"He hasn't spent time with the children lately", Arcee said as she looked over at Ratchet and Optimus working together on something. She had no idea what they were doing.
"He's been busy", Bulkhead defended. Bumblebee nodded.
"Bulkhead, he hasn't spent time with us either! He's always working, and we've known him longer than the children! He should spend time with them, since Ratchet spends more time with them than him", Arcee replied. She was frustrated that today, Optimus was out checking for Decepticons, while the other four were spending time with the kids. Optimus never seemed to be around for the kids any more.
"Let's find a way for them to spend time with him. That can't be too hard, can it?" Bulkhead asked.
"Yeah sure Bulkhead. I doubt anyone could! That is an okay idea. We'll need a reason for Prime to be with the kids alone. And we need Ratchet to give them space. Those are the hard parts", Arcee turned at the sound of an alarm. Ratchet walked over to the controls.
::Optimus, it's the Decepticons: Ratchet told them the obvious.
::Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, you're with me. Activate ground bridge. Autobots, roll out!:
The battle had been harsh. One Decepticon had a new weapon. One that was designed to explode on impact, so that is would take the limb it hit with it. During the battle, that Decepticon had aimed at one Autobot, and Optimus pushed them out of the way, and they hit him instead. They hit him with the one, and fired a second since he couldn't get away. The other Autobot's had to defend him, and they drove the Decepticons away. Optimus was fighting to stay awake from the loss of energon.
The next morning, Jack woke up to Arcee not in his garage. "Mom, did you see Arcee?" Jack asked.
"She asked me to give you a ride just outside town. Another one will pick you up there", his mom answered.
Raf woke up to an ambulance parked in front of his house. Miko woke up to the same thing, with Raf moving into the passenger seat so that Miko could get in.
"Okay. Now that Miko's here, Ratchet tell me what's going on please", Raf asked for the second time.
"When we pick up Jack, I'll tell you. Until then, no", Ratchet replied. The drive seemed really dull, since no one said anything. Ratchet soon stopped so that Jack could get in.
"Can someone please tell me why Arcee had my mom drop me off outside town?" Jack asked frustrated.
"Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee are on a mission"
"Why did Optimus send you, instead of coming himself?"
"You'lll see when you get there", Ratchet said making all three groan. "Your bots wanted you all to send more time with him anyways. Optimus won't be busy, and they will be off base for at least a week. I'll be very busy for a while."
All talking stopped until they arrived at the base. Ratchet walked past them, and they took that as rude. They didn't when he explained that he wanted to see if Optimus was recharging or not. He was, but he told them to take the stairs, and he would wake his leader. He walked around the other side, so that the kids could see the damage.
Optimus was missing his legs. Almost fully. From just below the hip, his legs were no longer attached. Where his legs ended, they were sharp pieces of metal, with a a piece of metal placed just inside, to keep him from losing Energon. He had other metal shards scattered all over his chest. That was really why Optimus wasn't going to be moving around base.
Ratchet woke Optimus up, and the red and blue mech turned his optics towards the children. Ratchet helped Optimus sit up, and the children came closer to the edge of the berth.
"Is he going to be okay?" Raf asked Ratchet. The medic nodded, and walked to the door.
"I just have to rebuild his legs, and you three'll spend some time with him. Have fun", Ratchet said, and left the room.
"You don't have to spend time with me if you really don't want to", Optimus commented.
"We'll stay with you", Jack responded.
"Does that hurt?" Raf asked.
"No Rafael. Ratchet made sure", Optimus replied.
"How'd you get hurt? I'm sure it was in a super cool battle!" Miko exclaimed.
"The Decepticons were testing a new weapon. It was created to stop enemies from fighting back, by destroying parts of their body, such as their arms or legs. They targeted Bumblebee, and I pushed him out of the way. That is what happened", Optimus replied, and shifted to sit against the wall. All of the kids just stared. Optimus had saved Bumblebee, gotten his legs blown off, and explained it like it was just duty. They were stunned.
All Jack could say was, "Wow".
"You saved 'Bee?" Raf asked. Optimus nodded lightly, and the kids all looked at each other. Miko climbed up on the berth and walked closer to Optimus. He looked a little nervous, until Miko hugged him. He than looked at the others like 'what am I supposed to do'. Laughing lightly, Jack and Raf showed him what to do, and so Optimus lightly hugged Miko in return.
"What is this for?" Optimus asked. Miko smiled and moved back, so she could see his entire face.
"Easy. You saved 'Bee, from a nasty Decepticon. I only wish I could of seen it", Miko replied. She than moved over to Jack and Raf, and motioned for them to talk alone for a second. "Maybe you guys should, I don't now, thank him? Or see if you could help him at all? We should spend time with the guy. Since our 'bots want us to, we could get to know him."
"You're right", Jack agreed. They both looked at Raf.
"I'm going to see if Ratchet needs any help. If he doesn't, I'll spend time with Optimus", Raf stated. They reluctantly nodded to the youngest boy, and Raf left towards Ratchet's work space. The medic was leaning over a table that held the remains of Optimus' nearly fully destroyed legs. The table was coated in leaked Energon, and large shards of metal. The only way they looked like what they had been, was the bottom of one foot, and the top of a leg. Raf's stomach churned, as he looked it over. He sighed and asked, "Do you need any help fixing those?"
Ratchet turned towards Raf and answered, "Not really. I just have to rebuild Prime's legs from basically the beginning. As you can see, that will be difficult."
"You sure that you don't need my help to get Optimus back on his feet sooner?" Raf tried again. He climbed up, to see the extent of the damage. There was almost nothing left. His body shivered slightly.
"The metal here is sharp Raf. You'd just be in the way", Ratchet replied.
"Come on. I just want to help him", Raf pleaded.
"You want to help Prime? Then spend time with him, so I can focus on the repairs", Ratchet smiled when Raf's shoulders sagged a little. "He won't squish you".