"Sparkling Of Mine"
Summary: set in Bayverse Transformers, but will introduce characters from G1. After losing his sparkmate and newborn to the war, Optimus discovers an ailing sparkling and raises it as his own in hopes of fulfilling his late sparkmate's dream of having a family.
WARNING: lots of cute fluffs, violence, tragedy and other stuff you'll soon see. Rated M overall
Transformers © Hasbro
Little sparkling © me
Chapter 2~~
Optimus Prime jolted awake out of recharge, sat up in his berth and emanated a frightened exclaim. His spark pulsated in its chamber in the middle of his chest cavity, causing his entire body to tremble and quiver. He panted, taking in deep, jagged breaths and shakily exhaling. It took him a while for him to remember that he was not in the battlefield, but back in his private resting quarters in the Autobot facility. A sickening feeling roiled in his fuel tanks as he tried to relax himself, mumbling to himself that it was only a nightmare.
But it wasn't just a nightmare. It was a memory. A very dark, spark-breaking memory. It was of the night Optimus Prime had failed to save the life of his beloved sparkmate and his sparkling son. Optimus had the nightmare every other night or so, but when he did endure it, it made a nervous wreck out of him. He remembered it vividly, even though the nightmare always ended after the bomb dropped. When the smoke had cleared, he saw the refuge Elita had hidden herself with their sparkling was completely destroyed. Frantically he had searched the wreck site and was mortified to find what remained of his sparkmate underneath—nothing but a dismantled torso and a few oozing wires; and still in her dismembered arms was the sparkling, flattened by the wreckage; if it weren't for their life signals, no one would have recognized the two. The Prime was beyond devastated. Both Elita and the sparkling were given honorable funerals, launching their caskets into deep space. The Autobots lamented the losses of a strong-willed femme and a young, innocent life; they had all given their condolences to Optimus, but their words had not changed anything.
Before he knew it, Optimus found himself in tears. He hunched over and hung his helm over his lap, letting the tears flow freely, dripping off of his nose plate and onto his berth. His spark ached dreadfully and sent throbbing pulses throughout his body. Despite such a nightmarish event had occurred many orbital cycles ago, it still felt it had happened the previous night to the Prime. He drew in deeply and unevenly, exhaling soft sobs. The only thing that was more horrendous than remembering their demise...was feeling them slip away. An unbearable pain started from his spark and surged through his body only seconds after the bomb had dropped. After a long, torturous while, it vanished—and he knew. Through their link between sparks—through their bond—he knew they were gone forever.
Optimus jumped a little when he heard a soft rap at the door. He quickly wiped away any remaining tears on his face and from his berth, cleared his voice and weakly called out, "Yes?" The door slid open, and outside of the threshold stood one of Optimus's young comrades, one of his good friends. "Is something the matter, Bumblebee?"
Bumblebee, a rather young mech and still quite fresh to the ways of war, was on patrol that night and had heard Prime's distant cry from the other end of the hall. Since he was the only one nearby, he went to investigate himself. Now, he stood in the doorway of his leader's private resting quarters, heaving a soft sigh while shaking his helm. He expected this; he had a suspicion that Optimus would pretend, try to fake it out. But Bumblebee knew. They all knew their leader was haunted by what happened to his family. But Bumblebee did not say anything. He knew if he said something about it, Optimus would blow it off like it didn't matter. Many times when he tried to conceal his true feelings other Autobots have asked, "Why do you try to hide it, Optimus?" And each time, Optimus got angry and replied, "I do not know what you are talking about!" But in fact he did, and the others knew.
Yet, Bumblebee dared to ask the question. "Why do you pretend?" he said softly in a forlorn tone.
Optimus blinked at him then frowned. With a deep huff, he swung his legs over the edge of his berth and gripped the edge tightly. Every single Autobot has asked him that. He knew it was obvious to them that he was hiding it, but each time they asked, the angrier and frustrated he became. "Must you always ask that?" he grumbled, turning his helm away.
Bumblebee sighed and entered the room. "We are only worried about you, sir," he said. "We know you are hurt about...what happened. But each time we try to help, you push us away. Why won't you let us help?"
After a heavy moment of silence, Optimus replied dully, "Because I do not need it. Nor do I want it."
Bumblebee hung his helm in silence before drawing a breath and saying, "With all due respect, sir, you are partially wrong with that statement. You may not want it, but we all know you need it. It isn't hard to tell."
This made Optimus angry and he got to his feet in a hurry. "Are you saying that I am incapable of taking care of myself, soldier?"
Bumblebee felt afraid, but he held his ground. "No, sir, not at all. You misunderstand. What I mean is—"
"That I am unable to handle what is placed upon my shoulders, the responsibilities that I have to manage because of loss?"
"No, sir."
"That I am weak and insecure?!"
"Optimus, now you are being ridiculous. None of us would dare think of you as weak and insecure. We just want to help."
"I have never asked for help," Optimus growled, pointing a threatening finger at Bumblebee, "nor will I ever. Now...if you please, I would like to go back to rest, so leave me be."
Bumblebee sighed sadly, not wanting to leave his leader in such a distraught stage, but he knew it was better to comply than argue. "Yes, sir. Have a good night." He then turned and left, the door sliding behind him.
Optimus sighed heavily many times to calm himself down; he hadn't meant to snap at Bumblebee in such a way. He was just irritated with everyone wanting to help him with every single problem he had whatever it may be. He was fully capable of handling his own troubles, including dealing with loss. Although, personal loss was a bit more painful than any other matter he had faced. It was harder to accept and nearly impossible to forget. He didn't want to burden any of his comrades with his troubles, so he turned each offer of assistance down.
Even though he told Bumblebee to leave so he could return to recharge, Optimus wasn't in need of rest anymore. He didn't want to because he was afraid, afraid of returning to that dark, horrific memory he wanted so badly removed from his memory banks. He sat up in his berth for a while and then decided that he needed fresh air. Quietly, he slid open his door and scanned the area for anyone nearby; Bumblebee must have gone, for Optimus had not detected him. Relieved that the coast was clear, he left the compounds of their base and wandered outside.
The secret base was surrounded by a clear circle stretching out one-hundred meters; beyond it laid a graveyard of fallen Autobots and Decepticons alike from previous battles. While the remains of their foes were disgraced, the remains of their brothers were honored and cherished; many of the lifeless Autobot husks were decorated with messages from friends or symbols of honor. There were some even Optimus took the pleasure of placing a symbol on their chassis, those who perished with true honor or those who gave it their all to the end. Optimus respected any powerful warrior, whether that power came from strength or from will; he even respected Megatron as much as he loathed him. However, he dreaded ambling through the graveyard.
Optimus Prime wasn't sure where he was headed; even with his illuminating optics, he was hardly able to see in the dark of night. The section of Cybertron their base was located was far from any city, so no lights would reveal their position. Not even the light reflected from Cybertron's moons could make them appear visible. He was sure to be careful not to disturb any of the fallen bodies of his brothers in arms as he ventured beyond the borders of their base, wandering absently through the graveyard. As he trekked on, time felt as if it was passing by very slowly. The further he traveled through the graveyard, the older and more decayed the bodies appeared. As he passed by each perished soul, he felt their black optics following him, watching him, staring at him with a questioning look, asking, "Why did you fail to save me, sir?" That was why he never entered. Each lifeless Autobot reminded Optimus of his failures to save those lives. Many of them he had fought in combat with. He could never bring himself to look at any of their bodies straight through their cold eyes. It aroused the memory of his sparkmate and sparkling.
He didn't know why, but Optimus suddenly became frightened. Quickly and quietly, he fled the graveyard and returned to the safety of the Autobot base, entering his private quarters, laid down in his berth, and forced himself to recharge.
A/N: here is chapter 2! Let me know what you think ^^
