Author: This is the last chapter. I will rant at the bottom. But first: Thank you to everyone who has or will read this for favoriting, alerting, reviewing, etc.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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Sam was idly watching the trees sway in the spring breeze through the window, almost hypnotized by their movement, having a very hard time concentrating on what the professor was saying. The fact that it was also the last day of classes made it doubly hard to care about what was being taught (even though it was going to be on the final). He felt himself beginning to nod off when the class ended, Leo elbowing him awake.

Sam looked at him blearily before a grin spread across his face. "Done?" he asked.

"Done," Leo repeated with an identical grin.

Sam let out a soft, joyous whoop, throwing his books into his bag, leaving the lecture hall quickly, Leo hot on his heels. It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed his class—it's just that enough was enough.

The air that kissed his skin when he broke out of the building was soft and warm, making him want to curl up underneath a tree and take a nap. His steps slowed as he basked in the springtime sun, Leo trotting off ahead of him with a wave.

Sam's light T-shirt fluttered against him, his mostly empty backpack thumping rhythmically in time with his steps. Everything was green and alive and it was a beautiful thing. Summer was still a distant dream, but winter had given up, landing them solidly in nice weather (when it wasn't raining, which was a pain). Sam was enjoying every minute of it.

He meandered leisurely across campus, occasionally being dragged into a conversation with someone, whether for academic reasons or simply because Sam had become more outgoing and sought to actually make friends outside of giant alien robots was unimportant. He was trying hard to get the students and teachers at his college to look beyond the "hey, isn't that the kid who's friends with the aliens?" to who he actually was. It was surprisingly difficult—apparently first impressions stick.

Especially when they are made by seeing me on the television, he thought wryly.

It had been nearly half a year since everything had happened, and he now had some semblance of a life. While school had been dicey in the beginning, things had gradually settled down into a routine. He had needed to work hard to catch up (that the All-Spark shard occasionally burst to life and overloaded his brain with knowledge helped), but, all in all, things were going well. He was passing all his classes and enjoyed them for the most part.

The only truly depressing thing that had happened was that he and Mikaela had broken up, but perhaps it was better that way—afterall, they were still very good friends and spoke to each other on a regular basis. It was just that he had to concentrate on his studies, and she was being kept busy working as Ratchet's assistant, learning about Cybertronian mechanics.

In more ways than one, Sam thought wryly. It was funny to think that everyone had expected him to fall for Bee and be the one to break the relationship, but the opposite had happened...with Mikaela and Ratchet.

Sam wished them well. It would be interesting, to say the least. He wasn't sure how it would work, but knew that Mikaela was stubborn enough to find a way (that Ratchet shared that trait meant that it would inevitably be an occasionally tempestuous relationship—good gossip fodder).

He came in sight of his dorm and his eyebrows rose slowly. There was a convertible parked out front of it, drawing envious gazes that flickered between it and Sam (since most people assumed that any kick-ass car that came to campus was now usually headed for Sam, regardless if that was the truth or not). It was understatedly luxurious and was a make that Sam was unfamiliar with. The top was down and Sam could just barely see a pair of shoes peeking over the steering wheel, heels resting on top of the mechanism.

Sam walked closer, and eventually got close enough to see the driver who was lounging in the vehicle. The driver could have passed as Sam's doppelganger, making Sam's eyebrows snap up, only the driver's clothes and visor-sunglasses setting him apart from the young man standing outside the car.

The driver's shades slipped down his nose to reveal red-brown eyes before the driver greeted, "Sam," his voice liquid and deep, more mature than his face and body suggested.

"What're you doing here?" Sam asked, puzzled.

"You forgot, didn't you?" was the reply he received.

"Forgot wha..." Sam trailed off as his eyes widened in time with the driver's grin.

"Go get your stuff. I'll be waiting here."

Sam hurriedly entered the dorm and raced up the stairs, berating himself mentally. The one thing you've been stressing about for weeks, and the day that you're to leave for it, you completely forget about it!

He nearly tore his dorm room door off its hinges, surprising Leo and the others.
"Yo, what's the rush?" his roommate asked as Sam dropped his backpack on the floor, rooting around under his bed for a bag he had packed and re-packed and re-re-packed a thousand times, just to make sure he didn't forget anything.

"Gotta be somewhere. Forgot all about it 'till now."

"Where?" Leo asked, curious.

Sam gave him a smug, secretive smile before saying, "Classified."

Leo groaned, but there was a laugh in his voice as Sam hefted the bag onto his shoulder.

"When'll you be back?" Sam's roommate asked.

"Dunno. Probably before my first final," Sam replied absently.

"Well, have fun at your top-secret government meeting," Leo said in a resigned voice as Sam grinned and bolted out of the room, bag weighing heavily against his shoulder as he moved quickly down the stairs, nearly bursting out of the dorm, surprising a few students.

The convertible's trunk popped open so that Sam could chuck his bag into it, and closed without prompting, just as the passenger door opened before Sam could get to it, and closed while Sam was busy buckling himself in.

The driver un-reclined his chair, settled into a sitting position, and waited until Sam had caught his breath to start driving.

"You needn't've rushed, y'know," the driver drawled, visor-sunglasses now covering his eyes. "You know I'll get you to the summit on time."

"Yeah, well, pardon my neuroses," Sam panted. He took a deep breath before speaking in a more normal tone: "What kind of car is this, anyway?"

"Alfa Romeo," the driver replied with a small smile, patting the steering wheel. "Passed it on the freeway."

"Huh. Never heard of it."

"Me neither, but I liked what I saw, so..."

Sam made a noise of understanding.

Silence briefly fell between them, the driver turning on the radio low to a heavy metal station. "How's life?" he asked over the muted screaming.

Sam sighed and ran a hand through his hair, a smile playing on his lips. "Going good, really. Today was the last day of classes, so I don't have to take a day more of that fucking intro astronomy class. I'm so glad I didn't have Professor Creeper this semester."

The driver snickered and turned away from the campus. "Uh-huh. Anything on the romance front?"

"No," Sam replied with a forlorn sigh. "But I am getting to be quite popular."

"Oh gods, you're gathering followers aren't you?"

"Friends."
"Don't lie. Minions."

Sam waved it away, but a smirk briefly crossed his face. "Whatever. The weather's nice, so I've been doing a lot of my work outside, which is a pleasure because sometimes the girls sun themselves as they study..."

The driver chuckled, a wistful smile playing across his face. "Damn, wish I coulda seen that."

Sam nodded, gaze briefly unfocused before he came back to himself, a goofy smile on his face. "Anyway," he said, "I've got more papers than finals, so that shouldn't be too bad...although I really would prefer the tests. One three-hour period of torture and then it's over. Fucking papers drag out the agony."

The driver snickered. "Deal with it."

"Fuck you."

"Sorry, you're not my type."

"Yeah, that's because you—"

"Watch it, ladiesman. Remember who you're driving with."

Sam rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Whatever you say," he drawled.

There was a comfortable silence before the driver spoke again: "You change your major?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. So I can do my diplomat stuff better."

"You just did it so you can take over the world easier."

"Revolutionize the world, dipshit. Get it right."

The driver snickered and shook his head. "Whatever you say, fleshling."

Sam chuckled before a thought hit him: "Hey, how did you get to be the one to pick me up?"

"I beat Optimus, Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Prowl at cards."

Sam gave the driver a dry look, which made him laugh.

"C'mon, tell me the truth," Sam said in a tone that was as dry as his look.

"You honestly expect me to tell the truth?" the driver asked, cocking an eyebrow over his sunglasses.
"To me, yeah."

The driver's lips quirked in a small smile. "Optimus asked me. Well, told me, actually, and you know I don't have it in my heart to deny the Prime anything."

"He threatened to reveal who you really are unless you did what he wanted."

"Maybe," the driver crooned in a sing-song voice.

Sam shook his head and chuckled, leaning back in the seat. "Still...why?"

The driver sighed. "Because right now I register as a 'con, and as other 'cons are less likely to attack one of their own, regardless of in-fighting..."

"Mm. So, you've figured out how to alternate your spark-signature?"
"Yup," the driver said happily, fingers tapping against the steering wheel in time to the bass guitar in the song playing on the radio. "Now I can be just an Autobot instead of having to mimic one of the deceased...and being a 'con is my base, so that's never been a problem."

"Still, how nice of you, worrying about me enough to actually listen to Optimus's orders."

The driver snorted and shook his friend. "Me? Worry about you? Seriously?"

Sam grinned and snickered, making the driver smirk.

"If you really want to know my motivation behind picking you up, I had a few things I wanted to talk to you about."

Sam's mood sobered, he giving the driver a wary look. "What?"
"Shockwave's arrived."

Sam jerked and stared. "What? When?"

"Not too long ago. I intercepted a transmission from Soundwave, who seems rather unhappy at the turn of events. It appears that, given two evils, he'd rather take Starscream."

Sam made a sound of comprehension. "They never did get along, Soundwave and Shockwave."

"Funny for sharing part of a name."

"Hey, it could be something as superficial as that. I told you that Cybertronian names are important."

The driver snickered and shook his head. "I'm keeping careful watch on all Decepticon frequencies, and while a lot of it is mindless chatter, you'd be surprised with what you can catch."

"They'll be watching what they say a lot more now that Shockwave is around. Soundwave'll just file what they say away for later manipulation and black-mail, but Shockwave will take it, analyze it, and act on what his logic says is the best course of action."

The driver made a 'hm' sound, fingers playing across the steering wheel as he thought. "This'll make things interesting. How long do you think it'll take for them to discover just how many natural resources that are necessary for Cybertronian existence are hidden on this planet?"

"Wait, what?"

One of the driver's eyebrow cocked over the the edge of his sunglasses. "From what I've lifted from Preceptor and Starscream and my own travels, due to the presence of the All-Spark for millennium, the entire planet itself is one giant Cybertronian resource sink—it contains energon and metals necessary to build Cybertronian bodies to name two—just have to get rid of the pesky organics. But, Shockwave will do that in a heartbeat, if what you're saying of his personality is on target."

Sam scratched his scalp, sighing. "This makes things interesting."

"Another reason I'm picking you up. Wanted to tell you that...and ask you a question."

"Yeah?"

"You are going to help humanity, right?" the driver asked, and Sam knew he was being stared at intensely even through the sunglasses.

Sam smiled and nodded. "Of course. Being who and what I am now, it'd be suicidal and stupid to do otherwise. You should've known the answer to that question, Shifter."

"Yeah, well, so sue me. You know I'm still invested in what happens to the inhabitants of this planet."

Sam chuckled. "Yeah. I do."

Shiftswitch relaxed back into his seat, one hand on the wheel before he said, "Hey, want to see if we can beat the speed cameras?"

"Mythbusters say you have to go over 300 mph."

Switch grinned. "That shouldn't be a problem."

The top to the convertible closed over them and solidified into metal, making Sam's lips spread in a smile. "You will account for the poor squishy in your cabin, right?"

Shiftswitch took off his sunglasses and vanished them into nothingness, giving Sam a cocky smile as his blood-red eyes sparkled in mischief. "Of course. When haven't I taken care of my former body?"

Sam laughed as Shiftswitch accelerated, weaving around the other cars with reckless abandon, headed towards the multinational summit that would discuss the continued presence of both Autobots and Decepticons on the planet known by its inhabitants as "Earth."

~FIN~

Post-note: And that really is the end.

In response to some queries: No, there will not be a sequel, as far as I know. Shiftswitch has retired (at least for the time being). But if you really are in need of other reading, I've written a few other Transformers stories *hint hint*. I am overwhelmed by all the positive reviews and am flattered at how many people have favorited this story. Much love and many thanks.

I'm always open to story ideas, however. Right now Gaining Perspective and Daniel Masters are dragging their heels, so if anyone has something to jump-start the creative conduits... :D

Again, thank you for your readership!

~Ryuuko1