The battles had raged all day long. Everyone was tired and weak; the base was almost abandoned. The hospital was the only place that seemed alive. Mechs and femmes running around searching for their loved ones in the rabble of wounded soldiers; medics attending to all the patients that they could as fast as they could. Optimus walked the halls of the base. With the silence of the base, the hospital could be heard from even fully on the opposite side of it. All the doors he passed were closed and locked tight, their inhabitants getting as much recharge as they could before they were undoubtedly called back into action. Optimus couldn't help but wonder if the Decepticon base was like this. If Megatron wandered the halls of his own base hearing the wounded cries shout out through the silence. Following the halls through the base, he stopped in front of a door. As he raised his hand to knock, the door opened.
"I heard you walking." Arcee spoke as she moved out the way of the door, a silent invitation to enter, "It's quiet enough to hear a screw drop." Once he was completely inside, Arcee let go of the door, the sound of the lock mechanisms echoing in the eerie quietness.
"I'm sorry for visiting so late, I just needed to make sure that you were safe. I heard that your team came under some heavy Decepticon fire today. Are you well?" Optimus leaned down in front of the femme, who'd taken a seat on her berth. His hand reached out to stroke her cheek gently. She nodded softly, her face staying cupped in his hand. A small smile came to Optimus's face as he looked into the femme's optics.
Truth be told, he'd been enamoured with her for some time now. Always finding different reasons to visit her or be near her. All he wanted was to take her in his arms and worship her body, make her feel the love he felt for her.
With her cheek still pressed into his palm, he pulled her slowly towards himself. His head tilted sideways slightly as his lips pressed to her own; the kiss was soft and gentle. Enjoying the feeling, he clasped one hand onto her waist and held her tighter in his grasp. Upon hearing a slight moan come from her, he pushed against her lips harder, making the kiss more intense and passionate. Being mindful not to hurt her, he lowered her down onto her back on the berth, holding himself up on his free arm, that he'd removed from her face. She whimpered quietly as he clenched his fingers on her waist, obviously hitting a hotspot as he did so.
"Wait... Optimus..." Arcee panted in-between kisses. Being so blinded by lust and passion for the femme trapped underneath him, Optimus continued to push his lips hungrily against hers whenever she broke free of them.
"You want this as much as I do." He growled seductively into her neck as he broke free from her mouth and bit the cables along her neck junction. His hand swarming over her torso and chest, occasionally roaming down to her thighs and ghosting across her lower plating, teasing the femme.
"Not now." Her optics locked onto his and she could see the lust ebb from his optics as he now clearly heard her words. Loosing her from her entrapment underneath him, he pulled her up to his chest as he sat himself against the wall.
"I apologise."
"Don't. I want you, I want this just as much as you do. But not now. It's too dangerous." She rested her head against the doors to his spark and listened to his spark beating, strong and, although sped up after their encounter, steadily returning to normal, "The Decepticons get stronger by the day; and the war doesn't seem to be ending any time soon. It's too dangerous for us now." Turning her body so that she was chest to chest with him (and therefore straddling his waist), she looked up into his optics. Optimus in turn wrapped his arms around her, resting his hands on the arch of her back; his fingers lightly stroking the arch and, occasionally, her aft, "I'm not saying never. Just not now."
"I don't care about Megatron. I care about you. And nothing will stop me from loving you any less then I do now, and have for many years." Optimus gripped her tighter against his body, one of his hands trailing up her back to clasp onto a winglet, earning a pleasurable sigh from her.
"It's dangerous. I don't want to be with you and then have to lose you. I don't want to open my spark to someone, and then have it die with them." Arcee stroked Optimus's cheek with a single hand, staring straight into his optics as she did so. Bringing his own hand away from her winglets, he held the back of her neck and drew her face closer to his own; he lightly pressed his lips to hers, licking her lips to earn entrance into her mouth. When she separated them slightly, he took his chance and pushed his glossa into her mouth and tasted her, before tangling his glossa with hers.
Pulling away from her, Optimus stared down at her optics intensely, "I don't care. I won't let anyone come between us. I will kill anyone who tries to keep us apart, even if you and I are the only ones left on this planet." Loosing her neck, he held onto her waist, assaulting her lips with his own once more. Arcee threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close. Optimus pushed himself off of the wall and lay her down onto the berth, fully positioning himself over her body. Arcee moaned when his hands once more stroked the insides of her thighs.
"Stay with me tonight?" Arcee whispered to him as he tore himself away from her lips and trailed his kisses down her neck and chest.
"I will be here; every night, forever." The pairs lips melded again, as they ripped the armour from each others bodies.
Optimus sat at his desk in his and Arcee's quarters. His head in his hands as he thought everything over one more time. He'd gone over it in his head at least 10 times already, but still it seemed fake. Like a lie that was being told to test his restraint and emotional breaking point. Megatron was alive and Arcee was gone. His rival had been occupying her mind for days prior to the event on the Nemesis. He could have caused some damage: Brought the Decepticons to their location; killed them whilst they slept, it wasn't like he hadn't had the opportunity to. But he hadn't. Megatron had bided his time, used his advantage to find their weaknesses, mainly Optimus's. Arcee was that weakness. And now Megatron had taken her away from him. Everything that Optimus feared about being with her had come true. He'd been with Arcee for so long that he'd convinced himself that nothing would happen to her, the risks that confronted them at the start of their relationship were gone. The Decepticon threat was still there, but Earth was different to Cybertron, there weren't as many as their had been. Optimus had convinced himself that being off of Cybertron meant that he and Arcee didn't have the risks to their relationship any more. He was obviously wrong. She would never be safe with him.
Being so caught up in his own head, Optimus failed to notice Ratchet entering the room. The medic watched his leader for a minute or two, the mech oblivious to his presence. He seemed dead to the world, optics locked onto one spot on the floor, unmoving. He was frozen as he was, whether in a state of shock or grief, both most likely.
"I'm sorry Optimus." Ratchet spoke as he approached Optimus slowly.
"Tell me again." The mechs voice was low and quiet, still refusing to look anywhere other then the floor. Optimus's head remained in his hands. Ratchet took a seat on the opposite side of the desk to his leader. He looked at him intensely, before sighing gravely.
"So long, Megatron." Arcee, with ease, threw him away from the immobilized warlord. With a single motion she plunged the dark energon into his gaping chest cavity, his red eyes flaring to life in an instant.
Megatron was alive. Arcee gripped her head , digging her fingers in hard enough to dent the metal. Dropping to the floor and with her head still in her hands, she stopped all movement. All sound ceased from her. Skidding to a stop beside her, Ratchet tried his best to check her over, but her injuries were internal, mental, not physical. There wasn't much he could do for her right now, especially with the enemy closing in all around them. A hand on his shoulder ripped the medic away from the femme and threw him across the room. With blurred vision, Ratchet could make out the Decepticon warlord picking up Arcee up; picking Optimus's femme up. As Vehicons rushed into the room, one was handed the unconcious femme by his master.
"Decepticons! Your rightful lord and master has returned! Take the femme to a holding cell; finish this pest. I have my own extermination to perform." The Vehicon holding Arcee, plus another two, took off from the room. Megatron too soon followed suit, walking menacingly out of sight.
The Decepticons charged up their guns, all aiming at Ratchet. With the shots firing at him, Ratchet took off down into the hidden dip that Arcee and Bumblebee had hidden in when this whole mess started. Being chased by the Vehicons the whole time, Ratchet ran through the low walkways until he found and escape hatch in the wall. Taking his chance, he broke the hatch open and jumped, thankfully it wasn't too far to fall. Before hitting the floor, he transformed into his vehicle mode, making his escape as soon as his wheels came into contact with the ice.
"So you don't know if she's alive?" Optimus finally looked up from the floor, only barely though.
"No, I didn't get the chance to find out."
"Why? Why did he keep her?" Optimus leaned himself back in his chair, his hands gripping the ends of the arm rest tightly in anger and frustration.
"Megatron isn't stupid, Optimus. He knows that Arcee is your -" "Don't say weakness. She doesn't make me weak, she makes me stronger. Gives me more to fight for." Optimus cut the medic off.
"Even if she isn't a weakness in the literal sense, she makes you weaker when you're apart."
'So we get her back.' The two mechs attention was drawn to the door, where Bulkhead and Bumblebee both stood watching them, determination evident in their expression and body language.
"And beat 10 rounds of scrap out of Megatron while we're at it." Bulkhead chimed in. The two mechs came into the room fully.
Bee picked a data-pad up off of the desk as he drew nearer. Inside was a picture of Optimus and Arcee on Cybertron. The pair were lying on a medical berth, cuddled up was after a tough day of fighting, Optimus coming back with a semi-serious wound to his waist; Ratchet keeping him in the med-bay overnight to be sure everything was OK. Optimus lying on his back, spooning Arcee into him, her head on his chest. Ratchet had taken the picture to remind them that what they had was exactly what they needed, something to come back to everyday and forget about the fighting with. Something that made the war seem like it wasn't the only thing in the world.
"We're behind you no matter what Optimus." Bulkhead assured his leader. It wasn't a statement that was ever questioned, just something that Optimus needed to hear right now. That he wasn't alone.
"We are getting her back, no matter what." Prime spoke with his usual strong leader tone of voice finally returning to him. His whole aura changed as he sat up straight, looking dead at his team. He saw no hesitation in them. Bumblebee threw both his arms up in the air, buzzing happily and excitedly. He and Bulkhead bumped chests.
After sending his team to their rooms for recharge, Optimus lay down on the berth. It was a strange feeling there. He always slept with Arcee pressed against him; spooning her into himself. Her head pressed under his chin, her back against his chest, her aft resting against his groin. His own arms wrapped around her so that nothing could take her away while they slept.
Now, the berth was empty. Cold, empty and, despite Arcee taking up less then half of the space, enormous. He knew he had to get her back, he couldn't continue without her.
What was happening to her right now? What was Megatron doing to her? Thats if she's still alive; Ratchet was unable to tell on the Nemesis and since returning to base, her signal had been missing. His spark flared angrily at the thought that she may be dead or, if she was still alive, about what Megatron may be doing or already done to her.
He would get her back.
Aww. Poor Optimus. I wanted to play Optimus's emotions in this one, and Optimus isn't the easiest to give emotions to while making him somewhat in character. So, I hope you like it.