A/N: So hi guys, I've decided to rewrite this story a bit, though don't worry there are no major changes from the things you've read up to! I also just realized that I probably started this story a little too early, but that's okay. I've decided to go back and change things and shorten the first six chapters and condense them into three, considering most of it is pointless, and all the changes to the storyline I've made. You guys have no idea, I barely knew what I was doing with the story when I first uploaded it XD the only difference in the condensed chapters is that I'm getting rid of unnecessary human and bot parts and I'm trying to get to the plot faster now, now that I actually have one XD. Sorry about that guys XP On the bright side if you old followers have to reread to make sense of things you only have three chapters XD Enjoy!

This chapter has Birthday Wishes and the Music Store combined. ;) Enjoy! Oh and I added Jack's dream with the sparkling here too for those of you who know what I'm talking about, I couldn't find any other place to put it when I condensed it. I apologize if Jack's flashback is too long :p

Jack hated waking up early in the morning, especially if it was a Saturday, but today was the exception. He had to get to base early with Arcee to get ready for Raf's birthday. Sure his actual birthday wasn't until the summer. They had to reschedule the party since Raf's family was going to take him on a big trip for his 13th birthday.

Why not celebrate with him at autobot base before he left?

Yawning softly and rubbing his eyes a little, Jack practically had to force himself out of bed before heading to the kitchen. He was even still in his PJ's but food was needed. He still had to get ready and leave soon but still, mornings were evil.

"Been wondering when you would finally wake up," a familiar voice said in front of him. Glancing up with sleepy eyes, Jack could just make out someone leaning against the wall in the kitchen. For a second Jack thought that that was his mom but he quickly remembered she took the early shift this morning.

So who...? Jack thought, rubbing his eyes a little before realizing he was staring at a girl with black hair with blue and pink streaks in a blue motorcycle suit. "Arcee?"

"I'm using Sadie, Jack" Arcee explained to the boy using half his brain function that morning. Right, her human holoform, but that still didn't explain something.

"Oh, well what are you doing inside?" Jack asked confused, rubbing the back of his head slightly. Arcee usually never comes inside; if she's here she's usually in the garage or outside.

"I got bored waiting in the garage all morning for you. I didn't want to wake you up." Arcee explained, nodding towards the clock on the wall, making Jack cringe a little. It was almost 11:00 a.m. Had he really slept in that long?

"Did you forget about Raf's party?" Arcee added, getting Jack's attention.

"Of course not!" Jack replied, raising his arms in defense before looking away a little ashamed that he had her waiting so long.

"Good, hurry up then." said Arcee, smiling lightly. Her good humor let Jack relax a bit, at least she wasn't reading into it too much as to why he overslept. He didn't want to admit that he had another restless night. Forcing that aside, Jack couldn't help but smile at his guardian.

"Pushy much," Jack chuckled as he walked up to his autobot friend as she sat down at the table in the kitchen; well it was more of her holoform rather than herself.

"Nice holoform." Jack commented, poking her colorful hair, watching as his finger fazed through it.

"I can make it solid you know," Arcee smirked as she gently swatted away his finger. Jack simply chuckled as he made his way toward the fridge, reaching over it to get a box a cereal. He felt too lazy to cook for himself and time was of the essence.

"You want anything, Arcee?" Jack asked as he opened the refrigerator door only to get a look from his guardian, making him laugh. "Kidding, I know we don't have anything you can really have anyway."

"Very funny, Jack" replied Arcee, rolling her hologram eyes at his bad joke before picking up a random magazine on the table and began flipping through it out of boredom.

Turning back to the fridge, Jack pulled out the jug of milk and went to the cupboard to get a bowl to pour himself some cereal. Though, when he lifted the milk he winced slightly at the strain on his right arm and quickly set down the milk again.

"You okay?" asked Arcee, looking up from the magazine, noticing his discomfort.

"I'm fine, my arm's just still a little stiff." Jack explained with a sheepish smile as he rubbed his arm over the scarred skin on his forearm. "I kinda feel asleep on it."

"Alright then," Arcee replied as she watched Jack put back the milk with his left hand and reach into a drawer for a spoon before walking over to the table.

Jack could tell she was still watching him but he decided to focus on his breakfast. Though, nowadays, focus wasn't his strong suit so his mind began to wander. Staring down at the scar absentmindedly, Jack's mind began to drift back to how he got it. Back when the autobots were trying to get Orion Pax back from the decepticons by returning his memories as Optimus Prime, but things didn't really go as planned...

….

"Are you certain...that I am worthy?" Orion asked him the moment he presented him the key, the matrix.

This was the moment everyone had been waiting for, the chance to bring Optimus back home. Though Jack could sense Orion was hesitant, he also wanted to make things right again so he wanted it accept it.

"You have no idea..." was all he had to say to the lost Prime and with that he offered the knowledge within the matrix to reawaken Optimus from within the data clerk, Orion Pax.

Closing his eyes for a moment Jack allowed the energy of the Matrix to flow to Optimus. For a brief moment, from beneath his closed optics he could see Optimus staring down at him proudly before opening his eyes again to see Orion.

For a moment it felt like it they were the only ones that existed. They were going to make things right again, he knew they will.

Suddenly a scream pulled Jack out of those thoughts, making him almost leap out of his skin. It took only a moment to register the voice as Megatron and that he screamed out, "NO!" Another moment later, Jack's world exploded around him.

For a moment reality didn't exist for him anymore. A burning hot pain scorched through his body, starting from his hand, down along his arm. Pain was all he knew until reality was suddenly thrust back at him. At first Jack couldn't tell up from down until he hit the ground and the visor of his helmet shattered on impact. He heard someone scream his name and that was the last thing Jack heard before the darkness overtook him.

That was when things got weird.

For a while he felt nothing, he was nothing. Then pain shot through his arm, jolting him awake. Once the pain subsided he realized he was lying on the ground. Looking up, all he could see was darkness.

It was so dark he almost thought he didn't open his eyes yet. Though, after a moment his eyes seemed to adjust. It was still dark around him, but for some reason he could see everything around him. It was like the darkness was enveloping him.

Jack tried to get up but his limbs felt like they were made of lead. He brought his arms down to help him up but when he put pressure on his right arm, pain shot through him, causing him to collapse. Jack cursed softly as he waited for the pain to subside to try again, this time putting less weight on his injured arm.

The first time he got onto his feet his legs buckled the moment he took a step. The fall brought a new wave of pain into his arm and he shut his eyes tightly and waited for the pain to fade again. Taking a breath he tried again. It took him a few of tries to manage to get on his feet again without falling. Taking a look around, Jack couldn't see anything that could tell him where he was.

It was just…emptiness…

'Is there really nothing here? Except for me?'

The thought of that made him feel uneasy. He placed his hands on his head in frustration. What is he doing here? What is this place? He let out a deep sigh to try to calm down, but was surprised to see his breath come out in a puff of smoke. Lowering his hands to his sides, he watched his breath dissipated in the air.

Suddenly, a chill ran up his spine and he began to shiver. He tried to rub my arms without hurting his injured one in an attempt to keep himself warm but it wasn't working.

When did it get so cold?

He began to shiver harder as the cold seemed to reach deep into his bones. Living in a desert all his life didn't help. Jack didn't think he's ever dealt with this kind of coldness. To make matters worse, the atmosphere suddenly began to darken., as if it wasn't dark enough already.

Looking around again, Jack still wasn't sure where he was. All he knew is that he wanted to get out. The cold and darkness overwhelmed him so much he couldn't stand still anymore. Before he even knew it, he took off running as fast as he could.

He had to get out of there, he couldn't stay there. He had to get back…

Back to what?

The thought of that only made him run faster. The running seemed to push aside the numbness growing inside him, but only slightly. Then he felt something watching him and quickly glanced back to look behind him. Jack didn't relax when there was nothing behind him. Something was following him, he knew it; he just couldn't see it. He knew if he couldn't get away it would catch him and drag him down deeper into the darkness.

He was scared, scared out of his mind. He wasn't sure how he'll be able to get away. His heart felt like it was about to rip out of his chest with how fast it was beating.

In the darkness he couldn't see where he was going, but that didn't slow him down. As long as he kept on running it brought some comfort that he might be able to get away.

But how was he supposed to get away from 'it' if he didn't know what 'it' was or how to get out of here?!

Before he could even guess the answer to that Jack lost my footing on something slippery, before losing his balance completely as he tripped over something. He hit the ground hard, scraping his face but that didn't really matter to me.

The cold and fear suddenly began to overwhelm him like it finally just caught up with him and he wanted to scream as he hit the ground with his fist in frustration. During the run, he completely forgot about his injured arm as the pain scourged through him again.

He couldn't contain it anymore and he just screamed his lungs out before quickly turning to see what he tripped over just now. His heart literally stopped cold and his eyes widen in shock; the only thing he could do was stare.

A little ways away from him was a small silver robotic body lying in a pool of what looked like energon.

When he said it was small, he literally meant it was small. The little being looked like he was the size of a human child.

The darkness forgotten and ignoring his pain, Jack quickly got to his feet and went to the body. He felt his heart stop again when he realized it was a child, a Cybertronian child…

It was a sparkling, if Jack remembered correctly. Ratchet was always calling him, Raf and Miko that whenever they got into mischief. Though, back then he never thought he'd see one himself.

It was that moment Jack no longer felt overwhelmed by fear. Instead, he felt fear for this sparkling. He kneeled down beside him; looking it over for a moment he saw the sparkling was covered in bright blue life blood energon and it was still bleeding.

It took him a split moment to resister the sparkling was still alive. When someone's heart, or in this case, spark, stops beating they don't keep on bleeding when they're dead? Jack figured if transformers had blood and their sparks pumped it like hearts do, the same as human hearts.

Looking down at the life blood, Jack could see the sparkling was bleeding from his chest so he carefully turned him over onto his back to check the damage.

Jack practically jumped out of my skin when he saw the damage to the sparkling's body. He just couldn't believe his eyes. The sparkling's chest looked like it was clawed at and almost completely torn off. Exposed wires and circuitry sparked alive with the severed electrical currents.

To sum it up, the sparkling looked like he's been through hell and back. Jack was surprise he was even still alive.

But that wasn't the bad part. Through the gaping hole in his chest Jack could see a pale blue spark pulsing underneath. The slow and steady beats were the only real indication to him, other than the bleeding, that he was still alive.

It was strange…looking at a spark. To be honest, Jack's never seen a spark before in his life. It looked like a blue orb of light, with hints of silver and gold light swirling around it, except the light looked like it was alive. It reminded him how the metal on the Autobots didn't feel quite like normal metal that was on normal cars. It was warm, as if it made its own heat, as if it was alive.

Looking back down at the child, Jack tried to figure out if there was anything he could do to help with his injuries. Taking another look at the wound, he reach down to touch the edge of it to try to see if there was anything he could do to help.

Suddenly, a noise came from the sparkling, startling Jack. It sounded like a pained groan and Jack quickly moved his hands away from the wound as he watched the sparkling try to open his optics.

How could he still be conscious with all this damage?!

Then, before Jack could think about that, a small metal fist attempted to collide with his face. He quickly moved back to avoid the blow and grabbed the sparkling's wrists before staring at him in shock.

Was he trying to fight him off?

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" the child screamed at Jack as he suddenly tried to claw his face off again. Apparently he was trying to fight him… Jack jumped back in surprise but didn't let go of his wrists, he only tighten my grip slightly so the sparkling couldn't slip away.

Jack was startled by how much energy the sparkling had in him for someone that looked like he was on death's doorstep. The sparkling continued to try to get out of his grip but Jack wasn't going to let that happen.

"Listen, I'm not going to hurt you! I'm trying to help you!" Jack yelled with a little more force than he wanted to, but he had to make sure the sparkling heard him over his screams. It seemed like for a moment that made the sparkling stop his assault and he just stared at Jack. It was like he was confused about something before the anger quickly returned into his optics.

"NO! Leave me alone! Just leave!" the sparkling screamed as moisture began to form in his optics. That just caught Jack off guard; was he going to cry? Soon the moisture in his optics thickened and began to steam down his faceplates as he began to scream and Jack loosened my grip slightly on his wrists and just watched him.

In a word, this child looked broken.

As Jack watched the child continue to try to fight him he just stared.

Why didn't he want me to help him? Why did he want me to leave him alone? Did he want to die? Did he expect for him just to leave him there? Not of that mattered, he wasn't going to let that happen.

"No," Jack said calmly while the sparkling was in the middle of screaming. The way he said it must have got the sparkling's attention and his optics locked with his. "I'm not going to leave you here to die." Jack said and the sparkling stopped fighting him completely and just stared at him with his big pale blue optics.

Staring at his optics and holding this sparkling in his arms, Jack didn't feel scared anymore, only determined to save the little guy. He wasn't going to let him die if he couldn't help it.

Looking over him, the sparkling was about Raf's size, so Jack was considering carrying him on my back but quickly thought against it because of the damage to his chest. He ended up carrying him like a baby, holding him to his chest. The sparkling was a little too big to hold this way but Jack figured out a way to hold him to not drop him. He was a lot lighter than he expected, considering he was made of metal.

Jack let out a shaky breath as the cold began to take over again. He completely forgot about the cold and the pain in his arm when he was trying to help the sparkling. Now he tried to ignore it to focus his energy on the sparkling. Jack held him close to his chest to try to keep him warm.

"I'll get you out of here, little guy." Jack promised the little silver sparkling. In turn, the sparkling seemed to look at him surprised. As if wondering why in the world he would do something like that for him.

With that in mind Jack started to walk toward the direction he felt would help them get out.

"Where are you taking me?" the sparkling asked in a weak voice after a few moments of silence. His voice sounded almost curious and his anger from before seemed to fade away completely at this point.

Jack smiled lightly and looked down at the sparkling. "I'm taking you-" Jack's voice suddenly caught in his throat and he couldn't finish his sentence. He stopped walking for a moment and stared straight ahead.

'Where was I going?' He thought as he tried to reach into his memory for an answer. For some reason nothing would come up.

Where was he going to go? Where was he going to get help for him? Who was he going to take him to? Jack felt like he should have known the answers for all his questions but he felt like those answers were fading away…

Jack tried to think harder of someone, anyone, he could take the sparkling to for help. Suddenly, a feeling of nostalgia swept over him and he was surrounded by orbs of light.

The lights seemed to brighten up everything around him significantly as he watched them. Each orb was a different color and reminded Jack of sparks. As he looked around, the sparkling tried to paw at the orb closest to them. It was reddish orange orb with hints of white and a deep scar running through it.

Suddenly, an image of an orange and white mech came to mind but his name wouldn't come to mind…Then, as if being blown out like a candle the orb faded away.

Jack's eyes widen in shock and he quickly looked at the other orbs. The next one that was the closest was a red orb spiraled with blue specks. He tried to reach for it but just as he managed to brush it with my fingers it began to fade away just like the other. Jack tried again with other lights but it was the same result.

Things suddenly began to grow colder and darker as more of the lights continued to fade out...

Green, blue, yellow, gray, red, orange…they just kept fading…

As Jack watched the lights fade he felt like he was losing something very important but he wasn't sure what it was…

The cold and his fear intensified the darker it got and it began to pierce through him again like ice daggers. The only warmth Jack felt was from the sparkling but even that was beginning to fade quickly. His first instinct was to hold the sparkling closer, to try to keep him warm and to protect him from the darkness. Jack felt so numb, he didn't think he'd be able to walk anymore, even if he tried, he just couldn't move his legs.

When the last few orbs began to fade Jack knew it would be over soon. He buried his head into the sparkling's neck and held him closer to try to block the two of them out from the world.

He needed to remember, remember what was causing him to feel this emptiness and hollowness…

Jack began to shiver at how helpless he was.

How was he supposed to save this sparkling when he couldn't…remember…?

'Why…can't I…remember?' Jack thought just before a flash of gold caught his attention. Looking up, Jack watched as an orb, the last orb of light, drifted towards him. He had the sudden feeling to jerk away from it, afraid that if it comes near it might disappear like the others. The sparkling also seemed a bit nervous about this orb.

But, after a while it didn't disappear. It stayed where it was, like it was watching them. Why wasn't it disappearing like the others? Jack felt warmth from the glow of this light and he felt the fear slowly beginning to fade away.

The child watched the light in curiosity and awe as he tried to reach for it when he realized it wasn't a threat. Jack watched him as the orb began to dance in the air, almost like it was playing with him. A ring of laughter escaped the child's voice capacitor and Jack couldn't help but laugh as well.

Suddenly, there was a change in the atmosphere, like a vibration or sound wave. The cold suddenly began to melt away, though Jack still felt numb but not the way he felt before…

Jack looked up at the orb as it seemed to behave strangely and his eyes widen as the orb began to emanate pulses of light.

Jack glanced down at the sparking's pale blue optics but he looked just as confused as he did. Jack closed his eyes, feeling strangely at peace as the light seemed to warm them… Suddenly, Jack felt the vibration in the air again but it was closer and stronger, like it was coming from inside of him. Jack had this strange feeling, as if he was closer to where he wanted to go, so close he could almost see it. Jack's eyes shot open as he gasped and an image appeared in his mind of the place he wanted to take them and everything came back to me.

The lights that had faded away before returned, shining brighter, lighting up the darkness around them completely. Everything was so bright Jack could hardly see anything.

He looked down at the sparkling again and he could just barely make out his face in the brightness. The sparkling seemed to be concerned with everything that seemed to be changing around them. Jack wanted to reassure the little guy everything was going to be alright. Then, he thought back to the question he'd asked him before. Of where he was taking him, now he knew the answer.

"Home..." Jack said softly before his body suddenly surged forward, as if he was shot, and he collapsed, feeling like the ground was swept away from beneath him. In a daze, Jack could feel the sparkling cling tighter to him and he could hear him scream in fear. He probably thought they were falling back in the darkness again. Jack couldn't lie that for a moment, he felt the same way but something was keeping him from feeling that way.

Jack felt light and he wasn't scared anymore. It just felt like everything was going to be okay…

As they fell Jack looked down at the sparkling, stroking the back of his head to reassure him they were going to be okay. While he watched him, Jack noticed something on the sparkling's head, something he didn't notice before. It was some sort of Cybertronian symbol on his head but it was strange…Jack could read it.

Val-

Before Jack could finish reading the symbol they hit the ground and he was awake. The next thing he knew Jack could hear someone calling his name, their voice close to tears, followed by being embraced by a pair of arms. Jack was in a daze and couldn't focus until pain surged through his arm and chest and he gasped in pain.

"I'm sorry!" a voice said quickly as they two pairs of arms let go. "I can't believe that worked!"

When Jack's eyes could focus they met with a pair of gold ones and he realized he was staring at Miko and looking down beside her he could see Raf. At that moment Jack had no idea what Miko talking about and he didn't bother trying to figure it out.

Jack tried to ignore the pain, realizing it hurt to breathe as he looked around, wondering where he was. Jack quickly relaxed when he realized he was behind the familiar walls of the base.

Not a second later his mom went over to him, tears in her eyes, to kiss his cheek and check him to make sure nothing was broken. Jack watched without saying a word and looked up at everyone. They all looked so relieved to see he was awake, especially Arcee who was kneeling down beside him.

"Hey," Jack said, breaking the silence, his voice lighthearted as he grinned through the pain while he wave at all of them with his uninjured hand. Despite the fact that he just had a near death experience, Jack laughed. He couldn't help it; he was completely overwhelmed by relief.

He was home…They were home...

…

When the accident first happened, Jack couldn't remember anything that happened after presenting Optimus the Key, that is, beside the dream about the sparkling. Everything wasn't explained to him until after his mom had taken Jack to the hospital he found out what became in the underground bunker.

In the attempt to stop the download of Optimus memories back into Orion, Megatron tried to sever the connection by shooting the Key. Luckily, for Jack, the shot didn't hit its mark entirely; a fraction of the blast had actually hit the key. At the same time, the blast managed to throw Jack back and the heat from the blast had burned through his spacesuit. The key may have been hit but at least Jack escaped with his life.

Then, when Jack wouldn't wake up back at base everyone had been convinced he hadn't made it. Really, he was shot at, thrown back like a ragdoll and to make matters worse he hadn't been breathing. There really wasn't much hope at the time. That is, until he was startled awake by a loud sound and was breathing on his own again. He later figured out the loud noise was Miko's guitar. That thing must be magical or something to have been able to wake him up from his comatose state.

Though, despite all that, Jack was still surprised he was even alive to begin with. One of the only reasons Jack was even alive was because Megatron had missed. Under normal circumstances Jack knew he wouldn't have missed but fortunately for him Arcee had intervened and redirected the shot. The space suit was probably another factor that saved his life, protecting him from a majority of the fire blast. Also, a part of Jack believed the sparkling he helped in his dream may have saved him too…He couldn't really explain why, it's just how he felt.

Unfortunately, Jack awoke to the fact that Megatron's shot had indeed caused some damage. The damage had been done to Optimus. The download had been severed in the middle of the process and as far as anyone could tell Optimus remembered pretty much everything about the war, just not them, the humans and his time on earth.

Though, missing three years of his life was better than having none of it at all.

It didn't make it hurt any less but they managed to pull through in the end. They had Prime back after all.

"Hey, Jack, are you alright?" asked Arcee, pulling him from his thoughts. Looking up, Jack's grey eyes met with Arcee's blue ones.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Jack asked curiously.

"You were spacing out." Arcee replied, looking a bit concerned. "How have your dreams been lately?"

"I've stopped waking up screaming in the middle of the night if that's what you're wondering." Jack chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood but Arcee didn't seem amused. Jack looked away uncomfortably and began stirring his cereal with his spoon. It's true, he's had nightmares of what happened, along with dreams of that sparkling now and then, but it was getting easier.

Jack remembered Arcee had been the most affected when he wouldn't wake up, that is, besides his mom. His mom was practically in tears when he finally managed to wake up. He supposed that everyone thought they'd lost him at the time and he believed they had for a moment as well.

Since the accident Arcee's been a bit protective of Jack, which he didn't mind too much. That is, except when she didn't believe he was fine when he said he was. Though, he understood why she acted like that. Jack knew Arcee was afraid of losing him, especially after having lost two of her closest partners in the past, bots she cared about with all her spark before he came along.

"I didn't have a nightmare last night." Jack sighed softly, "I just couldn't sleep." He shrugged slightly. Jack had to admit the whole thing scared him and he still got nightmares and flashbacks now and then that left him lying awake at night but last night wasn't one of those nights.

Arcee seemed to study if for a moment before nodding. "If something's ever wrong don't be afraid to say anything."

"Alright," Jack replied, offering her a smile, knowing she meant well.

It's been a while since the accident, maybe a month or so. In that time a lot's happened to Team Prime. Team Prime has been doing all they can to help arouse some of Optimus' memories that had yet to resurfaced. They also spent a lot of their time re-teaching things about earth to Optimus and catch him up to speed on what's happened. Not to mention the race for the relics but that was a different story.

It was hard to believe a month has already past. By now Jack was almost fully recovered from his injuries. His wounds consisted of a concussion, bruised ribs, burns and cuts. The concussion was long gone and he was finally able to start breathing deeply again without it hurting. His arm was still a little tender from the burns and he also had a few scars on his face from the visor shattering and the impact.

Jack couldn't help but sigh, all in a day's work for an honorary Prime, he figured before he finished his breakfast. Standing up from his seat, Jack took his bowl and spoon in the dishwasher and glanced over at Arcee.

"Wait for me outside?" Jack asked and Arcee nodded before her holoform disappeared into thin air.

With his breakfast eaten, Jack headed to his room to get ready to leave.

They had a big day ahead of them.

…

"Where have you been?" Miko pestered him the moment Jack and Arcee pulled up into base.

"I sort of slept in…" Jack replied as he took off his helmet, looking away sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Well, that isn't like you, Mr. Responsible," said Miko, making Jack feel a little guiltier for sleeping in.

"You didn't try to wake him up?" Miko asked Arcee but she only shrugged before walking off.

"Well, whatever." Miko sighed before she began to walk up to the human sector. "We've got bigger things to worry about today. We have to figure out a way to get Raf out of here."

"He's here?" Jack asked, fairly surprised as he followed her up the stairs. "I thought Bumblebee was going to take him out while we decorated."

"He was but then Raf had him bring him to base early to watch some cartoon, it's some series finale thing." Miko explained as she pointed over to Raf sitting in front of the TV with Bumblebee standing beside him. From where Jack stood the two of them looked completely occupied by whatever it was they were watching.

"We'll it looks like we're going to have to wait then," Jack sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Or we destroy the TV." Miko suggested, eying the axe on the wall and Jack only gave her a look.

"Kidding," Miko replied, raising her arms in defense and Jack only half believed her.

"Any suggestions on what we can do while we wait?" Jack asked, looking over at Raf.

"How about band practice?" Miko grinned as she grabbed her guitar and ran back down the stairs to her amplifier. Jack could only look helplessly over at Arcee who had come to his side and gave him a reassuring smile.

Jack couldn't help but sigh before making his way slowly down to Miko. On the way down, Jack noticed the only other bot present besides Bumblebee and Arcee was Ratchet. "Where's everyone else?" Jack asked as he walked up to Miko setting up her guitar.

"Optimus and Bulk are out on patrol." Miko replied, not looking up from her guitar. "Bulk should be back soon, he left early."

Jack nodded and looked over at Ratchet who appeared to be working on some type of device. "What's Ratchet doing?" He asked curiously.

"Making Raf's gift." Miko replied before she and Jack shuttered. They just hoped whatever Ratchet was making for Raf wasn't a remake of the school science projects he helped them make.

"Moving on…" Jack muttered before looking at Miko's guitar. "What do you have in mind for band practice?"

"I was thinking about teaching you a thing or two about music. Starting with some guitar lessons." Miko replied before tossing her guitar at Jack. Jack unwittingly managed to catch the guitar before it could crash to the ground.

"Uhhhh..." Jack replied as he looked down at the guitar in his hands, utterly clueless.

"Play some notes, Jack." said Miko, although her tone was light, Jack knew it was an order.

"Miko, I don't think this is a good idea." Jack sighed, wondering what on earth he got himself into.

"First thing's first is helping out the weak link of this band." replied Miko in the same light, yet demanding voice she used before.

"Gee thanks..." Jack muttered and Miko rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. Miko was only assuming he didn't know a thing about music. He actually knew more than she took him credit for.

"Come on, Jack it's easy!" Miko added, crossing her arms. "Or do you want to cover yourself in fake blood?" Miko suggested, knowing Jack wouldn't like the lateral as she offered him her guitar pick.

"Alright, alright..." Jack sighed as he sat up and took the pink guitar pick from her hand. "What do I do?"

"First, you gotta hold it like this." instructed Miko as she looped the guitar strap around Jack's torso and positioned it on his lap. After that was done she looped her arm around him and took his hands to show him how to hold the guitar. This part was a little awkward to Jack for some reason, considering how close Miko was.

His face flushed slightly when Miko corrected him because he was holding on the guitar too tight. However, even when she was done helping him, Jack continued to stare at the guitar and his hands utterly clueless. This is practically the first time he's actually touched a musical instrument, ever. That is, unless you counted fooling around with a harmonica.

Sighing softly, Jack looked down at the black and white guitar before looking at Miko. "Alright, what now?"

"I'll start off with something simple." said Miko before the lesson began but it was doomed the moment it started.

…

As the cartoon was coming to an end, Raf tried to focus but couldn't help feel distracted. A few minutes ago Raf had hear Miko's guitar down below on the ground floor.

He automatically knew it wasn't Miko playing when he heard how off key each note was. The only way he could really describe what it sounded like was shearing metal. That probably meant Jack was playing guitar and it was only confirmed when Ratchet began to complain to Jack about the noise.

At this point the two were at each other's throats. Miko was arguing that Jack was hopeless while Jack argued it was her teaching and it just kept going back and forth. Experience told Raf it was probably best not to get involved. It wasn't good to get in between Jack and Miko when they were arguing over something this simple. That is, unless they were trapped on the decepticon ship, completely helpless but that was a different story entirely.

"What are they arguing about this time?" Bumblebee muttered as he glanced down over where Miko and Jack were as the TV show came to an end. The two weren't able to enjoy it as much when Miko and Jack began bickering a few minutes ago.

"My guess is Miko's getting a little frustrated with teaching Jack how to play guitar and Jack's starting to get frustrated with her." Raf replied, looking back at his friends who were still arguing. At times those two just seemed like some old married couple with how much they fought like this.

"Come on, Jack, it's not that hard!" said Miko as she was losing her patients. She had been spending the last half hour trying to get Jack to learn a few notes but those attempts seem futile now.

"It's not like we're going to be some big professional band, Miko." Jack sighed, shaking his head, trying to give back the guitar but Miko wouldn't have it.

"The band? You three are still doing that?" said Bulkhead, overhearing the conversation as he entered the base.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Bulk." said Miko as she crossed her arms as she shot a glare at her guardian.

"Well, you know I didn't mean it like that, Miko!" said Bulkhead, not meaning to bring his friend down.

Miko just waved him off, knowing what he meant and sighed softly. Shaking her head, she tried to be patient with her music impaired friend, though it was becoming harder as the minutes dragged on.

"Come on, Jack. You're making it too hard for yourself! Just strum it like this," Miko explained as she took his hand and lead it across the strings. The result made a couple of musical notes that didn't sound like shearing metal.

"Like that. Now you try." Miko encouraged, waiting for him to start. Sighing softly, Jack held the guitar pick to the guitar string just like Miko showed him and tried to do the same notes.

She's right; I'm making this too hard on myself. How hard could this really be? He wonders as he strummed the first string.

SNAP!

For a moment Jack and everyone in the room just stared, hardly comprehending what just happened before Jack winced as he stared down at the broken guitar string. Meanwhile Miko just stared in horror at her guitar and the broken string.

Before Jack knew it, Miko snatched the guitar from his hands and inspected it for a moment before looking back at him.

"You're hopeless." Miko stated bluntly.

"I still hate you." Miko announced as she hopped out of Bulkhead and stepped onto the pavement in the back parking lot of Jasper's local music store.

"I already said I was sorry!" replied Jack as he got off Arcee, her holoform standing behind him. It wasn't like he meant to break the strings on Miko's guitar. It was an accident. "And I already promised I'd pay for the new strings!" Jack added as Raf stepped out of Bumblebee and walked over.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Miko replied before looking down at the three guardians sitting in their Alt. modes side by side in the parking lot.

Jack shook his head lightly as he looked over at the music store. The only reason they were there was because Miko insisted that he'd replace the broken guitar strings on the spot. At first just Jack, Miko and their guardians were going to come but Miko invited Raf and Bumblebee to join them.

Sighing softly, Jack glanced over at his guardian's newly customized holoform. Unlike the earlier at breakfast Arcee wasn't in her motorcycle suit. This time she was wearing a leather jacket, tight jeans and black boots that reached her knees. Under her jacket she wore a blue shirt with the autobot insignia.

Miko had suggested if the bots were going to drive them to the store they all should try out some more normal looking holoforms. None of them thought it would be a bad idea so they went along with it.

Miko considered her holoform for a moment before looking up at Bulkhead. "It's time to show off that holoform, Bulk!"

"Alright, Miko." Bulkhead chuckled before his passenger side door opened and a tall, buff man stepped out. He was easily six feet tall, broad shoulders, a dark tan, sky blue eyes and he had army style haircut.

Bulkhead's holoform wore a military like attire; combat boots, green camouflage pants, an army green jacket that matched his armor with an autobot symbol on the collar. The three kids considered his holoform and thought it was very fitting.

"Awesome!" Miko smirked as she gave her guardian a 'thumbs up'. Jack and Raf nodded, smiling up at Bulkhead.

"It suits him." commented Arcee as she crossed her arms over her chest, smiling lightly as she looked up at him. Arcee was taller than Jack but compared to Bulkhead she was tiny.

"Well, wait 'til you see Bee's," said Raf as he turned to the yellow muscle car as Bee gave off a soft roar from his engine

Bumblebee gave off a series of chirps and beeps, Jack assumed it meant he wanted to show them his holoform. Moments later Bumblebee's driver side door opened and his holoform hopped out.

Bumblebee's holoform was of a boy, probably in his late teens to early twenties dressed in a yellow and black jacket, black jeans, and sneakers. He also had scruffy blond hair that covered his forehead that just managed to brush over his electric blue eyes. Bumblebee's yellow jacket had a design similar to the one on his car hood and on the left shoulder was a silver Autobot insignia like his friends.

"Sweet!" exclaimed Miko as she looked at the holoform up and down before jumping up to ruffle Bee's hair; considering he was taller than her but just a little shorter than Bulkhead. "You look so cute!"

Bumblebee smiled brightly as he stood up right and patted Miko on her head.

"So! Any of you guys ever gone into a store with holoforms before?" Miko asked curiously.

"Nope." replied Bulkhead as he looked down at her.

Bumblebee beeped a response, fortunately Raf translated it. "Bee says it wasn't necessary."

"We already had vehicle modes to disguise us from the humans." added Arcee.

"And we never actually needed them to do things like get into stores. We were trying to stay away from civilians to begin with to make sure our secret stays hidden." finished Bulkhead, "Hidden in plain sight, remember?"

"Right," Miko replied, nodding lightly.

That started to make a lot of sense Jack thought. In reality Arcee was the only one to really use her holoform and customize it for her disguise since she was a motorcycle. When you had a car or truck to conceal a driver's seat you really didn't need a holoform in Bumblebee and Bulkhead's case. Come to think of it, Optimus and Ratchet probably didn't even need one.

"That's no fun! And I bet Ratchet and Optimus didn't even customize their holoforms!" exclaimed Miko, reading his mind.

"Probably not," Bulkhead shrugged.

"Well that's gonna change when we get back!" declared Miko as she walked off out from the back parking lot and to the front of the music store. Jack sighed and entered in after her followed by Raf and the others.

The music store was averaged sized store with several rows of CDs, DVDs as well as sections for guitars, drums, etc. Above every other row was a TV set playing music videos of certain bands.

Jack continued to look around as he followed Miko to where the store sold their guitar strings. Meanwhile, he noticed Raf and Bumblebee immediately took off to another part of the store and Arcee went to inspect the CDs. Meanwhile, Bulkhead wandered off to the hard metal and screamo section upon recognizing the familiar blaring music.

"Alright, let me see..." Miko muttered as she looked at the wall holding packets of guitar strings.

"Does it matter which one you buy?" asked Jack as he looked up at the wall before getting a light punch on his arm.

"Yes it matters!" yelled Miko before turning her attention back to the wall. Jack glared at her lightly as he rubbed his arm, obviously annoyed by her actions but grateful she didn't hit his healing arm.

"This is gonna take a while, isn't it?" Jack sighed as his shoulders slumped slightly. He didn't feel that much reassured when Miko didn't answer, she was already focused. Shaking his head lightly Jack decided to wait a few minutes before finally deciding to leave Miko be and wander around to see the rest of the store.

"Don't forget we still have to set up for the party." Jack sighed before leaving to wander the store. "Come find me when you find the strings." He added before leaving.

As Jack walked away from the wall of guitar strings, he noticed that near the front of the door was a Guitar Hero set. Raf was playing with the drums while Bumblebee rocked out on the guitar. It amused Jack that the only reason Raf came along was because Miko promised the three of them could race with remote control cars. After Raf agreed, Bumblebee, of course, came along as well.

Suddenly the song in the game got to the guitar solo and Bumblebee took over. Jack stopped walking and watched them for a moment. Bee must have been a quick learner, considering he didn't miss a single note. Also, watching them reminded how young Bumblebee was to begin with. He was a giant fighting robot but he was practically just a kid inside.

He even likes watching cartoons on Saturday! Jack thought as he watched the blond hair, blue eye holoform of his friend.

It was kind of sad when Jack thought about. Bumblebee was a kid fighting in a war, like those guys who go straight to the army after high school. However, unlike them, they had a choice. Bee probably grew up with war and that's all he's known, but he seemed like he didn't mind. Though, Jack only assumed that about Bumblebee. He couldn't explain it, it just felt right. Maybe that's why Bumblebee often acted so childish. The war took his childhood away and he was making up for it now with Raf.

"Hey, Jack. You okay?" asked Raf as he put the game on pause. Jack merely responded with a look of confusion, so Raf explained. "You looked like you were spacing out."

Bumblebee nodded in response and Jack felt a little silly. He must have been standing there with a blank expression so long it caught their attention.

"I'm fine, Raf." Jack reassured him and Raf nodded, seeming to be convinced. Jack would sometimes space out like that when he was thinking, so Raf didn't usually worry much. Though, nowadays Jack had been like that more often so he had to ask.

"You wanna play?" asked Raf as he motioned to the game with his drumstick.

"Nah, I'm good." Jack replied, offering his friend a smile. "Thanks anyway." He said before turning to leave as Raf and Bumblebee immediately turned back to their game.

A light smile formed on Jack lips when he heard Raf mention to Bee he's always wanted to get his own Guitar Hero game. Then, he stole a glance over where he had left Miko. The first thing he noticed was that Bulkhead was now with her as they inspected the various types of guitar strings on display. He was most likely with her to help her reach the higher selves.

Seeing he still wasn't needed yet for the purchase of said strings Jack turned to walk towards the CDs where Arcee currently was. She was standing closer to the front of the store with a pair of headphones over her ears as she lightly bobbed her head to the music. While she listened she spotted him and offered him a light smile.

"Hey," she greeted, smiling lightly. Jack noted her smile brought a nice light into his guardian's eyes.

She should smile more often. Thought Jack, she had a nice smile, both in human and robot mode.

"Hey." Jack greeted back, "So, what's it like being 'human'?"

"It's different, even though we've only been here for a few minutes." Arcee replied as she looked around. "It's kinda strange being surrounded by things that aren't so small."

Jack laughed a little at that; that must be a little odd for her.

"So, what are you listening to, Arcee?" Jack asked, as he gestured to her headphones.

Arcee merely shrugged as she glanced down at the screen. The beat of the song was very soft and as well as being very melancholy. She wasn't exactly sure why she was listening to something this dreary. She turned back to Jack to tell him the name of the song when a familiar roar of an engine outside caught her attention.

She glanced over past Jack's head to see what had caused the noise outside and she froze.

Time seemed to slow as the shining form of a crimson muscle car made its way across the empty road in front of the music store. The scarlet paint of the muscle car glimmered in an almost familiar way in the sunlight. Had she truly been human, Arcee would have ceased breathing in that instant. Memories suddenly flooded her mind of a crimson autobot and the last time she saw him.

"Let's get you home, Partner!"

Jack seemed to have noticed her expression change and tried to ask her what was wrong, but she wasn't listening. Jack turned around to see what Arcee might have seen but all he saw was a flash of red as a muscle car drove by.

Turning back to Arcee, she still had that far away expression Jack hadn't seen since their encounter with Arachnid. Though, that time he could see fear in her optics, this time was different. Fear seemed to have been replaced with pain but now there was something else in her eyes entirely, something Jack had never witness Arcee or any of the other Autobots display.

It's not him…It's just a fragging car. Arcee tried to tell herself. She tried to force aside that she thought she saw metal horns on the hood. It wasn't there, just a trick in the light.

"Arcee, what's wrong?" Jack asked, clearly concerned.

"Huh?" she asked, finally seeming to get out of her trance. "It's nothing." She said as she raised a hand to rub her temples, only to find a wet substance coming from her eyes. Holoforms are meant to mimic the form it takes on to make it appear more real...

"Are you sure? You… looked like you saw a ghost." Jack said hesitantly as he tries to look her in the eyes. Arcee looked away and rubbed furiously at her optics. I might as well have, she thought, sighing she turned to look back at Jack.

"Jack, I'm fine." Arcee replied as she forced a smile.

Jack thought it was Arcee who was supposed to be worrying about him but now it seemed like their roles were reversed. He was about to mention something but before he could get a word out Miko snatched him away by the arm.

"Alright, time to pay up, Jack!" Miko said as she dragged Jack off to the cash register.

"Ow! Alright, watch the arm!" Jack winced; he figured this was payback for breaking the guitar strings.

"Don't be such a wimp!" Miko snapped but she did loosen her grip.

Jack sighed softly as he let Miko drag him off and stole a glance back at Arcee. His guardian remained where she was, her arms crossed over her chest. She offered him a weak smile to confirm she was alright. Jack wasn't entirely convinced. He knew something was bothering her he was going to get her to talk about it eventually. Though, he'll figure out when would be the best time.

After all he was her junior partner and her friend, so he was going to play the role.

Arcee watched as Jack left with Miko. Meanwhile, Raf, Bulkhead and Bumblebee walked over to her direction as they waited for Jack to pay for the strings. Glancing back outside, Arcee couldn't shake the strange feeling in her spark.

The group then made their way out back to the parking lot when Miko and Jack returned. The three kids walked over to their respected guardians so they could get back to base.

As Raf got into Bumblebee, the scout said he wanted to take Raf somewhere before going back to base. That signaled to the rest of the group Bumblebee would be keeping Raf away from the base while they made the preparations for his party.

"Alright guys, since we finally got Raf out of the base with a late start—" said Jack before being cut off by Miko.

"No thanks to you for sleeping in," Miko added from her spot on Bulkhead's shoulder.

Rolling his eyes, Jack shook his head. "Moving on, let's go over what we need to do to get ready for the party." Jack suggested as he looked through the box of decorations they stashed away.

"Alright, we got streamers, balloons, cake, presents, trick candles, silly string, noisemakers, a banner…" Jack listed along with a few other items before him on the table. He checked off everything on the list as he said it until he made sure everything was there.

"Alright, that's everything." Jack said as put aside the list before gazing up at his crew consisting of Arcee, Bulkhead, and Miko who all were in a line up. They would have asked Ratchet to help but they all knew that wouldn't be wise. They'll just have to make do with what they have.

"Bulkhead, you help Miko set up the balloons and streamers," said Jack.

"You got it." Bulkhead replied.

"Sure thing" Miko added with a thumbs-up.

"Arcee and I will set up the table, the presents and banner." Jack added and Arcee nodded.

"Let's get this show on the road people. Roll out!" And with that Autobots and humans moved out to fulfill their instructed task.

As Jack made his way down the platform stairs his partner and guardian watched him; waiting patiently for him before heading out of the command room to go retrieve the gifts. Arcee walked beside Jack, keeping her strides short to make sure she didn't out walk her human ward.

"So birthdays, huh?" Arcee asked, striking up a conversation as they walked towards a storage unit where they knew Raf would never look through. It was the perfect place to keep the gifts for him safe, even from Bulkhead.

"It's a human thing." Jack replied as Arcee opened the door for the storage unit, deciding not to mention the incident at the music store. Instead he was more curious about something else, "Do you guys celebrate birthdays?"

"Not really," Arcee replied truthfully. In fact not everyone on Cybertron knew the exact day when they were created. "The closest thing we really have to a birthday is more of a holiday celebrated in the honor of when the Well of Allsparks created our specie; Creation Day." she explained.

"Really? That's nice." Jack said with a smile before turning to the closest gifts to the door. Scanning the various gifts, Jack decided to pick up as many as he could handle, mostly smaller ones. Meanwhile, Arcee got the last remaining ones, the bigger ones, before they started to head back.

"So what do you do on Creation Day?" Jack asked as he gazed up at Arcee on the way back.

"Well, it's a planet wide celebration that starts at sun rise and lasts until midnight. It's a cultural day a little bit like the Cyclical Festival, another celebration we have that's sort of like Christmas and New Year's here on earth," Arcee answered before they arrived back at the command center.

Jack could see Miko and Bulkhead were already hard at work with the balloons and streamer.

"I'll tell you about it if you want, while we work." Arcee added with a smile before taking the gifts and setting them down beside a table set up in the human sector.

"Sure." Jack smiled as Arcee helped him up onto the platform. He then began to set down the gifts before deciding to rearrange the gifts at the table so Raf couldn't see them when he got there right away.

Better to be a surprise. Jack thought with a smile. There were gifts from himself, Miko, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Arcee, and Jack remembered Miko mentioning Ratchet was coming up with something special for him.

Jack shuddered again and tried not to think about the volcano Ratchet helped Raf make for his science project. Pushing that aside, Jack quickly got to work, moving around the gifts and started talking to Arcee about Cybertronian holidays. Sure, he went to the planet but he knew nothing about the culture of it so where's the fun in that?

The base was strangely lively today. Optimus took note of that the moment he entered the main room of the base when he returned from his patrol. The center of the action seemed to be mostly around the human sector of the main room where Jack, Miko, Bulkhead and Arcee were busy at work. Both teens and their guardians were so preoccupied none of them seemed to notice his returned.

Curiosity began to take over Optimus because he just had to wonder why.

What are they doing?

Miko and Bulkhead seemed to be in the midst of inflating some sort of the colorful orbs as well as tying them down along the railings surrounding the platforms.

Not leaving his spot by the doorway, Optimus watched a one of the orbs slipped through Bulkhead's servos and float up to the ceiling. He was mildly surprise to see a good collection of the colorful orbs gathering on the ceiling just over them. He watched as Miko handed him another, only for Bulkhead to accidently rupture the orb, which created a loud sound, and cringe as it landed on his foot. On the floor Optimus could also see what he figured were deflated remains of those orbs Bulkhead most likely accidently popped around his feet.

Shifting his gaze throughout the main room, gone unnoticed by his fellow comrades, Optimus examined their work. On the tables and along the railings several odd colorful orbs floated, held down by thin strings.

The round orbs came in several colors such as blue, red, pink, purple, green, mostly yellow and orange. Accompanied with them was a jumble a colorful streamers and ribbons. These colorful ornaments not only decorated the human sector but also in several places throughout the main room.

Do to his limited memories of earth due to the incident regarding the destruction of the Key, Optimus couldn't figure out a reason as to why they were doing this.

Perhaps some sort celebration? He thought. It was the only reasonable explanation but what was there to celebrate?

Even at Ratchet's work station it was decorated colorfully with the ornaments. Unfortunately, Ratchet was not currently present so Optimus wasn't sure if it was entirely by choice. Turning away from Ratchet's station Optimus shifted his attention towards Jack and Arcee who seemed to be busy putting up some sort of banner over the main monitor.

"Look who's here," said Arcee as she glanced up at her leader while Jack turned to see Optimus as he approached them slowly.

"Hey Optimus, what do you think?" Jack asked with a smile.

Optimus considered it for a moment but really wasn't sure what to make of all this and turned to look back at his young friend.

"What is all of this, Jack?" asked Optimus as he glances up to read what was on the banner: Happy Birthday.

"Huh? You don't know?" Jack asked before cursing softly. "Scrap, I forgot no one told you, this it for Raf's birthday." He explained, obviously feeling bad for forgetting to remind him.

"Birthday?" Optimus asked curiously.

"Creation day," Arcee explained, considering it was the closest thing to relate to in their culture that Optimus would understand.

"Yeah, we decorated the base for his party," Jack added with a smile, "and got a couple gifts for him too." Jack explained before pointing back towards the human sector where an extra table was set up.

Optimus followed his young friend's gaze as he turned to see the table with the gifts hiding behind it. The gifts were wrapped in a variety of multi-colored paper topped with knots of ribbon. The gifts came in a several different sizes; the biggest Optimus noticed, sat on the floor, hidden almost beneath the table.

"That's our gift!" Miko grinned as she pointed back to Bulkhead, "Don't tell Raf it's back there. We want it to be a surprised!" she beamed excitedly as she ran up to Optimus, leaning against the railing slightly.

A small smile formed on Optimus faceplates as he nodded before turning back to examine the items on the table when something caught his optic. Beside the gifts was something Optimus wasn't familiar with. It was a rectangular shaped…thing covered in various designs covered in some sort of glazing. Sitting beside the glazed rectangle was a small box filled with spiraled designed sticks. From what Optimus could tell from his superb vision the label on the box read "Trick candles".

"It's a cake," Jack explained with a bit of amusement, most likely catching Optimus curiosity as he approached him. "Humans eat it as a treat, usually on special occasions like a birthday or a celebration."

"I see, and today is Rafael's birthday?" Optimus asked.

"No, not really," Miko was the one to answer and Optimus raised an optic ridge confused so she explained. "Today isn't Raf's actual birthday, its next weekend"

"Raf and his family are going on a trip to celebrate his birthday. So we're throwing him this party now to celebrate with him before he goes. He's gonna be 13." Jack finished explaining and Optimus nodded in understanding.

"He's gonna be a teenager like us!" Miko grinned excitedly.

"His voice is gonna get deeper and he's gonna get taller and everything," she added with a smile, like a big sister.

A smile formed on Optimus faceplates lightly. The children had been teasing Rafael earlier before in the week whenever his voice would crack when he spoke. Now he was getting an understanding why the humans and his Autobots were so focused on this. They wanted to make this special for Rafael.

Speaking of Rafael…

"Where is Rafael now?" asked Optimus as he gazed around, noticing that Bumblebee was absent as well.

"He went out on a drive with Bee," answered Bulkhead as he placed a couple of balloons along the railing only to accidently let them slip through his servos before cursing softly in Cybertronian. "Raf doesn't know about the party."

"And why is that?" Optimus asked curiously.

"If he did it wouldn't be a surprise!" giggled Miko.

Optimus couldn't help but look a little surprised himself. Earth customs never ceased to amaze him.

After assisting in prepping the decorations for the party, Optimus was still trying to understand certain customs of birthdays. Everything about it, as well as earth customs was such a wonder to him such as a little silver box beside the cake. After another moment Optimus couldn't contain himself anymore, he had to ask.

"And what are those?" Optimus asked, pointing back to the small box of trick candles beside the cake.

"They're trick candles; you light them on fire and blow them out. They're for fun because they don't blow out right away." Jack answered. "So we get to watch Raf blow the candles a few times before they actually blow out and he can cut the cake."

A small smile formed on Optimus's faceplates as nodded in partial understanding. It's not that he didn't understand what trick candles were but more of why.

"And why do you place the candles atop the cake, Jack?" Optimus asked.

"Usually to represent how old the person is." Jack explained. "Raf's gonna be thirteen so we're gonna put 13 candles and light them so he can make a wish and blow out his trick candles."

"Hey Jack, I think you confused him there with the wish." Miko laughed as she gazed up at Optimus's dumbfound expression at the mention of the wish.

"Wish?" Optimus asked, raising an optic ridge.

"Humans have a lot of traditions when it comes to birthdays." Arcee explained.

"One of them is making a wish when they blow out the candles. It's just something we do." Jack added as he finished setting up a few more decorations and sat down by the railing. "Raf and Bee are gonna be back in a little while so if you want I can answer some questions you have." He suggested as Miko sat down beside him, swinging her legs back and forth a bit as they dandled over the edge of the platform.

"Oooh, what about some holidays?" Miko suggested as she turned to Jack. "Remember last Christmas Arcee and Bulk froze over the base and made it into a giant ice skating rink while the bots were on some mission and Ratchet slipped when they got back?" she added, trying to suppress her laughter.

"I heard that." Ratchet groaned from his work station, making a face as he remembered what happened.

"You were meant to!" Miko called back to Ratchet before turning back to Optimus with a smile. Jack wasn't sure when Ratchet had got there but he noticed a small gift sitting beside his work station. He tried not to shudder for the hundredth time when he thought back to the failed science fair project again before turning back to Optimus as he randomly thought of another holiday.

"Then there's Valentine's Day back a few months ago," Jack added as he gazed up at Optimus, having a feeling he may relate to it. He wasn't sure why exactly, he just did.

"Valentine's day?" Optimus asked curiously.

"To celebrate your love and bond to someone you love." Miko answered cheerfully before a thought came to mind. "Hey Optimus! You have a girlfriend? Or uh… mate, or something?" she asked curiously.

"Indeed I do." Optimus chuckled softly, a weak smile forming on his faceplates.

"Really?" asked Jack in surprise and Optimus nodded with a smile.

"Oh, really? What's her name? Where is she? What does she look like?" Miko asked excitedly as she began her endless stream of questions.

"Her name is Elita One," Optimus started with a smile before projecting a holoscan from his servos which revealed a beautiful pink and purple femme with some sort of butterfly shaped helmet and bright blue optics.

"She's so pretty! You know, in a transformer sort of way." Miko giggled as she and Jack inspected the holoscan. In all honesty Elita was pretty, Jack thought before gazing up at Optimus as he spoke up again.

"Unfortunately, I haven't seen her in centuries." Optimus replied with a soft sigh, gazing at the holoscan longingly.

"What? That's so sad!" Miko cried, feeling the big bot's pain. "Well maybe you'll see her again soon!" Miko added encouragingly, smiling sweetly at the Prime and Optimus couldn't help but smile back.

"Perhaps," Optimus replied with one of his rare smiles that Jack noticed would come a little easier now a days whenever he talked to him, Raf and Miko. Then suddenly out of the blue something came to mind as Jack gazed up at Optimus.

"Hey, Optimus? When's your birthday?" Jack asked, somehow getting back to birthdays.

Optimus stared at him a little surprised by his question, unsure of how to answer him as he shut off the hologram. Since they were getting ready for Raf's birthday Jack was curious when the creation days of their Autobot friends were. Optimus remained silent for a moment, as if pondering how to answer his question. Luckily Bulkhead saved him.

"That's a little hard to explain, Jack. Especially since Autobots run on different calendars than humans." Bulkhead explained.

"What do you mean?" Miko asked curiously, gazing up at her guardian.

"A Cybertronian day is equivalent to about 2 earth weeks." Arcee explained.

"Whoa, really? No wonder you guys never sleep!" exclaimed Miko.

"Okay, so how long's a year then?" Jack asked curiously as he gazed up at the bots.

"About 83 earth years," Arcee replied as if it was a simple fact.

Both teens became speechless and just sat there, their mouths hung wide open in shock. Jack remembered that Autobots had long life spans but it never occurred to them how long. Comparing it to humans life spans was just so…shocking.

"Wait! Then that means we've only got like less than a Cybertronian year with you guys!" exclaimed Miko before standing up and clinging onto Bulkhead's servo as if for dear life.

"Never thought of it like that before," Bulkhead said with a weak smile was he stroked a servo gently over Miko's head.

"It's kind of sad when you think about." Jack added with a soft sigh, before gazing up at his guardian who gave him a smile to reassure him.

"Aww, why can't we live as long as you guys!" whined Miko, obviously not liking the idea of not being with the bots anymore in a couple of decades. "Then we wouldn't have to say any goodbyes."

"That's life, Miko." Arcee replied with a sad smile as she crossed her arms over her chestplates.

"Well then, life's too short." Miko sighed softly.

"Then we'd better make the most of our time then, hmm?" Optimus added with a sincere smile tugging at the edges of his faceplates. "And hope to spend as many birthdays are we can with the three of you."

"Don't forget yours too!" Miko added and Optimus chuckled softly.

"Indeed." Optimus smiled before Jack's phone began to vibrate and ring in his pocket.

"Bee's on his way back with Raf." He announced after looking at his phone.

Something was odd about base Raf noticed when Bee pulled into the command center base and had let him out before transforming. For starters, it was pitch black, which was completely out of the ordinary.

"Why's it so dark in here? Did the lights go out again?" Raf asked as he looked up at his guardian, Bumblebee merely shrugged, or at least that's what Raf thought he did. The only clear thing he could see from Bumblebee were his optics, that's about it.

"Anyone home?" Raf asked, looking around until his brown eyes caught three pairs of optics staring at him in the darkness.

"Guys?" Raf asked again before suddenly the lights flashed on, blinding him for a moment as the sound of noisemaker broke through the air.

Silly string and streamers flew in the air as five voices called out "Happy Birthday Raf!"

For a moment Raf was lost for words, unsure of what to say as he gazed up at the three autobots who stood beside a banner that read "Happy Birthday". It wasn't his birthday the last time he checked. Luckily Jack and Miko were running his direction, hopefully with answers.

"I knew they should've covered their optics but they didn't listen" Miko said shaking her head before giving Raf a hug. "Anyway! Happy Birthday! Well technically it's not your birthday, but close enough!"

"We wanted to celebrate with you before you and your family left on your trip." added Jack and Raf only smiled.

"You guys are great." Raf laughed as Miko pulled away and he followed her to the others.

Grinning as he walked up to the others Raf suddenly noticed someone important was missing...

"Where's Optimus?" Raf asked confused, wonder where the red and blue Prime could be.

"Uh, we're not sure." replied Bulkhead.

"He stepped out for something a little before you guys got here." added Arcee, gesturing towards the ground bridge controls where Ratchet was standing beside. Then as if right on cue the ground bridge suddenly roared to life and opened.

The whole group, minus Ratchet who was at the controls, gathered around the ground bridge as Optimus stepped out. His frame coated in a thin layer of frost which quickly began to melt as he entered the warm base. A layer of snow lay at his feet from when the ground bridge was open.

"Uh, where'd you wander off to Optimus?" asked Miko and a small smile formed on Optimus faceplates.

"I went to fetch Rafael a gift for his birthday." Optimus replied, wiping off a bit of snow him his shoulder, keeping his other servo hidden behind his back.

"And you needed the ground bridge for that?" Jack asked and the Prime nodded before kneeling down before the humans as a light smile formed on his faceplates. Moments later he revealed his servo which he had kept behind his back until that moment and revealed a rather large snowball.

The three humans as well as the other autobots stared down at it in surprise, obviously not expecting to see that.

"You went to the Arctic?" Jack asked as he stared at the snowball that could barely even fit in Optimus' servos. "To get Raf a snowball?"

"Whoa," said Raf, not sure what to say. He thought Optimus couldn't remember anything from earth, including the three of them.

"I promised you once I'd bring you back a snowball, correct?" Optimus asked and Raf could only smile and laugh.

"You're starting to remember aren't you?" Raf laughed as Optimus set down the transformer sized snowball in front of him.

"Bit by bit it would seem. Seeing as I had not obtained a gift for you that particular memory resurfaced." chuckled Optimus.

"This is awesome," Raf said as he took a step towards the large snowball and took a piece off, making a smaller snowball to fit in his hands.

Suddenly a mischievous look formed on Raf's face before he threw a snowball at Jack, hitting his mark on the spot. Of course that started a chain reaction and soon enough Miko screamed out "Snowball fight!" and things turned chaotic as guardians and humans became three separate teams. Each team started to pick at the snowball, as well as the snow on the floor by the ground bridge and started their assault.

Meanwhile both Optimus and Ratchet quickly got to the side to get out of the crossfire. Optimus couldn't help but laugh at the display while Ratchet muttered something about them behaving like sparklings.

"You know, you caused this." Ratchet sighed after a stray snowball hit him on the helm with a small thump. Optimus merely chuckled, not remembering the last time he laughed so freely.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Optimus added with a smile before getting hit by a snowball right on his optic.

"Come on you two!" Jack laughed.

"Join us!" Raf added.

"You can't say no to the birthday boy!" said Miko.

Optimus turned to Ratchet for a moment, shrugging lightly, a smile forming on his faceplates as if pleading Ratchet to join. Ratchet had just seemed to notice how much more Optimus seemed to smile, especially around the humans. It was strange but it wasn't wrong. It was nice. Sighing reluctantly Ratchet picked up some snow a slightly sinister look forming in his optics.

"I ally myself with, Optimus." he said before Optimus quickly joined him to attack the others in a series of snowball ammo and the war was on.

The party continued on smoothly even after the snowball had been used up and/or melted. Raf had already gone through all the gifts he had been given. Those of which included a guitar hero set from Bulkhead and Miko, a new laptop from Jack and Arcee, Bumblebee gave him game he's been waiting for. Raf wasn't sure where an autobot got money for that. And of course, there was the snowball from Optimus. There was just one bot left...

"Alright! Last call for presents!" said Miko and all heads turned to Ratchet who had not yet given Raf a gift as he approached the group. The autobot medic settled down a metal box on the table in front of Raf.

The three humans cringed slightly as if expecting it to explode and Ratchet rolled his optics. "It won't blow up, at least that's not it's intension. I hope you find it useful, Rafael."

"Thanks Ratchet" Raf said before reaching over to open the lid of the box and Jack and Miko crowded around him.

"Oh what is it?" Miko asked excitedly.

Raf said nothing and simply took out from the box what appeared to be a tape recorder of some sort with a Cybertronian twist. It wasn't fancy but impressive and the color scheme was stylish; mostly black with bits of orange and yellow.

"What is it?" Raf asked, looking up at Ratchet confused.

"Ah, bah, bah, wait a moment and you'll see." Ratchet replied and not a second later the little tape recorder suddenly transformed into a hand sized little bird which tilted his head curiously at the three.

"Whoa!" the three humans said in sync, not expecting to see it transform. Meanwhile Ratchet just smiled, seeming to be pleased with his work.

"I put this little fella together especially for you Raf. His name is Nightbeat and he can help aid you with any Cybertronian technical issues you may face in the future." and as if on cue Nightbeat turned into a device similar to a transformer version of a USB.

"Wow, this is awesome!" exclaimed Raf.

"He also has another alternate form," Ratchet explained and as if on cue again, Nightbeat transformed but this time back into his sort of tape recorder/video camera mode. However, this time he had some sort of rod at one end which crackled with electricity for a moment before dying down.

"Just in case you run into a decepticon when none of us are around. This will be able to stun them so you may escape to find safety." added Ratchet. "So Nightbeat is for all of you, understand?"

"Sweet!" exclaimed Miko as she picked up the little transformer bird.

"Thanks, Ratchet, this is great!" said Raf with a smile and Jack nodded in agreement.

"Nice gift, doc bot. It topped all of ours." said Bulkhead.

"I still like all your gifts" laughed Raf. "Definably one of my best birthday parties ever."

"Aww, thanks Raf!" clicked Bumblebee.

"Don't mention it," replied Raf as Miko handed Nightbeat back to him.

"Now that's done with, I guess it's time for cake," said Jack as he walked over to retrieve the cake from the nearby table and set it down in front of Raf. Meanwhile Miko got up to grab some matches and light the candles.

"I alright, Raf, make a wish!" said Miko once all thirteen candles were lit.

Raf nodded and paused for a moment as if pondering what he should wish for until something came to mind and he blew at his candles.

Unfortunately, he didn't know the candles were trick candles until they relit themselves. This caused Nightbeat to hop excitedly, like he was fascinated by the candles. Raf tried again to blow out the candles and the group began to cheer him on to blow out the candles. It took him three times until they were out for good.

Optimus smiled lightly at the display, still thinking that earth customs were fascinating before a question came to mind.

"What did you wish for, Rafael?" Optimus asked curiously, leaning down slightly to the human.

"I'm sorry Optimus, if I tell you it won't come true!" laughed Raf as he gazed up at the Prime and Optimus chuckled. Another earth custom it would seem.

"Well you're no fun!" said Miko and Raf merely shrugged before smiling. To respond to that Miko took some icing off the cake and dabbed it on Raf's nose. In response Nightbeat tried to peck at the icing even though he couldn't eat it, causing Raf to laugh.

The younger boy smiled at his new friend before placing him back on his shoulder, though for some reason Nightbeat preferred his head. Then Raf quickly got some icing and dabbed some on Miko's nose before turning to cut the cake for his two friends. Unfortunately, autobots couldn't eat cake though it didn't really matter to Raf, they were still there.

Gazing up at all the loving faces around him, Raf realized he hardly needed a wish. They were all that he really needed, they were his second family and he wished they would be together for a very long time.

Though, what none of them knew was that their time together was slowly ticking away...