Chapter 14 – I can finally SEE you

I think I always start off with a little something about the chapter and the characters, but this time, I want to start off by simply saying "Thank you" to each and every one of you that reads my work. Through the story, I hope you will find little bits and pieces that are dear to you. And if you have a favorite character, please do not hesitate to contact me, and who knows, they may have a little extra "Screen" time.

EDITED: I realized that I should NOT try to proof read my work at 10 pm. Obviously in the copy paste process I may, or may not have missed a paragraph or two. Lesson learned...post chapters earlier.

The wonderful lush hills seemed to go on for ever and ever. She smiled taking in the view and looked all around her. To her back, a massive green forest of pine trees scattered amongst patches of now yellows, reds and rusty colored leaves. It was so thick, so abundant and full of life. It must have been early fall at least. Strangely she had no idea why that thought crept into her mind. This place was foreign to her, and she had never been there before. And it felt so good, so very, very good to stand there. When she looked at her hands, they were no longer the fleshy fragile fingers of a human. They were long, metallic covered in intricate shapes made of beautiful biomechanics that she knew. Her hands - no - servos - traveled down her slender form, outlining the edges of her exoskeleton, down her flat and toned abdomen to the mild spikes that framed her pelvis and widened to her hips. She looked down at strong thighs, long pedes and they felt oh so firmly planted into the ground.

"YES!" she called out loud, and her arms spread up towards the perfectly blue sky.

The autobot took off running. Faster than she ever felt in a human form, so fast that grass was kicking up under each step. Vanessa skid a bit as she hit the edge of the pasture and stared at her reflection in the impeccably still water of a lake. In absolute awe she dropped to her knees. How she missed looking at this. Why she missed it, she didn't know, but this was her norm, her reality. This was familiar. The way her body felt, the way everything around her seemed to pulsate with energy. Her optics were a soft glowing shade of blue and they seemed to pulsate back and forth between that and purple. In an almost shy gesture she reached out towards the water wanting to touch it. As she did that, the colossal frame of Optimus Prime appeared behind her. Down on her knees, she froze. She was startled and stared at their reflection in the lake before jumping to her feet and turning to look at him.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Optimus Prime, and I am the leader of the Autobots here on Earth. Together with the humans we have formed an alliance to protect this planet and defend it from the Decepticon danger that has been plaguing this galaxy" he explained in his soft and reassuring voice. "You know me..."

"A Prime" she whispered and looked away.

Vanessa was tall by all means, the size of a normal Autobot, but she only stood about chest height to Optimus, that including the tip of her highest spike on the side of her helm. She slowly took a step back, and would have clearly risked falling back into the water had it not been for him wrapping an arm around her waist, palm pressing against the small of her back. Quickly, the femme looked up at him and then immediately looked away out of respect.

"Easy now… come" he said and pressed against her back a little bit, just enough to make her step towards him.

She took but one small step and her frame was already just inches from his chest-plates. It was very obvious that this felt very awkward to her. Lots of emotions were flowing through her at the same time, and it was quite difficult to try and sort them all out. Vanessa did not speak at all, but waited for him patiently to continue.

"Do you know who you are?" he asked her.

She shook her helm at him that she didn't.

"Do you know What you are?"

"No" she whispered and looked at him. Those soft blue purple optics just begging for answers "I see things…from my world and from this one" she continued and pointed out to the forest and pasture around them. "Bits and pieces of memories that don't belong to me…"

"I am sorry you were brought into this world in quite the unusual way" he said and stepped to the side, his servo still on the small of her back, urging her to walk along his side. "You are hold the potential to be a Prime, just like me" he continued "You were born from the fusion of the Energon Cube with the spark of Megatron, a powerful Decepticon leader. The cube was destroyed and a fragment splintered into the body of a human female. It, You, well yes, you rebuilt her body and grew slowly inside of her mind, but eventually you became just too powerful. I say you have the potential to become a Prime simply because of what has sparked you. There is innate good and kindness within you, and if used appropriately, you could be an asset to the entire Cybertronian species."

"Is this why I dream of her?" she asked and looked up at Optimus

"Precisely." He confirmed and nodded at her briefly "What do you remember?"

"Not much… I remember just bits and pieces. I am not sure if it was reality or this… what ever this is"

"This is our link state" he explained. "When two autobots link, they can transport each other into their own world. We feel, taste, see, smell, and can interact as if this is the real world simply by the way our sparks interact. The way energy vibrates inside of us when we are linked is what gives us sensations. Heights of absolute pleasure, depths of torturous pain, or simple conversation are just as easy to create. It all matters on what you want. I have been able to link with you via a hard line, and I deeply apologize for this intimate gesture, but it was required."

"Link…him! Optimus… in my link, in my dream, I was human… but with me, there was another Autobot one time, and then this man…Why?"

Optimus stopped and took a step in front of her. He faced her and looked down at the smaller and yet lovely femme in front of him. He sighed, and the warm air from his vents caressed her face-plates.

"Ironhide" he answered to her. "Your human counterpart was not completely shut down, as It is now. So because it had no idea what your vibration should look like, it simply portrayed herself. As for Ironhide, he has been at your side from the moment you were born. You pulled him into this reality, but again, the human mind depicted him the way she imagined him. We are still unable to find out how, and why his Spark and yours can drift into this from a distance, as if there is something akin to a bond already formed. Perhaps the two of you resonate just that perfectly. It happens, it is not that unheard of."

Her servo went to her intake and covered her now parted lip-plates. Optics moved from side to side as she tried her hardest to remember every little detail about him. Oh she knew him alright. That feeling around him was intoxicating and yet, with the Prime next to her, she could not focus to save her life. Fragments of the humans she had torn to pieces in the alley came back to her processor and she cringed. Her eyes narrowed, and almost closed before shaking her helm a little bit. She wanted to hold on to the feeling of how reassuring the other Autobot felt, she wanted to sink into the way Optimus felt and how comfortable she felt around him. But she could not. She had tasted and felt the fear of those men in their final moments, and now, outside of her fight or flight state, she had realized what it meant.

"I've hurt humans…" she whispered.

"I know"

"Have I hurt you? Or him?" asked the smaller femme visibly distraught.

Optimus laughed at her question and shook his helm. One servo moved over to the side of her face-plates and traced the delicate lines of her profile. This sparkling was not so much like the others. Sure she looked a lot like them, and in that moment he made a mental note to tell Ratchet to build her an exoskeleton, just in case, but he also realized she will have a heck of a time trying to balance the strong human mind inside with the spark. He knew the fight she will have to face. Her understood her pain, her need, her desire to melt together. But in all that, he also knew that once the human mind would work alongside the spark, it would tear her apart if he allowed instinct to take over. Primes were attracted by other primes as their energies vibrated differently, however it was not required. It was after all a matter of choice. Ironhide was concerned about how she would be able to control this. A young spark like hers, untrained, raised by no one except memories of the communal Autobot mind, was not going to be able to control impulses. Death, love, mating, sparking life, linking randomly, all these were trainable traits, and she had no experience in either.

"No, you have not hurt either of us" he replied. "I need to teach you something. And we are short on time. You must learn to feel other Autobots and Decepticons, but most importantly you must learn to accept the human consciousness. You cannot exist without it, and she can no live without you."

Vanessa nodded. She trusted him out of pure instinct. After all, he was linked with her and clearly had already given her the gift of her appearance. If he wanted to harm her, he could have. Optimus took one step closer to her, his chest bumping against hers just lightly. Both her servos came up to rest against the glass and front plates of his broad chest. Her helm tilted to the side a bit as her optics zoomed in and out looking at him. His right servo moved from the small of her back to the back of her helm. He leaned in, just under an inch from her face-plates and he whispered.

"Feel me"

The moment those words hit her audio receptors, she simply gasped as her body was shuddered with sensations that she could not even process. Her pedes gave in, her digits curling up to grip against the metal of his body. Quickly he brought his left servo around her waist and held her up against him.

"Breathe... Vent" he whispered, breath hot against the metal of her face.

She could no longer hold her optics open, and gave in to the sensation. His right servo moved from the back of her helm to the side of her face-plates, cupping her check and chin, while the other servo simply held her against him until she steadied herself back on her pedes The feeling was so intense it made every circuit of her body tingle. Energy traveled up and down each fragment of her, and it slithered in and out, around, in soft little trickles that made her shiver on and off. Once he knew that she was well on her pedes, he took his left servo just about an inch away from her body and allowed the tips of his digits to trace a line up her spinal strut. He realized she forgot to breathe again under the impact of the feelings, and he brushed his lip-plates against hers in a soft whisper.

"Breathe"

Her arms traveled up over his shoulders and wrapped around his neck, slowly pulling him towards her. She could see memories, she could feel his own emotions melting inside of her. The vibration in her chest was like a soft hum and it warmed her up from the very core of her being. Flashes of images danced in the back of her mind: Images of Cybertron, flashes of battles, chases, humans, space, galaxies zooming in and out as they traveled. Vanessa remembered to breathe this time, and those soft glowing optics opened up to look at him and get lost in the deep blue pools glowing back at her.

"This is insane" she finally spoke, her voice clearly breaking.

"This is a link" he explained to her. "This is what a Prime feels like" He pulled his helm back a little from her and moved his digits over the side of her intake. "Do you see what I mean?"

"Oh, I finally SEE you" she nodded and smiled at him.

Optimus smiled and leaned in to give her what would be perhaps their only kiss. It wasn't like anything that would ever be known to a human. That exchange of energy, the tingling, the sparks and electricity that was genuinely tangible in the air, could never be experienced outside of a link. Her servos traveled to the side of his face-plates when she pulled away from him. Their forehelms met and leaned against each other in silence.

"You know that I promised I will be here for you. Well, I have kept my word" he said and looked at her.

"Now what?" asked the femme and took a step back from him.

"Now, my little sparkling, you go back to reality" he answered and then placed his servo on her shoulder "Remember to be understanding, gentle, and to protect your human, and your Autobots. I know at least one, who will be very happy to see you"

When the pod door hissed open, Ironhide stood up and looked at Optimus. The Prime unhooked himself from the link to the pod and nodded at the other. He stood up and tapped his shoulder. Ratchet came cruising along them and looked at the woman in the chamber. Vanessa slowly opened her eyes and brought up her hands to her face. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"I am NOT doing this again" she said before stumbling out of the pod and pretty much landing in Optimus' servo.

She looked up at him and blushed. Those feelings that coursed through her body just moments ago were very much alive, and she instantly got flooded with all the memories of the link. The woman brought her hand to her chest and she staggered back from him. She fell to her knees, taking deep, long and labored breaths. Ratchet wanted to come help, but she shook her head at him to not do that. Oh she could feel it alright. The consciousness inside of her waking up. Her body was feeling so alive, so acutely sensitive. Hearing, feeling, touch, smell, everything was enhanced and she could hear every little machine in the room. From behind Optimus, Ironhide stepped closer and watched her quietly. She climbed to her feet and walked over to him. The mammoth bot knelt in front of her and she smiled brightly.

"Hey big boy" she whispered.

Her hand reached out to touch him, wanting to reach for his face but he was still too far. Ironhide lowered his helm to her level and she placed both hands on the side of his face-plates, and allowed her mind to open up to him. Eyes went wide with shock as the energy ran through her human body for the first time. He felt it as well and the sensation of it made him plant both servos onto the ground in front of him, on each side of her standing frame.

"I can SEE you" she whispered to him "My Warrior"