Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sam did not have the energy to deal with a douchbag of a roommate. Leaving behind Kaela and Bee was rough enough for his first day. Leo Spitz, however, was shaping up to be a whole different kind of draining.

The homemade conspiracy nut bachelor pad was already giving him a headache. The video was the final nail in the coffin.

“Nope. That has to be fake. Props to the CGI though,” Sam deadpanned, staring Leo straight on.

Leo’s face scrunched up before he started waving his hands around, “oh come on, don’t be a shill, Sam! It’s Aliens!”

Sam pretended to ponder over the video for another second before reaffirming his stance. He so did not want to deal with this all year.

“Leo where did you find this guy?” Someone at a computer pipes in.

“Craigslist,” says Sam, “Look, I’m gonna go back out there, I think I hear my mom.”

He made a hasty retreat out into the main room, ignoring the way Leo followed him out. His dad was bent over, recovering from the stairs, however his mom was gesturing wildly, barely missing people in the crowded hallway.

Sam sighed, “Ma, why don’t you come meet my roommate, real swell guy.”

“Oh! Hello, young man! I’m Judy,” his mom said, far brighter and bubblier than she had been all week.

His dad came up behind her to shake Leo’s hand, “Ron.”

Leo just smiled, “Uh, yea, Leo Spitz, nice to meet you.”

“Oh, look at how adorable he is,” Judy gasped, reaching up one hand to pinch Leo’s cheek. The boy tried to lean away but couldn’t shake Judy’s hold.

Oh, how tempting it would be to leave Leo to fend for himself. Instead, Sam pushed the impulse down.

“Ma, I said meet my roommate, not harass him,” he said, extracting Leo’s face, “Wait, what’s that in your hand?” he asked.

“Oh! I saw the cutest environmental bake sale downstairs,” she giggled, before waving a bag in Sam’s face, “100 percent Hawaiian green!”

Making a face, he looked to his dad, “Dad, how many did she eat.” Please be just the one. Please be just the one.

Ron shook his head, sighing, “More than one. Judy, come on, give me that.”

“No! It’s my cheat day,” she argued, holding the brownie close to her chest.

“Okay, okay, Ma, how about I give you a hug, and you give me the brownie?” Sam proposed, arms held loosely open.

Slowly, his mother’s eyes welled up with tears again as she drew him tightly into a hug. He let her cry on him for a solid few minutes. To be totally honest he was going to miss her too.

“Okay Judes, come on, we have tissues in the car,” said Ron, gently pulling at Judy’s elbow.

“Alright, I’m going,” she sniffled, “Sam, be good okay.”

“I will, have a safe trip back,” he smiled, waving them out the door.

“Be good,” Leo snorted from behind him, for some reason having stayed to watch the whole thing, “What are you? Twelve?”

“Says the guy who couldn’t escape a cheek pinch,” Sam snorted, going to set up his side of the room. Opening up his suitcase, the D-Day jacket was right up front. That definitely goes on a bed post.

“Okay, I get it, chilling out,” said Leo, “How about a peace offering? First night frat party?”

He paused, thinking about it. If nothing goes wrong, he can pop in and out before his date with Kaela.

“Yea, I could go,” Sam shrugs, before pointing at his roommate, “but no more aliens.”

Leo grinned, snapping before finger gun pointing back with a wink, “You mind your business, I’ll mind mine.”

Almost immediately, a ringing tune drowned out his surroundings as his vision fuzzed. Before Sam could process it all, everything snapped back into reality. He shook his head, going back to setting up his stuff. Weird.

By the time he finished, dusk had set in. Party time. He got ready to go out and set up his computer for his web date when he got back.

“Alright Leo, where to?” Sam asked as they walked.

“Delta Fraternity, aka Babe Oasis,” said Leo.

“Nothin’ but crop tops and miniskirts,” said another guy.

“Okay… good luck with that pal,” he said, patting the guy on the shoulder as they walked into the frat house, “I’m gonna get a drink first.”

The place was huge, and the guys weren’t wrong. A lot of crop tops. Sam quickly beelined his way over to claim a spot by the drink table. Was that cake? He grabbed a plate and cut two slices off. Kaela couldn’t eat it, but she would find it cute.

He could barely contain his jump when hands wrapped around his arm and a voice whispered in his ear, “Hey, I’m Alice.”

“Uh, hi?” He replied, shrinking from her touch.

“Not many people go for cake first, nervous drinker?” She asked, blue eyes boring into him.

“Oh, well, you know how it is,” he stuttered, slowly trying to push her hands away, “pre-gamed.”

“Really? How cute. Why don’t we go sit down somewhere. Enjoy the cake,” she said pointedly, tugging him towards some stairs.

He dug his heels in, chuckling nervously, “Actually, I need to use the bathroom, why don’t you go up first?”

She stared at him, eyes squinted, for an uncomfortably long time. Then she let him go.

“Enjoy the cake,” she said primly, before walking away.

Okay. Yea. It was definitely time to go. He turned around to leave only to be grabbed, again.

“Dude, did you seriously just turn down Alice? AKA, hottest girl on campus. AKA, my walking dream girl?” Asked Leo who was basically tracking Alice’s movements.

Sam didn’t even get to respond before the guy grabbed his other shoulder to look him in the eyes.

“Actually, never mind, how did you even get her attention? Please, man, I’m not above begging,” he demanded.

Sam just shrugged, “Uh, I just got some cake. Speaking of, I am leaving. Now. Bye!”

This time, he sped out of the house. He was so close to freedom.

“HEY!” Yelled some guy in a white shirt with the collar popped,” WHO THE HELL DROVE THEIR CAMARO INTO THE BUSHES?”

Oh no.

Nah. It can’t be. Nope.

He kept walking until he was outside.

Ah hell.

That was definitely Bee. Definitely inside the shrubs.

“Bee, what the hell are you doing here,” he hissed as he walked up to the car.

Bee just honked at him impatiently.

Sam took a deep breath. This cannot be happening.

“Hey, freshman!” Yelled the same guy from earlier, “What the hell are you doing with your car?”

“Oh this?” Sam replied, “Not mine. A buddy’s, actually! He, uh, went to find you a tighter shirt.”

A shorter guy standing in front of the other guy replied instead, “There isn’t a tighter shirt! We checked.”

He watched as they both first bumped still looking straight at him.

“Now, why don’t you come over here so we can teach you a lesson about messing up our lawn,” said the taller one.

Sam was never going to another frat party.

“Nope, no thanks, I am done,” he said, getting into the driving seat.

“Oh, I absolutely love Camaros,” Alice said, appearing at the window of Bee’s passenger side. This night could not get any worse.

Sam locked the doors, “Thanks, but I have a girlfriend.”

Bee took the hint and sped off. He made sure the cake was still intact before fixing the console with a look.

“Okay Bee, why the hell are you here?” He asked.

All he got in response was a few chirps.

“Come on, Bee, what is going on?” Sam continued to press.

At that the radio came to life, “Houston, we have a problem!”

Great.

“Optimus is here, isn’t he?”

A gentle buzz and then another clip, “Rodger Rodger.”

With that, Sam let the rest of the drive pass by in silence. Their destination was a graveyard.

He reached up the pat the dashboard, “Alright Bee, let me out.”

Bee chirped as he opened the door, letting him out, before rolling back.

About a foot away, Optimus stood, gazing at the stars.

“So, fancy meeting you here, about 14 hours into college,” Sam said, strolling up beside the giant bot.

He listened to the way Optimus’ internal mechanisms shifted and vented air like a sigh.

“Samuel,” the mech greeted, voice just as grave as he remembered.

“You gonna tell me what the deal is, big guy? Bee was being pretty cagey too,” He ventured.

“The AllSpark fragment was stolen,” Optimus revealed, “as was Megatron’s body.”

Sam blanked out, rocking back onto his heels. The shocked silence spoke more than words needed to. In that moment, Optimus kneeled down, as if to make the difference between them as small as possible.

“I know you want to return to your life, to normalcy, but I need your help.”

When Sam finally found the presence to look the prime in the face, Optimus began.

“Your human government is starting to find trust hard to give after this,” explained Optimus, “and that will only cause a vulnerability that the Deceptions will take advantage of.”

“Optimus, I am 19. I- I can’t make this my life,” Sam refuted, “This isn’t my war.”

“Fate is rarely kind when it calls upon us, Samuel,” the prime said, voice heavy with resignation.

Sam reached out to pat one of the mech’s servos, “Like I said, I am 19. You don’t need me to fight your battles. If shit truly hits the fan, then Lennox and the guys will have your back. The government will see reason one way or another.”

Optimus chuckled, “If only things were so simple. I am glad to see you so optimistic, however. Cherish it.”

“Yea, I know,” Sam sighed, “I’ll catch you around big guy.”

With that said, he walked back to Bee, “Okay bud, I have a date to catch now.”

The scout let out a trill before once again speeding off. Thankfully, he made it back to campus only a little late for his date.

Switching on the call, he saw Kaela facing away from the camera, petting her dog.

“Hey Kaela,” he said, “Sorry I’m late. Crazy frat party. Then the big guy said hello. I got us some cake though! I thought it would be nice to treat this as a celebration. This is your piece.”

She had jumped, clearly thinking he was going to miss their first web date but had just settled in with a small grin as he rambled on.

“Well, that is rather sweet of you,” she said, carefully poised and relaxed, “but what did the big guy need?”

Neither of them had actually moved that far from Mission City, had they? He thought for a split second about not telling her. He could gloss right over it all.

She deserved better than that.

He chewed on his lip a bit, thinking about how to phrase it over the internet, “Said some things went missing. Signs of serious activity and planning. Hopefully, it stays far away from us.”

Kaela looked off to the side, and scratched her dog’s ears, mouth in a thin line. The news hit her about as well as it did Sam, but she looked back and continued.

“How was the party?”

He scrunched his nose almost involuntarily.

“Oh, you won’t believe this,” he started, rambling on and on about the events, trying to play up the sass just a little bit.

She seemed to think most of it funny, since she tends to find humor in mildly torturing him. The brief mention of Alice irked her, but she laughed at how he sped off in Bee.

“Seems like you had a long night,” she giggled.

“I know,” he huffed, throwing his hands up, loosely knocking into the D-day jacket. He felt a faint jolt through his arm. Once again, a ringing tune deafened all other sounds around him, his vision contorting.

“Sam?” Mikaela asked, voice harder than it had been in a while.

He blinked a bit, she was still staring at him, eyes scanning his face over and over.

He rubbed his hand a bit, shaking his head, “Sorry. I’m probably just tired, did I tell you my roommate is also a conspiracy nut?”

She hummed, scanning his face once last time, before cooing at him, “You have just been dealing with some absolute characters all day, haven’t you?”

“Yup, it’s going to be interesting, I guess,” he replied.

“Get some sleep then, I’ll call you tomorrow?” She asked.

Sam smiled, “Yea, 'night Kaela.”

They both logged off the call. He really did feel bone tired. Today had been a lot. After a long overdue shower, Sam dove right into his bed, and passed out. Beside him, his jacket let out a soft glow, before letting the dorm be encased in darkness.

Thousands of kilometers above Earth, red optics glinted, catching a third pulse of energy.

Chapter Text

Sam huffed as he flipped through his astronomy textbook. The biggest difference between high school and college was he actually used his textbook now.

Even the math ones.

The problem, however, was that for some reason looking at any of the math was starting to cause him headaches.

He didn’t understand it, but every time he saw equations or did his assignments, something in the back of his brain itched. It was like everything felt slightly off.

Astronomy was bearing the brunt of it. Even the class itself was getting to him.

Then again, the class itself had a self-absorbed creep as a professor. Mr. “Hello-Barely-Legal” soaked up attention as he philosophized their course and filled it with innuendos.

Sam really didn’t understand why the girls at the front gave him the attention.

Leo, it seemed, agreed with him as yet another apple was bitten into and then rolled off of the man’s shoe at the front row. The “lucky” girl to catch it happily started to eat it.

“I still cannot believe they do that. Yikes,” Leo whispered, leaning over from his seat.

“Truly I am baffled as to why they even like him at all,” he replied, “but you don’t have room to talk. I saw you drop an entire bag of animal crackers all over the floor of the pad, and you still ate them all.”

Leo grimaced, “Okay, but those are my precious animal crackers, that is an apple bit by that guy.”

Sam hummed, “True, but I doubt you guys clean those floors well, if at all. Plus, you have like, a whole stash of animal crackers. You could have just gotten another bag.”

Leo gasped as dramatically as he could trying to not disturb the class.

“How dare you!” the boy whispered, his tone dripping with offense “I could never waste them!”

Sam just rolled his eyes in reply, going back to taking notes form the textbook. If they kept on like this, they would get singled out by the professor in no time, and Sam was not taking that chance.

He rather liked the system he had set up for this class. Instead of listening to a lecture riddled with innuendos and flash grabs, he would flip through the book and take notes.

This way, he also didn’t have to double up on the headaches.

He got about halfway through a page of notes, before a set of equations snagged his attention. A rapidly growing sense of wrongness grabbed ahold of him.

Those equations were not correct. He just knew it.

Just as that thought passed, his vision began to tunnel in, blocking out everything else besides the equations, as a familiar ringing noise deafened the world.

Sam barely felt his hand move. A fog had settled in his mind, tinting everything in a fuzziness he was familiar with, as he drifted away under the feverish feeling of needing to correct the information in front of him.

He couldn’t tell how long he stayed like that until a hand landed on his shoulder, shattering through everything.

“Hey man, are you okay?” came a voice from above him.

Sam squeezed his eyes shut, as pain seeped into his head where the fog had been. What the hell just happened?

He shook his head, trying to clear the bleary feeling, before looking around the room. Some students were still packing up, but many of his other classmates had left.

His roommate was hovering beside him in the isle, bag on his shoulder.

“Sorry,” Sam replied, “I think I just zoned out.”

Leo squinted at him, before shrugging, “All good man, your notes are a mess though, let me know if you need mine.”

He looked down, and indeed, half the page was filled with scattered harsh sketches. Incomplete, something in him whispered. Sam shook his head again. He would need to go back and finish his notes later, but for now he shut his books.

“Nah, it’s okay. I take notes from the book anyways,” he replied.

Once he finished packing, he got up, leaving the auditorium with Leo. Neither of them had anything after astronomy, so they usually walked back to the dorm together.

The thought of being cooped up in the dorm again, however, rankled at him. He hadn’t really gone out much after the first night, figuring that nothing crazy could happen at the dorm, but he does need a change in scenery every once in a while.

“Actually, I think I am going to go get something to eat and then chill in the courtyard. Maybe do some work without the constant sound of fans,” Sam said, grinning at the look he got at the last comment.

“Sam my man, you know I need every single one of those fans,” Leo replied.

“Uh huh, gotta keep that operation running 24/7,” he chuckled.

Leo huffed, “What happened to you mind your business and I mind mine? Besides, you know I have to work hard to keep ahead of Robo-Warrior.”

“Oh yea, the mighty fight between you and someone who probably lives in a basement.” Sam heckled, “I cannot believe you have a blog nemesis.”

“Hey, every good underground blogger has a nemesis, and I will run his blog into the ground!” Leo stated, fist clenched and slightly raised.

“You do that,” he said, before throwing up a lazy wave, “I’ll see you later.”

“See ya man, get in touch with nature and all that!” Leo shouted at him as he walked towards the food hall.

Sam shook his head; he was just doing something outside for once.

The dining hall was just a short distance from the class buildings, and so he was seated and eating within the hour.

After eating in the dining hall, he walked to the courtyard by the dorms. There were a few people there, but overall it wasn’t crowded. Looking around, he managed to find a table that was half shaded.

He sat his stuff down and sunk into the seat. Leaning forward, Sam rested his head on his arms. He needed a moment to just relax. If he was being honest with himself, these zone outs were beginning to get to him.

After that first episode during his date with Kaela, he had noticed it kept happening. Once or twice a day he would need to be jolted back to reality.

He idly wondered if this was just a delayed reaction to the events two years ago. It wouldn’t be surprising if some of the stress was getting to him. Especially after Optimus’s visit.

Plus, Sam couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t being more aware of his surroundings since then. He had started to keep an eye on the news and even Leo’s blog just in case anything weird stood out to him.

The fact that both Megatron and the Allspark shard were taken at the same time didn’t take a genius to puzzle out, and as determined as he was to spend his college years as a normal student, he couldn’t entirely ignore this.

Sam had no way of knowing what the Decepticons were planning. Sure he could keep a watch out for the news on weird stuff happening globally, but nine times out of ten that was just a random low ranked Decepticon hiding out.

Plus, what the news actually covered could only let him know so much. If Optimus hadn’t visited him, he would never have known that the Decepticons had made a move on the shard or Megatron.

Now both were just out there, and Sam could only wait for something bad to happen.

Truly, it was the stress of waiting that was probably getting to him. A Decepticon could jump out at him at any time.

How long before Megatron decided that the insignificant human that had killed him needed to be hunted down?

Then a more chilling thought crossed his mind. You didn’t need to always go after someone directly to hurt them.

What if they went after Kaela or his parents before they went after him?

Sitting up, he dragged the palms of his hands down his face, pushing the train of thought away.

Ultimately, he was just a human. Insignificant to most of the Cons. He was just in the right place at the right time for him to take down Megatron.

The mech should be more worried about the Autobots instead of some revenge against something that couldn’t actually do damage anymore.

Rubbing his face one more time, Sam packed all of his thoughts and feelings on the topic into a box and shoved it to the back of his mind. He had work to do, notes to take.

Fishing out his school materials, he set up to do his homework after his notes. Knock it all out now rather than later. He had too much experience with procrastination.

As he flipped through his notebook for a blank page, the scattered sketches from earlier caught his attention.

Just like before, he could tell they were unfinished. The scattered images harsh and jagged. The fervent need showing up in the way they were drawn.

They looked vaguely familiar too. He had to have seen them somewhere before, but Sam shook the feeling away, turning to the next page. Starting with a new, unblemished page, he flipped open his textbook and started taking notes.

Predictably, the material continued to bother him. Something stirring in his mind at every sentence, but Sam pushed through, writing down the information he needed before moving onto his homework.

For the next few hours, he worked, taking breaks when his head hurt a little too much, but the change of scenery definitely helped.

When he finally wrapped up, the sun was dipping below the surrounding buildings, and the cool breeze gave him slight goosebumps.

Definitely time to go back inside.

Packing up his stuff, Sam jogged back to his dorm. Adjusting from California weather to Jersey weather was going to be fun.

As he entered the building, faint clicking could be heard. In the shadows, something slinked up to the building, preparing for another night perched on the roof, listening.  

Chapter Text

Sam groaned, rolling over to peer at his clock. Great. He had slept most of the morning away. Sluggishly rising from bed, he grabbed his phone.

Missed call from Kaela.

Groaning again, he reluctantly pulled himself from the bed. He would call her back soon, but right now he needed coffee. Preferably the freshly brewed pot of coffee calling his name.

Leo must have left a new pot on. The guys in the pad tended to go through several. Though, he thought they were out doing something else today, based on the lack of overall noise.

Shaking his head, Sam carefully poured himself a mug, then curled back up in the crook of his bed and the wall. Hands clasped around the mug, he took a nice slow sip, savoring the heat.

For the next hour, he did nothing but focus on drinking his coffee and relaxing. Kaela would be able to sniff out any hint of the tension clinging to him if didn’t.

Truly, though, he was glad it was Saturday. His headaches were getting worse, and as annoyed as he was to admit it, those symbols have started trying to show up in his dreams.

Then there was also this weird noise that he had started to notice periodically. The faint clicks and tapping could be heard occasionally throughout the day. At the moment, he was mostly chalking it up to the tinnitus.

Either way, a weekend ignoring school entirely was desperately needed. Plus, he had been working hard for a few weeks now trying to stay ahead of the work, so he deserved the break.

Once he was finished with his coffee, Sam ventured out to the communal kitchen.

He just had to clean up his mug, and then he would call Kaela back. The courtyard would be a good place to chat. She would also be happy he wasn’t cooping himself up in his room.

With that in mind, he went to go back to his room to get ready only to come face to face with the girl from the frat party.

She was standing in the doorway, head tilted as she looked him over.

“Heyyy… Alice right?” he said, shuffling a bit, gripping the mug tighter.

“Mhm,” she hummed, leaning forward to peer at his face, “Looking a bit rough Sam. Classes that bad?”

He didn’t know what was worse, the grin on her face or the gleam in her eyes. She was fishing for something. He needed to get out of this kitchen now. Better yet, the building.

“It is what it is. Nice to see you, but I gotta go. Catching up with the girlfriend today ya know,” he said, plastering on his best smile.

Like the first time he met her, she scrutinized him harshly, before making room for him to leave.

“Don’t be a stranger Sam,” she called out behind him as he scurried back to his dorm.

Getting ready faster than ever, Sam hurried out of the building, beelining for his favorite courtyard. Finding a nicely shaded table under a tree, he sank into the seat.

He had no idea she lived in the same building as him. Honestly, he would have preferred to have not run into her ever again, but when has his luck ever been that good.

Scoffing, he closed his eyes and leaned back into the chair. For now, he was just going to ignore it. It was nice relaxing Saturday, take two. Slowly, he breathed in. He then held it for a second.

Just as he was about to exhale, the tree behind him rustled, startling him.

Sam scrambled out of his chair, falling to the ground, as his breath punched out of him. What the hell was with today and surprises.

As he recovered on the ground, two squirrels raced out of the tree.

Seriously. Did he really just get scared by two squirrels fighting?

Dragging his hands over his face, Sam got back up to sit in the chair.

Okay. One more time. Third time is the charm.

He took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then let it out, relaxing his body with the exhale.

Success. Awesome.

Finally, after a few minutes of breathing exercises, he brought out his phone and called his girlfriend back.

“Hey you,” Kaela said, as soon as the call connected. He could hear the sounds of the shop in the background.

“Hey you yourself,” he grinned, “Sorry I missed your call. I slept in. Hard at work?”

“It’s okay, and you know me, can’t leave a project unfinished,” she said.

He hummed; she wasn’t wrong. Kaela tended to spend a disproportional amount of time in the shop.

“Are you working on the bike or mustang?” he asked.

“Bike,” she sighed, “I’m waiting on some parts to come in for the mustang. Enough of me though, how are you?”

“I’m doing okay. On the grind as they say. I could do without the migraines though,” he said.

“Are you sure it’s just the stress?” she asked, “I’m a little concerned you developed migraines out of nowhere.”

“Kaela, I can hear the frown from here. I promise it’s the stress. There isn’t anything else it could be. I mean staring at textbooks all day doesn’t help either,” he assured her.

She hummed, considering, “What about getting some supplies? I don’t want you getting hooked on something as stupid as coffee.”

“I read small amounts of caffeine actually helps, so thank god Leo brought a coffee maker,” Sam joked, “Seriously though, I can also go to the store tomorrow to get a cold compress and a water bottle. My hydration could be better.”

Kaela scoffed, “More like you need to drink any water. Sometimes I worry if you are going to crumble into dust.”

“Hey! I eat like, so much fruit. That has to count,” he retorted.

“Electrolytes are good Sam, but sometimes you just need water,” she grumbled.

“I am not a plant,” he laughed, “but if it makes you feel any better, I could grab some tea? Also! I have been spending a lot of time outside lately.”

“Yes, please. Also? Outside? Are you sure you are okay? I didn’t think you could be convinced to leave your room unless Bee was involved,” she prodded, giggling.

He rolled his eyes, before grinning. Getting up, Sam went and laid down in the sun.

“I’ll have you know; I’ve been doing work in a courtyard every day. I’m actually laying down in the sun right now,” he boasted, still grinning, “Plus, you know very well all you had to do was say the word, and I would be running out of the house faster than lightning.”

“Mmm true, but every day?” she said, “I’m impressed.”

“Every day,” he reiterated, “Truly it has helped a lot though. Just in terms of keep up with school and trying to relax a little during the week.”

“I’m glad,” she said, “Really. It’s good to know you are trying to take care of yourself. I think you should take some more breaks though.”

He grinned, “I’m taking a break today. Slept in and everything.”

“Don’t make me come up there Sam,” she warned.

“I won’t," he said, “Scout’s honor.”

“I’m serious,” she said, “I can’t have my boyfriend waste away just cause he moved a few states away.”

He laughed, glad he had Mikaela in his corner. Sam honestly didn’t know what he would do without her.

“As terrible as it is not being in your radiant presence, I am a Witwicky,” he said, “Strong constitution.”

He heard her chuckle, “With your family motto you need it.”

“Exactly. Nothing can knock me down for long,” Sam said, a yawn breaking through.

“Uh huh, and that yawn?” Kaela asked, giggling.

“I have no idea what you mean,” he replied, stifling another.

“Go take a nap dummy,” she said, “I’ll still be here tomorrow.”

“Alright alright,” he said, exasperated, “good luck with the bike,”

“Thank you,” she said, promptly hanging up.

She was determined for him to get rest, that’s for sure.

Pocketing his phone, Sam closed his eyes and obliged. He really did need a nap, and it was a perfect day for a nap outside.

So he laid there, enveloped by the warmth of the sun, and drifted off into sleep.

The thing about sleeping, though, is that Sam dreams a lot. He’s been lucid dreaming for years. Miles used to be fascinated with the little trick, always asking for the elaborate stories at school.

For Sam, it has always been somewhat of a comfort. He’ll always have control of himself, even when he’s asleep.

Even when his brain tries to get the better of him, as long as he remembers that it is just a dream, he’s in control.

So, when symbols started to stubbornly stick in his dreams, it grated on him. For days now, these symbols would creep into his dreams.

Now, no matter what he did, they wouldn’t budge.

A dull throbbing bloomed behind his eyes instead.

These symbols were complete. Actual symbols that contained so much information, and they hurt to look at. So much.

The dull throbbing evolved to a searing ache as his he failed to understand what he was looking at.

The searing ache brewing into a full body burning sensation, enveloping him entirely.

Then, one by one, his senses were stripped away.

He couldn’t feel. See. Hear. Nothing. Even his emotions were just, gone, muted.

He was floating, he thinks, unable to comprehend the pure nothingness surrounding him.

Slowly, something reached out. Hands? Arms? Whatever it was, it cradled him. Surrounded him with a soft cooling sensation.

For what felt like hours, Sam drifted like this. Protected.

When he finally opened his eyes again, the lingering sensation of safety dropped like lead as a pit formed in his stomach.

Instead of laying in the courtyard, Sam stood in his dorm room, his D-Day jacket was hanging just in front of him.

He had sleepwalked.

Behind him, the door opened.

“Yo Sam! Whats up man?” Leo asked, walking in.

He stared back at his roommate, uncomprehending, before shaking his head replying, “Sorry, zoned out. Just chilling. You?”

“Just went out with the guys, they wanted to check out the launch of a game. Then we went to the mall,” Leo said, shrugging his jacket off.

Sam frowned, “You’ve been out all day?”

“Pretty much, yeah, why?” he asked.

“No reason,” Sam said, ignoring the way that answer made his gut twist, “I’m gonna go take a walk.”

“Alright, see ya man,” replied Leo.

He just needed to walk this off. Take a moment. He was being paranoid. Too many things had just happened at once that’s all. He just needed to grab a jacket and then go.

As he was leaving though, Sam caught a glimpse of his desk. On the far corner, tucked almost out of sight, was a box of tea.

Chapter Text

Okay. Rule number one. No panicking.

Rule number two is calling Kalea. Again.

He kicked a rock, sighing. Just one year of college. That’s all he asked for. Now he has a stalker.

At least he had somewhat of an idea of who it should be. Correction. If it wasn’t Alice he would scream.

He could not deal with it being any rando in one of his classes.

Wait.

Was she in any of his classes?

Yea, no, it was time to cut that thought off and call Kaela.

The phone didn’t even have a chance to ring before Kaela answered, “Two calls in one day? I’m shocked.”

“Can’t a guy just appreciate his girlfriend these days,” he cracked back, “Maybe I just wanted to hear your voice again.”

“Uh huh,” she deadpanned, “Cough it up Witwicky. What’s wrong?”

How did someone even begin to talk about this? Bluntly would be best right? Just rip the band aid off.

“I think I have a stalker,” he rushed out, eyes squeezing shut at the verbal acknowledgement. Okay, he was definitely not ready to vocalize that.

“You okay?” she asked, voice tight.

“Not really,” he admitted, voice equally tense.

“Do you need me there?” she asked.

Looking up at the sky, Sam really thought about it. About having her by his side again. The surety of someone he trusted at his back.

But at the same time, would they ever get anywhere if they always had to be side by side to get through something. This was something he could deal with. For now at least.

“I can deal with this. I’m sure of it,” he assured her, “It’s just some person. A freaky person, but just a person at the end of the day. If it escalates too badly I can just call the cops.”

“Do you have any Idea who it is?” she asked.

Ah. That.

Sam shrugged, “I think it’s Alice, the girl from that party. I had a run in with her in my dorm kitchen. She probably followed me from there.”

Kaela paused at that. He could almost see the nose scrunch she was probably doing.

“I guess it’s better than not having any idea at all,” she eventually replied, “Just keep me updated, okay”

“I think I’ve been very on top of keeping you in the loop Kaela,” he chuckled, “Only other thing of note is I started sleepwalking on top of the weird dreams.”

“Sam,” Kaela said in a deceptively calm voice, the one reserved for when he messed up.

Oh boy.

“Yes?” he asked, tentatively.

“Just how stressed are you?” she asked instead, tone unchanged.

“Uh, you know, it’s been so-so,” he replied. It’s not even a lie!

School is school. Leo is obsessed with aliens. He knows aliens. The Allspark shard is missing. So is Megatron’s body. It’s not like he can’t help but remember that. He turned Optimus down that night to stay uninvolved, but the knowledge is going to live rent free in the back of his head until something happens.

Idly, he wonders how long it will be before Leo stumbles across a video from Mission City. There has to be some floating around the government missed.

“You do know sleepwalking doesn’t just happen without childhood indicators right?” she said.

He paused; rock forgotten. Hm.

“Okay, maybe a bit more than so-so,” Sam admitted, “I mean, who knows when the other stuff could ramp up again. I promise, though, that it is just because I have a lot of stressors right now. You do remember I also live with an alien nut right?”

Kaela hummed, clearly not convinced, “What about the symbols?”

“My great grandfather saw weird symbols too, and he just found bucket head. I actually held the cube. It was in my hands as it denigrated,” reasoned Sam, “If anything, I was probably overdue for some shenanigans.”

“Your great grandfather was also driven insane by those symbols,” she reminded him.

“Okay, I know that, but you didn’t have to say it out loud,” Sam huffed, “Besides we have 21^st century therapy. I can’t imagine late 19^th century therapy was any good.”

“The therapy you only went to because it was mandated?” she reminded him, again. She probably had an eyebrow raised.

“Hey! Let a man deal with his issues in peace,” he grumbled.

“Well, I think this man should take himself to bed, and get more rest,” his girlfriend ordered, “Making sure you are fully rested is helpful in preventing sleepwalking. So go.”

“Okay,” he said, letting out an exaggerated sigh, “If you say so.”

“I do,” she huffed, “and I’m hanging up now.”

He barely managed to get in a quick goodbye before she did just hang up. Hah.

Okay well, time to face the music he supposed. Sam took one last look at the stars, vaguely wishing his usual stargazing companion was with him.

There was nothing quite like hearing about the same old constellations from the perspective of an alien far from home.

He also just missed Bee he supposed.

Shaking his head, Sam pocketed his phone, heading back to his dorm. He made sure to keep an eye out on the way back. Welcome back hypervigilance, he thought with a small chuckle, I didn’t miss you.

When he got back to his dorm, the first thing Sam did was grab the box of tea. He should throw it out. It would be the sane decision.

He did need it, though, and it would save him a grocery trip.

With a few turns, he determined the box to still be sealed.

Just this box. If it happened again he would toss it. For now, It would be a waste since the box was also one of the few flavors he actually liked.

As long as he was just extra careful about his surroundings from now on, and had a talk with Leo, this one incident could just be brushed off.

Plus, if he ran into Alice again, then he could just confront her. It would all be fine.

He set the tea box down and prepped for bed. He could talk to Leo tomorrow. No need, nor want, to barge into the pad. It certainly sounded like they were having fun.

As he drifted off into sleep for the night, a red eye peered in from the darkness of the window. For a brief second, the eye seemed to hover over Sam before it shuttered, and then it slinked back into the darkness.

The night then passed, uneventful and undisturbed, as Sam drifted through dreams accented by strange symbols.

By morning, a strange calm had settled within him. He made some of his suspicious tea and promptly plopped down on the floor.

Fourth times the charm. He was going to have floor time in his dorm and be incredibly boring today. Whenever Leo woke up, they would chat, and all will be well.

Good plan.

Simple Plan.

Forty mind numbing minutes later, he realized it might have been too simple.

Heaving himself up from the ground, Sam set his empty mug aside and grabbed his backpack. Homework it is.

Cracking open his books, he got to work. He had four assignments due later this week, so he might as well do them if he couldn’t relax.

Maybe he should get into reading. Spend time at the library. Could be good for him.

Shrugging, he dug into his assignments, taking breaks every time the information started to bug him.

He was just getting started on his third assignment when Leo started returning to the land of the living.

Not long after, the other guy popped up, rubbing at his face, “Are you doing work on the floor?”

Sam tilted his head, shrugging, “Yea. Why not?”

Leo shook his head, muttering, climbing out of bed to make coffee.

When the coffee was finally brewing he turned to look at Sam, “Bro, you work too hard.”

He felt his face scrunch up, “Just because I don’t wait until the day before doesn’t mean I work too hard.”

“Pot shot!” Leo exclaimed, “Still, I haven’t seen you do anything fun besides your little dates with your girlfriend. It’s just you, your work, and that courtyard.”

“You… aren’t wrong I guess,” Sam said.

“Exactly, what twenty something man doesn’t go out and do something every once in a while!” Leo said, stopping mid pour to gesture with the coffee pot.

“I’m… adjusting to college?” he replied, voice trailing off, “Wait hold on, we are shelving this, I needed to talk to you about something.”

Leo’s eyebrows shot up, as he gave Sam a look, “So serious my man, what’s up?”

“Look, I know you’ve been down bad for Alice since you saw her, but I think it would be best if we both agreed that Alice should stay far away from the dorm,” Sam said.

Leo took a long sip of his coffee instead of answering.

“Don’t look at me like that! She gives me the absolute creeps man!” he huffed.

Leo quirked an eyebrow at him, “Are you broken, because a beautiful woman like that doesn’t creep a guy out.”

Sam rolled his eyes, “This is what I meant. Put your attraction to her aside. She’s got an intense vibe going on when we talk. I don’t want her to be just invited into where I live, okay?”

“Okay,” Leo said, flashing a thumbs up, “If the pretty lady ever acknowledges my existence we will not come back here.”

“That… works I guess,” he sighed.

“Great, good talk,” Leo said, patting Sam’s back, “Now excuse me while I go continue my ongoing fight with my nemesis.”

“And you accuse me of working too hard?” Sam cracked, rolling his eyes.

“You don’t understand the joys of petty rivalry” Leo replied as he went into the pad.

“Sure,” Sam muttered, focusing back on his work.

Leo’s words wouldn’t leave him alone though. He had fun. He was loads of fun.

The more he worked through his assignment, the more his actions these past few weeks surfaced in his mind.

That first frat party had him completely avoiding parties. Then again he was probably banned from the frats after what Bee pulled.

The rest of his free time had been eaten up by the weird stress symptoms he had been developing.

Plus the symptoms involved how much schoolwork he could focus on at a time.

Huh. He really did somehow become a shut in by accident.

No wonder Kaela was worried.

Sam put away his work. He was due for a break anyways if his headache was to be believed.

After a couple of minutes thinking, the perfect idea came to mind.

He was going to go to the gym.

It was perfect. A membership came with tuition, and it would kill a lot of birds with one stone.

Mind made up, he got together some semblance of workout clothes, and trekked over to the gym where a two story building greeted him.

Going inside was the easy part. Standing in the building, he tried to take stock of what was available to him.

It seemed like weights and machines were downstairs, and cardio was upstairs. There was also a pool, but Sam didn’t want to think about that yet. He already had too many options.

Cardio. He could start there. It was pretty hard to fuck up running.

Letting out a breath, he went upstairs to the track/basketball combo, and just started running.

He made it halfway around the track before his lungs started burning.

He almost made it to the end before his side cramped up.

Stopping there, he panted.

Not bad.

Not good either though.

He stood there a minute, trying to regain his breath.

“I know a few breathing exercises that could help you out?” a guy said behind him.

Sam scrambled, arms flailing as he overextended, “Jesus Christ dude!”

When he finally got to turn around, there stood a guy about his height with blonde hair, chuckling at his surprise.

“Sorry, I just saw you absolutely heaving out a lung over there and thought I would help,” explained the guy, “Name’s Eddie. You new?”

“Sam,” he replied, “It’s literally my first time actually.”

“Well, congratulations on passing the first and hardest hurdle then,” Eddie said, “The second one is consistency.”

Sam chuckled, “Well, before we get to that, what were those breathing exercises you mentioned?”

“For sure! The most basic one would be an inhale, hold, and then exhale,” Eddie explained, “You can mess around with how long you do each step, but I would start with sets of 4. While you run, however, remember to breath in with your nose and out with your mouth.”

Sam nodded, before trying out the exercise, focusing on the control over his breathing.

“Exactly!” Eddie beamed, “Only thing left to mention is to use your diaphragm. Aka breathe deep.”

After a few more cycles, he started to get it.

“Thank you for the advice,” he replied.

“I’m just glad I was able to help,” said Eddie. The guy seemed to pause before pulling out his phone, “Here, lets swap numbers. I come to the gym regularly if you want to try and workout together?”

Sam also paused, considering, before grabbing his phone, “Yea sounds good. I think I want to stick to cardio to start with though.”

“No problem man,” replied Eddie after they swapped numbers, “The weights were intimidating at first to me too.”

Sam snorted, “No offense, but that’s hilarious considering how jacked you are.”

“We all start somewhere,” grinned Eddie, “and believe it or not, I was scrawny for the longest time.”

“Uh huh. For now, though, do you want to go ahead and run a few laps with me? I only managed to get one in before my lungs collapsed.” he asked.

“Totally, let me stretch first though,” Eddie said, walking off the track to sit on the ground.

“Stretch?”

Eddie shot him a look, before shaking his head, “I’ll let that pass since you are new, but stretching is imperative to a good work out. Sit down with me, and I will take you through a basic stretch routine.”

“Sounds good to me,” Sam said, sitting down. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the gym, getting to know and learning from a new friend.

Chapter Text

“I regret my decisions,” Sam grunted, straining to reach his toes, “This is torture.”

Eddie – the sadist – just laughed, sliding into a pigeon pose. Great.

He did his best to transition as well, grumbling, “The human body is not meant to bend like this.”

“Yes, in fact, it is,” Eddie replied. Then the bastard reached behind him and pulled his back foot off the ground.

Sam groaned, loud and dramatic, “One, you are a complete show off. Two, I refuse to believe what you can do is normal.”

“Doesn’t your family have a motto or something about pain and gain?” Eddie jabbed, grinning.

“The gall!” he gasped dramatically, “To throw my family motto into my face like that.”

“Uh huh, completely terrible of me,” Eddie chuckled. The blond then closed his eyes and sunk further into the stretch.

Sam rolled his eyes, attempting to sink into the stretch as well. He didn’t get very far, but Eddie was always harping on about proper form over performance. Sam also wasn’t about to be disagreeing considering the freaky contortionist shit he had seen the guy do. Still. It was uncomfortable.

Finally, after an incredibly cruel amount of time later, he heard Eddie start to get up. Sam immediately swung his head up, eyeing his new friend, “Running time?”

“Running time,” Eddie replied, coming over to help him get up.

“Hell yea!” Sam exclaimed, grabbing the hand and practically leaping off the ground. He loved the actual running part. Running was useful. If he got better at running, he would be harder to catch. If anything did happen, he would be prepared this time.

Lining up on the track with Eddie, Sam got into form. They stayed there for a moment, syncing their breaths, before taking off.

They had a system. Sam would choose the pace. Eddie would choose the number of laps. Fortunately, Eddie knew just how far to push Sam to help him grow. Unfortunately, that meant he would be pushed until his lungs burned and his legs felt like jelly several times. Blah blah reps blah blah sets blah blah.

At least he got to rest between sets. Sprawling on the floor for 10 minutes after chugging water was becoming biblical to Sam.

Three sets later, and he was flopped on the floor, relishing in the cool tiles.

“You know we have to stretch again at some point right,” Eddie said with a conspiratorial whisper, leaning over him slightly.

Sam just grunted. He deserved all the floor time before Eddie made him contort his body for ‘health benefits’ and ‘getting the most out of the training.’

Beugh.

“I hear ya man, but we’ve been sitting here for like 20 minutes. Come on, up ya get,” Eddie cajoled as he stood up and offered Sam a hand.

Sam lifted his head, squinting at the hand. With an eyeroll, he took the hand and let himself be pulled up, “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

“Exactly! Now touch your toes,” said Eddie.

With a thumbs up, Sam folded in half. He could almost touch his feet. According to Eddie, however, the goal was to be able to place his palms directly flat on the ground. Why would anyone say touch your toes if the goal is to fully touch your palms to the ground?

Over the next thirty minutes, Eddie guided him through stretch after stretch. The second round was always easier with his muscles all loosey goosey. He would never admit it, but it was a good feeling. Most of the time it also helped with his headaches. They didn’t go away completely, but the temporary relief was enough to let him breath.

Finally, as Eddie transitioned them into the last stretch, Sam felt a spike of dizziness. He shook his head, trying to clear it. Pain cracked through his head in response. His eyes screwed shut as he swayed. Sam could feel Eddie grasping his shoulder, but he couldn’t hear anything as a ringing buzz filled his ears.

As the symbols started drifting across his eyelids, whispers crept through the buzzing. They pulled at his mind, desperate to be understood.

Sam tried to take it in. He tried to keep up with the information, but it was too fast. The urgency pushing the symbols faster, the whispers more intense.

He felt his legs crumble, but he didn’t hit the ground. Instead, he was gently lowered to the ground. By the time he was laid out on the ground, the pain was overwhelming.

As he laid there, lost to the world, something damp and cool was placed on his forehead. Sam relished in the feeling as it cut through the heat. It grounded him. It was the difference between drowning and barely keeping his head above water.

Soon enough, the whispers started to die out. As the symbols slowed, dissipating from view, the ringing also faded. He laid there, head pounding but blissfully quiet.

When Sam finally opened his eyes, Eddie – who had been vigilantly watching over him – lurched into action. With clear, telegraphed moves, he pressed Sam back to the ground by his shoulders, gentle but firm.

“Hey buddy, careful there. Don’t try to get up yet,” he said, keeping a firm pressure on his shoulder, “I’m gonna go get you some water.”

“Sounds good boss,” groaned Sam, blinking slowly as Eddie jogged away.

He rubbed his hands across his face, the pressure helping him focus. God, this was so not good. This was getting out of hand, and he knew it.

Kaela was going to tear him a new one.

Which, that meant he needed to call her as soon as possible. Two heads were always better than one. Especially when one of those heads was hallucinating. He just hoped it was fixable. Sam could admit he was afraid.

The idea of going out like good old Archibald terrified him. You survive the worst 48 hours of your life only to succumb to alien hallucinations years later in some asylum? Not interested, thank you very much.

It was then that Eddie returned with a small paper cup filled with water. He helped Sam get a few sips before helping him sit up against a wall.

“So,” Eddie began, “what happened? Did I push you too hard? Did you eat enough? What about your water. I saw you drink a lot during our run, but did you drink throughout the day? Actually, you need to stop chugging your water between runs you’ll puke like that.”

The fretting sounded so similar to Kaela and Bee that Sam just started chuckling. Giggling really.

“Hey man, I’m serious about this, your health matters,” Eddie scolded lightly.

“No no, I’m laughing because you sound just like my girlfriend,” Sam replied, “She’s going to cackle when she finds out I accidentally found another person to fret over me when she can’t. After she kills me that is.”

“Yea well, I guess the universe seems to want to look after you apparently,” Eddie joked, “but seriously, you gotta take care of yourself man. This happen to you a lot?”

Sam looked away, hand scratching at the back of his head. As much as he liked the guy, getting into the idea that he was going crazy from alien exposure was not on his list of things to do with him.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” sighed Eddie.

Okay, well. Damage control. He’s great at that.

“I promise it isn’t that bad Eddie,” he said, “They started a few weeks ago. I just need some rest.”

The blond shot him a look, exasperated, “You do realize that is worse right? No wonder your girlfriend frets. ‘It isn’t that bad’ my ass.”

“I’m being serious!” Sam exclaimed, “It is just stress. It has to be.”

Eddie ran his hand over his face, the guy looked exhausted. Oops.

“Sam, please look me in the eye when I say this,” Eddie said, “That. Is. Not. Normal.”

“Okay, I never said it was normal. I said it was stress,” huffed Sam, crossing his arms.

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Well, whatever it is, you were correct. You need rest. Let me walk with you to your dorm, okay?”

Sam wrinkled his nose, before sighing, “Yea, no problem, man.”

Sam let himself be helped up by Eddie after the guy got their stuff packed up.

On the walk back, Eddie hovered close by, but thankfully he let Sam make the walk himself. The way he hovered honestly reminded him of Bee. Nothing was more hilarious than a giant robot hovering.

He hoped the bot was doing okay. Honestly, Sam was hoping he could figure this out before he had to tell Bee. If he thought telling Bee he wasn’t going to college with him was hard, he couldn’t imagine telling him about this.

It will be okay. He was going to get to his dorm, shower, and then call Kaela. She would be able to help. She always knew what to do.

By the time they made it to his dorm building, Sam had a plan and a distinct craving for a shower.

“Alright man, get some rest,” said Eddie, clasping a hand on his shoulder, “Do not come to the gym until next week, okay?”

“Aye Aye Captain,” replied Sam with a lazy salute on his way to the door. He keyed himself in and made his way to his dorm. Hopefully, Leo would be busy with his website. He did not want to deal with that tonight.

Speaking of, he also did not, under any circumstance, want to run into Alice. That would be even worse. Sam shuddered just thinking about it. Thankfully, he made it to his dorm without a single interruption.

The first thing he did was dump his stuff into a pile by his bed then head to the showers. A steaming hot shower was calling his name. He just wished they didn’t have communal bathrooms. He could do with a good half hour of sitting in the shower.

On the bright side, they didn’t run out of hot water. The hot spray was a comfort as he washed up. All too soon, he got out, going back to his dorm.

Fully changed into clean clothes, Sam collapsed into his chair.

He was exhausted. No if ands or buts about it. He was bone tired, and he had been ignoring it for weeks now.

He knew he needed to call Kaela. He said he was going to call her, but he was so tired. He was also terrified. It was one thing to admit to himself that this was getting as bad as it was. Saying it out loud?

Words held weight and saying it out loud would bring a finality to the situation he just wasn’t ready for. God what a mess.

For just a moment, he just sat there with his eyes closed, each breath long and slow.

He could do this. He would call Kaela, and they would work out a plan. He was going to be okay. He was going to be okay.

With that, Sam sat up, reaching for his phone.

He froze.

There, in front of him, was a cup. A steaming cup of freshly made tea.

Right.

He could ignore a lot. That? Nope. No thank you. As soon as he fully processed what was going on, Sam scrambled to get up. Hands flailing.

Four things happened at once. First, he hit his foot on his desk. Second, he fell back hard onto the chair. Third, his hand caught onto the jacket hanging on his bedpost. Four, something fell out of the jacket.

Clink.

Everything came to a deafening halt as a metallic shard landed on the floor, skittering to a stop a few inches in front of him.

No.

NO.

This. This couldn’t. Sam could feel his chest constricting. He wanted to scramble as far away from that thing as possible, but his body wouldn’t move.

His body wouldn’t move.

All Sam could do was watch as the shard flickered. The blue glow drew him in, mesmerizing in spite of the horror racing through his body.

Before he could stop himself, he reached down to grab it. The moment his fingers wrapped around the shard the faded, flickering glow flared to life, overtaking his vision.