Transformers - Peaceful Days

Sideswipe had left after warning Optimus about some of Sentinel's suspicious actions against other Cybertronians. The silver Mech had told Optimus and now he hoped his leader would be careful if the older Prime appeared again. Sideswipe walked across the snow covered landscape as he contemplated everything that had happened to them so far. From joining the Gladiators to almost joining the Decepticons to getting saved by Ironhide and Prowl and finally bring allowed to join the Autobots. He and his twin owed the two older Mechs a lot, he could only imagine how dissatisfied they would have been if they joined the other group.

Sideswipe walked further and heard something very curious coming from one of the Cybertronian rooms that caught his attention. Peeking inside, he saw it was the two sparklings with the youngling human Optimus adored and the rest was so very fond of. Sideswipe could see the appeal he supposed though there was something about his optics, correction eyes that held a lot of secrets. But then again the ex - gladiator amended, almost every Witwicky had that look in their eyes, only it was more profound in Sam's. Sam however noticed him and called him in to join them, it was cosier inside after all.

Sideswipe, "Thank you for the invite youngling."

Sam, "Most welcome ~ How are you settling in? Do you have any discomfort we should know about?"

Sideswipe, "You will hear no complaints from me. Bluntly speaking, I have not enjoyed any form of luxury ever since the War started. This is the first in a long time for a lot of us."

Sam blinked, "It's been that long?"

Sideswipe, "Mnn. We were always on guard, always fighting for survival, it is never a good idea to have anything luxurious or precious with us."

Sam, "I understand. Survival comes first, comfort second. Well, I am happy we can give you all a little respite."

Sideswipe, "What were you singing? I tried searching online but I did not find it."

Sam smiled that secretive smile that always managed to drive Ironhide up the wall if what Jazz had said could be believed. Sideswipe could see why though, that smile looked innocent but held secrets and it was not like Sam was trying to hide it either. According to Bumblebee, the youngling had admitted to knowing things but problem was if those things were relevant or not. Sideswipe had to bury the itch to start investigating his secrets though Sam was merciful this time and explained it was a lullaby called; Safe and Sound. The poem had been popular during the World Wars that had plagued planet Earth before and was a source of great comfort.

Sideswipe, "My caretakers used to sing for my clutch before we were sent away after becoming full Mechs."

Sam, "Could you sing for us, please?"

Chatter, "Please."

Quickshot, "Bumblebee normally sings for us but we want to hear more."

Sideswipe grinned, "Sure bitlets, why not."

Sam, Chatter and Quickshot made themselves comfortable around Sideswipe as he started to sing an old lullaby, the song Ironhide sang for him in Cybertronian. It was different to listen to in Sam's opinion, a mixture of whistles, clicks, grunts and guttural sounds coming together in a symphony. When Sideswipe finished singing he noticed all three of them had cuddled up in his lap and sleeping soundly. The silver Mech did not have the spark to wake them up and it had been so long since he had the chance to care for sparklings. Jazz chuckled from the doorway, the saboteur had come looking for him but seeing him occupied decided to let him be. Sideswipe nodded in gratitude and powered down to recharge alongside the young ones.

Elita One, "I thought you were looking for Sideswipe, Jazz."

Jazz, "I was but Sam roped him in to sing Chatter and Quickshot to sleep. It worked too, all four of them are recharging now."

Elita One's mouth plates twitched, "Oh! How envious!"

Jazz pat the femme's shoulder, "Relax, you will get your time with the little sparks. Sam is always happy to have others help. In his words, he is a human and even though he was picked as a parent by the Allspark, there are some things that only a Cybertronian can show or teach the sparklings."

Elita much to Jazz's amusement perked up at that, "That is true. I should probably brush up on some common sparkling lessons and stories. Do you think they would like the sparkling stories? I know Earth has many fairytails geared towards children."

Optimus who overheard their conversation spoke up, "I have no doubt they would love to listen to any story you are willing to share with them Ariel."

Elita smiled, "Orion, you think so?"

Optimus nodded, "Sam has showen a lot of interest in our culture but refrains from outright asking, out of fear of bringing up sad memories."

Elita had a thoughtful look, "Oh, yes, I can see myself do the same thing. I suppose we should offer then."

Jazz, "That's the spirit. But I understand the nervousness, it has been a long time since we had actual sparklings, hasn't it?"

Optimus smiled wistfully, "Yes, it has. Are they recharging?"

Elita nodded, "Sideswipe shared a lullaby from home with them. It sent Sam to sleep too."

Jazz, "In his defense, he is a youngling himself."

Elita, "I am not saying it as a bad thing, I think it is adorable actually."

Optimus chuckled, "Most humans are adorable, even the adults. It is only a handful few that give helm aches."

Jazz sobered up, "A few officials asking for weaponry again? Sam and his family will be furious to learn about that. Especially his mom, heaven knows how many humans have threatened her kid."

Elita frowned, "Even the cons would not stoop so low."

Optimus, "That is why I have declined sharing the knowledge again and again, though the Asian countries seemed more interested in going to the moon. ISRO, an organization from the subcontinent India has requested help in launching satellites to orbit and for samples from the moon."

Elita, "A trade? Is that all they want?"

Optimus nodded, "Yes, old friend. In return, they have given us free use of three areas across the country. The central plains, Diego Garcia and the northern region of Arunachal Pradesh."

Jazz, "Don't they have beef with China over that area?"

Optimus, "They do, that's why they are handing that area to us. They are hoping by working together for NEST, China will stop trying to take it."

Elita mused, "So, we are basically the neutral solution to their problem. Not sure how I feel about it but if it will give us a permanent place to work from, I say we take it."

Jazz, "You are going to love that place, so many different cultures, religions and caste live together."

Elita turned to him, "Caste? I forgot that cpuntry has the caste system as well."

Jazz crossed his arms, "Yeah and unlike us they somehow made it work for them. Kinda humbling, isn't it?"

Elita One looked down then looked up determination in her optics, "Perhaps, I will go there myself. Maybe we can all learn how to do things differently without killing each other. I hear India is a passive country that only uses violence as last resort."

Optimus nodded, "You have my full support to run the base in the North East region. I will be running the one in Diego Garcia while sharing the responsibility for the one in central plains. Prowl I believe plans on returning to the moon base. Will you join him Jazz?"

Jazz, "I cannot leave Sam, Optimus, I do not know how to explain it."

Optimus smiled amused, "Sounds like you became attached, Jazz. I understand, with the sparklings added to it, I have no doubt it will be a little difficult to up and go."

Jazz, "Apologies."

Elita shook her helm, "Don't be, you are one of the best carers I have known. If your spark is telling you to stay then stay. Primus knows I have such a strong desire to scoop them up and hide them away myself. I know many femmes who would do exactly that."

Optimus chuckled and the three moved to the main area that Ultra Magnus had built for Cybertronians hiding under an illusion shield, courtesy of Preceptor. Despite all the hurdles they faced, Optimus was feeling positive about their future and while the humans slept he called for an all Cybertronian meeting. The members of Lost Light who were neutrals and the bots sat down making their reports from Ratchet starting with their health to Prowl and Ironhide speaking of the security. Jazz and Kup informing them about Energon supply and Ultra Magnus updating them on their latest find in the Sahara desert. They found a Cybertronian relic which was used as the safe box by Cybertronians and they were trying to open it.

Optimus, "Please be careful, from what I understand the old relics can be unstable."

Magnus, "We are always careful and admittedly the crew has not been so excited in a long time."

Hot Rod, "Dude it's a mysterious relic. We are going to be excited."

Elita chuckled at the enthusiasm, "We get it, Hot Rod, but it never hurts to be careful."

The meeting went on till early morning and most of the meeting time was taken by the scientists Kup and Preceptor who were explaining how the relic worked. The next day Sideswipe came online to poking by Cogman who was amused by the cuddle pile they had going. He woke Sam up as well informing him it was time for breakfast and the brunette grumbled before getting up and heading to the human area. Sam gently pat Sideswipe's arm plate asking him to watch over the two sparklings to which the silver Mech happily agreed. Sideswipe adored the two little sparklings to bits anyway, in fact he knew how many other Cybertronians were envious of his position thanks to Jazz.

Sam, "Bumblebee, Raph, you guys are here."

Bumblebee, "Hey there, missed you."

Raph yawned, "We reached early in the morning."

Sam, "I missed you too, do you need to sleep some more? The party is not starting before six in the evening."

Bumblebee, "It's not a bad idea Raph."

Raph, "After breakfast I will get some shut eye."

Bumblebee turned to Sam after Raph was sleeping, "How are you truly doing Sam?"

Sam, "I am alright, well as alright as someone who suffers from insomnia can get."

Bumblebee, "Oh.... I should have stayed with you and sent someone else to go with Raph. Primus knows he was very worried about you as well."

Sam, "Ratchet and Dr Nate offered me sleeping pills to help but even those items cannot block memories."

Bumblebee, "I saw the newest sketch. It was disturbing, you should not have to deal with it."

Sam sighed, "Someone has to, might as well be me. It's not as bad as the first few times and it does not bother me. Actually I feel sad for them, they lost the one thing that gave them hope."

Bumblebee had nothing to say to that and just let Sam lean on his leg his servo gently cradling the brunette. Sam simply smiled at Bumblebee, to be honest he was very curious and fascinated by the extra knowledge but he did not want to sound cold so he did not say it. He read the darker comics with so much death as theme for enjoyment before, now seeing it happen in reality was just heart breaking. That made Sam wonder if he had family before, he did not remember them much, he remembers talking and debating over it with people but their faces were blank.

Sam sighed looking up at the sky, 'Strangely enough, my knowledge about the relics and other miscellaneous legendary Cybertronian items are clear as day. Wonder if this is a warning to collect them.'

Bumblebee looked at him, "Sam? Are you alright?"

Sam, "Come on, we need to get our papers in order."

Bumblebee, "What papers?"

Sam, "Optimus agreed to let you stick around but some people are not happy. We need to cover our bases so no one can use any excuse to separate us without our consent."

Bumblebee froze, "They are trying to what?"

Sam, "Yeah, come on. If we cover our bases, we should be ok."

Bumblebee was a little alarmed and commed Optimus about it making the Prime pause before answering. The Prime told Bumblebee to check the papers and cover the bases like Sam said, he would not be surprised if some humans tried to take advantage of some loophole.The yellow bot grumbled something nasty about politics which made Sam laugh as they both sat down with Cogman to go through the necessary paperwork. Cogman was a Primus send in Bumblebee's opinion, he would not even know where to start with all these bureaucratic nonsense. Bumblebee looked up and was a little surprised to see two hours passed already and Sam was juggling two items using one hand.

Bumblebee, 'What the?'

Cogman, -Curious creatures, aren't they?-

Bumblebee, -He is... With his hand... I didn't know humans could do that.-

Cogman, -I believe it's called automatic muscle action. Some humans start doing things unconsciously without realizing it. It is quite common if you observe them long enough.-

Bumblebee, -Here I thought Ironhide was being paranoid about being at top shape when it came to aims. He saw Will throw darts at a target without even looking where the target was.-

Cogman, -Sounds like Will was thinking deeply about something to not notice his surroundings.-

Bumblebee, -So it's like an involuntary muscle work? Because Will was confused when he saw Ironhide going at it in the training field.-

When Bumblebee looked back at Sam he was no longer looking at the papers but his eyes were glazed and he was drawing more memories on blank paper. Bumblebee sat up watching the memory come to life and felt his spark drop on seeing a very familiar face on the paper. It was a sparkling he had been taking care of right before disaster had struck and driven the wedge between the Autobots and Decepticons deeper. The yellow scout wanted to pull Sam away and make him stop but knew that would not help in any way. They tried it before but instead of stopping Sam just drew on the surface available to him.

Sam finished after a few minutes looking through the papers blankly and then pushing it away. This had happened before Sam would draw, go through the papers he had drawn and then throw himself into his school work or as currently into the paperwork for him. Cogman sighed and got up saying he would get some tea and snacks for Sam while Bumblebee took the paper with him. Bumblebee tried not to shake or purge his tank's as he saw his previous charge's last moments on paper before he passed on. Somehow he had reached the meeting between the Autobots was being held and knocked before entering.

Optimus, "Bumblebee, weren't you with Sam earlier?"

Bumblebee passed the papers, "Got more coming."

Elita who had looked out of curiosity gasped, "Oh sweet Solus! What.... What is that?"

Prowl, "Are those the memories from the Allspark?"

Bumblebee nodded, "We were just clearing up the papers to make sure no one tried to force anything with us. Then, the memories came again and we got this."

Jazz looked at the pictures, "This is.... Are you alright Bee?"

Bumblebee stared at the papers, "I am not the one haunted by the memories of the ones long passed."

Ratchet, "Where is he? I better check on him."

Bumblebee, "This way."

Optimus sighed as they left, "This is my fault."

Ironhide, "What are you saying?"

Optimus, "If I had not thrown the Allspark into space then Sam would not be suffering from nightmares. Our world would be alive and maybe just maybe we would still have a home."

Hot Rod, "That is a motherfragging lie and you know it."

Ultra Magnus, "Captain is right. If you had not thrown the Cube off planet, Megatron would have most likely obliterated the planet for it."

Nautica nodded, "Cybertron may not be inhabitable right now but it is still there and Primus showed you the way here, right? So, that means Primus is still out there watching over Cybertron."

Cyclonus nodded, "So, none of this is your fault nonsense, Prime. Life was a cruel bitch to us but it does not mean it was all our fault."

Rung shifted his glasses, "May I suggest therapy Prime. Many humans have studied that mental health is very important too and I am inclined to agree. I have been studying psychology and you know what? I expect you to come see me later on."

Optimus stared bewildered and under everyone's looks nodded before clearing his voice box and carrying on with the Autobots only meeting. Of course, it was not just Optimus that Rung was expecting to see in his office but others too. Elita One and Prowl had protested that they were fine then Rung pointedly asked them if they were truly that unaffected by the loss of their home. Both of them shut up at that and reluctantly agreed to see Rung the next day after getting a satisfied nod from the Mech. Hot Rod and Ultra Magnus chuckled at the reactions of their friends understanding how they felt about the matter. Primus knows how many times they pretended to act strong for the sake of others, it was not healthy though necessary.

Optimus would not admit it but the stare Rung gave them felt similar to the stare that Sentinel would give him as a youngling when he did something foolish and try to hide it. After the meeting Elita had admitted the same thing to him which made Optimus wonder exactly who Rung was, it was not always a Mech made them feel like naughty sparklings. Prowl grumbled under his breath about older Mechs looking younger than the actually were then brought the attention back to the meeting. They would need to decide what they should answer to some of the requests from some of the countries that wanted access to better communication and travel.

Ratchet, "Okay, I see nothing wrong."

Sam, "Thank you Ratchet."

Ratchet nodded, "Rung suggested you meet him later to talk about your mental health. He has been studying psychology for a long time."

Sam, "Rung? Oh, he took care of Grandma during her last few days after Grandpa passed away. Okay, I will go see him if he has time."

Ratchet nodded, "Later after the meeting, in fact Optimus I believe has a session with him alongside you. Rung believes having a session together will help with a few things and then solo session to help with others."

Sam, "I scared you guys that much?"

Ratchet's was quite then spoke, "We care about you Sam. You are like a sparkling to many of us. I do not say this as an insult, mind you. Just that many of us would do everything in our power to keep you safe."

Sam, "Oh! Thank you. You don't have to though."

Ratchet, "No, we don't, but we want to."

Sam saw Optimus outside Rung's office later, "Optimus?"

Optimus looked at him, "Hello Sam, shall we?"

Rung smiled at them when they entered, "Welcome."

Sam was staring, "Who are you? Sorry that was rude but..... "

Rung hummed, "Is that so? Perhaps you remember me from childhood?"

Sam frowned, "No, that's not it. It's not me recognizing you but..... "

Rung smiled, "I understand. Well, I am here to help. Come sit both of you."

Rung waited till they sat down, "Now, how do you feel? Before you ask Optimus, therapy is a step by step process. We will take it one step at a time."

Optimus nodded slowly, "Very well, as for your question. I feel tired of a lot of things."

Sam, "At the moment confusion. I recognize you, not in the I met you as a kid. Not one bit but rather something else."

Optimus stared, "Now, I am confused."

Rung hummed, "Well tell me step by step what do you feel, young one."

Sam, "Well, in the beginning, I thought the Allspark was destroyed and then I kept getting these images in my head. I initially thought it was punishment but now I wonder if the Cube was destroyed or if it merely changed its form."

Optimus stared at Sam, "Sam, are you saying the Allspark still exists?"

Sam, "Yes, but in a different form. I know I got the memories but I do not know if there are other things that I may have received."

Optimus, "I am sorry, Sam. This was not supposed to be your burden."

Sam, "Well, I was not expecting such an outcome either so hindsight is twenty twenty as they say."

Rung, "Good, good, go on."

Sam, "You, I am very sorry if this comes out as rude."

Rung, "Oh no! This is a session little one. You are allowed to be rude."

Sam, "You are not a mortal, are you?"

Rung stopped, "Well I am not human."

Sam, "Cybertronians are mortal too, my memories proved that but you. Were you sent by Primus or Unicron or was it another God? Because you are registering as an etheral being."

Rung chuckled kindly, "Honestly, I am not sure myself about what am I. All I know is I want to help people."

Optimus was staring openly at Rung now, "Is that true?"

Rung, "You believe him? Hmmm, I did not realize you trusted him so much."

Optimus, "Sam may have secrets but never has he lied to us. Well to me, at least. I see no reason to not trust him."

Rung, "Good, good, you have someone you can trust. That is good. And just like I told Sam I honestly cannot say. I have been alive for so long now."

Sam, "I guess as long as you are not an enemy it's fine."

Sam and Optimus shared a look then shrugged carrying on with the session where Optimus learned more details about how Sam felt. Most of the time Sam felt sad for the sparks lost but he was never terrified of them, he would always pray for their peaceful passing instead. Optimus could honestly say he learned more about Sam's feelings on the matter of the memories during the following sessions. He had feared that Sam might have resented them because of the nightmarish contents but that was not the case. It was the opposite, at least according to Sam, who concluded that sparklings were innocent and needed to be protected.

Wheeljack, "I do not understand this planet at all."

Ratchet, "What is it Wheeljack?"

Wheeljack, "Everything!"

Sideswipe blinked, "Is there something the matter?"

Wheeljack, "Remember the party? Those humans were drinking ethanol, a cleaning agent and a poison to humans."

Ironhide, "Surely you jest. Will would never endanger himself."

Wheeljack answered hotly, "Here, I took one of the bottles. See for yourself."

Nautica sighed muttering, "Good luck trying to stop them."

Sam meanwhile had his first one on one session with Rung, "You are a reincarnate, aren't you?"

Rung sighed, "Of course it is the other reincarnated soul that recognises me. Yes, I am though I do not remember much of the past. You remember yours, don't you?"

Sam nodded, "I had started to forget them and I had forgotten a lot but when the Allspark.... I mean, when I came in contact with the Allspark.... I started to remember memories that surrounded Cybertron and Cybertronians. It's not just one history but multiple beginnings and multiple ends."

Rung, "Like the Multiverse. You have memories of the Multiverse."

Sam, "Yeah but it's really something."

Rung, "You can come talk to me about it. I do understand why the others say, you have so many secrets."

Sam snickered, "I have been driving them up the wall, you mean? Yeah, I heard Ironhide complain about it."

Rung chuckled and carried on with the normal session with Sam before Sideways came for his session. Being separated from his twin had affected him more than he had thought especially when he had attacked a neutral who was previously a Decepticon but not anymore. Ultra Magnus had been very furious by what happened and Optimus had forced Sideways to get evaluated by Rung for mental stability. The human soldiers though understood what Sideways was going through, heaven knows they had their own demons. Sideways greeted Sam who pat his pedes in greeting as he left, the last few months were peaceful and Sideways hoped it remained that way.