A/N: Well... This is kind of just a filler for the next chapter... I do hope everyone likes it, and also, thank you to everyone who has read along and reviewed: I do appreciate all you've said! =^_^=

Part Two

The Wish for the Want_

Sam couldn't reply. What was playing through his mind, like the turning wheels of time, were all the choices he made to save everyone, and yet, wasn't it obvious to them how he chose to go on?

"Samuel?" Optimus was leaning in, his voice still calm, but with a note of sternness in it. There was a push for an answer: Optimus needed to know. Beside him, he saw Ironhide lean in, and say-

"You chose to save us, didn't you?"

"Yes, you guys were one of my choices-"Sam whispered, recalling how it felt, to be in the company of a child with wings, something so pure and innocent, pure as whiteness. No, not whiteness. Not even the purest colour could compare to purity itself. His hands flexed with a little more than anxiety.

"How many bargains did you make with the angel?" Rachet pushed. "That's dangerous, Sam, making a bargain with someone who has the power to take away all that you've gained-" Rachet was interrupted by Sam, who this time, was getting sick of being talked over like he was a child: he was able to make his own decisions, thank you very much.

"She is good, and if you were to ask me how I know, why don't you take a good look at the person standing in front of you right now? I'm alive. I am breathing, I am not dead. Your friends, the ones you lost in battle a few days ago, are alive. Ironhide is alive. Mudflap is alive- The men, who lost their lives, who gave up everything for your war, for your fight to the death, are still dead, because they chose to move on. They didn't want to come back in case- in case it meant they had to fight again, " Sam let what he'd said sink in, before turning to Optimus. He took in the severity of what he's said, and internally, he winced. "You want to know what choices I made?" His voice, usually so in control, was now making the highest pitching squeal he'd ever made in his entire life, considering his voice had fully deepened.

"-You wanted to be with them-"

"I told her, I wanted to be with Bee, I wanted to be with you guys, no matter what the outcome, I chose to save the people I care for, and, even if I had to, kill Megatron myself. I chose to stay here." He waited for Optimus' answer, for any of their answers, but none came, and he couldn't help the rush of emotion that flowed from his body, causing him to shake.

"Do you know what hurt the most when you guys took off two years ago? When I got off the ship, after bringing you back Optimus? None of you said goodbye. I was just dropped off home, and nothing else was said. Why? Was that the most important thing? Bringing you back, because that was my destiny? What about after my destiny, Optimus? Did I just not exist after that? Was I nothing to you?

"Was Mikeala nothing to you after that? That was the reason, you know. She knew what happened then was hurting me, and she told me to contact you, to find a way to base, so we could talk things over. We fought about it, and quite frankly, I didn't see the point in trying to find you. You'd always find a way to shove me out of your line of vision. I'm too small a human to make any difference, amn't I? Mikeala and I broke up over that, Optimus.

"You didn't even give Bee a chance to tell me anything: not one of you bothered to even text, call me. A simple text, telling me how you all got on? Was that so hard for you, considering you had our earthly problems to deal with in the past few years?"

The fight had left him, he was left breathless, and his ribs hurt from trying not to breathe too hard. He was heart-broken. He recalled the feeling when he walked back to his home, tired, and upset after all that happened. One hand in one pocket, Mikeala in the other, his parents on his opposite side. There were a flurry of images, and each one caused another tear to fall down his cheeks, as he stared boldly into Optimus' eyes. There was no answer.

"I would do anything for you guys. I would- sorry, no, correction- I have walked to the ends of the earth for you, I have been chased, I have been taunted, laughed at, made a fool of, and not just by your Decepticon enemies, but by the people I used to know very well as friends. To top it all off, I've been killed, twice, for you guys. You chose to fight here, and so everyone here is helping. Would it kill you all to at least try and do the same in return?"

When Optimus finally had the chance to utter a few words, his voice was as grave as it was sincere, but not even that had the power to overtake the two years he'd spent wondering if the Autobots had turned into some sort of freaking myth-

"Samuel, we are sorry for the trouble we have caused you, and all of your family, but we had no choice after the battle. You did tell Bumblebee you wanted a normal life, you told me you wanted a normal life-"

"That was before you died and I had to raise you out of your grave! That was when I was a kid, Optimus. I'm not one anymore-"

"You are still young, Samuel."

What? Oh, so when he shoved a bloody metal box into Megatron's spark, when he resurrected their Autobot leader, when he died to save them, that wasn't meant to be enough? What the hell could he have given next? Should he have just stayed dead for them? Would they have missed him much more then?

"And how old is Bumblebee in my years? Did you decide to push him out on the battlefield when he was a teenager too? He must have had a lot of maturing to do when he first had to kill someone." He knew it was very childish, but he couldn't care less anymore. His fight may have gone with the remnants of death, but he still had the bark in him to tide it all over. Hell, he just came back from being dead, so he was allowed a few snappy remarks.

There was a haunting silence, and it was recognised immediately by Rachet, by which he leaned down in front of Sam, who did not flinch at all. "Don't talk to Optimus that way, boy. You do not know the first thing about war-"A hand was placed on his shoulder, and Rachet looked back to Optimus.

"Samuel is right, Rachet. Bumblebee was young when he was placed in the war for Cybertron, we met him when we crossed paths out on the battlefield, and he saved my life also. At the cost of killing his first Decepticon. He was frightened, but we all had to bear similar pain. Don't believe Bumblebee was the first to see-"

"That's not the problem here, Optimus," Sam sounded desparte, grappling at the few blunt traits that went with having to point out your story. "Have you ever heard of innocence? Bee was just a kid. And yet, Bee would do anything to protect those he loves, even if he died as a result. I-."

Sam felt lost, thinking to that moment, when he truly believed Bee was going to die, just as he saw his best friend march to his death, hands held behind his head, face sad, eyes downcast. "I almost saw him die, Optimus. And if you saw that face, his face, you'd understand, that-"Sam looked down, closing his eyes, letting the tears brim over again, falling down his cheeks, onto his hand, and still holding Carly's. She squeezed his hand again.

"There are always choices. I wasn't afraid to make the choice to die. Not because I just witnessed war, not because of the fact the Decepticons were winning. I wasn't afraid to die, because in the end, my death would've meant Bee would've survived, and Carly would be safe, and you all got the chance to see that this planet was- is- your home. Always."

He'd said it again. Why did he speak those words? Why was the word 'choice' or even 'choosing' so important to him? Why was the message of home so striking to him? He was surprised with himself, not because what he was saying had absolutely nothing to do with their conversation, but because there was truth in his words.

Optimus waited, watching this being with the world on his shoulders. So he considered them as part of his family, as such. He could see what he was trying so hard to say, just as Ironhide had said to them when he found them in the city-

"He told us this was our home, and that all of you were waiting for us."

Sam said that. Sam told them to come back, to come home. Sam wasn't terrified to die, he was happy if it meant saving them. He was trying to do what his heart dictated, even if it meant more pain.

"I was told, a while ago, by two different people, I played a specific role in all of this, in everything you guys done. I was given a name, a name I didn't want, because it meant I was put out in the cold everytime you faced the world by yourselves-"

Optimus could see it then, why Bumblebee enjoyed Sam's company so much, why Bumblebee didn't want to leave his best friend when they docked the ship all those years ago. Sam was exactly the same as Bumblebee: they shared a link no other Autobot held with a human. The ties that bound them remained still, invisible to the naked eye, but as strong as the bond shared between brothers.

Sam had to face the world by himself the moment he left for home two years ago. Bumblebee had to face a brand new world the moment he stepped down on this earth many, many years ago.

"- I didn't want that. I wanted us to face this together, but it was impossible when we were apart to even tell you. Mearing, and Dylan: they said I was the Messenger, someone who delivers, and then watches on, helpless, as those I love are killed, or beaten, or lost. That role, I… I didn't want it. But the angel told me that because I was the Messenger, I was the only one who could do what I just did. She said-"

"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, ask them what they think of your calling, and they will agree with me."

"What, Sam? What did she say?" Carly whispered, pressing him to go on, and he was glad for her. She was the one pushing him to say it: she knew he needed to get up to five years' worth of pain and sorrow off his chest.

"What do you guys think? Am I really the Messenger, like she says I am?"

There was an unspoken plea in his voice, and he wasn't sure the others could hear it-

The wish for it to not be true.

A/N: In the next chapter there will be revealtions, especially to do with the angel... Although I'm not quite sure if anyone would think of it quite like I do, but it was the only way I could get this to fit together... So, if you have a problem, please don't raise any flames... Gabrail, the angel, is my first original character for a fanfiction...

Ah wells, R&R please: it's greatly appreciated!

xoxoxox