seemed to stop working.
They worried. Everyone worried because Sam was living off of borrowed time now, literally.
It had been a long time (Sam had lost count and was too tired to care) since Sam had become Ante Finem. Many things had changed. Alpha Trion had disappeared and, much to the surprise of everyone, left the Iacon Halls under the care of Sam while Bumblebee had become a trainee and had recently been assigned to community service at the Halls. It had shocked Sam when the yellow bot, now towering over his form (much to Sam's chagrin), immediately recognized the other from his fuzzy, sparkling memory.
The two had then bonded quickly with Bee jokingly calling Sam a "bot of carrier instincts" though Sam understood it was probably revenge for all the times Sam had called him a "mother bee" back when he had been human. Regardless, Bee had come to see Sam as a parental figure in a world where parents were not quite needed, and Sam, in turn, had come to see Bee as the son he was never given the chance to have.
Arcee had also, somehow, joined the tiny, close-knit group to the point that they were inseparable. She, now an intelligence officer that worked part time with the Hall of Records, had become an Aunt like figure to Bee, and a deeply trusted sister to Sam.
Indeed, they had become an odd family, but Sam had grown used to it and had come to treasure his new family kindled by the thin, threads of their spark bond. It reassured Sam when he could feel the others' presence and calmed him when the loneliness of Orion Pax's own bond became more noticeable.
Thus, it did not surprise Sam when he, while organizing the library, heard a hesitant knock.
"Come in," Sam responded without looking up before chiding the other. "Bee, how many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to kno-"
Sam stopped, paused, and slowly turned around because the heavy footsteps that resounded dully against the metal ground were far too heavy to be Bee's.
The sight that greeted him was definitely not Bee. Large heavy frame choked with weapons, some hidden, others not, and a thick armor painted blue and red against the stark contrast of silver.
Sam immediately turned around and had to force his peds to move in the sudden action of surprise. "Optimus Prime!" he startled out before taking a calming breath. "Do you need something sir?"
Optimus had paused. His great helm turning slightly to acknowledge the room, the books, the ladders, and the tables making Sam briefly wonder if he remembered any of them and the times they had spent together in the halls. But Optimus did not seem interested in the scenic view. No, he instead walked towards Sam and raised his servo as if to place them on Sam's shoulders before changing course and stopping himself.
Sam frowned slightly in worry bud didn't comment. Why was Optimus here?! Sam couldn't understand why. The Council had warned him not to seek the other, but they had not told him that Optimus would be seeking him!
He wasn't supposed to be here!
The silence stretched and solidified into a weighted barrier of tense, dead air between the two before Optimus began speaking again, blissfully unaware of the heavy atmosphere. "We've met before. I know we have."
Sam's optics widened briefly before he slowly shuttered them in mid thought. What was he to do? Pretend that the other was lying? Do what the Council had always threatened he do, or say what he had always wanted to say?
Sam slowly looked back at Optimus, peering at the other's optics. The same optics Sam could still so clearly remember from the night in the alley so many lifetimes ago when Mikaela had still been by his side as a fellow partner in crime and the world had been so right. Could he lie to the other? But Sam knew the answer from the very beginning that he could not.
"We've met many times before, Optimus, and you change every time."
AN - Sorry it's so short. I was originally going to make it longer, but it seemed better to switch back to Optimus' perspective after this point and make it a separate chapter. Thank you so much for waiting and for the reviews. I should definitely be able to update by next week with, hopefully, a longer chapter.