Rodimus

By daywalker03

A Michael Bay Transformers Movie fanfiction

Author's Note:

This is not the same Rodimus as the one in the G1 Cartoon and 1986 Transformers Movie, nor is it my take on the Hot Rod character from Transformers: The Last Knight, though he has been on Earth for far longer than people are aware. His exact nature is not going to be revealed as yet, but suffice it to say that he rightfully bears the name and a title that people will find familiar once it is revealed.

Chapter 1: Mission: Protect the Children

Mission City: under the rubble of a skyscraper that was dropped by the Decepticons.

"Daddy, are you alright?," a small voice says from just to the left of my spark. "Talk to me, Daddy, pwease?" I can feel her shifting in the support webbing I'd weaved around them as a precaution against injury so I know she is unhurt, but I find it hard to focus on responding. The building is a lot heavier than it had looked, and it is taking nearly all of my concentration to keep my frame locked so it wouldn't crush us.

"Calm, little one. Daddy hears you," I manage to reply as softly as I can through an internal audio feed, and she stops moving. "Need to focus; heavy building and lots of dust to keep away from my little ones," I say, so she knows why I'm not talking much.

I feel twelve little hands touch my spark, and I know they, if not actually understand, at least acknowledge the danger they are in if my concentration lapses for very long. I also get the brief sense that they accept me as someone that cares about them despite the differences between their kind and mine.

/* Rodimus, can you hear me. */ Optimus is calling me over the Autobot's common channel; they must have figured out something happened to me, but not what, yet.

/* Yes, Optimus. I'm in a bit of a tight spot, though, */ I reply. The little ones still have their hands on my spark, so I send a gentle comforting pulse through it to them.

/* Understood. We've located you under that building and Ratchet is also detecting some odd resonances in your spark signature. Are there humans close to you? */ Yeah, leave it to the Hatchet to catch the fact I'm protecting human children, as that's what's causing them.

/* Yes. Tell Ratchet I'm fully aware of the dangers he's concerned about, but at the time, it seemed like the right thing . */

/* How many, Rodimus? */ Oh great. The Hatchet himself.

/* You can't count for yourself, Ratchet? */ Smart-ass answer; those tend to annoy him. I can almost hear his optics rolling, to paraphrase what that smart-ass Seymour Simmons would say in a situation like this.

/* More than one, less than eight. Specific numbers are quite difficult with the smaller humans, you know? */ Yeah, close enough for government work, Hatchet. Odd expression the humans have, considering the fact that government specifications are usually quite a bit more strict than most, but can be "overlooked" at times.

/* They made the decision, Ratchet. I offered a safe place, but they were the ones that crawled inside. */ Dang it, little ones; that tickles. Their hands are still on my spark, gently stroking it now.

~ He knows? ~

Huh?

~ Ratch, Daddy. ~ A giggle as she gently strokes my spark.

She's talking inside my processor… I can sense her surprise as she realizes what she's done and I also sense the thoughts of at least one other of my little ones. ~ Yes, but not exactly how many of you there are in here right now. ~

A slight pause, as though unsure how to communicate with me. ~ He seems 'nnoyed by something, Daddy. ~

~ He's always like this, Kelly. ~ I feel her vibrate when I use her name instead of simply calling her "little one". I know all of their names, which means they all can understand me this way. ~ Ratchet does his job, but he doesn't like seeing those he's repaired either come back for more repairs because of battle, or come back from battle offline. ~

A sense of sadness from Kelly and the others; ~ Offline isn't good, is it, Daddy? We don't want that to happen to you; who would take care of us then? ~

A good question; one I currently don't have an answer for, but Kelly and the others are smart enough to know that I need to concentrate, so nothing further is said on the subject.

/* I'm sealed up fairly tight to keep the kids from breathing the dust, but you know how much good that is going to do my filtration systems. */

/* I'd say you're out of your processor for doing it, but it won't change anything. If it were me in your place, I'd force out the dust periodically to keep the temperature low enough that they don't get uncomfortable. */

Gee, thanks for the advice Hatchet…

~ Daddy, he means well. ~

~ I know Kelly; I'm not used to human children being able to communicate with me like this, so I forget that you can sense my thoughts. ~

~ Is okay Daddy; we love you because you cared enough to let us in. Not like the mean ones that cause pain and stuff. ~

Well put; the Decepticons only care about causing pain and suffering. And living beings like these little ones mean less than nothing to them.

/* Understood Rodimus; we are making sure the human military recovery team that is digging you out understands that you may not be very responsive when they get to you. */

/* Thanks Optimus, from all of us. */