Part Eight:

Benediction

There was only a faint glow by the time they arrived at the origin of the chaos: the lights which once shone so brightly were now so weak, that Lennox could see where they were. An hour outside of the city: of course they wouldn't have searched that far. They didn't believe Sam could've disappeared that fast within an hour of his disappearance.

Optimus stopped, amazed by the amount of pandemonium. Rubble and concrete laid splayed out here and there, scrawled together in areas: thrown out far over others. It was obvious there was a type of explosion, and there was no other sign of life, except for the still glowing light ahead of them, which seemed to be fast dwindling out.

He could hear nothing, could see only the detail of each and every stone he walked under as he transformed, hearing the men gather out around him, knowing they wouldn't need their guns: Mearing was dead, lying cold somewhere among the rocks of her home.

He was quiet, listening to the Autobots as they transformed behind him, trying to catch up with their leader, watching Lennox stumble as he pushed his way quickly through the stone, not caring for anything except what lay ahead, whatever it would be.

Bumblebee stopped and looked overhead again, and stopped, his optics shining. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, but then again, it was no surprise. He had a sneaking feeling that was what Sam was trying to do. He looked down, reminded of Sam, reminded of why they were here, and caught up with Optimus.

All of a sudden, the light which had drawn them all here, had diminished and fizzled out, leaving them to plunge in the darkness. Lennox stopped walking, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark, before he called out, "Sam? Can you hear me? We're coming for you, so stay where you are, okay?"

He stumbled again as he took the next step, the only thing he could make out was the glow of the optics from the Autobots as they walked over them. "Can you make anything out, guys?" There was a silence as they searched the grounds, unknowing what to find.

xXx

He felt himself get caught up, the light that had shone like a beacon was gone, and he felt himself drift in the darkness, his eyes half closed, his face burning, his whole body on fire from the injuries he'd sustained earlier, and the ones still searing his chest as the light was now, finally, gone. His fingers were trembling, and he knew not why. He wasn't breathing, but for some reason, that didn't scare him. Nothing scared him, except the fact the place where his heart once was, felt empty, lost, numb.

The message was delievered, he thought silently, happily.

They must have seen it.

It was the brightest star in the sky, and it glowed all around for everyone to see.

At least, now he'd done it, he felt more at peace.

Would they be proud? Would any of them miss him? Would they have noticed that Cybertron was there, hovering behind the moon, for them?

They would. Of course they would.

He was happy now. He'd done it all for them. He'd brought the message home.

xXx

"I think I see something!" Epps cried, running ahead of Lennox. Lennox looked up, and saw what his friend was able to make out. A small, very faint blue light, hovering on the grounds, behind a slab of stone. The weak light threw off on the shadows, and from that, he could make out a limb hand.

He dropped his gun.

He dropped everything.

He ran.

xXx

"Optimus! He is here!" Rachet's voice followed Epps'. Optimus turned from his search point, and faltered. Already, Rachet was looking at Sam, and even though Optimus couldn't see Sam's body, he could tell by the expression on the medic's face that there was no point.

Sam wasn't breathing.

Sam was dead.

It was too late.

His optics closed, as he felt a finality that should have come a long time ago, when they finished their war in Chicago.

xXx

Ironhide stopped Bumblebee from moving. Bumblebee looked up toward the older Autobot.

"I don't think you-" He was cut off by the squeaks that were made to sound like protests. Bumblebee already knew it was too late, and he could already feel his spark break again, but he felt he was doing the right thing by Sam. If it were him, and he was dead, Sam would want to see, so he could pay his respects.

Ironhide stopped, and let his optics dim in sadness. Bumblebee stopped protesting, and looked down, annoyed at the way he acted to the older 'bot.

He turned around, and watched Lennox as he approached the slab, eyes wide in sorrow and fear. Sorrow, because he knew they were too late, fear, because he didn't know if he wanted to see how Sam's body fared after being with Mearing for so long. Epps was already looking, and even he seemed horrified. His eyes were wide, and his hands clenched openly at his sides. He was chewing his teeth, grinding them so that he wouldn't have to open his mouth and say something indecent.

xXx

Mudflap knew what it was like, and decided to stay behind. He watched on as the others walked to where their fallen friend had lay, and looked down at the ground, feeling nothing except the emptiness he felt when he himself had passed on.

They didn't know, and they would never know, how much it pained him, how much grief he felt when he had to say goodbye the first time. His brother would be left behind, and while he knew Skids would be in good company, he didn't want to go. He was reluctant to leave.

They would never know how much it pained him to hide behind the exterior of the jester, who preferred the jokes to the more serious, more fatal side. They would never know how much he resembled his brother on that fact. They'd seen enough death, and met enough humans and Autobots alike, who suffered and died as a result, that to become more frantic and funny was just their way of dealing with their own problems.

Skids was beside him. Skids didn't move either.

Silently, without any prompt on his part, he felt Skids raise his hand, and touch his.

He closed his optics, silently thanking his brother for the most simplest and most effective way of comfort for him.

xXx

Blood caked every inch of his frame, his shirt, once white, was now drenched in red, wet with every single drop his body could bleed. His hands were held facing upward, eyes closed, mouth held in a slight smile. His head, facing his side, displayed more cuts, more bruises, more signs of the pain he'd endured. Blood was still poring from his system, like there was more to seep away, more to cut at, if anyone wanted.

But his pulse was gone.

Bumblebee ferverently hoped that Sam wasn't awake for all of it. It reminded him of the time when Barricade's hands were around his throat, pulling out-

He whimpered, crouching down, seeing his charge for the third time in such a vunerable stance.

There was nothing left again.

How could Sam keep doing this to them?

How could Sam keep doing this to all of them?

Why?

Why?

Sam said there were choices, always choices. Why did Sam choose to give up his life?

Of course, he thought, looking up to the sky full of stars. Of course. He wondered if they had spotted it. He looked to Optimus, before speaking through the radio.

"There's a paradise beneath me…" He pointed, high above all of them, and caught everyone's attentions. They looked up, and Optimus stared, uncomprehending what he was seeing. When Lennox didn't get it, he asked them to tell them what he saw.

"I believe we are seeing the fruits of our soldier's labour," the radio replied, and Epps was the first to turn around and question that.

"What do you mean?"

"Primus," Rachet mumbled, keeping his optics on the staright and narrow. "Am I seeing things?"

"…" Optimus stared, and then he understood, "Cybertron was brought here. Samuel brought Cybertron here, didn't he?" There was no answer, and everyone took that to mean the truth. "Primus," he cursed under his breath, and Epps was surprised to see the leader rub at his optics as if he was tired. "Samuel brought Cybertron here. Samuel was right. Cybertron was here all along."

Ironhide clenched his fists, not saying anything. Sam gave up his life again, just to make them happy.

"Jesus, you mean to tell me Sam not only died here, but he brought Cybertron here as well?" Lennox looked down to the sprawled out kid below him, who seemed as if he was lost in dreams. If only. He took a deep breath, and felt he was fit to kick a wall. Another one of his men lost. Another family to break the news to. Another file to add to the already huge list of people dead, or missing, or lost in action. Jesus.

There was a deafening silence, one that nearly suffocated all of them. Lennox threw himself to his knees and Epps placed a hand on his shoulder. Optimus looked away, unable to take any more sadness, or guilt, or grief. Ironhide turned to see Bumblebee hunched over, his helmet going over his head as if in defeat. Rachet looked to the moon again, wondering if Sam could hear any of their prayers.

And then the silence was lifted. Rachet was the first to notice that melancholy ebbing away. He saw only one. Just one fell from the sky, drifting, dancing, through the sky, hushed, whispery, white. Bumblebee right beside him felt his sensor pick up and he looked. Just one.

One by one, each and every one of the men, and Autobots looked to see this feather, so pure, and so very quiet, fall, gently to the ground, an almost happy bounce to each and every tender swerve it took, before, finally, dancing itself out to the ground, right beside Sam, where it disintegrated into a million little gold specs of dust.

The little dust marks were full of light, and a tiny, childlike burst of laughter tinkled through the air, causing Lennox to look and see.

Whoever she was, she was laughing. She was happy.

Who, Lennox thought confusedly, was she?

Bumblebee was instantly reminded of the angel from two weeks ago. The angel who protected Sam, the statue, and hesitatingly, he leaned in wondering if she was able to hear them. He watched the million fragments bend and twist in the air, as if following a certain pattern, before asking-

"I found God on a corner—Where the west was all but one—I said where you been?"

Would she understand?

A laugh answered him, this time closer than he thought. He jerked, as if thinking she was beside him, and Optimus, seeing what Bumblebee was trying to do, stepped forward, watching.

"Thank you for the compliment," was the reply, before, "Thank you for asking if I was God. I am not, merely the Messenger, like Sam."

"Are you my angel?"

"I am the one who helped. I am the one who entrusted you all with Fate, as Optimus would recall," she whispered her reply. Optimus did recall. "My name is Gabrail, and I am pleased to meet you all again." Then she was gone, and in her place, a gust of wind threw them all off guard. Lennox closed his eyes, as pieces of sharp metal flew from the stone around them.

Then there was a cough, feeble and faint.

When Lennox opened his eyes, he saw Sam had moved, he was now on his side, sagging down into the ground, eyes half fluttered open, tired, brown eyes staring into nothing. Hands flexed in the brown earth below him, and he looked lost, like he didn't know where he was. He was trembling, scared, and from his lips tumbled a half formed whimper.

Lennox grabbed him, and noticed how cold he was, before pulling off his jacket and covering him while the Autobots looked to one another in so much surprise they didn't know if anything ever would shock them again. Sam was violently shaking, his breathing so laboured they weren't sure if he was able to breathe in the first place.

"We need something to warm him up, now! This kid's freezing!" Lennox was shoving another layer off his shoulders, watching the kid below him tremble as if he was after dumping himself in freezing waters. Out of nowhere, he saw Bumblebee's hand take Sam up, bundled in the layers of clothes, so tiny and fragile, and held him close to his chest, heating up his systems as fast as he could. When he pressed him there, there was a silence, as if everyone was waiting on Sam's reaction. The blood had all but dried up, and the scars of every cut he'd received were blunt against his shockingly pale skin. Even the colour red seemed too violent to look at when it was on him, and they watched on as Sam whimpered again.

"…Wh- happen-" he mumbled through chattering teeth, voice broken and cracked. It sounded like he was frantic, fingers searching for where he was, and when they found the yellow and black paint of Bee's chest plate, they relaxed. The shivering was subsiding, as was the whimpers.

Sam could feel it. He could feel the emptiness begin to beat again. What was it called?

His heart.

Yeah, that sounded right.

"Can you hear me buddy?" Bumblebee's voice whirred above him, almost silent, tense, as if waiting for that reply was killing him. His eyes were closed, and the pains all over his body were subsiding gradually, receeding with the warmth. He was tired, he wanted to sleep, but-

"I dreamt of you, Bee. That's why I couldn't say- Saw you and Barricade. Saw you- and saw, everyone-," he was so drained, so drowsy, that he couldn't finish the sentence. He was being pulled down,

down,

down,

and he wasn't sure he could stay awake.

"-Saw you, and I was afraid. I saw- I saw-," he was unaware of how frightened he was, and it sounded like he was so faraway, but his heartbeat continued to pulse with the tempo he had on his mind. He was breathing fast: he really was scared. Above him, Bumblebee's eyes widened, as he watched Sam confess. The tension between the whole group around them forced him to see how hurt and terrified Sam was. Sam saw something he really shouldn't have, but he was forced to see it through his dreams, the one place where he should have been safe.

He mildly squeezed him, and abruptly, he saw Sam look up with difficulty. "S-Sorry. Should have- said sooner." Hands were still trembling on his chest plates, causing Bumblebee to fear Sam was having some sort of a seizure. The they relaxed again, and Sam closed his eyes, but not before whispering-

"Did you see it? Did you- See? Now, don't have to- Go."

Optimus heard it. Before he heard the soft murmurs of sleep taking over Sam, finally lost in the sea of dreams, he heard it loud and clear:

Cybertron is here, now you don't have to leave.