Optimus and Bumblebee drove around for a good twenty minutes, no doubt trying to shake any potential pursuit, before heading back toward the hotel.

The bellhop helpfully loaded our Black Friday loot onto his little cart and hauled it upstairs for us. Once there, though, Dad sat both me and Mom down on the couches. Looking me straight in the eye, he said, "Son, I want to ask you something, and I want the honest truth."

"…okay?"

"Are they experimenting on you?"

Mom and I shared a confused look, and she protested, "Ron, don't be ridiculous! Optimus would never…"

He held his hand up to quiet her, never looking away from me. "You flinched."

Aw crud.

Reading my expression, he said, "I knew it."

I rolled my eyes. Of course he would figure out the one thing that nobody was supposed to know. "It's not like that Dad. The Autobots had nothing to do with it."

"With what?" Mom demanded, shocked.

"So the Decepticons experimented on you?" Dad asked, ignoring her.

"No," I firmly answered. "No one has experimented on me. No one has done anything to me."

"Then why did you react like that loony hit you instead of Optimus?"

Mom's gaze bounced from Dad to me and back. "What the hell is going on?"

"That's what I want to know," Dad said, still staring me down.

Optimus felt my panic, of course, and he was sending calm my way along with a mix of supportive and curious. I could almost hear him – did I want reinforcements?

Did I?

Deciding that having him here would probably only make things worse, I sent him a good dose of feeling dismissive. When I focused on Dad again, the thought suddenly struck me that being a Prime was genetic. Great-great-grandpa Archibald was fated to find Megatron. Archibald Prime. And here was my dad, part of that same bloodline. I decided that he, at least, should hear the truth. Mom would freak no matter what anyway.

"You know how Optimus considers me his brother?"

He was staring steadily at me, his expression carefully neutral. "Yeah."

"It's more than just 'considers me.' It's more than just adopted into the tribe."

"It's that whole Prime thing!" Mom exclaimed, starting to put the pieces together.

"Yes and no," I said, still looking at Dad. Taking a deep breath, I said, "With the Transformers, family ties aren't defined by blood like they are for us humans. Families – clans – are tied together by bonds. Essentially, a bond is a…kind of … well…psychic connection, I'd guess you'd say, between their souls."

Mom scowled. "Oh for pity's sake, Sam, tell us in plain English!"

Here went nothing. "I can feel what he's feeling, and vice versa."

"Wait, what?" Mom shrieked. Dad, however, remained focused on me.

"It's something that's controlled," I continued. "It can be blocked on both sides – his and mine. So when he got hit, I felt it, too. He blocked our bond almost immediately, but that's why I flinched."

Dad sat back against the couch, looking quietly thoughtful and taking this news waaaay too well for my comfort. Mom's jaw dropped, her mouth moving every now and then like she was about to say something and then changed her mind. Finally she blurted out, "How did this happen?"

"It was…a side-effect of using the Matrix in Egypt." At Mom's confused look, I added, "You know, the Matrix? That thing I used to bring Optimus back from the dead."

"How do you turn it off or cut the ties or whatever?" Dad asked.

"You can't," I answered, and it was almost true. "Usually the only time the bond breaks is when one of you dies."

"Usually." He pounced on the word.

"It is possible to sever a bond. It happened to Optimus once before, but it hurt them both and it could have killed them."

"Shit," he growled and started pacing the room.

"Dad…it's not…"

"It's not what?" he demanded, wheeling on me. "You're telling us your soul is all tangled up with…with that thingin the parking lot and it's not a big deal?"

"It is a big deal – that's why I'm telling you! There's only a handful of humans who know, and I didn't exactly have clearance to tell you, but to hell with all that. You're my dad. My parents." I narrowed my eyes at him, protectiveness swelling in my soul. "And he's not a thing – he's my brother! And on his world, that makes you his kinda-dad."

That did it. His eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped and he sagged back onto the couch. Mom was speechless again, too.

"Do you get it now?" I demanded of them both. "He's not going away, not unless I do, too. And I'm okay with that. I don't want him to go away. That was my fatal mistake last time." The memory of Optimus impaled on Megatron's bayonet took all the wind out of my rant and I felt again just how little sleep I had last night. "Look…nothing's changed, not really. It's been this way for months. Just…now you know. Optimus really is my brother."

"But what does that even mean?" Mom all but wailed.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," I answered. "It's not like this has ever happened before. But I know it means everything that having a human brother means – someone to watch out for you and for you to argue with sometimes, someone who'll always love you even if he's ready to slap you."

"Why not Bumblebee?" Dad demanded. "Why him?"

"Because of the whole thing with the Matrix. That and he and I are both Primes and all Primes are brothers."

Mom threw her hands up in the air at that, while Dad paled. "How many are there?"

"Just one, well, two I guess if you count me. All the others are dead. Optimus is the last of the Dynasty of the Primes."

They both fell into stunned silence again, and I waited impatiently. The longer the silence stretched, the louder the snap would be when it ended. "So…any questions?"

"What does he expect us to do?" Dad finally managed to ask. "You said he thinks of me as his dad – really his dad, not just adopted or whatever."

"No, not really. Just kinda. You're the father of his brother and…" I realized this would require a lot longer and more-complicated answer than I was ready or able to give. Me and my big mouth. Optimus apparently sensed my frustration because he nudged me over the bond again, and I thought 'why not?' This was going to go splat anyway. Besides, our connection wasn't strong enough for me to play middle-man. I tried to send a balance of pleading and acceptance over the bond.

Optimus' holoform flickered into existence. Both of my parents jumped. Turning to them, I said, "Why don't you just ask him?"

He looked at them expectantly.

The silence rang loudly in the room for several seconds, and Dad finally blurted out, "You think of me as your dad?"

Baffled, Optimus glanced my way.

"You said you weren't sure what names to use," I prompted him.

Understanding dawned across the bond, quickly followed by a mix of exasperation and amusement. "It would be traditional on my world for me to address you with a parental title, yes. Sam informed me that calling you by your first names would be most appropriate in your culture."

"But you're…" Dad blinked a couple of times, still trying to wrap his head around it. "You're Sam's brother. Really his brother?"

Optimus was confused again, but his voice and expression were carefully neutral. "Please explain."

Mom jumped in. "Sam said you're really brothers – that you've got some kind of alien soul connection or something…"

"It's called a 'bond,' Mom!" I muttered.

"…yeah, that."

His disbelief deepened (I assumed it was because I'd told my parents all this). "It is true – Sam and I do share a brother bond."

"So what does that mean for us?" Dad demanded. Apparently the little recap helped him sort it all out a bit.

For the first time ever, I sensed Optimus feeling completely out of his depth. Dad managed to drop a bomb on him – guess I had Prime blood running through my veins after all. Optimus being Optimus, however, he fell back on the old standby of freedom. "It means whatever you choose for it to mean."

"Meaning…?" Mom prompted.

I sniggered at just how absurd this was getting. "This is the strangest 'define the relationship' conversation ever." For my mom, I translated Prime-speak. "It means that if you don't want to ever set eyes on him again, then he'll leave you alone. It also means that if you want to call him 'son' and buy him Christmas presents and chew him out for forgetting your birthday, he'll go along with that, too." But no way was I letting her know Optimus was rich – I'd go from favorite son to 'Sam who?' in three seconds flat.

Dad's brow furrowed as he mulled that all over. Mom looked even more stunned.

"Look," I cut in when the silence had stretched too long again. "It's not something you have to decide right this second."

Dad twitched his head 'no' and rose to his feet to stand opposite Optimus. "You can't break this bond without hurting Sam?"

"I cannot."

Taking a deep breath, Dad said, "Then I guess you're a Witwicky." Something hardened in Dad – hardened in a way I've never seen before. He wasn't angry or anything – just intense. "You call him your brother – and brothers watch out for each other." It was a command, an accusation almost.

"I will do everything in my power to ensure that no harm befalls him," Optimus solemnly promised.

With a smile that didn't quite hide the grimace, Dad said, "That's the best I can ask for…son."

They stood there for a few seconds, both of them looking like they weren't quite sure what to do next and the tense silence stretched tight again. Maybe it was because I was so exhausted, maybe it was just some kind of crazy inspiration, but I said, "So...family game night?"

They all stared at me like I'd just grown another head or something. Even Optimus. That made me nervously babble even more. "After we all get a nap, of course. And I need a shower. But yeah, the game center is open on campus today and it won't be crowded since everybody went home for the holiday and it beats sitting around watching TV and I promised Optimus, unless you guys wanted to do more shopping... "

"No!" Dad and Optimus both said. Dad threw him an unreadable glance but continued, "Game -night sounds good."

…

One shower and two hours of napping later, I was feeling a little more human and walking down to the dorm lobby with Optimus, Bumblebee...er Cam Romero, and Leo. Leo pulled on my sleeve, making me fall back to walk behind the 'bots. "You're effing kidding me!" my roomie hissed at me. "You're taking the leader of the kick-butt alien robots and your kamikaze mother bowling?"

"Kamikaze?" Optimus wondered, reminding him that they had better-than-human hearing.

"I saw the vids, dude. She was crazy to jump that pregnant chick. Practically had a death wish."

Dismayed, Optimus gave 'Bee a stern look, and his holoform ducked his head in embarrassment.

"Just let her win in skee ball and nobody dies," I deadpanned.

Mom and Dad were waiting downstairs, and we walked together over the to game center. Dad paid for all of us, and Optimus didn't say a word, though he did give me a knowing look, and understanding flickered across the bond. If we had this many inside jokes when we'd only shared a bond for three months (and most of that time was spent on opposite sides of the planet), I could only imagine what we'd be like a couple of years from now.

For bowling, we played teams on two lanes. Originally we were going to play Mom, Dad, and me against Optimus, 'Bee and Leo, but Leo got talking smack about having two "upgrades" on his team and Dad decided we needed to split up the 'bots.

"Well, keep most of the Witwickys together," I said. "You guys take Optimus and it'll be us kids against you."

Mom and Dad exchanged a vaguely queasy look and Optimus sent a healthy dose of cautiousness my way, but I looked on the bright side. At least Mom wasn't swooning over Optimus' holoform anymore.

With a defeated sigh, Dad said, "Sure, why not? Come on, Optimus."

We each chose our bowling balls, but when we got ready to roll, Optimus asked, "Which team should go first?"

"Youth before wisdom," 'Bee quipped.

My brother turned to Mom. "Ladies first?"

Giving him a tentative smile, she nodded. "Sure."

Surprisingly, Optimus and 'Bee didn't smoke us humans. My brother had promised they'd both stay within their holoforms' natural limits, and besides, Dad had the most experience. He won ahead of 'Bee, but only by a couple of points.

"Another game?" Dad offered, more at ease now that his manly self-esteem was starting to recover.

I shared another inside-joke look with Optimus. "They have an air hockey table..."

He turned to Dad. "Perhaps another time."

"I hear you're wicked at skee ball," Leo said to Mom, trying to make nice with the kamikaze.

"Damn straight!" She swaggered toward the machines, and Optimus and I headed over to the cashier to get some quarters.

"Thank you, Sam," he said as we walked toward the table.

"For what?"

"For suggesting this. You are much wiser than your years."

Coming from Optimus Prime, that was quite a compliment. I shrugged, but I'm sure he felt my grin over the bond. "Well, you know, big-brother Prime and all."

He chuckled, the warmth of it spilling over from his spark to my heart.

"So...rules..." I said as I picked up my paddle.

"Hit the puck into your opponent's goal, don't touch it with your hand, and don't cross the center line with your mallet." A touch of smugness sparkled in his eyes. "Google."

I tossed my paddle and caught it, smirking back at him. "Experience before internet access?"

He gestured that I should go first. "By all means."

I laid the puck on the whirring table and gave him a taunting look. He practically radiated a 'Bring it!' attitude, so I whacked it his way. The thrill of play – of challenge – washed back and forth over the bond to the rhythmic plinking of the puck.

He won. At least he didn't skunk me – I got four points before he reached his seven. Still, when the puck slammed into my goal for the last time, I groaned and threw my hands up in defeat. Optimus was openly grinning.

Leo, hearing my pain, came over to gloat and I handed the paddle off to him. "Fine. If you think you could do better..."

'Bee drifted over, eager to watch the two of them face off. To my deep satisfaction, Leo lost, too, by one to seven. I gave my brother a triumphant high-five.

By then, Mom and Dad had finished with their skee ball games and came over to see what everyone was cheering or moaning about. They each took a turn against Optimus, too. (Judging by his emotions, Optimus threw the game with Dad, but only by a point.) Then it was Cam Romero's turn, and I was surprised by the sudden mischief Optimus felt.

"No holds barred," Bumblebee's phone drawled, and my brother nodded in agreement. There would be no nonsense about 'natural limits' of their holoforms in this game, and I fidgeted in anticipation. They didn't disappoint. From the first hit, Bumblebee was lightning quick, but Optimus was faster still, slamming the puck back at 'Bee with a staccato plinking as it bounced off the table's railing. Before either of them could score, though, the puck caught air and ricocheted off the wall, clipping a picture of the library and sending it crashing to the floor.

We all kind of stared for a stunned second, and then Mom giggled and we all broke out laughing. Dad retrieved the puck, which was cracked now. "Who gets to keep the souvenir?"

Optimus chuckled and gestured toward 'Bee. "Youth before wisdom."

Dad tossed it to him, and 'Bee caught it, flipped it once in the air, and then pocketed it. "I gotta get me one of these!"

...

When Optimus and I met on the aircraft carrier that night, I was surprised he was feeling both touched and a little concerned. "Sam, thank you for this evening, but it is enough for me that you have accepted our bond. Your father is not kin to me, and I do not wish to cause friction in your family."

"Yeah, well, they were the ones freaking out. Dad started putting the pieces together when you got hit and I was the one wincing. Besides, I kind of remembered that whole thing about Primeliness being inherited. If it was fate for Great-Great-Grandpa Archibald to find Megatron, then Dad's part of the Prime clan, too, right?"

"The bond defines the relationship," he reminded me, "and I have never shared a bond with your father."

"Maybe not, but I'm a Prime, and with humans it's blood that defines the relationship."

That made him pause, considering.

"I don't know – it was just a thought I had."

"Perhaps it is a valid intuition. Only time will tell," he answered, his spark enveloping my heart in a hug. "But I gave you time to accept what you were, and that took a while even in the face of undeniable proof. Your father may take much longer than you wish or expect."

"Yeah, yeah. You're right."

Trying to cheer me up, he straightened his shoulders, "Of course I am."

I snorted and chuckled. "That's my line – I am the older brother, after all."

Heartbreaking humor crept into the flow of emotions over the bond. "I cannot help but wonder what myparents would think of having an organic son."

"Did they even know what an organic was?"

"Yes, there were non-metallic lifeforms known to us, though all of them were even more primitive than humans."

"Gee, thanks," I drawled, making sure he knew I was teasing.

Abruptly we were in a room on Cybertron, an open space with a pretty amazing view of the city. Some of the furnishings looked different, but I was pretty sure we were in somebody's living room.

A femme was standing near the window – Sunset. "How can we even know, Mother?" he asked her.

"The characteristics of life are universal," she softly answered, "as should be the characteristics of sentience. Tell me, Optimus. What would define it?"

"Some say a spark is necessary, but that hardly applies to an organic. Self-awareness is another answer I've heard. But studies have shown that turbofoxes recognize themselves in mirrors, so that hardly qualifies."

"Why do you say that?"

He frowned thoughtfully, turning the question over in his mind. "That's just one piece of the puzzle. Communication is another – they have to communicate somehow. Underlying intelligence would have to be there, too. A sentient race would need code and hardware for problem-solving, creativity, and the ability to comprehend logic."

"But organics have neither hardware nor code. And turbofoxes communicate with body language."

He vented a frustrated sigh.

"You seek for a clear division, Optimus," she said, her gentle amusement flowing freely over her bond with him.

"Perhaps the paradigm is one of degrees, then," he answered.

She chuckled at that. "My dear little mech" – she said that wryly since Optimus towered over her – "you think too hard. The solution is simple."

"And it is…?"

"If it can understand the question well enough to answer with something more than 'yes' or 'no,' then the being is sentient."

His affection for her swelled across their bond, and I deeply wished I could have felt a bond with her, too, just for a day. And then I realized I had the next best thing. Deciding to shake up Optimus' world again a little bit, I stepped forward and imagined that she could see me. "Hi. I'm Sam Witwicky."

Optimus and Sunset both stared at me with wide optics. Giving Optimus an encouraging poke over the bond, I added, "To answer your question, I'm sentient. Or at least, I think I am. I hope so, anyway, since I guess my freedom is kind of riding on the answer."

My brother seemed to understand what I was doing and, after another stunned second or two, played along. "And that is answer enough," Sunset said, recovering. Looking to Optimus, she said, "And where did you find this…individual?"

"Human. Sam is a human from a distant world called Earth. He is kin."

Her optic ridges rose high in surprise and I felt it as she ran a scan. "You have a spark?"

"No…not really. To be honest, we don't really know how come I have a brother bond with Optimus."

"With Optimus?" she exclaimed, tossing a mother's glare his way. "That makes him more than kin! Son," she gravely said to me, "you are welcome here."

"Thanks," I answered, surprised as I felt an unfamiliar echo of emotion over my brother-bond. Optimus was recalling her real feelings from a real time and splicing them into this imagined scene so I could sense her first-hand. I hadn't thought to do something like that with Blaine.

"Fortron!" Sunset called. "Come, quickly!"

The mech – a Prime, I realized, who would have also been my brother had he lived – strode into the room. We'd never shared a bond, so technically we weren't kin, but Fortron and Sunset were somethingto me. I just wasn't sure what to call them.

"Organic kin?" the big mech asked with a grin (since Sunset would have undoubtedly brought him up to speed over their bond). "What does your younger brother look like?"

"It's complicated," I answered, not sure if Optimus or I could keep up with trying to imagine explaining this to them. "We didn't create any brothers together – the bond kind of happened on its own. And I can't stay for long. Optimus just wanted to introduce me to my new clan."

Sunset practically radiated excitement. "Megatron – "

"Sam has already met Megatron," Optimus quickly cut her off. "It is you he wishes to meet now and to learn more of our clan."

Fortron gave us a puzzled look but nodded in acceptance. "What would you like to know, son?"

I snorted a laugh. "Everything." Reconsidering, I said, "Mostly I wanted to find out what you thought about this…situation. Having an organic addition to your clan."

Fortron gestured for us to have a seat. "Well it's a surprise," he said, and another unfamiliar, imagined spark poked me over the bond – Fortron, trying to make sense of me.

"Tell us about your species," Sunset invited. "Do you have clans? Oh, and what do you use as fuel?"

Recognizing mothering when I saw it, I said, "I'm not hungry. Besides, I don't think there's anything on Cybertron that I could even eat. It's all…" I floundered, looking to Optimus to try and explain food to someone who had never seen Earth.

"Native energy sources," he answered for me. "Stationary, organic solar-energy collectors called plants as well as more primitive mobile organisms that also subsist on plants."

Revulsion flickered from Sunset at that explanation, though she tried to hide her shock. "You derive your energy from other lifeforms?"

I rolled my eyes. Like I hadn't gotten the PETA speech while growing up in California. "Yeah. Not everyone's a meat-eater, though. Some of us are vegetarians."

"But plants are forms of life, too, are they not?" Fortron asked, uneasy himself.

Huh. I hadn't thought about it like that before. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Humans are well-evolved to the resources available on their planet," Optimus said in my defense.

Sunset diplomatically tried to move on. "What of your society?"

I remembered I hadn't answered her question about clans. "We have families, which are pretty much like clans. We have genders and kids, but we don't need the All Spark for all that. Genetics are the basis of our families – we're related by blood."

"Who is your clan leader?" Fortron asked with interest.

"My dad, I guess. But it's really just the three of us – me, my mom, and my dad. So there's not much of a clan to lead."

Sorrow and compassion I didn't understand flowed in from Sunset. "May I ask what became of the rest of your clan?"

Like before, I bumped nose-first into my own biodegradable nature. "We're pretty short-lived, I guess. My grandparents and everyone who went before me are dead."

"Everyone?" Sunset weakly repeated.

"How long to does your species live, Sam?" Fortron asked, a stern edge to his voice and emotions.

I helplessly looked to Optimus again, having no clue how time converted from Earth to Cybertron.

"A vorn, approximately," he answered.

And because I was seeing them through my brother's optics, their expressions of horror were plain to see and feel. They sat there gawking and staring at me just like Mom and Dad did only a couple of hours ago.

Pity welled up in Sunset's spark and poured into my heart. Fortron was almost angry, though. "A vorn? Optimus, you went and bound yourself to a creature who only lives a vorn?"

"Fortron," Sunset firmly said, reining him in. Something passed between them and he relented a little. "My apologies, Sam," he murmured.

"No offence taken," I promised. "And it was an accident. I didn't realize until it was too late just how deep a bond runs. Not that we had any say in it – either one of us."

"How long can you stay?" Sunset interrupted, whispering again, "Only a vorn."

"For a while. Until sunrise."

She reached out to lay her warm hand on mine. "Then let us enjoy the time we have."