Things are about to get interesting.


"Optimus!" The blonde had burst in the door to the Prime's office, snapping the leader's attention up.

"What is it Bumblebee?" He questioned. It was either that the yellow Camaro had noticed the tone in his voice and had decided to ignore it for now or he couldn't tell.

"Do you know that Sam's gone?!" When the leader heard of this, his eyes flew up for a second before lowering back to the data-pads he was using before the sudden intrusion.

"Oh…"

"Oh?" Walking up to his superior's table, he slammed both hands on it, shaking the furniture which didn't even surprise the Prime. "Aren't you going to do something?"

"Samuel has decided to cut his ties with us and I will respect it to the best of my abilities." Optimus spoke, his monotonic voice clear enough for any human or Cybertronian to notice as he flicked through the report files.

"And you're just going to let him?"

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

"Yes there is! You could talk to him." Bee argued.

"… There is nothing left to I can do." The blonde had to question the short pause before the answer. It clicked together when the pieces were placed in. Monotonic voice. Lack of opinion. The sad look in the man's eyes. And how'd he know that Sam had cut their ties? Unless…

"… You knew." The silence only answered the non-existing question. With an angered mind, his hand came over to the Prime's shirt as he pulled the man up to stand along with him. "You knew and you just let it happen!"

"Bumblebee. Let. Go." The leader ordered.

"No! You are going to tell me right here and now why you didn't try." The Cybertronian was ticked with the act of insubordination. But that didn't matter right now.

"I've done everything I could. 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."

"But I had and have. Do we not owe Sam this wish of his after he 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 the Prime had nothing left to say, he casted down his eyes. A growl of frustration rose from the blonde before his hand finally released the grip as he turned on his feet and headed for the door. "You may have given up on him, but I won't. And I'll never." With that, the scout left the door, slamming behind himself.

Optimus did nothing but think about Bee's last few words. He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist onto the table. Of course he wanted to go after his human friend. How he wished he could. But right now, he believed he wasn't in the position to be the first to go after him. After all, he very well may have been the reason the teen had left. With that thought, he could only trust in the scout and question why the Witwicky had left.


With his earphones popped in, Sam had quietly napped in the passenger seat, resting his head on the window. It wasn't until one of his earphones were pulled out that he had snapped up to glare at the driver. "What?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to ask why you wanted me to drive you home?" Will questioned as he had continued to do so with both eyes on the road. Even though it wasn't really needed, basing on which car it was, he still loved to do it by the book than allow an alien to.

"I told you, I'll tell you when we get there." Sam groaned, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"No, I got that. I meant why you want me to drive you. You could've asked Bee or Optimus to do so." Will elaborated.

"I'm curious about that too, Samuel." Ironhide had spoken through his radio.

"They… were busy." He lied.

It was then that the car came to a screeching halt, making both humans fly up on their seats before landing back down with a groan of pain. The first to recollect was Will as he looked to the radio and had hit a fist to it. "Oi! I told you to let me drive. What was that for?"

"Sorry. But a comm from Bee had told me to stop and turn back." Silently, Sam cursed, knowing that the guardian had already heard. While the two humans stepped out of the vehicle, shivering a little from the cold. They stepped back and allowed the Cybertronian to transform as the yellow Camaro had come in a flash of dust, transforming the last few steps before kneeling down to his friend.

"S-Sam… Don't…" He said through the radio, the teen looking away with hurt while the soldier and weapons specialist were generally confused.

"You know I can't stay Bee."

"No… I-I don't."

Will decided to step in here. "Okay, either of you two going to explain why we stopped in the middle of literally nowhere."

Sam turned away as Bee answered. "Your l-leaving me…" He replayed on his speakers, pointing towards the college student. It took a moment for the two bystanders to understand the message, their attentions turning to the teen.

"You're leaving us?" The Captain asked, 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 mechling.

Using his own voice this time, which surprised everyone, he asked calmly, "Hide, Captain Lennox, can you leave us alone for a moment?"

Much to their pleasure, the two nodded before the black mech had transformed and had been off on his way with the soldier inside him. The two believed whatever happens after, Bee can take care of the teen. Once they disappeared off of the scout's radar, Bee transformed back into his car form, opening a door for Sam to climb in. Without much thought, he climbed in with the door closing and locking itself.

Inside the car was an already materialised holoform, looking at the teen with betrayed eyes. The two didn't say anything for the first minute before Bee stricken the conversation. "Sam. Why didn't you tell anyone you were leaving?"

"… I thought it'd be easier if I just disappeared from you guys than having to say goodbye to everyone."

"That brings me to my next question. Why are you leaving?"

"… I just couldn't take it, Bee." The blonde waited for him to elaborate. It took a breath before he did. "Every night. Every night I've seen him die in front of my eyes. He'd ask me 'why'. Just that, 'why'. One moment I'm sitting before his dead body, the next I'm jolting awake, unable to sleep for the rest of the night."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"How could I? You all got enough worries to think about. And I didn't need any of you to have the added weight of me." Bee stay quiet before responding.

"… Have you ever told anyone about this?" A shake of his head confirmed it. "Then how do you know we'd be bothered?" The teen looked up to the blue eyes with his hazel ones. "Sam, as far as I know, you are family to us. All of us. Even if Ratchet, Jolt or Sideswipe doesn't say so, they do believe that. And we won't be bothered just because you need comfort."

"But-"

"No 'buts'. Sam, before I told you I had feelings for you, yes?" Hazel eyes were filled with guilt as he looked away again. He bobbed his head. "Did you actually tell Optimus that?" Sam responded it with a nervous shake of his head. "Then tell him."

"Tell him what exactly?"

"Everything. Your nightmares, your feelings, this talk. Tell him whatever you need. Just do it so he gets the message." Bee encouraged. Taking a massive u-turn, the car drove back to the base slower than usual for the teen to think. And thought the young adult did.


The moment the two had returned, Sam was greeted by almost everyone he knew. Most hearing the news from Ironhide and Will while others got the story from the Prime. Which was one of the few that had decided to hide his presence. The others included of Elita and her crew, Ratchet and Will. Ironhide saying that he had another meeting to get to.

After calming everyone down, Sam was rushed to the med bay without a second thought from the yellow Cybertronian. When arriving at the door to the room, he was quickly stopped by a hand. The two stared at the medic as if waiting for an explanation. But what came sounded more like an order. "Apology?"

The two shared a look before Sam stepped forward with 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." Another cough. "And I'm sorry for not telling you…?" A hand dropped onto Sam's shoulder before Bee spoke.

"I believe that's enough Sam has to apologise for, Ratchet."

"One last thing." Moving a step closer, he dropped the bottom of his fist onto the human's head, making the teen flinch. "What were you thinking?!" A hand grabbed his wrist before he was pulled into the medical room and pushed onto a bed while the medic continued to fire his curses and shouts. Even for Bee, he had to wince at what were said. And through all of it, Sam kept chuckling and apologising.

Through the small laughters, the human had glanced over to the blonde, thinking back to the last few minutes of the car ride.


"Bee… Why are you so insistent of pushing me towards him?" Sam asked, while the holoform kept an emotionless face.

"… It's like I said before, even if it pains me to see you with him, I'd do it because you'd be happy." A smile stretched Sam's lips, making the holoform hold the same expression.

As Sam leaned over and pressed a friendly kiss on the blonde's cheek, he whispered quietly before leaning back on his seat. "Thank you."

"… You're welcome, Sam."

Nervously, as the two pulled up into the drive way, Sam began to request something of the scout. "Hey Bee, can you give me a few days before I talk to 'him' again? At least until New Years?"

The blonde had worried face, but accepted the terms. "Alright. But you know you should tell him sooner, or you might lose your chance."

A chuckle came from the human. "God, you sound like a terrible wing-man at a club."


Of course the kiss had meant nothing, but it had done the job of lifting the tension. It wasn't long before the medic had begun pulling out almost every medical equipment he had, poking and probing every limb on his body. Sam did his best not to say anything for the moment, knowing that the Cybertronian doctor would only worry anymore, which eventually will lead to more poking and probing.

Then the questions came. First it was the usual questions any doctor would've asked. 'What've you been eating?', 'How long have you slept?', and 'Do you feel any pain?'. Those sorts before it had begun to dig even deeper when Sam had answer them. First off was when he had begun to lose weight. He had tried to explain it with as little detail as he could, leaving out what he heard and Bee's little confession.

Then the doctor began asking reason for his lack of sleep. This time, the human had answered truthfully and had explained the events that have happened. Not all, but the ones that he knew he could say without actually remembering the image too vividly. He knew that even if he did say it or not, it wouldn't give out any full details.

The last question was cruel to answer. Physically, he felt fine and dandy. Emotionally, he was hurt and sensitive to anything regarding the Prime. He didn't know how he should feel or what he should say to the medic. For now, he answered it as if it was a physical question, saying that there was no pain but a slight overwhelming fatigue every now and often. Ratchet stared him down before accepting it, typing down notes on the data-pad.

Finishing the last word, he placed the data-pad down before he circling around the med bay, searching the cupboards before he had pulled out two different packets of medicine. Returning back to Sam, he handed the young adult the medicine packets.

"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 white one should keep you asleep while the blue one will make sure you're absorbing the nutrients from the food you're eating. I'll set you up with a training routine with Captain Lennox and three sets of meal with him every day until the end of the human month. By then, you will have regained any lost amount of energy you had lost and be fighting fit. Any pains or reoccurring symptoms, you come back to me. Immediately. Understood?"

Sam nodded before the medic had relieved a sigh of relief. Raising a hand, he ruffled the Witwicky's hair. "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 everyone before, this time with Lennox, taking each their own seat. Bee and Sam found a spot with the already lit fire place to their backs while Ratchet advanced to the human captain before 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 and Jolt.

Everything about the former was sharp. From his blue eyes, down to the sharp black shoes. His hair dyed grey and spiked while he looked as young as the yellow Camaro. He wore a white button-up shirt with a loose black tie around his neck. Under that were was a grey singlet and black pants to follow. Jolt, however, was neat. His blue hair matching his eyes while he looked as old to be classified as a young adult. His blue, long-sleeved v-neck complimented his slim figure as well as the darker jeans and black sneakers. And on his head was a black cap reading in light blue on it 'Lighten up!'.

"Listen to this, just this morning when we were racing, this glitch-head here managed to take down three trucks in one slide." Jolt had recounted while pointing towards Sideswipe, giving a howl of 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."

"Accidentally. You looked like you were against another 'Con." He joked, this time dodging the playful attack. The room turned when they heard the laughter of the teen. It was an innocent laugh, yet it was infectious, bringing everyone to either chuckling, laughing or smiling silently.

When the laughter died down, the room was a bustling party. But as Sam looked around, he noticed the one person missing from this family. Optimus.


Optimus felt his spark dull even more. He's been holding the feeling of punching a wall back for quite some time and he felt he was close to losing it. Who couldn't feel themselves go crazy when they've had Galloway shouting complaints the entire morning. Then the blast human decided to drop a mound of paperwork onto his table, half of them barely even his. And with heat filling his processor, he was not in the mood of any other surprises after Bee.

The door to the office opened quite suddenly, Optimus looking up while he prepared for anything. When he saw that it was his femme partner, he calmed himself before continuing his paper.

"Orion, you've been stuck in here all day. I think it's about time you've given yourself a much deserved break." Elita said as she strolled up to the table.

"Forgive me. But I cannot turn away from the work. The more I let off, the more it piles up." The Prime reasoned, not even glancing up when she had rounded the table beside his chair.

"Why do you trial through the humans' customs? They are of no threat to us."

"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 their rules."

"And if their rules cost the lives of ours?" She questioned.

"… That won't happen. We have our own rules that they follow as well." Optimus stated, placing down his pen before looking up. He had general sense of unease as he felt the topic of discussion was taking a nasty turn.

"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 cause it." He interjected, growing a rather hostile tone in his voice.

"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 showed an image of Samuel Witwicky. His smile. And his death.

Reaching hands up to cuff the femme's wrists, he pulled her hands off before stating 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, he had sent his message loud and clear. Elita gasped as she noticed the eyes he held. She'd seen him bore those eyes against betraying allies, but to think that he'd direct the very same look towards her. She was hurt. Turning away her holoform, she made her way out of the room, cursing under her breath. She cursed her beloved for growing attached to such a species. Cursed the human that the leader would always bring up whenever they talked. And when she had grudge, she held onto it hard.


A week later…

It had been a week since the teen had decided to stay and a week since he's decided talk with the Prime. And yet every time he came to the door of the office, he would stare at it for a full ten minutes until either someone had spotted him or he had turned away himself. And from the talks the others had with the leader, it seemed he was doing everything he could to distance himself.

From what was said by the others, the leader had managed to lock himself in his office with a couple dozen piles of paperwork to keep himself busy. This meant neither of the two were ready to face each other, much less talk. It was hard enough when he begun to regret walking away from the door, but with the blonde's insistent talk and persuasion was only going to go so far.

Speaking about the yellow Camaro, the two had returned to their usual routine as a mixture of friends and brothers. Though there were times when Bee was caught eyeing him up and had shot flirty remarks to the young adult, he began to wonder how no one else had noticed. Then he looked past it and thought of them as nothing but conversational ease.

"Sweetie, it's time to get up now…" A voice spoke into the young adult's ear as he tussled into his blanket.

"Urgh… Five… more… minutes…" He groaned.

"I'm sorry, but did you ask for the sun to shine?" The voice spoke before harsh light hit the teen's eyes and he winced harder.

Peeking out of his blanket-made night, he watched as the window curtains were pulled up, allowing most of the sun to shine into the room. Looking over to the other side of his bed, he was getting a foot ready to kick the person in the stomach for one, breaking into his room, and two, for bringing the damn sun into the room. When he noticed who it was, it was then that Sam had bolted up right on his bed.

"Mum?!" He questioned with a semi-dazed look.

"Hello sweetie. Now get out of bed, breakfast is just about ready." The female Witwicky had ordered, ripping the blanket away from him which brought a wave of cold air to hit his arms and legs. He shivered for a moment before following said orders. Even at home, he was taught, mostly by his dad, to always obey his mother. Without question, of course. There were a few exceptions to this, but every time he had his butt-handed to him with his mother's words.

Sam quickly washed up and changed before entering the kitchen, where his dad had looked at him with a beaming smile from the table. Behind him was his mother who worked away on bacon and eggs. Ron had got up on his seat and stepped aside. "Sammy, com'ere!" The older Witwicky had greeted as his arms came around the college student, which he gladly returned before settling onto the table.

"So what are you guys doing here? Christmas Eve isn't until next week." Sam inquired, somewhat afraid for the answer.

"Thought we'd surprise you a few days early." Ron briefed, glancing back and forth between his wife and son before leaning in with a hand covering his mouth. Sam got the idea and leant in as well. "Your mother held a bat to bed until I said yes."

"I heard that." Judy stated, drawing doom onto the father Witwicky. A chuckle escaped Sam's mouth before Ron continued.

"Besides, we thought we'd decorated the place a little early to fit the 'Witwicky' tradition." The oldest Witwicky added.

"And you guys arrived when?"

"Just last night, told the handsome Captain to keep it quiet." Judy explained, making both father and son groan in embarrassment.

"Mum…"

"Honey…" The males said at the same time.

"Oh hush! Anyways, breakfast is served!" The female Witwicky, turned around with the pan and plate before she tipped the contents out onto said plate. On top of a sunny-side up egg, three pieces of bacon sizzled while his mouth had watered from just the smell. Oh how he missed the times like these.


"For the last time Ironhide, no!" Optimus roared.

He glared at his two Cybertronian friends as they stood inside the office, their heavy gazes on the Prime. The moment they entered, he knew it wasn't a good sign. But at this point, it was just outrageous. Apparently, they had wanted him to leave the room for some time to 'himself'. He didn't believe it. Clearly when the young Witwicky was brought up into the topic of discussion. For all two out of three of them, it getting rather childish how the Prime was acting. They all wanted the good of both their leader and friend, but if they were going to be stubborn about it, then they'd have to step in to cause even more of a stir.

"You can't just keep yourself in here until the boy decides to leave." The weapons specialist argued, snatching away the paperwork the Prime was in the middle of. "Now stop acting like such a sparkling and get out there."

He grumbled in his teeth before pushing his back to the chair. "What difference would it make? Sam clearly doesn't want to speak with me."

"Then you obviously have to take the initiative." He retorted.

"I have to agree with Hide on this one. Avoiding the problem is just going to make matters worse." Ratchet added, earning himself a glare from the leader in which he gladly returned. A devious idea came up in the medic's mind before he spoke again. "How about this, you won't need to talk to Sam. But you'll step out of this office and take some time off. How about it?" He offered, Ironhide and Optimus giving him an estranged look.

.: What are you doing? The entire idea is to get him to talk to Samuel. :. Ironhide had communicated through the network.

.: Keep your audio quiet and follow along. By the end of today, they will be talking. I'll fill you in on the details after we get him to agree. :.

.: …Fine. :.

Turning back to the Prime, the weapons specialist seconded the idea. "It's better than being cramped into such a tight space till the new human year."

Optimus looked at the two with a suspicious glint in his eyes. He groaned before reaching a hand out to the paper that the weapons specialist had snatched away. When his fingers had slightly grazed the paper, the other hand holding the paper retracted it further from his reach. Looking up to meet his oldest friend's eyes, he glared once more. "Do we have a deal?"

Another groan rose from the Prime's throat. He knew that if he didn't agree now, they'd either return later for the same reason or they'd drag him out by the arms. With caution, he nodded his head as once again tried to take the paper back. And again, the paper was pulled away. A cough from the two signalled what they wanted.

"Alright! If it will keep you two happy, then I'll do it." He announced.

"Great! You can start now." The two spoke in unison, Ironhide dropping the paper and followed Ratchet around the table. Caught up in the surprise, the Prime had barely enough time to understand that he was being pulled out of the room by the pits of his arms. It didn't hit him until he was out of the room that he was dragged out.

Turning around to his Autobot allies, he heaved a breath before beginning his quick walk around the entirety of the base.

When the leader was finally out of sight, the two shared a glance. "Now what?" The soldier asked.

In which the medic replied with his thought out plan. The mech listened in as his face was shifting through the explanation. From confusion, to anxious, then baffled, and finally proud at what Ratchet had come up with in such a short amount of time. He congratulated the medic with a slap on the back, which was returned with a wrench to his head.


'Dammit Sam! You just had to offer them a tour of the place. Good job.' He screamed at himself internally, knowing that only little could be done. He looked on ahead of the path where his parents continued to observe the places that they passed. Most, they seemed fine and dandy with, but there were some which had put the adults off. Especially the room that was given specifically for the twins to fight. They had caught a glimpse before they were hurried off before the Skids and Mudflap could reach for their weapons. Another one they had passed were the training rooms for the soldiers, revealing a few half-naked men and a shooting range. Hint, one out of those had his mother making more dirty comments, making the two male Witwicky's want to carve a hole and die in it.

But he knew the worst was yet to come when a question had been asked by his father. "So when do we get to meet the one you'd travelled all the way to Egypt to save? Optimus, was it?"

The poor teen had turned a pale white when the name was mentioned. The fact that the two weren't on a 'talking' basis right now would worry them, but if they found out what had exactly transpired between them, things would go messy as a metal bat would be pulled out somewhere along the way.

So, instead of giving a straight answer, he went for a more subtle approach. "Well… I'm sure he must be pretty busy right around now, so you'll have to wait a while. F-From what I've heard, it could be a lo-"

"Sam!" A voice called out from behind the family, making the young adult's heart jump when he spun. Luckily, fate had spared him the sight of Optimus and had replaced him with the weapons specialist. As the holoform approached the family, Sam calmed his heart with a hand over his chest.

"Uh, hey Hide. I don't think you properly met my parents yet." Gesturing to the two folk who stood out like a sore thumb on the base. "Mum, Dad, this is Ironhide, the team's weapons specialist. Ironhide, my mother and father."

Taking a moment Ironhide had stopped whatever he was about to say to greet the two. He didn't say much before he returned his gaze back to the college student. "Sam, Bee's in the med bay." It took a moment for the words to process before his mind went alert on the news.

"What?! Is he okay?"

"He was ambushed by a 'Con on his patrol." Ironhide informed. "I think you should go see him."

"Alright." Sam turned back to his parents who were giving him a smile.

"Go. Your friend needs you more than us. We can find our way around." Judy assured.

"If you didn't, we'd have to say that you aren't a Witwicky." Ron joked, bringing a smile to his own face as well. Giving a small nod and 'thank you' both him and Ironhide sped off to the hospital room.


It was only a short five minutes before they reached it, stopping at the door when Sam noticed who was running his way from the other corridor. Optimus. All three stopped at the door, catching their breaths and staring in horror of who was opposite to the other. Optimus stared at his human friend, confirming it was the Witwicky when they had locked eyes. If he knew that Sam was coming, he would've waited outside the door of the room until the teen was done inside. But since the weapons specialist hadn't mentioned it in his comm.

Disregarding that the two had finally seen eye to eye since a few days ago, he turned to the door, opening it as he was ready for the sight of his injured family. But there was no one. Not a single Cybertronian within the room. Not even the medic himself. Sam had peeked over his shoulder to find the same thing. They were shocked and confused on why there was no one inside.

Before anything could be said and/or done, a pair of hands had pushed behind the human, causing a domino effect with the leader in front of him. The two collapsed on the floor with a loud thud as Sam winced and Optimus groaned in pain. Their eyes opened when a slam behind them was heard. Rolling off of the Prime, the two looked up and found the door was shut, Ironhide on the other side.

Optimus pushed off onto his feet before gripping the handles of the frame, pulling hard against it. He then looked through the window of the doors, finding both Ironhide and the magically appearing Ratchet with dark smirks on their expressions. Then it clicked like a lightbulb, the Prime's wrath flaring when he got the image.

"Ironhide! Ratchet! Open the door this instant!" He ordered. Ironhide pretended not to hear and Ratchet began to shout through the window as well.

"It seems the door has deadlocked itself for an hour. Not even I can unlock it if it does." The medic chuckled. The leader growled as he knew it was true. The deadlock was implemented by special technology of the humans that even Cybertronians couldn't figure out. The password, which they needed, changes every minute with an entirely random algorithm. He growled again when he questioned on how he could've been tricked so easily.

Turning when he heard Sam get up, he went over to the human's side to steady him. Looking back to the door, he found that the two were gone and the door was still locked. He cursed quietly.