"Optimus!" Bee shouted as he burst through the door with a heavy slam, snapping the sole occupant of the room up.

For a moment there, the leader had dropped into a light recharge, his holoform flickering just before the blonde had come in. It was about one in the afternoon in the present and he hadn't slept a wink since the other day. Too many things were progressing in his mind since the sudden outburst from his friend. At least, from what was his friend. That gave too many reasons for him not to sleep and more reasons for him to think to himself. Which had been going on for the past 20 to 24 hours.

"What is it Bumblebee?" He questioned. At this point, it was either the yellow Camaro had noticed the tone in the Prime's voice and had ignored it for now, or he simply was just oblivious to it.

"Sam's gone?!" Optimus could only have his eyes widen in shock for only a few seconds before lowering it till it half-hooded his eyes, his gaze turning back to the data-pad he'd been holding for the last two hours. He'd barely gotten through the first line on the data-pad before he spaced out again.

"Oh…"

"Oh?" Bee reiterated, walking up to his superior's table and slamming both hands on it. The furniture shook, but it didn't bring about any sort of reaction from the Prime. "Aren't you going to do something? Find him!"

"… Mr. Witwicky has made it clear to me that I am to no longer speak with him. And I will respect it to the best of my abilities." Optimus spoke, his monotonic voice now as clear to any soul that something was going on. But to the scout, it had only served to aggravate him. Speaking of such a serious matter about Sam without even a hint of worry pissed him off.

"Mr. Witwicky?! The frag happened to you two!? Never mind that, are you just going to sit on your aft when he disappears?!

The question pained him. "… There is nothing I can do."

"Yes there is! You can go find him, talk to him, and fragging get your slag together!" The seeker hadn't want to use curses whilst in front of a brother-like-mech, but it seems that today the Prime has to be a glitch-head.

"… There is nothing left I can do…" He repeated, something clicking within Bumblebee's mind as he thought it through. Like pieces of a small jigsaw. Monotonic voice. Lack of opinion. The sad look in the man's eyes. And that line he had just said. He couldn't have…

"… You knew." The silence Optimus left answered the hidden question. His head finally lost of it there as his hand came over to the holoform's shirt, pulling the man up to stand along with him. "You knew and you just let it happen!"

"Bumblebee," The leader called, his eyes still holding apologies in them while he stood on both feet and grabbed the hand that held his shirt. "Let. Go." He ordered.

"No! You are going to tell me right here and now why you didn't try!" Optimus was more than peeved at the act of insubordination. But that didn't matter right now.

"I've done everything I could!"

"Have you!?"

"Yes! If it is Sam's wishes to leave, then we will honour it with pr-"

"Don't you even dare use the word 'pride' and 'dignity' when you didn't do anything to prevent this!"

"But I had and I have! Do we not owe Sam this wish after he had saved our lives?!"

"Yes we do! But we need to know why as well. Or do you not care that he's one of us?!" When Optimus had nothing left to say or argue in his defence, he casted down his eyes. A growl of frustration rose from the blonde before his hand finally released the grip, pushing Optimus back a bit before turning on his feet and heading for the door. "You may have given up on him, but I won't. And I'll never."

The older mech fixed himself on the ground before looking back up to the blonde's back. "Don't forget, you're the one he had died for." Optimus froze for the billionth time in the two days while his eyes widened in confusion and in shock.

"Had?" The leader questioned, now wanting a full explanation. After yesterday, he'd at least want one answer today.

Then he left out the door with a second slam. This time much fiercer, but not enough for the door to fall over. Just enough to pulled out the handle on the other side.

It didn't even bother the Prime that there was a clack on the other side of the door as he fell back into his chair. He could barely register that he even sat down. Only one thought ran through his mind. Sam, for me…. he… died…? His processor went chaotic while his spark managed to strike a dozen times over. How did he die? Why did he die? Wasn't anyone protecting him? When did this happen? How could I have let this happen? Why didn't anyone tell me?! Grinding his teeth, his fist slammed down on the table, throwing a few data-pads and papers down to the ground.


Earphones plugged in, hoody drawn up once again, and with his eyes on the white road, Sam rested his head on the window. Yesterday was just long. The sneaking around, the argument, and then he had to begin packing right when he got back to his room. Least he could do today was drown all of it out with the music cranking in his ears.

It wasn't until one of his earphones were pulled out that he had snapped up and glared at the driver. "What?"

"Nothing. I just asked why you wanted me to drive you back to Chicago." Lennox questioned, keeping both eyes on the road. Even though it wasn't really needed, thinking what the GMC Topkick actually was. But he still loved to do it by the book rather than allow an alien to.

"I just… forgot a few things at my place." Sam lied.

"Okay… Let me rephrase that, why did you want me to drive you back to Chicago? You could've gotten Bee or Optimus to do so." Will rephrased.

"I'm curious about that too Samuel." The black mech spoke through the radio.

"… They were busy." He lied again.

"Really? 'Cause last I checked, Bee was fr-"

It was then that the came to a screeching halt in the middle of the snow, making both humans fly up on their seats before landing back down with small groans of pain. The first to recollect was Will as he gave the radio a glare and slapped a hand on the top of it. "Oi! I told you to let me drive. What was that for?"

"Sorry. But I just received a comm from Bee telling me to stop and turn back."

"Speak of the devil." Lennox commented.

Silently, Sam cursed, knowing that the guardian had already heard. While the two humans stepped out of the vehicle into the shivering cold, they took a step back for the black mech transformed. The next five minutes was spent with the Witwicky having to listen to the soldier explaining to the robot what the phrase, 'speak of the devil', meant. This soon escalated into little arguing, all stopped by the yellow Camaro speeding his way past the two and transforming right in front of the young adult.

Kneeling down, Bee looked down and scanned the human's body, not liking the result that popped up. "Sam, I heard what happened. And I'm asking you to please don't." The soldier and weapon specialist looked on from behind with a confused look while Sam turned the other way with a hurt expression.

"You know I can't stay, Bee. Not after what happened."

"Yes, you can. Who cares about that dumb mech! It doesn't change the fact that you're welcomed by everyone else!"

"But I can't just keep living with you guys when I know everything isn't alright!"

"Okay!" Will stepped in, raising the attentions of the two. "Either of you two going to explain why we stopped in the middle of nowhere?"

Sam turned away again as Bee answered. "He and Optimus had another dispute, and now he plans on leaving." The seeker gestured to the young adult.

"You're leaving us?" The two bystanders inquired, Sam wincing when he failed to answer. A barrage of questions flew over the Witwicky's head while he lowered it in guilt from hiding it. In a matter of moments, Bee had interrupted the loud arguments when he shot his cannon towards the sky. Heads turned to face the younger mech, including Sam.

"Ironhide, Captain Lennox, can you leave us alone for a moment? Head back to base first." Bee requested calmly. The two opened their mouths to object, stopping when another shot was fired. They gave an amused gaze before nodding.

Much to their displeasure, Ironhide transformed back into his vehicle for, off on his way with the soldier behind the driver's wheel. No questions asked, no complaints given. Once they had disappeared off of the scout's radar, Bee transformed as well. Sam merely stared at the Camaro before it had flipped a door open for him to climb in. And without much thought, he took the offer and sat himself in the passenger seat.

Once inside, the door closed, the blonde holoform appeared and the heater had been turned on. If it weren't for his usual control, Bee would've begun his lecture. Instead, he waited a minute for the Witwicky to settle in his seat before striking the conversation. "Sam. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Tell them what? That I can't stand to look at the big guy while he has her? Or the fact that I'm leaving?"

"Both." The scout took a pause. "You do understand that we all care about you. That's the very reason we wanted you on base with us in the first place."

The human scoffed. "Right. Tell me you don't think I'm useless without you all. All I've done up until now is cause everyone, including myself, pain and trouble… Mostly you-"

"I don't think so." He interceded, staring directly into the pair of hazel eyes. "No one has a say on how I feel except for myself. And when I see you looking at Optimus, I feel overjoyed. Yes, at times I get a little jealous, but that doesn't change anything. The least I feel is hurt. And that's because I see that you're not pitying me, and that you're following your own will."

"…" Sam thought on his words before continuing with his reasons. "… You're not the only reason why though."

"I can understand that." Ignoring the comment, Sam spoke.

"It's him. And her. We all know that she doesn't like me, and since she's already with him, it'd be better if I just left and saved myself the pain. I can't look at him and see someone I don't have any feelings for… I 'like' him…" He admitted, tears screaming to leave his eyes the longer he talked.

"But Sam…"

"No, Bee! I just can't! Every night- every fucking night! I see him die… I see him die and I'd ask why God, Primus or whatever 's out there, is giving me this shit! Especially when I know I'm the reason he dies! It doesn't help that almost every day I step out of my room, I see him… smiling, like nothing had ever happened to him." Water now ran free down Sam's cheeks, his voice dropping considerably lower. "I see him smile, but not at me."

"…" Bee was speechless for minute, not knowing how to respond to this. To hear his friend had been suffering so hard, when he was just thinking of keeping his friend at base with him. The human didn't need a friend right now. He needed a family. A brother, a cousin, a relative even. And that's just what Bee planned to deliver.

"… These… 'nightmares', are these why you had been walking around at night?" Sam nodded, his tears still rolling out. But Bee resumed his thought. "And you didn't tell anyone this?"

Careful of not breaking out into a sobbing mess, the Witwicky wiped his eyes once. "How can I? You all have enough worries to think about. And I didn't need any of you to have the added weight of useless ol' me."

"But you never told anyone this, right?" Again, Sam nodded. "Then how do you know we'd be bothered?" He looked up to face the blonde's blue eyes. Cerulean eyes of conviction. "Sam, I don't know much, but the one thing I do know is that every one of us on base, and everyone that knows about us and you, we all think you're our family. All of us. Prowl, Mirage, both twins, Jolt, Arcee, Ironhide and even Ratchet would say so. I know Wheeljack, Chromia and Jazz would agree if they were still with us. But not only the Autobots. Will, Epps, Mikaela, Leo, and the soldiers that know you. I can honestly ask them if they'd lay their lives down for you, and they would answer without a second thought. So you see, you aren't 'useless' or a 'waste of time'. We're so connected to you; we'd fall apart the moment you go. And though things may be difficult for him right now, Optimus would not deny that he'd feel every bit the same."

The tears had stopped flowing and Sam had taken it upon himself to listen intently. "But-"

"But nothing, Sam. No matter how much you push us away, no matter how harsh you might want us to leave one day, we wouldn't be afraid to laugh alongside you the next. Especially when we know you're hurting on the inside, or out." His hazel eyes looked down again, filling with guilt while had finished the last few things he wanted to say.

"Before I told you how I 'liked' you, right?" Sam bobbed his head. "Did you tell Optimus how you felt?" The young adult shook his head lightly this time. "Then tell him."

"… Even if I did, tell him what exactly?"

"Everything." The scout stated, Sam looking to him for an elaboration. A joking sigh left his lips before Bee did so. "Do I have to spell it out? Your nightmares, your feelings, this talk even. Tell him whatever you need! Just do it so he gets the message." Bee encouraged. Before long, the car took a massive U-turn, starting its drive back to base on a much slower pace for the young adult. The seeker did so to allow Sam much thinking time. And Sam used the time well.


The moment the two returned, Sam was greeted by a few people. Ironhide, Jolt, Sideswipe, Arcee, Will and Epps. And not a single one of them had an amused face among them. Most hearing the news from Ironhide and Will, they gathered with a few things to say. None pretty. They began throwing death threats, arguments and reasons on why he shouldn't leave and that if he tried something as 'dumb' as that, drastic actions will be met.

Sam and Bee had a lot of work to do calming everyone down. But once they did, Sam was immediately rushed to the med-bay by the yellow scout. Though it was awkward when arriving at the door to the room. Stopped by a single hand, the two stared at the medic with confused looks. What left the medic's mouth came like an order rather than a question. "Apology?"

The two friends shared a glance before getting the idea. Stepping up, Sam spoke in a flushed and nervous state. "…S-Sorry, Ratchet…" A cough told him to continue. "I'm sorry that I had tried to leave without telling you guys." Another cough. "And I'm sorry for everything else…?" A hand dropped onto Sam's shoulder before Bee spoke.

"I think that's all Sam has to apologise for, Ratchet."

"One last thing." Ratchet said, as he took a step closer. And in a flash, he dropped the bottom of his fist onto the human's head, having Sam flinch back. "What were you thinking?!" A hand grabbed his wrist before he was pulled into the medical room, pushed onto a human-sized bed while the medic was unrelenting in firing off curses and shouts. Even for the other Cybertronian within the room, Bee had to wince at the sheer volume and what were said. Though it relaxed both of them when Sam kept chuckling and apologising through it all.

Through the small laughter, the young Witwicky had glanced over to the blonde, thinking back to the last few minutes inside the car.


"Bee,"

"Hmm?"

"… Why do you keep pushing me towards him?" Sam asked, the holoform having a small smile.

"It's like I said before, if I find that you're happy, then I'm happy as well. I'd do anything as friend for you." Now it was Sam's turn to smile, the tiniest tint of a blush gracing his cheeks.

As the human leaned over on his seat, he quickly pressed his lips on the blonde's cheek, pulling back the moment later as he whispered, "Thank you."

"… You're welcome, Sam."

Nervously, the two pulled up into the drive way, just about to exit the vehicle. Sam stopped both of them for a small request. "Hey, Bee… Can you give me a few days… before I talk to 'him' again? At least, until Christmas?"

The blonde casted a worried look, but accepted the small favour. "Alright. But you know you should tell him soon, or you might lose your chance forever. Something you're going to have to live with."

A chuckle rose from the Witwicky. "God you sound like a terrible wing-man at a club."


Of course, the kiss had meant nothing and implied nothing, but it had done the job of lifting the tension. It wasn't long before the medic had begun to pull out almost every medical equipment he had, poking and prodding every limb on his body. Sam did his best not to say anything or move for that matter. But the longer Ratchet continued to do so, the longer it became uncomfortable at the places he poked. Saying anything would more than likely lead the doctor into more worrying, which eventually will become more prodding.

Then the questions came. First were the usual questions you'd find any doctor asking. 'What've you been eating?', 'how long have you slept?', and 'do you feel any pain?'. Those sorts of questions while it had begun to dig deeper when Sam had to answer them. First off, was that he had begun to a considerable amount of weight. Even by looking in the mirror, he couldn't deny it. Sam had tried to describe most of what he ate, which was hardly anything. Ratchet took note of this.

The next question was a difficult one. During all those maddening nights, he couldn't tell when he was within one of those dreams nor how long he's been in it. He'd stopped counting the hours soon enough when he knew there was little sleep to gain. So he gave an answer that didn't reveal too much. Just enough so that the medic wouldn't be asking on why he couldn't sleep. Sam had to admit, he may have 'fudged' the truth with the numbers.

The last question was cruel to answer. Physically, he felt fine and dandy-In his sense. Emotionally, he was hurt and sensitive to anything regarding the Prime. He took a moment to think on how to answer the doctor. In the end, he decided to answer as if it was a physical question, saying no pain whatsoever, but a slight sleepiness overcoming him now and again. Also, he could go for something to eat right now. Ratchet stared him down as if unsatisfied with the response, accepting it the next moment as he typed it down on the data-pad.

Finishing the last word, he placed the data-pad down before he began his circle around the room. His eyes and hands flicked through the cupboards, pulling out a few boxes, inspecting them, then returning them into their places. Out of the fifty he searched, only two different packets of medicine. Quickly, he returned back to Sam at the bed, Bee now standing beside him, before handing over the two packets to the young adult.

"Take the blue one after every meal and the white one once each night. Don't try to take another if you missed one, but just continue on as so. The blue one will make sure you're absorbing the nutrients from the food you're eating while the white one should keep you asleep. I'll set you up a routine with Captain Lennox as you are to accompany him whenever he has his three sets of meals every day. Once better, I'll ask him to allow you to attend some of the training routines around base until the end of the month. By then, you will have regained any lost amount of energy you had and be fighting fit. But to be sure, I'll have routine check-ups with you every month. Now if any pains or symptoms return, you come back to me. Immediately. Understood?"

Sam nodded before Ratchet had delivered a sigh of relief. Raising a hand, Sam was ready for another fist to drop. But instead, the doctor had only ruffled his hair only the slightest bit. "Please don't leave us." The human blushed before bobbing his head.


After the health check-up, the three had moved to the rec-room, finding almost everyone there. Everyone who had seen his return, the silver and orange twins, Mirage, and Prowl. Each one of them taking their own seats or determined to stay standing. Bee and Sam found a spot with the lit fire place to their backs while Ratchet walked around and spoke with captain, informing him of the things he had prescribed to Sam. Obviously, the man had understood what he had to do.

Meanwhile, Sam had enjoyed the light conversation between him, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Jolt.

Everything about Sideswipe was sharp. From the blue eyes, down to the sharp black shoes. His hair a dark grey and spiked while he looked to be as young as Sam. He wore a white button-up shirt with a loose black tie around his neck. Under that, he wore a grey tank-top and black pants to follow. His brother, Sunstreaker hadn't looked that far off. Same spiky hair, but orange. Sunstreaker wore an orange plaid-shirt, his sleeves rolled up, with blue jeans to give him the look of a farmer. His eyes respectably the same as his sibling.

Jolt, however, looked like he was born in the suburbs, whereas the twins looked to be in the city and farms. His blue hair matching his navy blue eyes as he looked to be a bit younger than Sam. Probably last few years of teenage life. His blue, long-sleeved v-neck complimented his slim figure as well as the darker blue jeans and black sneakers he cladded. And on his head was a black cap reading in light blue on it, 'Lighten up!', followed by a small Autobot symbol.

Mirage was sleek. If he stepped into a university, he'd probably blend in quite well. His holoform looked older than Jolt, but younger than Bumblebee. Dark red, spiky hair with a slight pale skin and a pair of dark brown eyes. He was dressed a little on the fancy side with a black trench coat covering his red button-up shirt and ripped jeans. Down below, he wore black knockers which matched his black tie tightened around his neck.

Prowl, who stood behind the couches and conversed with Ratchet, can be seen as the typical police officer. Black cap, black long-sleeved uniform with dark shoes. Though, instead of a badge, the symbol of the Autbots was pinned on both his shirt and cap. His eyes holding silver irises whilst he had short blonde hair under the cap. He seemed to have a fit build from the holoform, but his eyes told others that he was more of a strategist.

And then there was Arcee, dressed in mostly pink, save for her brown boots and blue skirt. Over a white t-shirt, she had a pink leather jacket rolled up to her elbows and a small necklace around her neck. She had pink hair with strips of black running down to the ponytail she tied. Her eyes sharp and blue with light coloured skin. Small earrings pierced as well as pink nail polish coated the tip of her fingers. She sat comfortably on one of the smaller sofas, listening into the conversation the Witwicky held.

"Listen to this," Jolt started "just this morning when we were racing, this glitch-head here managed to take down three trucks in one slide." Jolt recounted, pointing towards Sideswipe, giving a howl or laughter before being knocked on the backside of his head by said mech.

"And who are you to talk? You burnt down the building right after!"

"No. That was you, brother." Sunstreaker joined. "He was the one that brought down a chopper."

"Accidentally. And weren't you the one that fell face first and almost blasted a soldier?" Jolt returned, receiving a dangerous glare from the orange twin. Sunstreaker went for a swing at the prankster, only to have it miss when Jolt dodges.

Sam looked to Arcee with a raised brow. "Did this all really happen?"

"Oh yes! It was quite a spectacular, if I do say so myself." She giggled into her hand, now the focus of three unamused looks from the other Autobots.

The room turned when they heard the laughter of the young adult. It was an innocent laugh, yet it was too infectious, bringing everyone to either laughing, chuckling or smiling silently. The room was a small bustling party of their own. But as Sam looked around, he noticed the one person missing from the family. Optimus.


The Prime drew a ragged breath. Staring at the devastation he left in his office, he could hardly believe that he had done this much damage. He has let loose most of his emotions before, when he stockpiled them over the years. But never to the sheer amount of damage the room now held. Looking to each part of the room, he could tell that most of the wall was dented with marks from punches and thrown objects. To the side, what was once his table now flipped over onto its side to the wall while the filing cabinets beside it had toppled themselves over. On the floor, there wasn't a single spot where one could see the ground as mountains of paperwork, data-pads and other objects obstructed the view. A few of the data-pads sparking and giving out thin lines of smoke. And the papers that were scattered were either ripped, crumpled or stomped on. Even the ceiling was a mess as even more dents were in it, added along with a few holes while dust floated down from them. The only thing still standing was the door, but even that was ruined when Bee had come in earlier that morning.

Optimus pushed his back to a wall while he did his best to control his breathing. Frankly, it wasn't working to well. Every thought he made tempted him to punch another wall, which he was trying to hold back as well. He didn't think he could feel pain through the holoform, but since he could feel pleasure through it as well, it's not at all surprising. Whatever it was, he needed to escape the room before he picked up another object and threw it, not counting in how much work would be needed to replace it. But seeing as everything in the room is already semi-destroyed, it can't matter at this point. He'll have to apologise to the human captain later.

So instead of risking of another surprise meeting with Samuel, he chose his real body and dispersed the holoform. After everything, he's had enough of surprises. So when he had returned to his real body and had transformed, he was slightly alarmed to see his partner to be entering his sleeping chamber. Calming himself, he pulled a fake smile and stood before his lover.

"Ariel? I didn't expect to see you here. Was there something you needed?" He asked, noticing the smile on her face turn serious.

"Actually, I'd like to speak with you. Face-to-face on a certain matter." Elita said.

"Alright. What is it?"

"A question, first; Why do you trial through the humans' customs? They are of no threat to us." Optimus didn't know how to react to this question but with a straight answer.

"No. But if we are to keep peace between them and us, as well as stay on this planet, then we'll have to abide to their rules."

"And if their rules cost the lives of ours?" She quickly shot, surprising the Prime and sending a suspicious chill down his metal body.

"… That won't happen. We have our own rules that they follow as well." Optimus stated, now crossing his arms. A general feeling of his was telling him that the topic of the conversation was taking a nasty turn in a few seconds.

"Do they know that? I heard what had happened to your second-in-command… He-"

"He offlined on the battlefield against Megatron. The humans have done nothing to have caused it." He interjected, a growing hostile tone in his voice showing.

"And more will follow if we do not leave." Elita reached her hands onto the leader's shoulders as she leaned closer. "Please, Orion." Looking into his lover's eyes, a part of him wanted to agree with her. But a much stronger part of him flashed an image of Samuel James Witwicky. His smile… And his death.

Reaching his hands up to cuff her wrists, he pulled her hands off before speaking firmly. "No. We will not let Megatron take this planet like that of many others. If you wish to leave with your team, then do so. But the rest of us have chosen to side with humanity." When he had finally released his hold on her, he was sure that he made his loud and clear. That's what worried him. That, and the reaction given.

Elita gave a small gasp and noticed the eyes he held. She'd seen him bore those eyes before, against betraying allies though. To think he'd direct the very same look towards her. She was hurt. Turning her body away, she made her way out of the room, cursing under her breath. She cursed her beloved for growing attached to such a small species. Cursed the human that the leader would always bring up whenever they were together. And when she had a grudge, she held onto it hard.