Chapter Text
The sounds of night drifted through the open bedroom window but they were not a source of comfort to the young man who lay in the bed. His head rocked back and forth as the moonlight fell on his sweat soaked hair.
"No," he moaned as his head rocked back and forth in his sleep. "Leave him alone."
His breathing quickened as he faced the monsters in his dreams. "No. Stop it! You're hurting. Get away from him!"
The young man twisted in his bed, the bedding wrapping around his body holding him in place as he fought against the monsters in his dreams.
"You can't… No. Stop!" Sam suddenly sat straight up in bed his eyes wide with fear as he panted for breath.
As the nightmare lost it's hold on him, Sam flopped back onto his bed his forearm covering his eyes. "Just a dream," he mumbled to himself as he uncovered his eyes.
With a sigh Sam rolled over at looked at the digital alarm clock on his nightstand that seemed to glare back at him while displaying the time 2:14.
With a groan Sam allowed his face fall into the pillow. "I hate my life," he mumbled into the pillow before heaving himself upright. Stumbling out of bed, Sam grabbed his clothes he had dropped on the floor the night before and put them back on.
Opening the bedroom door a crack, Sam listened silently for noise from the master bedroom that Captain Lennox and Sarah shared with their baby. Hearing only the soft snores that Will always denied making coming from their room, Sam slipped out of his room and silently walked past the bedroom door and down the stairs.
Slipping into the den and around the couch, Sam plopped down on it and grabbed the remote. With a glance to the door, Sam hit the power button and the volume control in quick succession. Once the sound was set so that only Sam would hear it, he settled back and started to flip through the channels.
~*~
As the birds sung their greeting to the morning a yawning Sarah Lennox made her way down the stairs.
Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, Sarah cocked her head to the side as she listened to the faint sound of someone talking.
"Jazz," she sighed in frustration as she followed the sound into the den fully expecting to find Autobot's hologram once again watching TV while flipping through the channels.
More than once Sarah had walked into the den to find Jazz watching TV the 'human way.' Jazz had even helped Will rearrange the den so that the back of the couch now faced the doorway in order to obtain optimal viewing pleasure. Both of the males had claimed that the light through the windows was distraction and this layout minimized it.
But instead of seeing the back of Jazz's head as he watched TV, Sarah found an empty room with the TV showing some early morning children’s educational program.
With furrowed brow Sarah glanced over at the closed front door and then towards the upstairs. "Men," she said in frustration and a wearily sighed as she walked over to the back of the couch in order to search for the remote that one of her 'boys' had undoubtedly lost between the cushions.
As she started to lean over the back of the couch she stopped dead in her tracks.
Lying on the couch, fast asleep was Sam. His head was wedged between the throw pillow and the back cushions of the couch. His left leg was hanging over the side of the couch.
A fond smile graced Sarah's lips as she looked down at the sleeping young man. With a shake of her head she grabbed the afghan from the back of one of the chairs and covered Sam with it.
"Five more minutes, mom," Sam mumbled sleepily as he curled up on the couch.
With a soft chuckle Sarah adjusted the blanket once more before leaving Sam to sleep.
~*~
"There she is," Will said in a singsong voice as he gently bounced his baby girl in his arms. "There's mommy."
Sarah looked from where she was dipping the thick slices of bread into the egg mixture. "Morning sleepy heads. I was wondering when you two would get up," she said as she placed the dripping bread into the hot skillet. "I was starting to think I would have to wake you for breakfast."
"Well our little Princess decided that daddy need to sleep in," Will said as he placed Annabelle in her highchair and strapped her in. "Woke up to find her watching me from her crib."
"Hmmm," Sarah said as she flipped the French toast, "that reminds me we need to lower her mattress. She's starting to try to climb out of the crib."
"Hands up," Lennox said to Annabelle who replied by raising her hands so he could attach the tray to the high-seat. "OK. I'll see about doing that today. Probably get Sam to help me."
"Speaking of Sam," Sarah said as she slipped the French toast from the skillet and onto a plate. "Guess who's asleep on the couch?"
Will involuntarily looked towards the doorway. "Nightmare?"
With a sad sigh, Sarah replied, "That would be my guess," as she sliced up section of French toast onto a small child's plate. "I thought you were going to talk to him about it."
Lennox's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I did," he said as he ran his hand roughly through his hair, "but it's not an easy subject to talk about. It's not like you can go up to him and say 'Hey Sam I notice you're having some problems sleeping. Do you want to talk about it?'"
"Of course you can," Sarah comment with a snort as she handed the child's plate to her husband.
Will shook his head as he took the plate and placed it on the high-chair tray. Annabelle immediately dove into it, grabbing pieces in both hands.
"It's not that easy. Guys just… we can't just open up like that," Will tried to explain.
Sarah narrowed her eyes and gave her husband The Look.
"I had the perfect plan to help Sam but you vetoed it," Lennox stated in his defense.
"I really don't see how getting Sam a lap dance while getting him drunk will help," Sarah commented.
"It always worked for me," Lennox mumbled to himself as he saved Annabelle's breakfast plate from crashing to the floor.
"Oh it did. Did it?"
Lennox froze in mid action. His face bore the same expression he wore when he faced down the Decepticon Blackout. "That was before I meet this Goddess," Lennox said quickly, turning around to face his wife, "Once I meet her any thoughts of another woman vanished like mist in the sun." Will slowly approached his wife and gently took her hand in his. "The touch of her hand in mine was like something that no drug or drink could ever compete with."
Stepping closer Will leaned forward so that his lips where just a breath away from Sarah’s. "And her kiss saved my soul." And with that Lennox kissed his Goddess with all the passion and love he felt for her.
Annabelle's happy squeal interrupted the couple before things moved into action better done upstairs behind closed doors instead of in front of innocent eyes.
"Wow," Sarah breathed breathlessly as the kiss ended.
Lennox rubbed his nose against her's and quietly said, "I think our little Princess wants us to join her for breakfast."
"Breakfast?" Sarah said in a daze.
Will nodded his head. "Food."
"Food." Sarah turned back to the stove, a dazed look still on her face.
Will turned towards his baby girl with a smug expression on his face. "Is that good?" Lennox asked Annabelle as the little girl shoved the food and her fingers into her mouth. "Is Mummy a good cook?"
Annabelle nodded her head as she showed her father her empty and very messy hands.
Lennox’s grin seemed to split his face as he stared at his little girl with pure joy.
"I think that means yes," Sarah said as she set a serving dish full of French toast down on the table and then sat down herself.
"I think you're right," Lennox said as he served himself while keeping one eye on his daughter as she grabbed more food from her plate.
The couple busied themselves with their meal and as Lennox was taking a drink from his glass of milk Sarah asked, "So when did you get drunk and have a lap dance?"
Will coughed into his drink as Sarah serenely continued eating her breakfast. Wiping his mouth with his napkin, Lennox gave his wife a look that promised revenge. In reply, Sarah raised a single eyebrow as if to say 'Well?'
With a sigh, Will set his napkin down on the table and pushed his plate away. Placing his elbows on the take and resting his chin on his clasped hand, he started to explain. "It was back when I was a Second Lieutenant. While I wasn't fresh out of Officer Training, I was still fairly green. One day my platoon was on maneuvers when it became one big cluster…" Lennox glanced over at his daughter, "when everything went wrong."
Lennox sat silently for a moment as he remembered that day. "One of my men lost his left leg, 3 men ended up in emergency surgery. The doc told me they had lost one guy a couple times but were able to bring him back." Will's hands dropped to the table and unconsciously grasped his fork and started to play with his food. "The brass gave me a commendation for my actions."
"I was a mess. I was questioning everything I had done that day, trying to figure out what was I had done wrong. My men depended on me and I had thought…" Dropping his fork on his plate, Lennox ran his hand through his hair. "Sullivan, my platoon Sgt.… one night he dragged my sorry ass out to a bar and got me drunk off my ass; talked to me about what happened. Then he dragged me to this dive and paid for the lap dance."
Picking up his fork again, Lennox stabbed his French toast with it. "It was later that Sarge explain it to me. You got the soldier drunk so he could let it out, get everything out and if they cried well you could blame it on the drink. Buy them a lap dance or a lady for the night to remind them that they're alive. After that it's back to being a soldier."
It was now Sarah's turn to play with her food as she thought about what her husband had just told her. "Will…"
"I only did it a couple times," Will interrupted whatever Sarah was about to say, "when I needed it. Never slept with anyone… for money. I always thought it cheapened it." Will looked up at Sarah. "And I meant what I said. After I met you I never did it again. I mean I drank from time to time but…"
Sarah reached out and grasped Will's hand. "I love you," she said with such warmth and passion that anyone who walked in the room could feel it.
Lennox grasped her hand and raised it up so he could kiss the back of it. "Have I ever told you that you were the best thing to ever happen to me?"
Sarah's smile seemed to be trying to rival the sun for brilliance. "A couple of times."
"Then I haven't told you that enough," Will said as he leaned over and kissed his wife.
And once again Annabelle's well-timed squeal interrupted the couple as their daughter pounded her empty plate against the high-chair tray.
As one the couple turned to look at their little noise-maker. "I think someone wants seconds," Lennox declared.
Sarah shook her head. "I declare she got her stomach from you," she said as she stood up and went to get some more food from the kitchen.
"You say that as if it's a bad thing," Will commented to the retreating form.
As Annabelle attacked her second breakfast, Sarah sat silently watching her daughter eat. "Halloween is too far away," she declared in an absent minded way.
Will looked at his wife in confusion. "Too far away for what?"
Sarah looked down at her plate. "I was thinking of your suggestion. If it was Halloween we could do it. We could say that Sam was in costume, maybe some type of Borg or something."
Lennox chewed and swallowed the food he had in his mouth. "Could claim it was a costume party. Maybe a bachelor party for a Trekkie?"
"But then we would have to include more people," Sarah replied with a furrowed brow.
With a shrug of his shoulder, Will replied, "It would just be my men. Sam's okay around them."
Sarah sighed. "That’s something else we need to work on. Sam shouldn't be so… skittish around people."
Will shook his head with a soft chuckle. "One battle at a time, my Lady. Nightmares first then we'll deal with his skittishness."
Sarah was carrying the breakfast plates back tot he kitchen while Will dealt with the sticky mess that was their baby girl when Sarah stopped suddenly.
"Will?" she said as she turned back to her husband.
"Yeah?" Will replied as he tried to avoid Annabelle's sticky grasp while trying to clean her off.
"Can Sam drink alcohol?" Sarah asked with furrowed brow.
"No not legally. He won't be 21 for a couple more years," Lennox said as he wiped Annabelle's face off. "You know that."
"No not that. I mean can he drink it?" Sarah replied. "Sam's not exactly human anymore so can he drink it?"
Will looked up at his wife suddenly while keeping one hand on his daughter so she would not try to escape face first from her highchair. "Damn."
Sarah shoulders slumped. "What about a psychologist? Maybe someone from the base? I'm sure they're trained to deal with this type of thing."
"The people who would be the best at it don't have the clearance," Lennox explained with a shake of his head, "and those with the clearance couldn't handle it."
"Then they need to get clearance for someone who can handle it," Sarah demanded.
Picking up Annabelle, Will walked over to his wife and have her a one armed hug. "I know hon," he said as he gave her a kiss on the head, "but it's not my decision. The higher ups are the ones call the shots."
"Then why aren't they doing it? Why ain't they getting clearance for some one who could handle it?" Sarah demand as she struggled out of Will's grasp.
Lennox couldn't met his wife's eyes as she demanded an answer. "Because for all that Sam did he's still not a soldier. Hell, there are some who question if he's human."
Sarah's eyes widened at Will's words. "But why?"
Once again Lennox shook his head. "I don't know. Some days I don't know why anyone does anything."
"What are we going to do?"
"Move on to plan C, of course, " Lennox replied.