Episode: Darkness Rising, Part 1
Warnings: None
Pairings: Implied CliffjumperXArcee
Summary: Cliffjumper's inner thoughts during Darkness Rising, Part 1.
Author's Notes: Alright, sorry that the first ficlet has to be so sad, but this is one of only two episodes with Cliff in it and I had to write about him. I promise that the ficlet for Out of Past won't be nearly as depressing. This is my way of dealing with all my feels. Enjoy and review please! :)
Song that inspired this fic: Iridescent by Linkin Park.
I cruise down the desolate road, the only sound reaching my audios being the roar my engine and the soft swish of my tires on dirt. My thoughts wandering back to Cybertron, and how it was likely that I would never see it again. I sighed. It wasn't like me to think so negatively, but it's easy to be pensive on these empty Earth roads. This place is alright, I guess. Sure it's dusty, hot, and sometimes downright boring. But it's home now.
But what made it tolerable was the fact that Arcee was here. The one bot I could trust the most, and really talk to. Not all that "chatter", as she called it, but really talk to. She understood me. As long as she was here, as long as she was with me, everything would be alright. Sure, Earth was no Cybertron, but it was a new beginning, a new chapter.
And that's when she commed me.
I lay face down on the floor of the Decepticon's warship, at the pointed feet of Starscream, hemorrhaging energon. This was it. I knew that I wasn't going to talk my way out of this one. No one was going to burst through the door and whisk me away. This was where my life ended; where my spark made its last few sputters before finally flickering out. This was where my chapter ended.
And somehow...I was ok with that.
I had done my part. I had stood up, and fought for what I believed in. I never killed unless it was absolutely necessary, and I stood by my commrades through every fire fight, through every battle, through all the emotional turmoil. I had been loyal. And even though I would not see the end of this war, I knew that the Autobots would prevail. The good guys always win in the end, everyone says. And I firmly believe that.
But the one fact that brought me the most comfort, the prevailing thought that gave me enough strength to offline my optics on my own without having a forced shut-down, was that Arcee was going to outlive me. She would fight another day, safe in the folds of the Autobots, and that she was not in the position that I was in. But mostly because I would not be forced to live on Earth without her.
With one final groan (it was more like a peaceful hum, really) and a flash of magnificent, brilliant light behind my optics, I offlined.