CHAPTER 23
The Birthday Party

To Trevor's surprise, his sixteenth birthday was celebrated on the actual day as well. He had almost expected the trip would have been it, but then here he was, in the midst of a massive party. The Autobots had put it on with help from the human members of NEST, surprising him as he got up in the morning. Bumblebee, knowingly, simply hoisted his son up onto his shoulder with a wide grin. "Dad," Trevor laughed a little as he looked over the gathered operatives and Autobots in the main hangar. "You promised no more surprises. The trip was enough," Trevor whispered into his audio receptor.

Bumblebee's engines purred, as they often did around Trevor. And unsurprisingly, he noticed the hint of amusement and mischief in them. "You don't turn sixteen every day," Bumblebee said innocently, whistling a little. "Besides, I don't think Lennox or Prime were going to let you get away with that. They want to celebrate your birthday too," He added.

Trevor rolled his eyes, but knew that Bumblebee spoke the truth on all levels. And thus, he didn't argue as Bumblebee stepped in and the party began. It had been mostly decorated to fit a racing theme, with video games set up, food, and punch included. Trevor was surprised to find several presents also waited on one table, from the Autobots, Bumblebee, Optimus, and of course, the Lennox's. He didn't expect, nor would have felt comfortable with anyone else buying any for him, as he hadn't yet come to know most of them.

Eventually, Bumblebee had set him down and allowed him to mingle. Lennox, to his surprise, dropped his resolve at that moment, and pulled him into a hug. Then again, he guessed surprise should not have been his reaction. In the time he had spent with the man, he had practically become family, and a second father figure to him. "Happy birthday, big guy," Lennox told him calmly. "I hope you'll like the gift. Sarah and I Skyped and searched Amazon for something nice," He patted him on the back.

"Thanks, Will," Trevor grinned. "But you didn't have to get me anything."

"Sure," Lennox snorted. "Like I'm gonna let your birthday go by without getting you anything."

Trevor blushed a bit, but nodded his head. He supposed that much was true, and arguing with an army major was not likely to get him anywhere. But Trevor simply looked around as the party got going, music and all. "You know, when Galloway sees this, he's going to a pitch a fit," Trevor muttered. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Who cares?" Ironhide offered to the side. "After what he pulled recently, if he says a slagging thing I'll blast his fragging head off."

Trevor laughed as Ironhide smirked, clearly, very serious about doing so. And at this point, Trevor would not have objected. And yet, of course, Optimus stepped behind Ironhide and put a hand on his shoulder. "That may not be wise at this time, Ironhide," Optimus replied. "We will not talk of violence at the celebration of Trevor's creation," That one made the mech roll his optics in return. "Happy creation day, young one."

"Thanks Optimus," Trevor took a few steps forward and allowed the mech to scoop him up. "Whoa, whoa," Trevor felt the mech pull him to his chest in a gentle hug. "Never gonna be used to that, you're so powerful."

"Am I causing you pain?" Optimus questioned in concern.

"Nah," Trevor shook his head as Optimus released him. "So, how did you guys know how to throw this?" Optimus raised an optic ridge. "Internet?"

Optimus shook his head as he set Trevor upon his shoulder, allowing his grandson to get comfortable. The mechs exchanged looks, and then Optimus looked over at him. "We have creation day celebrations much like your birthdays. Though for us, it is a creation vorn," Trevor made an "O" shape with his mouth. "Once another vorn has passed in the life of a sparkling, we celebrate it with much celebration. Gifts are given, and their lives are celebrated," He then added. "Essentially a birthday."

Trevor nodded his head, knowing that it made sense. He had almost expected it to be that the humans had explained how to properly celebrate a birthday, so it surprised him. "Speaking of, are we doing presents soon?" Jazz asked, stepping forward behind them. "Can we just give the kid his c-," Jazz was stopped by the look in Optimus's optics. "Oh, was that supposed to be a surprise?"

"Was what supposed to be a surprise?" Trevor asked.

From behind, Bumblebee smacked Jazz upside the head, his optics narrowing. "My other present to you," Bumblebee told him, then looked down at Lennox. "We might as well bring it in. Since he's now going to wonder what that was about," He commented, putting his hands on his hips as Lennox started away from them. "Don't give me that look," He told Trevor.

"You already got me enough, dad," Trevor shook his head.

"Alright, if you still feel that way when we bring it out. I promise to return it," Bumblebee threw his hands up. "But to be fair, I think you're going to really like this one," He chuckled slightly as the sound of an engine filled the room.

Trevor turned his head as the vehicle drove its way in, his mouth gaping a little. Rolling inside was a racecar, a real, albeit somewhat old and clearly fixed up old racecar. Optimus smirked as he let the boy on the ground, and he approached it slowly. "What? What?" Trevor sputtered out as Lennox pulled himself out of the drivers side once it stalled. "Dad, what?"

"You said that enough," Bumblebee laughed. "I figured if you're going to be a racer, well... The area outside the base is similar to a racetrack," The mech slowly approached him. "I mean, you still need to get your license. And I'll take you stateside to do that next week. But consider this the first step in following that dream of yours," He explained.

"Dad, she's beautiful," Trevor breathed, running his hand along the side of the car. "I just, I," He rushed over, and wrapped his arms around the crook of his leg. "Thank you," He added.

Bumblebee crouched, and hugged his son as best he could. Then, looked at him, keeping a finger on his shoulder. "You once told me you didn't think they'd want a one-legged driver," Bumblebee told him with a grin. "Well after a few years of training using this? You're gonna make them have no choice," Trevor returned the grin.

After a long moment, they broke off, and Trevor allowed himself to sigh. His eyes turned towards the racecar again, his racecar, his first steps towards the very thing he had dreamed about for years. He would train with it, he would get skilled, and he would beat the odds.

...

The rest of Trevor's party went by over another couple of hours. The NEST officers, and Trevor, indulged in cake, while the Autobots ate Energon treats whipped up with Ironhide's recipe. Afterward, Trevor was finally allowed to take a look at his other presents. The Lennox's had gotten him a large book on the history of NASCAR, which Trevor found awesome, given he had only read fleeting stories on the internet. Ratchet, who he was surprised made an honest effort, had created a fine watch. One that not only read the time and date, but also worked as a communicator to the Autobots, and linked to their coms.

Ironhide gave him a gift which Bumblebee nearly had a conniption at despite Trevor's age. It was a gun, his first gun ever to be exact. Though it at first appeared to be a small handgun, when one pressed a button on the side, it took on the form of a much larger, Cybertronian gun. One which though meant for human use still stood nearly to Trevor's neck-line. "Hey, if he's going to become my little protégé," Ironhide defended himself. "Kid needs a gun of his own that he can show off like I do my cannons."

Bumblebee rolled his optics, and tried not to curse out Ironhide. But eventually, he realized that at the same time, the gift was awesome, being he was, after all, young. Next came Jazz's, which was an Apple iPod that he had loaded up with Trevor's favorite music, which Trevor nearly geeked out about. Bumblebee was very impressed as well, and liked the idea of a present involving music for obvious reasons. While they were looking it over, however, a throat clearing noise caught their attention right away.

Optimus stood tall behind his son and grandson quietly, a gift of his own barely visible in the palm of his hand. He crouched low, and looked at Trevor with a warm smile. "I hope that the grandsire has not been forgotten," Optimus chuckled, as Trevor blushed a bit. "I wanted your present to be something meaningful. And thus, I hope that it is to your liking." He explained.

He set the gift into Trevor's arms, and only now he realized how big it was. It was definitely not huge, but still, Trevor looked it over with great curiosity before sitting down, and beginning to tear at the wrapping paper. Inside, there was a box, and Trevor carefully opened it before his eyes widened, and his mouth gaped open. Inside, he found the most brilliant light that he had ever seen, carefully, he reached inside, and pulled the glowing orb from inside. He was surprised to find it wasn't hot, nor was it very heavy.

Immediately, Ratchet's attention was grabbed, and he took a few steps forward. "Prime, are you sure?" Ratchet muttered as quietly as he could near Optimus's audio receptor. "He may be your grandcreation, but he's still human. I don't know-."

"What is it?" Trevor asked, looking over the beautiful blue light.

As soon as he had spoken, the light shot towards him without warning. Trevor's eyes widened, and slowly, his life began to flash before him. The years after he was born: the abuse, his meeting of Joseph, his childhood, his meeting Bumblebee, everything before, during, and after Mission City, and now. He felt as if his body was being torn apart, and after a long moment, it was over. Trevor nearly dropped the orb, but caught it just in time. "Trev," Bumblebee rushed toward him. "It's okay, kiddo," He watched as Trevor struggled to stand. "You'll get your strength back in a minute."

"What is it?" Trevor asked again, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Watch," Bumblebee nodded.

Trevor stared as the orb rolled out of his hands, and to the ground. The brilliant light began to shine again, and then slowly various images shot over the surface of it. Trevor's memories, though they were too fast for anyone to really see anything more than flashes. Then other memories, those he didn't recognize, that involved robots who looked like Optimus and Bumblebee at several different stages, then of other mechs. Slowly, the orb began to shrink, and within the orb, which had stopped the memories, a small sigil now appeared.

"It's a Spark of Memories," Ratchet muttered.

"Crafted from my own spark, as a gift to you," Optimus spoke, his voice calm and gentle. "Normally, something such as this would be used to help craft a newborn spark. Or given to an adoptive child so they could visit the memories of their new heritage that it contained," His holoform slowly appeared, carefully placing the orb - or spark - onto a small object attached to a chain link. "But as you are not Cybertronian, I have done everything in my power to make it so the touch of your hand will activate it. In it, contains the memories of all of my lineage, including Bumblebee's, due to the guardian bond we share." He then added. "In theory, it too will feed off your memories and add them to the ones already inside."

"And the symbol?" Trevor asked.

Optimus smiled, bringing the necklace around Trevor's neck. "It is the symbol of my family, the Prime Dynasty," Optimus explained. "A personal touch I included when crafting the spark," He then carefully began to place a small, glass orb over the spark, which then attached to the object on the chain as well. "To most it will look like a normal necklace. But when you detach the orb, and take hold of the spark, you will be able to view any memory it contains. And learn of your adoptive heritage."

Trevor looked at the new "necklace" quietly, unable to form a coherent sentence. This now small orb contained everything about Optimus's family? About Bumblebee's? And now, now it had his, as if he had his own spark now. "Optimus," Trevor looked up at him quietly. "I don't know what to say, I," He carefully stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around the holoform in a hug. "Thanks, grandpa."

Optimus was surprised when he used the human term of endearment for a "grandsire". After all, Bumblebee had told him recently that the boy wasn't completely certain about calling him that at all. But perhaps now, he knew for certain that he loved him, just as Bumblebee did. And all things considered, he was thankful to have him in his family. "You're very welcome, Trevor," Optimus spoke gently. "Now, shall we continue the festivities?" He asked the others.

Trevor only nodded as his holoform disappeared and the Autobot leader smiled. The rest of the group went back to their talks, some murmuring about all that transpired. But Trevor could only stare at each of his presents, amazed at all of them. "So, that didn't take long," Bumblebee teased the human gently.

"I guess I just needed something like this," Trevor muttered. "To show me that you guys really are my family. Or at least, that Optimus really thinks of me on that level," He shook his head. "I knew he loved me because I'm your son. But I never realized, I guess just how much..."

"Family is a deep thing for us," Bumblebee told him gently. "Though Optimus may be a very professional mech. Believe me, he loves you just as much as I do," He explained. "Your grandpa has a lot of love to give out."

"Seems like everyone does," Trevor told him.

And though Bumblebee wouldn't be able to tell, for the first time, Trevor was truly feeling like an Autobot. Like he was really, truly a part of this big, albeit strange family. And to him, he couldn't have been any happier.

...

Trevor was wiped by the time the party got over around noon that day. After all, everyone did have a job to do, and thus, once it was finished, they went to work. Lucky for him, Galloway didn't even wake up before the party was over, and did not manage to damper the situation at all. For a while, Trevor continued to look over the spark necklace around his neck and smile. As odd as it may have seemed, the trinket really did mean a lot to him, enough that it would no doubt be something that he passed on to his kids, and so forth.

"You got so quiet," Trevor jumped out of his skin as Bumblebee approached him on the tarmac later that day. "Heh, did I scare you birthday boy? Sorry," Bumblebee rubbed the back of his neck. "I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay."

Trevor nodded his head, looking up at his father quietly. The mech had barely had him for real for under a year, and yet he noticed the small things. It almost scared him how well the mech already knew him, but he also knew it was his job to. "I'm fine, dad," Trevor replied, dropping the "pendant" against his chest. "I guess this is just the first day I really feel like totally part of the family, and I'm just taking it in," He admitted, his eyes scanning the horizon. "I mean, grandpa gave me a part of his spark," He muttered.

"It would have been a piece of mine too. But spark merging makes a new spark and yeah," Bumblebee shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that would be an awkward situation all around," Trevor laughed at that, rolling his eyes. "I'm glad you get that feeling though, it's nice to hear the words "dad" and "grandpa," He paused a moment. "Makes us really feel like a family."

"I thought we were?" Trevor teased.

Bumblebee perked up his doorwings, and crouched beside his son. He supposed that the boy was right there, he had to stop making statements like that, because they were family. "Listen," Trevor turned his head, expecting more from the Autobot. "Don't ever think I don't think of you that way. I know I should phrase some stuff better, but you're my kid," He poked Trevor gently. "Now, as my kid, I don't want you staying out here alone on your birthday."

"Where can we go?" Trevor laughed. "We're surrounded by water."

Bumblebee smirked, and scooped his son up with a thoughtful look in his optics. "I say we grab ourselves an energon treat, and a piece of cake," Bumblebee began with a wide grin. "Plop ourselves in the rec room, and watch all those cheasy sci-fi movies you love so much." He explained, raising his optic ridges mischievously. "I mean, we can only get away with being lazy afts on special occasions, right? Might as well make the most of it."

"Sounds like a plan, old mech," Trevor teased.

"Oh Primus, can we not go there? Give me a few years before we go there, please."

Trevor only laughed a little, gently resting his head against the crook of Bumblebee's neck. Bumblebee kept the broad smile on his face, his engine purring again, a fact which Trevor was slowly coming to enjoy. "Alright, I won't call you that again," Trevor replied. "So, bad sci-fi movies? We're definitely starting with Plan 9 from Outer Space, then," He grinned.

Bumblebee only smirked, and headed back toward base. As Trevor continued to mull over everything in the back of his mind. Indeed, he had lost much to this war, more than he could ever get back. But at the same time, it was days like this that made him thankful that if his old life had to be shattered, he'd found such an awesome new family to fill the void.

...

A/N: Prepare for a small time-skip next chapter!