Note: I own only the plot nothing else. Contains movie spoilers.
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Logic vs. Feelings
Optimus Prime stared down at the two laughing humans, Sam and Mikaela. They were laughing because of Bumblebee. Ratchet had recently restored Bumblebee's legs back to his body. The yellow and black Autobot was celebrating by dancing around the clearing that the Autobots were currently hiding in. Optimus glanced at Ratchet and Ironhide. He had known the other Autobots for so long that he could tell what they were thinking without them needing to express it in words. He could tell that Ironhide was amused by Bumblebee's antics while Ratchet feelings bordered between amusement and disapproval.
Optimus also knew that the two Autobots wondered about why he and Bumblebee were so fond of the two young humans in front of them. Optimus suspected that Bumblebee was because of all the time that he had spent with Sam. Bumblebee knew the humans better than any of others. Ironhide had told Optimus how Sam and Mikaela refused to leave the injured Bumblebee in the street of the human settlement that they had fought in. The friendship that had sprung up so quickly between Sam, Mikaela, and Bumblebee was incredible. Very few friendships such as theirs as had ever existed.
The reason for this was simple. Organic creatures never had a very long lifespan. They existed for a very, very short time in Cybertronian standards. It did not matter if a Cybertronian was an Autobot or a Decepticon because both groups thought the same. Logic ruled over their actions. Sure, sometimes they acted out due to emotions; Megatron was a perfect example of this. However, logic stated that it was foolish to become attached to short living species. To have affection for creatures that existed for such a short amount of time did not make sense.
Optimus had known these two humans for merely a few Earth days. Yet Optimus had thrown aside logic. He and all of the other Autobots owed so much to Sam and Mikaela. But, even before the events at Mission City, Optimus had already started to care about these two humans.
When the Autobots first revealed themselves to the two young humans Optimus had been slightly worried about how they would react. Before they had come to Earth the Autobots had studied human cultures and their languages. They had discovered that humans could be both brave and cowardly. When he first saw Sam and Mikaela he worried that their youngness might play a critical factor in how they reacted to the Autobots. He fears never came to pass. Compared to the reactions of the other humans he had met…well, Optimus thought it had gone rather well. A part of him admired how calm Sam and Mikaela had remained.
When they had been taken by the Sector Seven agents Optimus chose to save them. It could be said that he did this purely because he needed Sam's ancestor's glasses. If Sam had remained captured the Autobots never would have known the location of the All Spark. There would have been a small amount of truth in this statement. But the main reason that Optimus saved the humans was that he did not want to see them taken prisoner because of the Autobots.
When the Sector Seven agents had called in reinforcements Optimus had sensed Sam and Mikaela's panic. Optimus took them himself, risking capture to save them from the wrath of their own species. When they had hidden together under the bridge he attempted to comfort them. Then they fell from him but Bumblebee came and barely rescued his two human friends. Optimus had watched in sadness while Bumblebee, Sam, and Mikaela were taken prisoner by Sector Seven. He had wanted to save them but had vowed that he never hurt humans on purpose. Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet had respected his decision not to get involved but they did not understand.
They had then retrieved Sam's ancestor's glasses that had fallen out of Sam's jacket. They found the location of the All Spark. Optimus had been very pleased when he saw Bumblebee with Sam and Mikaela coming towards him as they made their departure from Hoover Dam. He was even more pleased that the trio had the All Spark as well.
When the Decepticons had arrived to chase the All Spark hidden inside Bumblebee, and Bonecrusher had begun to smash cars and kill innocent humans, Optimus held up his vow to protect humanity. He made a quick end to Bonecrusher's killing spree. He then set out to find the two humans he had originally sought to protect.
When he arrived in the human settlement he was greeted by a sight that would forever haunt him; Megatron holding the severed body of the deceased Jazz. He had fought Megatron but failed to defeat him. When Megatron took off he felt temporarily relieved until he realized that the Decepticon had gone after Sam who had the All Spark that Bumblebee had entrusted to him. Optimus had rushed to the human's side. He heard the exchange of words between Megatron and Sam. Sam did what so few others had done to Megatron; flat out defy his orders and deny his desires. Megatron retaliated by attacking Sam, causing him to fall from the top of the building they had been standing on. Once again Optimus was there to save him. As before, it could be said that Optimus was not saving Sam but instead was saving the All Spark. This would have been a pure lie. The All Spark could not be destroyed from a fall. Optimus was saving the human who would be destroyed.
Optimus had only enough time to tell Sam to use Optimus himself to destroy the All Spark before Megatron was upon him again. Optimus was already tired and weary while Megatron was fresh. It quickly became clear that Megatron was victorious while Optimus was vanquished. Then, miraculously, the humans came to the rescue. Their machines of war slammed destructive missiles into Megatron, severely damaging the Decepticon leader but not beating him. As Megatron tried desperately to get to Sam and the All Spark, Optimus knew what had to be done. He had yelled for Sam to destroy both him and the All Spark. Sam however took a different approach; he instead used Megatron to destroy the All Spark while at the same time used the All Spark to destroy Megatron.
Optimus had thought about the outcome of events for days after they had concluded. It would have been easier, even safer for Sam, if the human had thrown the All Spark into Optimus. It was logical. Yet Sam had chosen to save Optimus, he had chosen to risk his life for a being that he hardly knew. Optimus could never express in words how much Sam's decision meant to him, or how much Optimus owed his life to Sam. Bumblebee had to feel the same way towards Mikaela. She could have left him in the street where he would have been destroyed by bullets and missiles flying down it. But she, like Sam, risked her life to save a being that she hardly knew. Humans could be very illogical.
Optimus left his thoughts and returned his attention to the present. Bumblebee was now spinning around, twisting and turning, while Sam and Mikaela cheered. Ratchet glanced at Optimus again, clearly disapproving of Bumblebee's antics.
"Let him celebrate," the giant Autobot said. "We have had so little reason to for millennia." Ratchet sighed but nodded in agreement.
As Optimus observed his friends, both human and Autobot, the gladness that he had ignored his basic instinct welled up inside of his spark. Whether it was logical or not Optimus was glad that he had saved the humans.