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isabellavolere · 1 year

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Transformers Prime—Part 4: Humans, Meet Autobots

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The tunnel empties into a massive room and as your brain catches up with your eyes you impatiently jab your finger on the button that rolls down the window. You stick your head out and stare in an awed silence.

The base looks like it had once been a missile silo; the walls look like they are made out of reinforced concrete. Far above, you can see long metal trusses housing bright lights. A raised platform stands in the center of the room with a wide staircase that leads to a faded yellow couch and small tv. Another staircase off to the right of the tv leads to a tall elevator that goes to the top of the base and has many walkways leading to different parts of the base at each level. To the left of the raised platform is a strange large glass circle with some sort of metal contraption in the center. In front of the glass is a sort of medical center with several small monitor screens overlooking a large bed. Far off to the right of the base, three large green computer screens that are big enough for the robots to use has been set up with a few human sized computers to the right of those. A white and orange robot stands in front of the large computers, fingers poised over a keyboard. He turns around when you come through the tunnel and your eyes meet. The bot gives you a strange look, then quickly returns to his work. You look to your left and see a strange tunnel with a glass floor that only goes 10 feet into the wall, and you wonder what the purpose of that tunnel could be. A big forest green colored autobot stands in front of you as Cliffjumper slows to a stop. He opens the door and you quickly snap off the seatbelt, exiting the car and looking around you. You slowly turn in a circle, wanting to take in every single detail around you. Everything is so big, and you suddenly felt like you had shrunk to the size of an atom.

Raf and the Camaro pull up behind you with Jack and the new girl not far behind. The white and orange robot turns around again and notices the other kids.

“I thought you said there were three of them?”

“Haven’t you heard?” Arcee says with a hand on her hip, “Humans multiply.”

“I’m Raf,” the little boy says, holding his hand out.

“I’m Miko! Who are you?” Says the Asian girl as she stares up at the big green autobot.

“Bulkhead,” he replies gruffly.

“Are you a car? I bet you're a truck! A monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever use a wrecking ball for a punching bag?” Miko peppers the bot with questions, and he looks flustered. You didn’t blame him either.

“If you’re all robots, then who made you?” Raf asks.

“Pu-lease!” The white and orange robot scoffs.

“So, um, what are all your names?” you ask.

Cliffjumper points to each bot in turn and says their names.

“The yellow and black one’s Bumblebee, the green one’s Bulkhead, the grumpy orange and white one’s Ratchet,” Cliffjumper promptly receives a glare from the robot, “you know Arcee, and-“

Just then the ground begins to shake, and you look behind you as the enormous form of a red, blue, and gray robot towers over you and the other kids.

“Well I’m sure you remember the head honcho, Optimus Prime,” finishes Cliffjumper.

Wow. If I didn’t feel small earlier, I certainly do now.

The robot kneels down on one leg so he becomes eye level with you and the others.

His bright blue eyes look at each kid but you notice his piercing gaze remains on you for longer than the other kids, and you feel as if you are being x-rayed.

“We are autonomous robotic organisms that come from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Autobots.”

“So why are you here on Earth?” you ask.

“To protect your planet from the Decepticons.”

“They were the ones who attacked me when we first met, right?” You ask, furrowing your eyebrows.

“That is correct y/n.” Replies the Autobot.

“So why are they here?” Jack asks.

“A fair question, Jack. They are here in part because our planet is uninhabitable. Ravaged by centuries of civil war.

“Why were you fighting a war?” Raf asks.

“For most, over control of our world’s supply of energon. The fuel and life-blood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike.”

Something in Optimus’ eye shifts, and it seems like he’s reviewing an old memory.

“The combat was fierce and endured for centuries. In the beginning I fought alongside one who I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted. And it was thus that Megatron lost his way.”

Miko stifles a yawn and asks “Is there going to be a quiz?”

You give her an incredulous look.

How can she be bored? There is so much more about this war that I want to learn about.

“So what does Megatron or any of this have to do with us?” Jack asks.

“Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time. But if his return is imminent as I fear, the results could be catastrophic.”

Optimus lets his words sink in for a moment before continuing.

“And since you now know of our existence, I fear that as of last night the Decepticons now know of yours.” Optimus finishes.

“I think that’s a given, considering the fact that they attacked me again last night.” you say, clenching your fists. “If Arcee hadn’t been there to save me…” you let the sentence hang in the air.

“Got it, if we spot any strange vehicles, call 911. Can we go now?” Jack asks.

“Are you kidding me?” Miko asks incredulously. “I am living a dream here in bots-wana, and I will not allow you or anyone else to shatter it!”

“It is best that you four remain under our watch,” explains Optimus. “At least until we can determine our enemies' intentions.”

“Optimus.”

The bot turns to Ratchet, who takes Optimus aside to talk.

“With all due respect, the human children are in as much danger here, than anywhere.”

“Children?” You ask with an eyebrow raised.

“They have no protective shell! If they get underfoot they will go squish.”

To make his point, Ratchet takes an ominous step closer to you and the others, making them take a wary step back.

“Then for the time being, Ratchet, we must watch where we step,” says Optimus.

Suddenly an alarm system goes off, and the green tinted computer screens flash. You jump a little, caught off guard by the sudden alarms blaring through the base.

“What’s that?” Asks Jack, and Bumblebee makes a series of beeping noises.

“Proximity sensor. Someone’s on top,” Raf translates.

“How did you-?” You start but Ratchet cuts you off.

“It’s Agent Fowler.” says Ratchet, pulling up a monitor that shows a man in a dark gray suit climbing out of a military helicopter.

“I thought we were the only humans who knew about you guys?” you ask.

“Special Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world, as he tends to visit only when there are issues.” Optimus Prime explains. “It may be best if you do not meet him at this time.”

You follow the others to the edge of the raised platform where you can’t be seen and wait for Agent Fowler to enter the base. You glance over to Cliffjumper and he meets your gaze, rolling his eyes and sighing slightly. You grin, but a small ding brings your attention back to the elevator. The doors open and you can hear heavy footsteps as the agent walks up to the railing of the level next to the one where you hide.

“Seven wrecks, thirty-four fender-benders, a three hour traffic jam, and on particular note, numerous reports of a few teens taking a joy ride on a speeding motorcycle of unknown make, and a black and yellow custom muscle car.”

You smirk and look over at Jack, who meets your gaze looking less than thrilled with the attention.

“So, anything you care to get off your tin chest Prime?” Asks Agent Fowler.

Curiosity getting the better of you, you peek around the corner to see if you can catch a glimpse of Agent Fowler. You see a slightly overweight man in a crisp suit and tie. He has a strong jaw and short, black curly hair. Just then you feel a hand on your shoulder pulling you away from the edge of the corner. You turn around and see that it was Jack. He shakes his head quickly and you understand. Don’t! You’ll get caught. You ignore him and poke your head out again, making sure not to stick out too far.

Optimus speaks, and you can see that he is right in front of the agent.

“We have the situation under control, Agent Fowler.”

“They’re back, aren’t they?” Asks Agent Fowler.

“If you are referring to the Decepticons, I have doubts that they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable.”

“Then it’s time to wake up the Pentagon.”

At that sentence your eyes widen, and your mind swirls with questions.

Did he say the Pentagon? Like, the Pentagon? Oh man what have I gotten into? You know for such a small man, compared to the Autobots of course, Agent Fowler talks a big talk. I can see why Cliffjumper doesn’t like him.

“Hey fleshie,” Bulkhead calls out. “Did anyone get splattered on that freeway? Team Prime knows when to use force,” he says as he picks up a robotic-looking arm from the medical center. “And how much to use.”

The big bot squeezes the arm and the top pops off with a spark of electricity.

“Bulkhead, I needed that!” Ratchet whines.

“Enough,” Optimus calls out. “Military involvement will only result in catastrophe. Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties, Agent Fowler. I however, cannot.”

“Then do us both a favor and handle this, Prime. Under the radar.” Agent Fowler walks back to the elevator, pressing a button on it so the doors begin to slide shut. “Or I will.”

Well that sounded kinda ominous.

“Pretty big bearings, for a human,” says Bulkhead after Agent Fowlers’ helicopter left the base.

“Agent Fowler is concerned for his world Bulkhead, as he should be,” replies Optimus.

Just then the computers make a beeping noise, this time different then the one for the proximity sensor.

“There’s a fresh energon signal,” says Ratchet, pulling the coordinates up on one of the screens.

“Ratchet, prepare the groundbridge,” says Optimus.

“Hey!” Exclaims Miko, and Optimus turns to face her. “What can we do?”

“Remain with Ratchet,” says Optimus.

“Aww!” Miko whines.

“Aww.” says Ratchet, less than thrilled with getting babysitting duty.

He pulls a lever, and that weird half tunnel thing you saw earlier lights up, flashing green and purple light. You look back to Optimus and see a silver war mask cover his face.

“Autobots, roll out!” His deep voice booms.

You look over to Cliffjumper, and your eyes meet. He lifts a mischievous eyebrow and winks at you before he transforms, speeding through the strange whirling vortex.

You watch open-mouthed as he and the rest of the Autobots all transform and drive through the portal, then gasp in amazement when the lights from the groundbridge dim and the bots aren't there.

“What just happened?” Asks Jack, eyes wide.

“I transported them to the designated coordinates via the ground bridge,” Ratchet answers.

“What’s a groundbridge?” Asks Raf, and Ratchet makes an irritated noise.

“A scaled down version of a space bridge technology. Since we don’t currently possess the means or the energy required for intergalactic travel.” Ratchet explains as if to a group of three year olds.

“You're stuck here on Earth?” Jack guesses.

“With the likes of you, yes. But I constructed the ground bridge to enable travel from here, to anywhere on your planet.” says Ratchet.

“Woah. Does it work for humans?” Asks Raf.

“Naturally,” replies Ratchet, and you thought you could hear a note of pride in his voice.

“You mean I can just shoot on over and visit my parents in Tokyo?” Questions Miko.

“Within moments.” says Ratchet, his face inches from Mikos’

“In fact, allow me to send you there immediately, all four of you!”

Miko puts her hands on her hips and says “Watch it Ratchet!”

Well this is just great. Cliffjumper and the other Autobots are going on a cool mission while I’m stuck with this cranky bot who clearly doesn’t like being made babysitter. Oh and on top of that we’ve only been around him for 20 minutes and he’s already trying to ship us off to Tokyo! I sure hope Cliffjumper’s having a better time than I am.

With all the Autobots gone there wasn’t much to do, so most of the kids wandered off to the tv to see if they could get a signal. Ratchet is working by the large computer monitors, so you climb the yellow ladder to stand next to him on the platform. As you look at the computer, strange figures zoom across the screen. You assume that these are letters in the Autobots’ alphabet. The curves and angles fascinated you, and you can’t help but stare at the figures as they fly across the screen. This seems to bother Ratchet because every few minutes he would look over his shoulder. After a while Ratchet stopped typing and turned around.

“Wouldn’t you be more comfortable around the other children? I believe they are watching cartoons on the tv.” He says.

“Actually, I want to watch you work, if you don’t mind.” you say, leaning over the railing to get a better look at the screens and keyboard.

“But you couldn’t even begin to understand our language. Surely you are bored of watching meaningless characters fly past the screen?” Asks Ratchet incredulously.

You shake your head and say “I might not understand it, but it still interests me. I mean, there’s so much I want to learn about you guys.”

Ratchet turns around and is silent for a long time. You think you have upset him until he turns around and looks at you, clearly wanting to say something. But then Ratchet turns to look at Miko, who is messing with a broken piece of technology.

“What is this anyway?” She asks.

“Broken, don’t touch,” says Ratchet, turning back to face the computer screen.

Miko extends her finger to poke at the device again when Ratchet calls out “don’t touch that either!” From over his shoulder.

“Is there anything here we can touch?” Jack sarcastically asks.

Just then an error message pops up on the large computer monitors and Ratchet groans.

“How come you're using human computers?” Asks Raf, who had climbed the ladder to stand next to you on the platform you were standing on.

“Well it certainly isn’t by choice!” Exclaims Ratchet. “It was handed down by our previous tenants when we inherited this former missile silo.”

Aha! So it was a missile silo.

“I make modifications as I see fit,” says Ratchet.

And because one error message wasn’t enough, about six more messages pop up on the monitor, promptly receiving another groan from Ratchet.

After looking from the large computers to the smaller computer screens Raf says “I think I can fix that!”

“Reeally!?” Says Ratchet sarcastically. “You know this is complex technology, don’t you? I mean it isn’t a child’s toy.”

After a bit of typing from Rafs’ computer, he looks up to Ratchet and says “Now try.”

Ratchet turns back to the computers and to his astonishments the error messages clear from the screen.

Raf just shrugs and unplugs his laptop from the computers.

All of a sudden Optimus’ voice comes through the computer system.

“Ratchet! Bridge us back! Use the arrival coordinates now!”

The orange and white bot locks onto the coordinates then pulls down a white lever that activates the groundbridge. The tunnel lights up and the Autobots screech to a halt in front of Ratchet. Then Optimus comes through the groundbridge, flying through the air. He twists and slides across the floor, using his hands to slow himself down.

An explosion of bright blue flame follows, and Ratchet closes the groundbridge just in time.

“Cutting it a bit close.” The bot says, looking over the other Autobots to make sure they aren’t hurt.

“Su-weet!” Exclaims Miko. “What was that explosion? Was there a fight? Can I come next time?”

“He-hey Miko, let's go see what the bots are hiding in their sock drawers,” says Jack, leading Miko towards a hallway.

“Seriously?” Asks Miko in an unamused tone.

You see that Raf follows and you think about going with them because you’re curious yourself about the rest of the base, but decide to stay with the bots, instead walking over to Cliffjumper. You can’t help but wonder what happened either. As you walk closer you notice that Cliffjumper looks sort of unsteady on his feet.

“So, you gonna talk about that big explosion that nearly killed you, or?” You ask him.

Cliffjumper laughs and says “That wasn’t even the best part.”

You also notice that his laugh doesn’t meet his eyes, and you see a strange expression cross his face.

“Cliffjumper and Arcee, what did you see?” Asks Optimus, turning to face them.

“I saw the cons I had shot down at the crater. The ones that tried to kill y/n,” says Cliffjumper.

“Even the one I threw a rock at? No way, they had to have been different!” you reason.

Cliffjumper just shook his head, brows furrowed.

“I had doubts myself. Until I saw a rock sticking out of one of the cons’ chests.”

“It was wedged in his spark chamber. Or where it’s supposed to be. I saw it too.” says Arcee in a haunted voice. “But those cons were different.” She continues. “They were mutilated; butchered.”

“Like something from those Con’ experiments during the war,” adds Cliffjumper.

Arcee clutches her head and sinks down onto an empty crate. Your eyes widen and you rush over to check on her.

“I’m fine! Just dizzy,” she says, but no one believes her.

“Robots who get dizzy?” Miko questions.

“Robots with emotions,” Raf adds.

“Robots…who can die,” Jack says.

Ratchet rushes over and scans her body with a device on his arm, a blue light moving up and down until a red light shines on Arcee’s hand.

“Robots who can die…” you repeat quietly to yourself.

“What is this?” Ratchet asks.

You look closer at the back of her hand and see a glob of purple-looking goo that smoked ever so slightly.

“Don’t know. The cons were covered in it,” explains Arcee.

“Leaking it,” adds Cliffjumper.

“Go take a decontamination bath,” Ratchet says to Arcee as he scrapes the goo off with a medical scalpel. “You too.” He says to Cliffjumper after scanning him.

Robots who got dizzy? Who have emotions? I mean sure they can take a hit, I’ve seen it myself, but being able to be affected like that by something so small as that purple goo? I hadn’t thought about it before, but they could probably die, just like humans.

“Um, O-Optimus? I-I hate to bug, but-no bars.” says Jack, holding up his phone.

“A security precaution.” Optimus states.

“The reinforced concrete isolates the EMF radiation, so you would pick up little to no signal here,” you explain.

“That is correct, y/n,” Optimus nods.

“Riight,” says Jack, giving you a strange look. “Well, if I don’t call my mom like, now, I’m pretty sure the cops will be out looking for me.” He says, rubbing the back of his neck. You noticed he did that whenever he felt uncomfortable.

“Have you broken a law?” Asks Optimus, leaning closer to Jack..

You catch Mikos’ eye and burst into fits of silent laughter.

“Curfew,” replies Jack, catching the reaction between you and Miko and frowning. “It’s after 10pm.”

“I better get home too, or I’ll be grounded for a year,” Raf pipes in.

You just shrug your shoulders and say “I guess my mom might worry too.”

Optimus furrows his eyebrows. “Earth customs. I hadn’t considered. But the issue of your safety remains.”

Turning to Bulkhead, Optimus says “Bulkhead, accompany Miko home.”

“Awesome!” Exclaims Miko. “My host parents will freak!”

“And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form.”

“Curbside duty. Got it.” Replies Bulkhead.

“Bumblebee, you’ll watch over Raf.”

The two smile at each other.

“Arcee, you’ll accompany Jack,” continues Optimus, noticing Arcee stepping out of the glass cylinder that you noticed earlier.

“Mmh, still dizzy,” says Arcee, putting a hand up to her head.

“You're fine, says your physician.” says Ratchet.

“Ratchet-”

“Busy!” Interrupts the bot.

“Cliffjumper, you will take y/n home.”

“You got it boss,” says Cliffjumper as he looks at you and smiles.

You return the smile and walk over to where he is standing.

“You ready to go?” He asks, raising an eyebrow before transforming and opening the passenger door. You hop in the seat and are about to close the door when he says “I got it!” Cliffjumper shuts the door and then buckles your seatbelt and you feel the material pull snugly around you. He pulls out of the base and drives down the tunnel that leads outside. As Cliffjumper reaches the road, he slows down to a stop.

“Is something wrong?” you ask.

You feel the seat belt tighten slightly, and then feel your body sink into the seat as Cliffjumper slams on the gas. You whoop in delight and feel your heart race. You hear Cliffjumper laugh, and feel your lips curve into a wide smile.

“I thought you might enjoy a bit of speed, now that we’re not being attacked by those lousy cons.” He says, and you can practically hear the grin in his voice.

You and Cliffjumper coast down the road, talking and laughing as you drive through the hot Nevada desert.

“What are the odds that I would run into you while dirt biking, and accidentally discover an entire race of metal robots? I mean, I’ve gone dirt biking hundreds of times and have never encountered anything like this!” you muse.

“What are the odds that the first human kid I accidentally run into happens to be some Con’ slaying warrior who saves my life?” Cliffjumper jokes.

“I’m far from a warrior, and if anyone saved anyone's life it was you who saved me. Besides, I’m sure anyone else would have done the same thing.” you say, trying to downplay what you did.

“Anyone else would have run away…so why didn’t you? He asks.

You are quiet for a moment, thinking about the question.

I could have run away. I probably should have. But, why didn’t I?

“I, I dunno. I guess I couldn’t just leave when I knew I could have done something to help you. I mean sure, those cons were five times the size of me, but if I hadn’t thrown that rock, you could have gotten hurt. Maybe even killed.”

Cliffjumper was quiet for a moment, thinking about your answer.

“It takes a lot of guts to stand up to someone like the cons,” Cliffjumper says, his tone serious. “But, if you hadn’t met me, then I would probably be stuck in that base with the likes of Ratchet.”

You smile to yourself as you imagine Cliffjumper annoying the heck out of Ratchet as he’s trying to work. You pass the sign marking the beginning of Jaspers’ city limits, and you point in the direction of your house. As you ride you can’t help the questions circling in your head.

What if this is it? What if the Autobots see that I won’t need protection anymore? What if, after all I’ve been through, Cliffjumper drops me off and it’s just like, ‘see you later kid, now you have to pretend that you never knew that any of us had ever existed!’ I don’t want to forget the Autobots, especially not Cliffjumper.

As your house comes into view you try to shove these thoughts to the back of your head. You solemnly unclick your seatbelt and step out of the car.

“So, is this where you drop me off and tell me to forget that I ever saw you?” you ask tentatively.

“What? No! What gave you that idea?” He asks, laughing.

“We-well, I don’t know! I-I just thought-well-“ you shift from foot to foot uncomfortably.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily kid! You're stuck with me for the long haul.”

Relieved, you place your hand on Cliffjumpers’ hood, next to the single metal horn that is mounted to the front of the car.

Was it only a week ago when I saw those Decepticons knock the other horn off of his head? It feels like so long ago.

“I’ll be right here if you need me, then in the morning I’m taking you back to base.”

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” you say, relief washing over you.

“If you need anything give me a holler,” says Cliffjumper warmly.

“Good night Cliff,” you say as you lift your hand from the hood.

“Goodnight y/n. Sleep well.” says Cliffjumper, his voice warm and smooth.

You smile again and walk into the house, heading for your room. You look out your window and see the dark outline of Cliffjumper waiting by the curb. As you lay down in your bed, you can’t help but feel safe with an Autobot watching over you.

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secretsolenoid · 5 years

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They Lingered Awhile

Gift for @harutemu!

Contains spoilers from Lost Light #25.

PRE-WAR: Ratchet’s Dead-End Clinic

Drift’s consciousness slipped in and out as the circuit boosters were flushed out of his system. Waves of pain ebbed from his chest every time his spark pulsed. His vision was unfocused and blurred, but in the haze, he could make out a white face, with a red helm and a grey chevron hovering inches over his own. The bot’s intake was moving, but he could only hear static. Drift dialed up his audials and winced when it kept shorting out. Fortunately, he was barely able to make out the bot’s voice over the noise.

“--zzt--don’t know--zzt--can hear me, but--zzt--safe now. Systems keep--zzt--on and off. That’s good. Means--zzt--functional enough--zzt--online completely.”

From what Drift could piece together, this mech appears to be a medic of some sorts. He wanted to say something, but his processor was getting hazy and he couldn’t keep awake for much longer. It was getting harder to concentrate and he could feel his frame shutting down. The medic seemed to have taken notice by the look of his concerned expression.

“Come on, don’t--zzt--stay with me.--zzt--done with the recharge, just stay--zzzzzzt--”

His senses shut down once again. He wasn’t scared of death. As an undesirable living in Rodion’s Dead End, he constantly saw the grey, lifeless frames, laying around for scavengers to take apart. But, for once, he was happy. Because for just a brief moment, he died knowing somebody truly cared about him. If he ever got through this alive, he’ll have to thank the bot somehow. He once again slipped back into a peaceful shutdown.

---

POST-WAR: Rivets Field

Drift stood in front of the grave of his conjux endura.

The memorial was long over. Every attending Cybertronian wandered away from the grave to catch up with each other. He’ll be sure to talk to every one of them before they left, but he wanted to linger at the site for a bit longer.

Drift chuckled. Ratchet would have made such a fuss if he saw all this. The holographic statue. The Spectralist ceremony. The rows innermost energon vials. That part of the memorial really touched him. Seeing all of those bots line up to say their goodbyes. It was nice to see everyone again like things were back on the Lost Light. Well, almost. Rodimus called ahead of time to say he’ll be late. The attendees took it as an excuse to linger around a bit longer and reminiscence on old times. But deep down everybody knew things were not as bright as they used to be.

Drift looked up at Ratchet’s holograph and gave a soft, sullen smile. He took comfort knowing that he’ll see his partner again in All-Spark. Still, was it selfish of him to want more time with him? From the corner of his optics, he could make out a round shuttle descend from the sky. Before anybody could react, a small piece of its engine broke off and quickly hurled its way towards Drift’s helm.

---

Drift groaned when the rest of his systems came back online.

What happened? Was he dead? If he was, then why did he feel like slag?

Drift rebooted his optics. When his view came to full focus, he saw Ratchet who was pulling away tubes attached to his frame. Rather than the usual scowl that was plastered on Ratchet's face, it was filled with relief. He had on his old frame, his aura was bright, and he looked youthful and full of hope. Beside him was Optimus Prime who was leaning against a wall.

“I should arrest you,” said Optimus.

“Ah, give him a break, Pax. He’s been through the mill,” Ratchet replied as he set aside his tray of tools.

Wait. This sounded familiar. The realization of where and when he was finally dawned on him.

Ratchet walked up to Drift. Drift had a million things he wanted to say. How much he missed him. How much everybody missed him. But his mind went blank when Ratchet placed a servo on his shoulder.

“Listen to me, kid. I saved your life today. What happens next is up to you.” Ratchet said. “Get a Paint ‘N’ Polish and visit the Functionists downtown--see if they can match you up to a job. You’re special--I can tell. Now get out there and prove me right.”

Drift was stunned. He remembered what happens next. He would swear off the circuit boosters, thank Ratchet for the help, decline the job offer in lieu of donating his alt-mode. Then later he would...kill the guards that killed Gasket and join the Decepticons as Deadlock.

He would roam across the galaxy. Kill all of those innocents. Even for the sake of preserving timelines, he didn’t think he could go through all of that again. Guilt riddled inside of him and kept his gaze down. He remained silent.

Ratchet huffed.

“Look, kid. I didn’t bust my aft dragging you back from the All-Spark so you can waste your time moping around," he said, "And I was being serious about you being special.”

Drift perked up. Now, this was something new.

"So...what did you see in a destitute junkie?" Drift asked.

Ratchet rubbed his chin. “I’m probably going crazy, and you can ignore what I’m going to say," said Ratchet, "but deep in my spark I--look I can’t explain it. But ever since I saw you, I’ve felt this pull in my spark and I just felt that it was absolutely vital that you didn't die.”

“What do you mean?”

Ratchet sighed.

“I don’t know how to explain it. I’ve worked with a lot of patients, few of whom couldn’t make it. I felt sad about it, sure, but it never really affected me. This was a first for me, but everytime your spark faded, I felt...despair. And every time it flared, I felt like myself again. It was as if some part of me knew that if you died right now, then I could never hope or feel anything again.”

Drift was stunned silent.

“So whatever you've done is done. Here and now is your chance to do better. Back me up here, Pax. Pax…?”

Ratchet turned around to find Orion watching the monitor which announced the death of Nominus Prime. Ratchet walked up to Orion to discuss their next course of action.

Drift laid back on the medical slab. He could recall the many times this scenario ran through his processor. But he could never figure out what made Ratchet believe in him as much as he did. If he was saved from Dead End as a chance to prove himself, then he knows that he failed the moment he started killing. But maybe that wasn’t why he was here.

He looked over to where Ratchet was and it all suddenly clicked. He got off the slab and walked to where the two were standing. His spark pulsed faster and faster as he got closer to Ratchet who turned towards Drift with arms crossed.

"I haven't finished examining you, kid. Get back on the slab," said Ratchet.

“Ratchet, listen to me," Drift said, "After the Senate killed Nominus, many big things will happen in the future. You were right. If here and now is my chance to do better, then I was meant to stay with you."

Ratchet chuckled. "You are not making a whole lot of sense there, kid." He looked back at the monitor. "But it seems like nothing ever does make sense."

Orion, who was listening to the entire conversion, placed his servo on Drift's shoulders. He was grinning behind his faceplate.

"So, you too believe that the Senate is behind this. You two remind me of someone I’d like both of you to meet.”

Ratchet and Orion walked out of the clinic, discussing their theories about the fake matrix. Drift trailed behind them, surer of this moment than at any other moment in his life.

#fic gift #drift #ratchet #mtmte #lost light #contains spoilers #harutemu

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jazzyyyjones · 7 years

Text

The start and the end

*Thomas x reader *Modern *Word count: 4488 (wow guys) Summary: How it all started and then how it all ended.

Author’s Note: So I suck at summaries and titles! Whoo! This was really hard for me to finish because I wasn’t exactly sure how to end it and I wanted it to be perfect. I’m really proud of how this fic turned out and I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

Warnings: Death, Swearing, Sadness, Angst, way too much italics... You’ve been warned (Feel free to message me and yell at me because honestly,,, I deserve it with how many angsty fics I’ve been putting out lately)

Masterlist // Request Something!

Six. Thomas was six years old when he first met her, he remembered clinging to his mother’s leg and watching the girl do the exact same, peeking her head out from behind her mother shyly and making eye contact with Thomas. He felt a grin slowly forming on his lips as he met her gaze, cocking his head to the side when he saw the girl do the exact same thing.

He remembered slowly making his way towards the small girl, letting go of his mom’s leg and watching her do the exact same thing, meeting each other halfway.

“I’m Thomas,” he spoke, smiling brightly at the smaller girl as he held his hand out for her to shake, something his father had taught him to do.

“Y/n,” she whispered, shaking his hand before quickly retreating it, looking down at the wooden floors. Thomas frowned, furrowing his brows, why isn’t she talking much? He thought, his lips curled downwards as he stared at her. He shrugged it off and shook his head, wrapping his short arm around her shoulders, making the girl flinch. She hadn’t been expecting him to do that as she felt their mothers eyes watching them, looking down at the pair with soft smiles gracing their lips.

Thomas pulled away, only to gently grasp her hand and pull her in the direction of his playroom. He motioned for her to sit on his Thomas the Tank Engine chair as he went to the baskets filled to the brim with toys, pulling one of his favorites out, his Optimus Prime action figure. “My daddy got this for me for my sixth birthday,” he said proudly, motioning to the toy in his small hands. He turned back to the basket and rummaged through again, only to pause and turn back to Y/n.

“I don’t have any girl toys though because those have cooties.” He stated simply, shrugging as he recalled the word cooties, which was something his friend had said at recess the other day. Y/n stayed silent, only nodding her head occasionally. “And cooties are bad for you, you know, but I’ve only heard stories!” He rambled, waving his arms around to get his point through to Y/n.

“But only girls have cooties,” he quieted down, looking over the small girl. “But you don’t, because you’re cool.” And with that, Thomas turned back around to look through his toy chest again.

Seven. Thomas was seven when Y/n transferred to his school. It was the first day of fourth grade and James, his best friend in the entire world, was chewing on his sandwich noisily as he spoke, only to finally swallow and turn to Thomas. “Did you hear that a girl totally punched Aaron today?” Thomas shook his head as he bit into his sandwich, frowning at his small friend. “Girls can’t punch boys,” Thomas scoffed, setting his lunch back down in his Transformers lunch box.

James shook his head, giving Thomas a pointed look as he sneakily stole one of Thomas’s Doritos. “But this girl can, Thomas, I saw it with my own two eyes.” He stated seriously, pointing to his eyes to further prove his point. “Nuh uh!” Thomas argued back, turning his small body so he could look at his friend. Before James could say anything else, the bell rang, signaling it was time for the second recess of the day. Thomas hurriedly packed his lunch box before Samuel tried to steal his Oreos again. And he wasn’t going to let it happen again.

Thomas and James made their way over to the playground, his gaze landing on a small girl, sitting in the field and picking at the weeds growing by the fence. He furrowed his brows when he recognized the girl, looking over to see James distracted by four square, Thomas then quickly turned back to look at Y/n and made his way over to her.

“Hey, I-” He paused when Y/n turned to him, narrowing her eyes. “Why are you talking to me? You’ll get cootithes.” She frowned, trying to block her eyes from the hot sun, her lisp evident as she looked back down at the green grass. “No I won’t,” Thomas argued back, sitting down by her. “I told you that I’m immune to cooties.” He stated simply, then looking down at the plants she had been playing with.

“People haven’t been talking to me since I punched Aaron this morning.” Y/n muttered bitterly, pouting her lips and crossing her small arms.

Thomas frowned, “well Aaron deserved it,” he said, his fluffy hair bouncing as he nodded his head. “Aaron stole my Spongebob lunchbox last year. He had it coming.” Y/n laughed softly, nodding her head in agreement. “He said that bows were for sissies.” She huffed, her smile fading as she repeated what Aaron had said this morning. Thomas looked at the blue bow in Y/n’s head, before looking at her with a soft smile. “I think it looks cool.”

Nine. They were nine years old when Y/n stopped coming to school for awhile, and both Thomas and James had noticed it, but they never understood why. Thomas remembers his mother picking him up from school one day, nodding her head softly as he blabbered on and on about what he did today, and of course, he had mentioned Y/n every once-in-awhile.

“And today, Ms. Rosa said that we were gonna start learning about Fossils. Y/n needs to come back, she’ll love it--” His mother sighed, looking over at Thomas before turning her gaze back to the stoplight in front of her. “Thomas, Y/n probably won’t be returning to school for awhile.” Thomas frowned, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked up at his mother. “Why?” He asked, cocking his head to the side as he didn’t understand what she meant by that.

“Y/n’s mommy is…” Mrs. Jefferson trailed off, biting her bottom lip as she tried to find a way to figure out how to word what she was going to say correctly. “Her mommy is very sick,” she nodded her head, pressing on the gas when the stoplight turned green. “And Y/n is staying with her mommy for as long as she can. Her father told me to tell you that she misses you and can’t wait to come back and see you.”

Thomas stayed silent and looked straight ahead as his lips curled downwards, why couldn’t Y/n see her mommy after school? And see me during school? Thomas turned to his mother, looking up at her to see she was already looking down at him with a soft frown playing at her lips. “Can we go visit them?” Mrs. Jefferson shook her head, sighing. “I don’t think so, Tommy. Not today, at least.” She ran her hand gently through Thomas’s curls, knowing he loved it. Thomas sighed in defeat, nodding his head as he got out of the car and stomped towards the house.

It was a week later when the counselor came into his classroom, explaining to the kids why Y/n hadn’t returned to school in the last few weeks. “Y/n’s mommy was very sick and she recently passed away… I ask that when Y/n comes back, you all treat her with respect and make her feel welcomed.” The class simply nodded their heads, and with that, the counselor left the room. Thomas looked across the room to meet James’s eyes, frowning. “Her mommy is very sick,” he recalled his mother saying a week earlier.

When Y/n finally returned to school, she was silent. She wasn’t blabbering on and on about the braid her mother taught her how to do or what her new kitten had done earlier that morning… No. She was silent, she kept her head down, and she didn’t speak in class, but the one thing that caught Thomas’s eye was that she wasn’t wearing her regular blue bow-- Or, she wasn’t wearing a bow in her hair at all.

“Hey Y/n,” Thomas smiled sadly, wrapping an arm around his friend’s small shoulders. “Hi,” she whispered weakly, looking up at Thomas with a tired expression on her features. “I’m tired,” she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder as they sat under the large red slide on the playground. Thomas nodded his head in agreement, sighing a bit. “Yeah, so am I,” he mumbled, looking down at her. “I’ve been worried about you.”

Y/n hummed in acknowledgment, nodding her head slowly. “Don’t worry about me, Tommy,” she mumbled, using the nickname Thomas had grown so fond of. The nickname Thomas had reserved for Y/n and Y/n only.

“I’ll be fine… We’ll be fine…”

Oh, if only he had known then that wouldn’t be true.

Eleven Eleven was when Y/n started to change, she seemed… happier. Yet for some reason, it was almost as if she had mastered the art of faking it. Thomas could always see through her because after all, she was his best friend. Yes, James was also a good friend, but he could never compare to his friendship with Y/n.

“I have a plan,” Y/n stated simply, grabbing a potato chip from the bowl they were sharing and turned to lay on her back, staring at the “stars” they had made themselves to put in their treehouse. “What do you mean by a plan?” Thomas wondered, turning over to face Y/n even though she never turned to face him.

She simply shrugged, before letting out a deep sigh and turning onto her side to face Thomas, her crooked smile slowly appearing as she thought about her “plan.” Thomas simply furrowed his brows, waiting for her to tell him at least something about this amazing plan of hers.

“When I graduate from high school, I’m going to travel. Far, far, away from here and no one will ever see me again. But,” she paused, sitting up to run her small hand through Thomas’s curls, grinning from ear to ear. “You can come with me.” She said it so softly that it came out like a whisper, and Thomas quickly sat up, his once confused frown replaced with a grin that matched Y/n's.

“Really?” He asked, looking at Y/n with excited eyes. He immediately knew the first place he wanted to go to France.

Y/n nodded, giggling a bit. “Yeah, we’ll go wherever we want, and no one can stop us. It’ll be just you and me against the world.” She sighed dreamily, reaching out to squeeze Thomas’s hand. Thomas returned to gesture, looking down at their joint hands before looking back up at Y/n, his grip tightening a bit as he examined her facial expressions and her appearance. Her flowing hair and her eyes that shined brighter than the stars in the night sky. Y/n opened her eyes and looked at him, smiling as well.

They stayed like that for awhile before Y/n looked out the window of the treehouse, frowning a bit. “I have to go, Tommy.” Thomas frowned, huffing a bit but released her hand reluctantly. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow, alright?” Thomas nodded, smiling when Y/n leaned over to press a soft peck to his cheek.

And so it began, Y/n and Thomas started saving up for their trip to get as far away from this town as possible. Y/n would have occasional Lemonade stands and Thomas would clean cars, at the end of the day, they’d meet at the treehouse and put the money in the jaw that was labeled “a trip to somewhere.”

James noticed the pair would always spend time together, as much as possible. They’d whisper to each other during passing periods and they were secretive around James. They said that if they told him their plans, it would all be ruined.

“We’ll tell you someday, Jimmy.” Was all Y/n said, to which Thomas agreed with by nodding his head. “But not yet. We have to make sure everything will be ready before we can think about telling another soul.” James simply nodded his head, copying Thomas’s action as he nibbled on his bottom lip.

“Just… Don’t do anything stupid.”

Y/n and Thomas laughed, shaking their heads just as the bell for fourth period rang. “When have we ever?”

Thirteen. Thomas was thirteen when Y/n came to school without her regular bright smile. The smile that always made her stand out in the crowd of tired students. This time, she looked like the rest of the kids pushing each other to get through the doors.

Tired, sad, and bitter.

“What’s wrong?” Thomas asked gently, throwing an arm over her shoulders as they walked side by side down the hallway. Y/n let out a shaky sigh and shook her lead, both of them stopping in front of Y/n’s first-period class as she looked up at him with sad eyes, quickly wrapping her arms around his neck, “I’m sorry Tommy, I love you. Meet me at our treehouse tonight.” With that, she pulled away from Thomas and walked into her class to greet her other friends, talking to them as she pulled out her notebook. Thomas glanced around the hallway and frowned. What had she meant by that? Before Thomas could question it, even more, the first bell rang signaling it was time for everyone to be in their first class of the day. Thomas shook his head and hurried down the hall to his first class, his mind never leaving how odd Y/n had been acting.

Later that night, Thomas kept his agreement. His legs shook with both fear and anticipation as he climbed up the old ladder to get to the treehouse he shared with Y/n. When he pushed through the door, he saw Y/n curled up in the corner of the small space, holding her knees to her chest as she quickly wiped away her tears when she noticed Thomas was there.

“Thomas… Hey.” Y/n tried to smile but failed at doing so. She quickly looked back down at the floor and took a deep breath before looking at him, reaching out for him to come sit by her. “Come. Sit. I have… a lot to tell you.”

Thomas slowly crawled over to her, what with him being too tall to stand and walk over to her. He sat down by her and wrapped an arm around her, letting her lean her head onto his shoulder. She let out a shaky breath as she closed her eyes and stopped trying to stop the tears from falling, whispering incoherent words under her breath. Thomas frowned, looking down at her and gently moved away from her, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

“Hey… you can tell me anything, y/n. We’re best friends.” Y/n sniffled and looked up at Thomas, trying to smile, but she couldn’t. “Thomas, I…” She trailed off, nibbling on her bottom lip as she ran a hand through her tangled hair. “I’m sick, Tommy. The doctor’s don’t know how long I have had it or how long I have till I…” She choked on her words, unable to finish her sentence.

Thomas’ mouth formed a slight ‘O’, his whole body freezing at her words. “No, no, no…” He mumbled, shaking his head repeatedly as Y/n’s sobs grew louder. “No. You’re going to be okay, Y/n. Everything will be okay.” He nodded his head, trying to reassure her that she would be okay - even though they both knew she most likely wouldn’t - and brought her into a tight hug, petting her hair and whispering incoherent things into her ears.

“I love you, Tommy.” She whispered, burrowing her face in his neck.

“I love you too, Y/n.” He whispered, his eyes wide. “So much.”

Fourteen. They were both fourteen when Y/n started getting weaker. The doctor’s had said it was a miracle she even managed to make it this far, yet Thomas stood by her every step of the way. He watched as her body grew feebler and her hair began to slowly fall out in clumps because of the treatments.

“I’m going to die regardless,” Y/n whispered as she sat up in her bed, coughing a bit as she slowly turned to face Thomas. Thomas’ head shot up and his eyes narrowed at her words, he shook his head quickly. “No. You won’t die.” He stated, as if he was completely positive that was true. Though they both knew it wasn’t.

Y/n smiled sadly and reached out to grip Thomas’ hand, squeezing it with as much energy as she could. “Hey,” she whispered, motioning for him to get in the bed with her. He slowly got up, laying down next to her. “Whatever happens Tommy,” she paused, nibbling on her bottom lip. “Just know that I love you… So much. And I couldn’t pick a better person for a best friend.”

Thomas felt tears cloud his vision at her words. It was like she completely gave up. It was as if she was letting cancer win.

“I love you too…” He mumbled, his voice cracking a bit. “Why are you giving up so easily? Why are you letting it win?”

She was silent for a few moments, her breathing was unsteady as she thought on how to answer his question; “Because it’ll win regardless.” She murmured, looking up and meeting his sad, hopeless eyes. “Even if I manage to beat cancer…” She trailed off, laughing bitterly at the words. “The treatments will probably end up killing me.”

Thomas stayed quiet after that, letting her burrow her face into the crook of his neck like she did when she first told him she was sick.

Y/n hadn’t gone to school in months, her father taking her out because she was too sick to attend all of her classes and walk home. Of course, Y/n insisted on it as well. Because she knew that it wasn’t worth it anymore.

“Tommy?” She questioned, looking up at him with wide eyes. He hummed and looked down at her, “what is it?” She smiled a bit before speaking again. “Will you sing for me?”

Thomas froze at her question. He had never liked his voice, even though Y/n always said she did. He sighed, nodding his head in defeat before taking a deep breath and began singing one of their favorite songs~

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray….” He paused and looked down at her again, to find her leaning against his chest with soft and uneven snores emitting from her lips.

He smiled sadly before he began singing again; “You’ll never know dear, how much I love you, so please don’t take my sunshine away.”

Fifteen. He was fifteen when he lost her. He was fresh-faced and ready to enter his first year of high school, and although he always kept his hopes up that she would be better enough to attend with him, everyone always told him not to get his hopes up.

“She’s very sick, Thomas.” His mother would remind him, and whenever she did, his memories would flash him back to when she said the same thing about Y/n’s mother all those years ago. “There’s a chance she might not make it-”

“Don’t say that.” He spat, cutting her off as he turned to glare at his mother. “Y/n is healing. She’s going to get better.” He felt his mother’s eyes on him for a short period of time, hearing her sad and defeated sigh, and then the silence of the car before he started talking about high school and Y/n.

Those always seemed to be the only two things on his mind lately.

When he reached home, he ran straight to his bedroom, reaching to grab his phone and dial her number. It rang for a few seconds before it made a clicking sound and someone picked up. Except, it wasn’t Y/n. “Hello? Thomas?” A deep voice asked, which he recognized as Y/n’s father. “Hello, sir,” Thomas cleared his throat. “Is Y/n there?”

There was a sad sigh that went through the receiver, causing Thomas to freeze a bit. “S-she… She was admitted to the hospital this morning, Thomas.” And with that, his whole world stopped. He stayed silent, his harsh breathing the only thing audible. “Thomas? You there?”

He cleared his throat, finally speaking up. “Why didn’t she tell me?” Thomas whispered, his body shaking a bit. Her father sighed, staying silent for a few seconds before he spoke; “She wanted to wait till she was released. Said she didn’t want to worry you.”

Thomas let out a shaky sigh. “C-Can... Can I come visit her? Please?” Y/n’s father mumbled something under his breath before he spoke up again. “Yeah, I’m sure she’d like that.”

And with that, Thomas was racing out of his bedroom and grabbing his mother’s car keys, not stopping for a second as he raced past his mother. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Thomas finally made it, breathing heavily as he made it up to the receptions desk. “I’m looking for the room with Y/n Y/l/n?” The woman looked up for only a single second before she looked back down at the out-of-date computer, typing something before looking up again. “Are you family, sir?” Thomas looked around exasperated before he spoke up. “I’m her best friend. Please, her father told me I could come.”

The receptionist sighed, looking up at Thomas and saw the desperation in his eyes before speaking. “She’s in room six-o-two on floor six.” Thomas breathed out a quick ‘thank you’ as he rushed towards the elevator, making his way to Y/n’s room.

As soon as he caught sight of her father, he began running until he couldn’t anymore, leaning against the wall and breathing in a large gulp of air. “I told her you were coming… It doesn’t look too good, Thomas.” Her dad said, his eyes blood red as he ran a hand through his graying hair. He looked as if he hadn’t gotten sleep in days. Thomas nodded softly and made his way into her room slowly and cautiously as if he was scared to move any faster.

Y/n looked up at him with tired eyes, her chapped lips slowly rolling up into a weak smile. “Hey you,” she whispered, licking her lips as she slowly reached out to grip his hand, squeezing it as tight as she could with the little strength she had.

“How are you doing, sunshine?” Thomas pulled up a chair beside her bed and began stroking her hand soothingly. Y/n closed and opened her eyes a few times before she moved her blood red eyes to look up at him. “I’m… I’ve been better.” She tried laughing, but her weak laughter formed into a fit of coughs. Thomas froze up, yet still helped her sit up as he rubbed her back soothingly. “Shh, shh, it’s alright, sunshine. You’re alright.” He whispered, tears beginning to cloud his vision at the sight of his best friend.

“T-Thank you..” She managed to form those two words through her coughs, the fit slowly calming down as she began leaning back into his hand. “I’m glad you’re here.” She whispered, her lips quirking up a bit. “Why didn’t you tell me you were admitted into the hospital, Y/n?”

Y/n didn’t speak for a moment, her eyes fluttering as she thought of what to say. “I didn’t want to worry you, Tommy.” Out of everything she could’ve said, she chose to say that. Thomas closed his eyes and took a breath before opening them to look at you. He stayed silent as he took in the sight of you; A cannula in her nose, an IV in her wrist, that awful hospital gown she had been wearing a lot lately… Yet she still looked as gorgeous as she did before cancer struck.

They stayed like this for awhile, rarely speaking as Thomas squeezed her hand every once in awhile, especially when the doctors came in and checked her stats. He squeezed her hand reassuringly when the doctor’s face went grim and they both watched as he made his way out of the room to go talk to Y/n’s father. It was silent until the door burst open and in long strides, her father came in with tear stained cheeks as he went to go grip her other hand. “I love you Y/n, so so much.” He cried, and Thomas looked up at them with a confused glare until he turned to Y/n and he finally understood.

She was dying.

“I love you too, papa..” Y/n whispered, smiling at him as the heart monitor began slowly slowing down. Y/n’s father turned to look at it and began crying again, stepping away as he covered his face with his hands. Y/n turned to Thomas and looked up at him with tear-filled eyes that matched his.

“Don’t cry, Tommy..” Y/n coughed, blood slowly dripping down the corner of her lip. “You’ll make me cry too.” It was silent again before Y/n spoke up. “Please sing for me, Tommy. Please.” Y/n begged, looking at him with broken eyes. For once, she couldn’t hold up the strong persona she had been holding for three years. She was broken and scared.

Thomas nodded his head quickly and wiped away her tears with his thumb, leaning down to press a soft kiss to her cheek. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray.” He continued singing the song, his voice cracking as he watched a soft smile form on your lips as your eyes began fluttering shut.

“Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

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thearchivist-theprime · 7 years

Text

Description: Post Predacons Rising AU. After combining the Matrix of Leadership and the All-Spark Optimus expected it to be the end for him. Primus had other plans and now the former Prime will have to find out who Optimus, Orion, himself, and another identity he barely remembers are.

AO3

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17

Our Names Are Labels chapter 14

Optimus woke up groggy and confused.

It took a moment for his eyes to clear up enough to see, and he could barely seem to move.

Him being in the med-bay was the conclusion he reached after a few moments.

“How do you feel Optimus?” a voice suddenly said. It startled him a bit, but he gave no outward reaction.

It took him a moment to realize the voice was Ratchet. This was confirmed when he finally appeared in his line of vision.

“Fine.” he slurred.

“Ah yes. Optimus, the absolute picture of health.” Ratchet scoffed and this time Optimus did not need a minute to figure out he was being sarcastic. He was too tired to amend his statement though.

Before he could say anything else another face appeared.

Megatron. And Optimus reacted instinctively in response to that fact.

His right hand transformed into his gun and he fired. Megatron twisted away from the shot while Optimus’ left hand transformed into his blade. His gunfire would be useless because his hands were shaking so much but Megatron was too close and his spark was fluctuating rapidly to the tune of ‘defend defend defend!’

“Optimus wait! Stop!”

Why was Ratchet saying that?

Optimus paused for a moment, arms still raised and poised for action though, in utter confusion and then it all came flooding back to him.

They weren't at war anymore.

Megatron was not trying to attack them. ‘Probably’ Optimus’ minded added still on the defense.

“Scrap. My apologies Megatron.” Optimus said rubbing his head and trying to gain some semblance of clarity.

Megatron’s defensive, ready to fight body language relaxed once he saw Optimus was calmer. “I know you dislike me, but I believe that reaction is a little extreme.” He stated with a smirk. It didn't look completely real.

Optimus was not in the mood for Megatron’s taunts. Thankfully Ratchet noticed this and asked him to leave.

And Megatron, strangely enough, left without another word.

He would have to apologize again later when he wasn't drugged and confused.

Rachet’s examination went well, and once the brace on his knee was tested to see if it could withhold his weight Ratchet said he could leave the med bay that day.

Optimus couldn't be more happy about that.

All throughout the day the Autobots and even Knockout came and left to check up on him, though Megatron had yet to reappear, but most of them didn't stay long. Partly because all of them had duties they had to do and mostly because they knew each other boundaries. Optimus disliked others hovering and worrying over him, so they tried to be as flippant about the situation that was comfortable.

All the Autobots knew what were those silent rules and boundaries when it came to injuries and tragedies. All of them except Knockout.

He...hovered a bit too much for Optimus’ liking. Yet he tried to play it off with some flippant comments and a wave of his hand.

Optimus counted himself fortunate he was still extremely perceptive with his Autobots. Even if he was still learning with former Decepticons.

Find the root of the problem. Offer advice.

“I did not think you were the type to worry.”

Knockout smoothly turned around from whatever he was working on that was set on the medical bench.

“I'm not.” he said slowly placing his hand on his hip.

“You're hovering slightly.”

“Is this you telling me to back off?”

“No. This is me trying to find out why. You don't need to worry. Additionally we both know we don't have the best history.”

“That’s coming from you? I thought you wanted to start over with the Autobot Decepticon shabang? And I still haven't quite forgiven you for that door incident or all those times you scratched up my paint!”

“Why do you worry then?”

Knockout went still for a moment.

“Megatron denounced the Decepticons.” a short pause. “You Autobots aren't too big on betrayal from my understanding? And somewhat nicer?” he almost made those sound like questions.

Optimus thought maybe he could see what Knockouts actual problem was.

“I appreciate all that you are doing to help. It's hard to adjust at times but you are doing a good job. You do have a place among us.”

Knockout was a bit easier to puzzle out than some of his Autobots, and recognition for hard work can go a long way.

Knockout seemed almost startled. Despite that he quickly recovered and made some flippant comment.

Optimus was already aware that was probably a bit too sappy for Knockout’s taste. He hoped he understood the words in any case.

“It's funny. Before I never really had the best role models. Now I have one of the best.”

Optimus felt confused for a moment, but quickly figured out the implication.

“I’m honored. And I mean it when I say you do have a place with us. We all still need to adjust.” Optimus replied. At this point he felt bold enough to place a hand on Knockout’s shoulder. He did it more carefully than usual to try and not scratch up Knockout’s finish.

Knockout laughed.

(He didn't push the hand away)

“I can see why the Autobots think of you as a father figure, you have the whole ‘dad act’ and everything!”

He quickly stopped laughing once he saw Optimus stiffen and his expression go neutral.

“Um...was I not supposed to say it out loud? Wait you know right?”

Of course Optimus knew. And of course he wanted to guide and watch every single one of his Autobots be happy and successful.

It just...that he's tried to maintain an emotional distance from them. Not to hurt them of course, but to carry burdens they didn't need to. To be the leader they needed.

The knowledge they they looked up to him that much frightened Optimus. Primus knew he had some poor parental figures in his life and he wasn't the best person.

It was uncomfortable to have that knowledge spoken aloud. He's not ashamed of course. It was just an...unspoken subject no one felt like talking about.

It also brought up his...issue...about Megatron.

“Yes I knew.” Optimus said, stiff and formal, “I apologize there are datapads I need to catch up on.”

Which were mysteriously in the med bay. He'd have to ask who brought them there and thank them.

Knockout stiffly nodded and bolted.

He should probably talk to him again later about how the Autobots ran their faction. He was not going to be punished just because he overstepped a boundary.

Optimus sighed. He really wasn't lying about those datapads.

@radioactivepeasant

#optimus prime #megatron #our names are labels

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