CHAPTER 25
Gains and Losses

"Dude, dude, you cannot catch it in your mouth."

"Oh yeah? Try me."

The sour patch kid flew through the air and landed in Riley's best friend, Jake's mouth. The boy grinned, and gave a thumbs up as his other friend cheered teasingly. Riley couldn't help but laugh along with his friends, as weird as they were being, and he was sure that he could hear Optimus laughing in the other room as well. He hadn't really been sure about what to think when his friends questioned when they'd get to come over to his place, and a "sleepover" had for a moment, seemed weird, but he was most definitely happy with the results.

The three had gathered in the den, spreading out sleeping bags, and for the most part, screwing around. Though Riley felt a bit bad, after all, even though Optimus was too nice to admit it, he knew rowdy teenage boys could be annoying. "Dude, I cannot believe you live HERE." Nathan, another of his friends spoke up "This place is enormous." He noted.

"Well no duh, Nate." Jake replied, shaking his head "Have you seen the size of his Dad?"

Riley snorted, Jake was definitely right about that. Optimus was pretty much big enough that any smaller house would most likely cause his head to hit the ceiling. Taking a deep breath, he took a slice of pizza out of the box. "So...?" Riley turned to Jake, who smirked "Is having a family all you hoped it would be?" He then added "You've been talking about having this for like... Ever." He added.

Riley smiled a bit, a while ago, he might not have had an answer for Jake. But now, it seemed easy after several months inside Optimus's house, being his Foster Son. "It's great, actually." Riley grinned "Sure, he can be a bit strict, but Dad is just awesome. The house as you pointed out, is AMAZING." He explained "And well, it's actually nice being able to go to someone else for help for a change." He quickly caught himself "No offense." He added.

"Don't worry about it, I think my advice is shit too." Nathan teased.

"Won't get an argument there, Nate."

"Shut up, Jake."

"Anyways..." Jake looked towards Riley with a smile "I'm glad he treats you well. Mom and Dad are too, they were pretty worried, you know. Because a lot of people don't..." He caught himself.

"You can say it, not a lot of people adopt kids my age."

Riley had made peace with the fact that he was a rare case by now. It was depressing to think most kids wouldn't be as lucky as he was in life, but at the same time, there was nothing he could do about it. Nathan sighed, leaning back a bit. "Yeah, even when my parents adopted my big sister, she was like four." He explained "But then again, we're talking about Optimus Prime." He added.

"Mmm... I'm nothing too special."

Even after being around Optimus several times in holoform, Riley still saw through their eyes that his friends were still in awe of his real form. The mech smiled as he made his way into the den, and stretched a bit. "Especially these days, where there's no war. I believe the Optimus you tend to idolize was over-" He began.

"Dad, don't sell yourself short." Riley looked over at the mech "I've seen you train, and you're nothing short of a badass. War, or no war." He looked between the two of them "Seriously, you should hear the story he tells me sometimes. He took on seven Decepticons at one time with nothing but his bare hands." Both boys grew wide-eyed at that "I know, right?" He questioned.

"The most my Dad tells me about the War in Iraq is..." Nathan went quiet "Well, nothing that cool."

"Riley's just bragging." Jake rolled his eyes playfully.

Optimus smiled as Riley brought his friend into a headlock, chuckling a bit. It was amazing to look at Riley now, and think about when he had come to his home for the first time. He'd been so introverted and shy that Optimus was stunned at how active he'd become outside of sports these days. It was nice to see a new side of Riley for a change, even with all the stress in their lives right now. "Boys?" All three turned to Optimus slowly "I'm going to recharge, please don't stay up too late." he noted.

"Goodnight Dad."

"Goodnight Mr. Prime!"

Optimus smiled at that, he hadn't heard "Mr. Prime" in his house from young kids in a very long time. It was a good feeling to have Riley's friends in the home, if only because he knew it made Riley happy. Riley watched as Optimus left the room, taking a deep breath, he turned to the others. "I'm not bragging, he's a really cool Dad, that's all." Riley shrugged "Don't hate just because your Dad is only a Football Coach." He teased.

"You did NOT just go there!" Jake smacked Riley in the head with a pillow a bit "Come on, Simmons, those are FIGHTING words!" He added.

"Fighting as in four rounds of Tekken?"

"You're on!"

Grinning, Riley fired up his gaming console quickly, he prepared to play. Without a doubt, Riley was enjoying his new life much more now than he had been before. And without a doubt, he thought, he was going to enjoy spending the rest of his childhood there. "Yo, Simmons." Riley snapped out of his thoughts as Jake spoke up "We playing, or not?" He asked.

"Don't be such a hurry to get your butt kicked." Riley chuckled.

Yeah, Riley could definitely get used to nights like these.

...

It was a week later that Riley had decided he wanted to visit his Uncle in rehab. Though it had taken a lot of convincing by Optimus, the state had deemed a supervised visitation was more than okay. Yet, even so, as Optimus arrived at the provided meeting place, a park near the center, Optimus felt a certain tinge of uncertainty as he stepped out of his vehicular form. "Riley?" The boy turned his head to Optimus slowly "Are you certain that you're ready for this?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Riley was quiet, but smiled "I owe him a visit, I've been avoiding him."

Riley peered out towards a bench in the park, where he could spot both Mason and Kline waiting, he took a deep breath. Optimus was careful as he placed a hand gently on his shoulder, squeezing a bit reassuringly. "If this becomes too much, Riley... I'm right here, we can leave anytime." He explained "You don't have to feel as though you owe him." He added.

"I know." He hugged Optimus a moment "I'll be okay, though."

Riley could feel his stomach twist in knots as he headed towards the bench. He hadn't seen his Uncle in four months now, and to say he was worried would be an understatement. At the end of the day, he didn't know if Mason was in a better state of mind or not, and it did scare him, even the tiniest bit. "Riley!" Riley looked up as he was pulled into a bear hug by the man "Oh God, it's so good to see you again." He noted.

Riley took a few minutes to register Mason's hug, which he calmly returned. "Hey, Uncle Mason." Riley smiled "It's good to see you too." He added, seating himself on the bench slowly "So..." He paused.

"So..."

It was clear to Riley that neither of the were too sure how to handle this. After so much time away, it almost felt a little bizarre to be around each other like this. Especially after the last time they had been around each other, things had not been left on good terms. "Still with Prime, huh?" Mason spoke, breaking the silence, Riley nodded his head slowly "He treating you well?" He questioned, his voice filled with pain.

"Of course." Riley grinned "I had Jake and Nate over last week." He explained "They told me to be sure and say hi."

Mason nodded his head a little, though he didn't look all that happy. It was a little odd for Riley to see him unhappy at his obvious happiness, though he had a feeling there was a good reason for it. As much as he hated to admit it, he had unwillingly broke the man's heart. "Listen, Riley... They're saying I can get out of here soon, I'm... Doing really well." Mason spoke up "I really wish you'd reconsider this whole adoption thing." He noted.

Riley shot Kline a look, the man frowned a bit, shaking his head. Even so, Riley didn't need the confirmation, he knew he had made his choice long ago, nothing was going to change that. "I'm not leaving Dad." Mason's brow furrowed at the use of the word "I love you and all, Uncle Mason. But I've made a life in that house, I want to be adopted." He explained.

"He tell you to say that?" Mason questioned.

"No, he didn't." Riley replied, his eyes locking with Mason's firmly.

Mason looked at Riley as though he had just stabbed him in the heart. Bitting his lower lip, the man shook his head. It was the next words that stung Riley harder than anything else. "I can't do this right now." Mason grunted, he turned to Kline "I'm sorry, but I just can't." He added.

"Uncle Mason..." Riley stood as the man started to head towards the van that had driven him there.

Mason stopped in his tracks, as if to hesitate for a moment. He forced the tears to stay away, but no matter what he did, they fell, and they fell hard. "Your parents wanted me to take care of you!" Mason spun around, anger in his eyes "You know, your REAL parents? Or do they not matter anymore?" Riley staggered back a bit, stunned by his Uncle's anger "You may THINK you're getting a lot by doing this, Riley. But do you honestly think that machine is going to let you SEE me?" He snapped.

"He will, he DID." Riley argued.

"Yeah, right." Mason shook his head "You made your choice, now I'm making mine." He growled a bit, angry beyond belief "Apparently your real family isn't worth squat to you anymore. So I have no place here." He noted.

As Mason walked away, Riley had no words for him. His eyes hitting the ground, he felt the tears falling without warning. There weren't as many as he had expected, yet it had hurt, a lot. Feeling a gentle hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Optimus standing there, turning to Kline, who shook his head. "You should get him home." Kline stood "I'll see what I can do, Prime. I'm really sorry, I didn't think..." He paused "I'm sorry."

As Kline made his way in the direction of Mason, Riley leaned against Optimus slowly. Allowing an arm to enwrap his shoulders carefully, he laid his head against the mech's holoform. "Come on... Don't give him the satisfaction of seeing you cry." Optimus spoke quietly "Let's go home." He noted.

As much as he tried to hide it, Riley could help that of all the losses he'd suffered in life, this was the hardest of all.

...

A/N: I thought it was about time Riley and Mason met face-to-face again. But rest assured, this is not the end of this whole thing, of course. This won't be over because if it was, the story would be. :P