Emotive Dissensions

Part One:

Words of the Giver_

"You are the Messenger, Sam, but not in the way you believe so firmly. You are a Messenger, not only because you help those most important to you, you save, and you protect what is dearest to you-"

"I don't believe what you're trying to tell me."

"I know you find it hard to accept the veracity of who you are. Belief is hard to achieve when you are surrounded by ruin. Ask those you love, and they will say the same, but ask them what they think of your calling, and they will agree with me. I know-"

"I can't say that, can I? I'm no longer there. I made my choice. I saved them, but not because I am the Messenger. Because I am someone who isn't given a choice in the matter. I never am."

"And if you were given the choice to choose how this battle occurred, what would you have done?"

"Why do you want to know? You should know."

"I am curious."

"If I had the choice, I wouldn't have let Bee go with Optimus and the others, and I would have tried, and tried to give him back his voice, and I wouldn't have let Sentinel do what he did: I would've saved Ironhide, and Mudflap, and all of the men who died to save us. I would've found a way to kill Megatron, or have him locked up. I would've been with the Autobots from the very beginning of all of this, so I couldn't have had the chance to be left out it."

"Hm, interesting choices."

"What do you mean?"

"You chose to be with Bumblebee, you chose to give him what he lost, you chose to save those intimate to you, you chose to kill for those you love, but then you decided against death, instead choosing for a less violent method. You chose to be with your friends right through to the end of this, even if the outcome had remained the same, because you wanted that time with each and every one of them. Even in the face of pain, at least you'd be together."

"So?"

"…You are a very selfless person, Sam. Instead of saying ' I'd choose to stop all of this, end the fighting, make it like none of it ever happened, like I'd never met these strange beings who chose our world to fight on,' you said, that you wanted to be with them. You are glad you know them, and that is why you were chosen to be the Messenger-"

"What-?"

"His eyes are opening, thank Primus."

"He could've slept a little longer, Ironhide."

"No, I want this boy awake. I want to see he is safe."

"The boy survived death. Expect him to try sleeping it off for a week at least-"

"No way would I let that happen, Optimus! Sam needs to wake, and we need to find out how he worked the Matrix, because stuff like that don't happen without a serious explanation."

Softly breathe in, before breathing back out. Take in each breath, and believe it won't be your last. Not this time-

Burning, why in God's name was he burning so much? His whole body was on fire, and he was dying-dying-dying. He let it sink in, before he felt the breath being knocked out of him again. Blindly pushing at whatever lay beside him, whatever seared at his skin like it was play dough- He was on fire, why was he on fire, what was happening, oh God, there was something boiling his chest into tiny fragments of rotten flesh, oh god oh god oh god oh god—

The hitch in Sam's breathing alerted the Autobots standing above him, and Sam's eyes fluttered open then, his eyes blinded against the blue optics of Optimus. He jumped, cursed, and fell back on the bed, his heart racing faster than when he was running away from-from-

"Are you alright, Samuel?" The gentle whirr of Optimus' voice brought Sam right back to earth.

Where he belonged, where he was safe.

"F-Fine. Just a dream, it's nothing." All at once, Sam felt the tight bandages over his chest, which constricted his breathing, and as he looked down, he took in how much of his body was covered by the white stuff. All the way down to his waist, and he felt he couldn't breathe. Taking a shallow breath, he relaxed into the quilts, closing his eyes, before opening them again, as quick as lightning, afraid to drop asleep.

Optimus, Rachet and Ironhide towered over him, and he realised Carly was by his side. Where the hell was he? He looked around, but received the answer from Rachet-

"We are back at base. Home."

The white, sterile walls stared back at him, the dim, white lights playing with the white tiled floor. There was nothing in here, but it was huge.

Home? Funny, he said something along those lines earlier, hadn't he?

"How long have I-"

"Two days. You woke of your own accord."

"They didn't want to leave your side, not for a minute," Carly's voice whispered, and Sam looked to her, her pale face, tired eyes, blond hair hanging limply from her shoulders. She smiled at him, and her face lit up. He noticed what looked like tears on her cheeks, and reached out to her, his fingers tracing her face, and she leaned into his hand, her eyes never straining from his.

"You okay?" he asked, and she nodded. "You need to sleep."

"Can't. I keep thinking of you." Sam looked down at this, biting his lip. "You're awake, though, so don't worry about me. I'll get some sleep soon, I promise. You just worry about yourself, okay?"

"I missed you," he murmured, and she chuckled.

"When you decided to go visit the skies? I missed you too, when you were gone." He smiled, feeling his heart skip a beat. He loved this girl too much. It was killing him.

"Samuel? I understand if you do not want to answer any questions, but we need to-"

"What is it, Optimus? How can I- help?" He felt himself almost stutter at the word, and he shook his head at it. He leaned up, his hand still holding Carly's, which she squeezed affectionately.

The Autobots looked to each other, possibly deciding how to phrase their questions, without seeming to alarm Sam, which made him angry. If they were going to ask about how he ended up in that Matrix, he would have a lot of fun answering.

"What, are you afraid I'll flinch at your questions? I'm not afraid to speak about what happened."

"I'm glad you are, Samuel. But-"

"How did you end up in the Matrix?" Ironhide was the most blunt so far, although Sam did hear their snippet of conversation just as he was waking up, so it came as no surprise.

"If I'm to be honest, and yes, you will think me insane- I ended up in the Matrix, because of a choice I made. I was given that choice- I was given it because of an- an angel. Someone or something way higher up than any of us. She let me choose how I wanted to go on." Sam was as blunt as he could be, but it caused Rachet to raise eyebrows.

"Hm, it seems you need a few more hours of sleep, Sam," he answered.

"I'm. Not. Messing. Around. You see, this is why I knew you weren't going to believe me." Sam huffed, crossing his arms.

"You said it was a choice you made- What do you mean by that?" Optimus asked.

"A choice-?" Sam swallowed. Wow, where did he begin?

"Interesting choices."

"What do you mean?"

"She appeared to me. I was already dead, Optimus. I couldn't have been making this up, I swear-"

"It's alright, Samuel. We understand. We really do." The fathery tone in Optimus' voice made Sam stare into the sheets of the bed. He'd said he was okay with speaking about his death, and already he was stuttering like a child.

"How did you know you were dead?" Rachet asked disbelievingly. Sam closed his eyes, reluctantly, painfully against his wishes, against what his mind wanted.

"I-I could feel everything, and my heart was racing, so fast I thought I would never hear it stop. It was pumping faster and faster, and then, all of a sudden, the pain- the burning pains, everything, it was all gone. I was- floating, drifting through endless space. I couldn't feel my heartbeat. I couldn't feel my body, everything was-," he swallowed, "-Gone.

"And then, something came to me, and I could hear, wings, I could see light, and I saw- a girl, younger than me, with bright red eyes. I can't remember anything else, other than the conversation we had, and I know something came after it, but I just can't remember-"

"What did she say?"

Sam sighed. This wasn't what he wanted to reply to. This was his personal business. Instead, he faltered, and looking up, asked-

"Optimus? There's something I need to ask you first, a question." Patiently, the leader looked down on the wavering human, who just couldn't say what he knew all of them needed to hear.

"What is it, Samuel?"

"… Did you ever hear Mearing call me a name? Something very specific? Like, a title?"

"No. Why?"

"Well, I could see her calling you a lot of names, kid," Ironhide huffed, crossing his arms. Sam let it go.

"It's just- It's nothing, never mind. Basically, the girl asked me what I would choose to do, if I could replay the events leading up to the battle, and even in the battle itself."

"And what did you say in return?"

So, this kinds drags on a little, but ah well... It does get really interesting a little later on! I can't wait for you guys to see it! Until then, however, I have to tease everyone! XPP

Oh, and Emotive Dissensions, for those that don't know, means Emotional Strifes.

Thanks for reading, and see y'all soon! xoxox