For The Race – Prime Protector.
Chapter Eleven.
A/N: Thanks once again to Hummergrey for ideas in this chapter too.
Sam spent the first three hours of her recharge uninterrupted, and Optimus was waiting for her to come back to awareness, certain that he'd have to explain his actions to Sam, which would mean explaining about the arousal-scent and the necessity of overloading her. How Sam would take both the information and Optimus' actions was still very much a grey area, and Optimus hoped very much that in the weeks since her transformation that she had become a little more comfortable about her femininity and her metal construction.
A cry from Sam brought Optimus' thoughts back and he looked at Sam, expecting her to be waking, but she wasn't. Her optic shutters twitched, followed by her legs, and then her whole body twitched, and it was then that Optimus realised that Sam was dreaming.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
As he ran, he could see flickering shadows around him, hear loud noises, but his focus was narrowed to the Cube he had tucked under his arm and the way ahead. As a large metal foot hit the ground with a thump in front of him he dodged but miscalculated, almost getting run over by three girls in an Escalade that stopped an inch from him.
Rearing back, he slipped, the Cube rolling from under his arm as he lay on his back, stunned. He barely heard the crackle or saw the blue lightning from the Cube as a shadow fell over and a sharp-clawed hand took a swipe, trying to grab the Cube but missing, due to its now-tiny size. He scrambled to his feet, too busy trying to get to his feet and get the Cube, all while avoiding being squished under the feet of Starscream, who was also after the Cube, to hear the alarmed cries of the car's occupants as it suddenly became alive.
oOo oOo oOo
As Sam twitched again, and then cried out, raising an arm in a clearly defensive movement, Optimus realised that Sam was not merely dreaming, but that he was having a nightmare.
oOo oOo oOo
Then he was on the roof of the building, facing Megatron, who had pursued him all up to the top of the building.
"Give me the Cube and you may live, as my pet," Megatron told him, as he gripped a column on the roof for balance.
Sam was trying to shelter behind a similar column, trying to get his body behind it to shield himself. Doing so with the Cube under his arm was a difficult business.
"I'm never giving you this AllSpark!" he shouted back. Megatron almost looked disappointed at his answer as he transformed his free hand into a spiky, menacing looking flail and began spinning it.
"How very unwise," he said. A heartbeat later it struck the pillar Sam was clinging to, snapping it from its base, and Sam screamed in terror as both he and the AllSpark, plus the remains of the pillar, plummeted towards the ground.
oOo oOo oOo
As Sam gave a shrill cry of terror and twisted on the berth, Optimus moved over, rolling onto the berth next to Sam, taking her into his arms and holding her close to his chest, all the while shushing and murmuring reassurances, stroking her head comfortingly, and trying to gently wake her up.
oOo oOo oOo
Suddenly his descent was halted as a figure leaped from the side of the nearby building and he was caught by a careful hand and scooped protectively up to a warm metal flame-patterned chest. It was Optimus Prime.
"It's okay boy, I've got you," he said.
oOo oOo oOo
Then things became a bit more jumbled, he could feel himself being stroked and cradled, being told he was safe, he was just having a bad dream, that he should wake up, and again it was Optimus' rich steady voice.
Then her eyes opened and she remembered that Mission City was over, but that she had just relived it in a dream.
oOo oOo oOo
As the last shreds of the dream fled her processors, she became aware that she was curled against Optimus' chest, her hands were clinging to him, and her legs were drawn up to his stomach. His own legs were drawn up behind hers, his arms were crooked to hold her to him, his hands curled about her back and shoulders, holding her protectively, soothingly, and Sam found that she didn't mind. In fact, quite the opposite: she felt safe in the Prime's embrace, he was warm, and she relaxed as he continued to murmur reassurances and promised to keep looking out for her.
One part of her wanted to mentally pull back the wisps of recharge, nuzzle into Optimus' warm chestplates and drop back down into a nightmare-free rest, but a larger portion of her mind recognised that she had recharged enough so she shook off the urge and sat up.
She felt an unexpected pang of disappointment when Optimus pulled back and stood up, and felt an odd sense of loss as he walked out into his office, but when he returned a few moments later, he was holding cubes of energon, one of which he handed to her. She was half-glad but half-nervous when he sat next to her on the berth, but when he did nothing more than drink his energon, she relaxed again and applied herself to her own cube.
When she next looked up, he was looking at her, but there was no intent in his bearing and she did not feel uncomfortable under that gentle cerulean gaze. That slight smile he rarely showed was back on his face, but whereas before she might have felt awkward, this time she did not. Something had shifted slightly between them, and Sam could not have said what it was, but she found herself able to be more at ease around Optimus. However, there was one thing she had to know, and she hoped Optimus had a good reply ready.
"When I woke, you were touching me, stroking me. What was all that about?" she asked, careful to keep any accusatory tone out of her voice. She didn't want to shatter this warm friendly moment they were sharing. Optimus shuttered his optics and inclined his head towards her, then unshuttered the optics again as he began to speak.
"When I entered the room, you had begun the recharge process, but you appeared unable to achieve the deep recharge you needed to refresh yourself. After confirming the reason for this, I used touch to enable you to discharge so you could recharge properly."
"Could I have that in English?" Sam asked, then recalling how the 'bots could be very literal minded, said "What I mean is that I don't get your explanation. How about you explain what you confirmed and what you mean by 'discharge'. Remember, all this is new to me."
Optimus sighed. "Perhaps I should explain what happened, from when you were in the practice room up until I discharged you." He paused, then continued.
"I first became aware of the fact that you were charged when I began practicing with Ironhide..."
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Sam let Optimus explain without interrupting, but when he had finished, she had questions for him.
"You mean I smell when I get turned on? Are you the only one who can smell me?" she asked. Optimus shook his head.
"Anyone, mech or femme, can pick up the scent of another's charge," he said. Sam cringed.
"You mean...Ironhide smelt it, and anyone else I passed in the corridor?" she said, trying to remember if she'd passed anyone else between Optimus' room and Ironhide's armoury, and failing to remember anything about whether anyone else had been present.
"Yes, Ironhide smelt it, but as you met nobody else between there and my room, nobody else did, although none would comment on it if they had."
"And the only way to get rid if this 'charge' is to be touched?" Sam asked.
"To be stimulated by yourself or by another, yes," Optimus said. "This can range from simple touch, either in specific areas or general all-over caressing, by yourself or by another, up through to interface with another, with or without Sparkmerge." He paused. "Ratchet has also created devices for us to aid in self-stimulation. I am sure that if you asked, he could make a version for your own use."
'Ratchet could make me a vibrator?' she thought, not sure if the thought horrified her or amused her or both. She had a sudden vision of Ratchet as the proprietor of a sex-aid shop, Cybertronian-style, and winced. 'Think I'll pass that one up for now,' she thought, and tried to get the unwanted images out of her mind by asking another question.
"You seemed to know the right places to touch to do what was needed. Is that because you have experience or knowledge of sensitive spots on femmes, or is that because they're the same in mechs and femmes?"
"Many of the spots are sensitive in both, however there are areas more sensitive on each gender, but it will even vary from 'bot to 'bot. For example, Bumblebee's and your shoulders will be more sensitive than Hound's because you have shoulder launchers, and thus more cabling running through your shoulders than he. However, Bumblebee also has doorwings, so his shoulders will be more sensitive than yours are, as you have no doorwings. The substance involved also affects sensitivity. Glass is more sensitive than plating, for example."
"So that's why Skywarp nearly collapsed when I electro-knuckled his canopy?" Sam asked. "I guess that's the equivalent of kicking him in the nuts?"
Optimus took an astrosecond to process Sam's remark, and chuckled with a nod. "Different location but same effect, but yes, knowing a foe's sensitive spots can also help you know where vulnerabilities lie."
Sam looked over at Optimus. "Would you mind if I touched you, by way of an experiment? I promise not to touch hard."
"Certainly, Sam," Optimus said, slightly puzzled, and put down his cube of energon. Sam did likewise, then shuffled a little closer, reaching out her hands a little hesitantly.
As her fingers gently brushed the window glass on his chest, he flinched and his vents stalled but far from unwilling, he reflected that it was good that Sam had reached this new stage, even if it was likely to end up with him having to dispel his own charge by self-stimulating. After all, any progress was better than none.