"Human."

Chapter 10

"The fight."

Even though his mind was still frozen in cold shock, his body reacted immediately after the threat was presented to it.

Ducking harshly to the left with instinctual ease, Optimus Prime barely dodged the bullet that landed in the wall behind him.

Breathing heavily the humanized Autobot leader tried calm down his freighted heart, as he hid behind a nearby dumpster for cover.

He should probably be thanking, Primus his instincts and reactions were as sharp and fast in this body, as they were in his old one. If they weren't, he'd be lying on the ground with a nice, new hole in his forehead.

While he calmed down, he tried to pinpoint who could want him dead, since…there was quite an army of those, to be honest. However, the most accurate option, AKA Megatron, had no idea he was a human now. For all the evil Lord of Decepticons knew, he could be reunited with the Allspark 24 hours ago.

The sound of something small and metallic hitting the floor, made him turn his head towards the rooftop directly across him.

Whoever was up there, just dropped a used bullet shell. Even from the considerable distance that stood between him and the shining object, Optimus could see it was a sniper bullet.

His blue eyes narrowed at the dark figure reloading his gun.

Snipers were a nightmare on the battlefield, especially for robots like him and Bulkhead.

His reasons being the fact that he was too tall, painted like a bullseye and had weak head protectors. The last fact was commonly used by Megatron during their fights, the traitorous robot constantly aiming every hit for his helmet.

One headshot from a Decepticon Sniper could knock him out entirely, which is why he avoided those like fire.

Bulkhead was to slow and to…bulky. He was the personification of the term 'perfect target' that was used in Sharpshooter School's, back on Cybertron.

Another bullet flew inches away from his ear and he was forced to duck further behind the dumpster. The Sniper was still trying to shoot him and, after a couple of misses, the ex-Autobot realized that the shots were soundless.

Meaning nobody heard the fight going on, so there was no use in waiting for help from the outside.

He was stuck facing an enemy, he didn't have a chance against, even in his true body.

Remembering that the man had to reload every nine shots, Optimus counted every missed hit. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

His, seemingly endless, patience was rewarded five shots later, when the gunshots stopped. Getting up the humanized Autobot leader, bottled from behind the trashcan and made a run for the nearest fire escape. Unfortunately, he didn't even make four full steps before a well-placed kick to the head made him see stars and hit his back painfully on the sharp edge of the green dumpster.

Landing on his knees from the impact, Optimus felt something warm and sticky run down his nose, straight to his mouth. It tasted metallic and didn't sit well with his stomach.

"Well, well, well." A voice said in front of him.

He cursed himself under his breath. He was so focused on the Sniper, he forgot all about the aggressive parent.

Alpha Trion would not be pleased with his performance today.

And, frankly, neither was he.

Optimus tried to pick his head up and look the man in the eye, but his head was still pounding from the attack and it was difficult for him to focus.

"I have to say, I'm impressed. No one has ever avoided Killer Strike's bullets." Cedric said with a hint of surprise in his voice. "Especially out in the open. You must be really good, if you managed that."

The Autobot leader didn't really listen as he forced his head to move upwards, scanning the man's posture and looking for weak points to attack.

"Even though what you did was impressive…" Farrell paused cracking his knuckles. "Im afraid you won't be able to tell anyone about it." He took a step forward and Optimus spat out the blood that gathered into his mouth, not taking his eyes of the approaching human. "My boss for some reason wants you dead and dead you shall be. Don't look at me like that, it's nothing personal. Just…business."

The minute those words left the kick-boxers mouth, the humanized robot launched at him with full force, intending to tackle the champion to the ground.

His plan worked as a mere second later, both large males were wrestling their way into the open where a certain Sniper can see them.

#With Sniper:

"Damn it." He cursed as he watched the two men struggle to get on top of each other. This would be a perfect shot…if Cedric wasn't there blocking his view of his target.

He can't shoot now. Not with his damn partner in the way.

They might not see 'eye-to-eye' all the time, but they were close like brothers and Killer Strike wasn't going to risk Cedrick losing his life, to his own gun.

Growling, he focused on reloading his gun and keeping an eye out for the outcome of the wrestling match.

#With Prime:

Everything went according to plan.

Judging by the lack of bullets flying near his ears, Optimus came into concussion that the sharpshooter didn't want to harm his friend. Therefore, he knew the man's weakness and was willing to take advantage of it.

Twisting his body so that he was on the other man's back, the Autobot leader placed his arm under Cedrick's neck and, with the help of his free hand and legs, pulled the kick-boxer to a standing position. All in a similar fashion to a jokey making his horse stand, while also being careful not to strangle the poor fool in the process.

Once they were both on their feet Optimus allowed his hold to weaken, making an opening for Cedrick to 'try-to-break-free', even though that decision might cost him a rib or two.

The kick-boxer didn't disappoint. With surprising strength, he slammed the Autobot leader to the wall behind him and proceeded to hit his ribcage with his sharp elbow.

Though the feeling of having your ribs broken wasn't pleasant, Optimus got exactly what he wanted.

A shield.

Regaining his tight grip on the champion's neck he proceeded to lead him across the open field towards the fire escape, he originally planned on using.

#With Sniper:

Killer Strike cursed the man, with every curse word he knew.

How could he be so stupid?! He should have known, he was going to use Cedrick as a shield!

Now there was nothing he could do about it, he had to retreat and hope his partner will make it out okay.

With a last glance at his friend, the Sniper fled the scene.

#With Prime:

Optimus stopped his journey half way through, hearing the distant sound of shoes hitting cement and repressed the urge to curse.

All his hard work went for nothing! He wasn't even going to find out who wanted to shoot him so badly!

"Let…me…go." His captive's voice muffled, struggling to get free.

The leader didn't listen, instead being focused on figuring out a way to question the man, without actually having to kill him in the end.

Optimus knew there were ways to do it, but he never cared to learn them.

He was, and still is, at war. Leaving hostages alive after questioning, was never an option.

And then, as if on que, a distant memory began to play.

It was a few months ago, when he caught the children watching cartoons on Ratchet's computer, instead of doing math homework.

They were watching a man dressed in a dark suit, with strange pointy ears trying to get information from, what looked like a teenager dressed as a 'scarecrow', by holding him by the leg over an empty street and threatening that he'll let him fall.

Optimus didn't remember if the strategy worked in the end, but he did saw that the teen was pretty intimidated by the figures actions.

He looked at the struggling kick-boxer.

Perhaps it's worth a try…

JA107: I can't believe some of you actually though, I was going to kill him off! I feel offended *pouts* I would never do that to my favorite character. I'd rather glorify everything he does with perfection ^^. Anyway, can you guess what cartoon Jack, Raph and Miko were watching that faithful day? ;-)