Will went back into his quarters, picking up the modified laptop on the way. Ironhide was still tinkering with security and Lennox was glad for it. He didn't really need someone hovering over him right now that he would delve into the archives once more. So far he had only scratched the surface of the writing he had found on himself and even that little had been scary or too mysterious to understand.

Both Ratchet and Ironhide had kept meticulous records of the writing on the hybrid human and while Will had been slightly pissed at being handled like an object sometimes, he now was glad for it.

Even if one particular set of runes scared him.

They had first appeared when he had experimented in the beginning. His body showed the name of the mech touching him, which was cool, but it had never really given him time to worry. What Ratchet had noticed early on was a string of ancient Cybertronian in the mech's name's wake.
A few weeks ago Will had first translated some of the writing. It was something like a heritage tree. Weird.

Optimus Prime's name was followed by the writing 'Dynasty of Primes', which was okay since he was a Prime. The Cybertronian equivalent of the ancient language was tattooed on his head. The symbols made up the designation of the mech. He was a Prime. He was a leader. Lennox had referenced some of it, had discovered that Megatron's facial tattoos had spelled 'Lord Protector of Cybertron', which had been nothing but a cynical reminder in the end.

What had Will freak were the three runes embedded in the permanent tattoo on his back. They looked like an aberration of the glyphs on Optimus' head, like someone had started out writing Cybertronian and finished it with Ancient. The symbols resided between his shoulder blades, on his lower back and one on his left shoulder. They didn't stand out to the casual observer, but Lennox had had time to go over his body with a fine-toothed comb.

"What the fuck is this?" he said softly, gazing at the screen.

And what really, really scared him was the fact that the time he had given Sam a clap on the shoulder, the same set had reappeared on his ring and pinky finger. The same variation, the same elegance, the same writing.

He hadn't told Sam.

He hadn't told anyone.

Lennox ran a shaky hand through his already tousled hair.

Right now he wished he had never accessed the archives. It was too late for that; he knew. He didn't understand, but he knew.

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He had to be somewhere else but the base. So Sam and Bumblebee had driven into Tranquility, cruising through the streets of the town Sam had grown up in. He had gone for lunch at a burger joint he had hung out in after school so many years ago. He had enjoyed a sinfully big tub of ice cream and finally taken a stroll.

He felt Bumblebee's presence, but no words were spoken. The mech let him proceed at his own pace and Sam was infinitely glad for it. Walking through Tranquility, just him and his thoughts, the streets quiet and deserted, Sam mused about what could have been. What if they had never met?

::But we did:: Bumblebee said, breaking the silence.

::Yeah. We did::

And nothing else mattered. They had met and his life had forever changed. No going back.

Strangely, even if there would be a chance to change anything, or everything, he didn't know what that would be. He was happy. A strange kind of happy because no one could understand it completely; ever. Sam's mind was not that of a normal human being's. His whole life of the past twelve odd years had been weird and freaky and chaotic and out of this world.

But not bad.

Considering all the pain and loss and tears and the agony of what technopathy could be, it had never been bad. None of it. Every step had taught him, had advanced the evolution of what was Sam Witwicky.

Will had had a lot more problems, had had a more difficult time. Sam's life had been a piece of cake compared to giving up everything he had ever loved or cared about. Lennox had already been forced to abandon humanity. Sam was still very much part of a human family and he had really good friends.

Sitting down on a bench in a still dark park area, Sam gazed into the cloudy night sky. Bumblebee had come to a stop at the edge of the park, watching, guarding, while Sam pondered life, the universe, and the things between.

::I wouldn't care if you lived your normal life span, Sam:: the mech finally said softly, intruding ever so carefully. ::I wouldn't care if this was our last night together::

::I do. The bond my mind created with your spark… it's… it cripples you, Bee::

::No:: The word was firm.

::When I die…::

::No, Sam::

He chewed on his lower lip. ::This is hard. I keep getting the 'what ifs' in my mind::

::We all do. For different reasons::

Sam looked into the general direction he knew Bumblebee was. He smiled. He knew how much Bumblebee regretted, how much he had seen, right down to the destruction of his whole planet. Still, he had persevered. Throughout torture and loss and pain, without a voice for so long, and looking for the one thing that now no longer existed.

::We grow:: Bumblebee told him. ::Together::

Sam nodded, walking over to the parked Camaro. Bumblebee opened a door and he slid inside, feeling the leather seats shift to suit him perfectly.

He still had to really wrap his mind around the fact that, if no one shot or stabbed him, threw him off a building or something the like, he and Bumblebee would have an incredibly long life together. At least it was incredible for him. Humans weren't supposed to be almost immortal.

Neither were Cybertronians. Bumblebee was young for his kind, about Sam's actual age, and he was millennia old in human terms.

Sam knew he had to ignore the human calendar from now on, count his life in Cybertronian terms. He wasn't alone. Will would be there. And probably Tony. Extremis was taking care of that.

He smiled a little.

::I'll be there:: Bumblebee promised sincerely. ::Always::

"Thanks," he whispered.

Always meant a very, very long time.

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Will had decided on a jog to work out his mind, too. He had left behind the base, long legs eating up the distance. His body didn't tire that easily and he actually enjoyed it. He could run for hours, way past marathon distance, and still look no less tired than after a good jog.

He returned just before sunset and Ironhide was awaiting him. The mech regarded him curiously, but he didn't ask. Will grabbed a soda from the fridge, then joined his partner outside once more, legs dangling from the container he sat on.

"I'm going to Yuma tomorrow," Lennox informed the mech in between sips.

Ironhide didn't say a word, just looked quietly at him.

"I want to test some more. There's stuff…" He trailed off.

"Want company?" Ironhide rumbled.

Will smiled briefly. "You promise not to interfere?"

"I haven't so far," the mech reminded him.

"There's always a first time, Hide."

"You have my word."

"Then yeah, I want company."

Anything to take his mind off what was written on him, hidden from casual eyes and optics, but he, the bearer, knew.

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Ironhide could openly confess that seeing Will Lennox in 'battle mode' sent little thrills through him. Even when he still looked human, was human size, and only the energy that danced over his skin gave any indication to his hybrid status, the effect was there. Ironhide had kept close optics on him throughout the performance and while he had itched to interfere when Will had almost blown himself into a rock face, he had honored his promise.

He stayed put, he didn't try to 'help' and he shut up about possible changes to the hybrid's method of attack or defense.

Will had wanted to try and train reabsorbing energy he had already collected into a bubble, ready to be flung at something or someone, but it was difficult.

Ironhide kept his scanners peeled on the energy output and was amazed and slightly overwhelmed by how much the hybrid managed to hold together in such a small bubble in his hands. Reabsorbing this into his own system was understandably difficult.

It wasn't easier in protoform shape.

Will sat up and cursed softly to himself. Ironhide smirked as he listened to the words, some clearly Cybertronian. His partner had shown basic language skills in the past, but mostly when it was just the two of them in a very intimate moment. Will could pronounced Ironhide's name, could curse, and he had worked out a few basic words, mostly important in battle situations.

Dusting himself off, the hybrid looked over at Ironhide, daring him to comment. Ironhide wisely shut up.

Still, the thrill was there, especially now, after hours of watching the spectacle. Will had managed to absorb part of the energy bubbles the last time and it had resulted in a yelp, a flare of blue in his brown eyes, and all runes first rising to the surface of his skin, then disappearing almost completely.

"Getting there," Lennox commented as he walked over, covered in dust. He ineffectively wiped at his grimy t-shirt and grimaced.

"Ready for a break?" Ironhide asked.

It got him a shrug and a sigh. "Yeah. I feel like my own personal punching ball."

Ironhide chuckled and transformed, waiting for the human hybrid to get inside. Dust trickled onto his seats and he knew he would need extensive cleaning later.

They drove back to the base, which was currently deserted with all Constructicons on the Ark, and Will padded over to the single shower stall, already shedding clothes.

He came out with only a towel around his hips some time later, runes pale shadows on his chest. The tattoo on his back was still prominently there and Ironhide felt himself itch to touch it. The sheer energy surrounding Will made him… irresistible.

"Hide?"

He blinked. "Yes?" Slag, he had been staring again.

"You okay?"

"Yes."

Will frowned and looked up at him, unconcerned about his state of undress. "Try again."

Ironhide gave a rattling sigh. He finally transformed, enabled the holoform and pulled the unresisting man to him. Splaying his fingers over the back tattoo, Ironhide hummed with approval of the pulses he felt. As always the reaction was intense and very pleasurable.

Lennox raised his brows. "Wow, sex object much?" he quipped.

"Shut up, Lennox," Ironhide rumbled, but he had to smile.

"You got off watching me shoot something?" the hybrid clarified, laughter in his voice.

"Sue me," was the dark answer.

Now Will did laugh. "All the time and I never knew this was so arousing for you."

"We don't arouse," Ironhide snarled, enjoying the different echoes of each pattern he touched, feeling his spark ripple.

"No, you just… skid closer and closer to an overload, hm?"

"Exactly."

"What is this? Canon envy? Do I have to be worried?" Will teased, grinning. "Prime's got a pretty damn big gun…"

Ironhide pushed his partner against his own front, eyes flickering badly at the double impact sensation. The tattoo was now in direct contact with his armor and the holoform. The holoform was condensed energy and very well able to conduct sensations thanks to Ratchet's experimental nature when it came to improving the hardlight emitter, so it conducted. It conducted really well, as proven in the past.

Lennox let his hands roam over the simulated humanoid form. "Not that I mind being the sex object right now," he purred.

A few years ago neither of the two would have believed that they could be at this point somewhere in the near future. Ironhide's past relationships that had led to sharing had been purely Cybertronian. Lennox had only ever been with human women. They had both taken gigantic leaps and developed something that was a mixture of both; alien to the other partner and still familiar.

Kissing was alien to Cybertronians, but interfacing was no different. Two sockets connecting. Pleasurable sparks bridging the gap. It only worked when Ironhide used the hardlight hologram – and he had started to use it quite often when they were alone. Kissing was not alien to Lennox, but kissing a humanoid representation of a mechanoid life form – and appearing male – was.

It didn't stop the enthusiasm.

Ironhide had learned how to pleasure his human partner, as Will had accustomed to the differences between them. They couldn't care less what this made them to anyone else.

The towel fell to the floor.

Ironhide felt his spark quiver as energy collected between them, mingled, meshed together, as they shared in so many different ways. Human, Cybertronian, and something new. He watched Will's climax, felt his own peak, his system flooding with the release, and he shuddered against the pliable human form.

"Damn," Will whispered harshly, eyes glowing blue. "If you get like this whenever I play around, we need to get private facilities."

The holoform, now a featureless black thanks to the energy demands of his release, pulled Will into the cab of the Topkick as Ironhide chuckled.

"Private enough?" the mech teased.

Will grinned and leaned back as his partner straddled him. The windows darkened.

"Yeah, private enough," he answered.