Guest reviewer Julien Caeg asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy! :)
Transformers: The Last Knight belongs to Hasbro. I own nothing.
A/N: Contains major spoilers for "Age Of Extinction" and "The Last Knight".
Still A Brother In Arms To Me
Cade let out a sigh after he had just finished speaking with his daughter on the phone, or rather, listening to her as she spoke, though he wished he could tell her he loved her and hoped she was doing well in college. While he couldn't verbally say it on the phone since he and the Autobots were still being hunted by some people, he hoped his daughter understood that by calling, he was silently saying he loved her and wished her well.
Hound and Crosshairs were relaxing nearby along with Bumblebee while Drift was meditating, which wasn't working so well as the mini Transformers still bugged him while he was trying to mediate, which would result in him losing concentration and getting upset at them, which always seemed to amuse Izabella, who was resting beside Crosshairs and giggling at Drift's actions. Crosshairs snorted. "All that mediation stuff and he still loses it when the little ones are around," he said.
Izabella giggled again. "They just want attention," she said as the mini Triceratops Transformer came up to her and she picked him up, placing him in her lap and he settled down quietly, something that made her smile.
Cade had to smile, especially seeing the woman he had fallen for was resting beside Hot Rod, who was watching over her. While the French-accented Autobot approved of his charge being with Cade, he was still protective of her, like a big brother, and stuck very close to her in case she needed him.
The inventor saw the other Autobots who had taken shelter with them were settling down too as night was falling. All except Optimus.
Noticing the red and blue Autobot was standing on the edge of the scrapyard and seemingly staring up at the moon, Cade began walking over to him, being careful not to disturb the others, though with how some of them snored, a mini bomb could have gone off and they wouldn't flinch. He actually chuckled at that thought as he continued his trek towards Optimus, soon reaching him. "Hey, big guy," he said in greeting.
Optimus turned to him. "Good evening, Cade," he responded in a polite manner, but his voice seemed distant, like he was elsewhere.
"Something bugging you, big guy?" Cade asked. "I can have Grimlock move some junk out of the way."
The Autobot leader shook his head. "I was…deep in thought," he replied. "About…how Quintessa used me. How…I nearly destroyed the planet that I had not only sworn to protect, but had also become a second home to me and the others."
Cade remembered that and normally would have joked about a man being wiled by a woman, but having seen how scary that witch had been and how she had nearly gotten Optimus killed, he settled for sitting down beside his friend. "Optimus, how could you have known she was going to try and control you?" He asked. "You thought Quintessa had the same goals as you, restoring Cybertron."
Optimus nodded. "She did, but…not in the same sense," he said.
"Right, because she was bent against Earth just because Earth is this Unicron guy," the inventor said before looking at Optimus. "Just for the sake of curiosity, who is Unicron?"
The large Autobot was quiet for a moment before replying. "We were taught that Unicron was a destroyer of everything," he said. "Cybertron's mortal enemy. If either Unicron or Cybertron came close to each other, they would battle fiercely and either one would be standing, or both would fall."
Cade pondered that. "Um, okay. If this Unicron is the destroyer of everything, why would he take the form of Earth and let us humans live on him?" He asked. "And honestly, it feels weird knowing that I'm standing on a robot the size of Jupiter times five."
Optimus shrugged. "I honestly don't know," he admitted. "Perhaps…Unicron wanted to be like Cybertron."
"Come again?" The inventor said in confusion.
"Cybertron is actually a guardian named Primus," the Autobot answered him. "He let us live on him and took care of us. I wonder if Unicron was jealous of that."
"Huh, makes you wonder," Cade said before looking up at Optimus. "Sorry, got a bit off topic."
"Not by much," Optimus said softly. "Quintessa…is a very dangerous creature. One that may not have been so easily defeated."
"Prime, we saw you knock that witch back to wherever she came from," the human said.
The large Bot shook his head. "Cade, just as Primus and Unicron can take other forms, so can Quintessa," he said. "We may face her again in the future and I plan to have a talk with her about her controlling me and…making me betray my brothers."
His depression came back full swing and he sighed. "I nearly caused Earth's destruction," he said, sounding guilty.
Cade remembered that too well. It had been up to him to stop those guardian knights from killing Optimus. "Prime, you were under Quintessa's power," he said. "If she's as strong as you say, then you were helpless against her until Bumblebee helped you snap out of it."
"It still doesn't excuse what I nearly did," Optimus said.
The inventor looked up at him. "Optimus, we all do things that we later wonder why we did or realize we had no excuse to do, but you made it right, therefore you don't need to feel guilty about it," he said. "You helped us in the end when it counted the most and I know you'll do that in the future. Despite what happened, you're still a brother-in-arms to me, ever since that day you helped us escape Cemetery Wind and stopped that creep from killing my daughter."
Optimus looked at him quietly for a moment and then nodded. "You took on helping us in a war that wasn't your own," he said. "For all you've done to help us, Cade, I'm grateful to you and also proud to call you one of my brothers-in-arms."
"Feeling's mutual, big guy," the inventor said with a nod.
He was about to head back when he heard Optimus say his name again and turned to see the leader of the Autobots was looking at him. "Thank you, Cade," he said gratefully.
Cade smiled. "You're welcome, big guy," he said, knowing Optimus was thanking him for listening. "And don't worry, if that crazy witch ever comes back, we'll be ready for her and we'll kick her all the way across the cosmos to the farthest black hole we can find."
The Autobot chuckled in amusement, but nodded in agreement as peace settled over the junkyard and over all of them once more.
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