Have an art-piece for you guys, it's called ":SOTE: My Imagination." It's on deviantART, if you want to see it.

Let the Council Begin

XIV

Optimus glanced around.

The place hadn't changed much—it had been stellar-cycles since he entered this building, and it looked exactly the same. Bumblebee glanced around, Sari perched perfectly on the yellow Autobot's shoulder, and took in the area. Autobots paused in what they were doing, and stared at the human, confused as to why Bumblebee wasn't getting hurt from her touch, and why she was even here. Some were disgusted, others interested—one mini-bot stepped forward, staring at the techno-organic with pure interest. Sari grinned sweetly, and waved her hand at him. He blinked his bright blue optics, and waved back at her with a grin. He then stepped away, returning to his friends animatedly, once in a while glancing at her. Sari leaned in towards her Autobot friend.

"Well, they seem less afraid of me."

Bumblebee turned to her, and smirked. "Well, they probably figure that since you're with me, and nothing's happening, then you're okay," he said, shrugging.

Sari blinked, and nodded. "Yeah, I guess," she said, nodding her head.

Jazz chuckled, leaning towards Sari, grinning widely. "They'll soon know dat ya humans are cool," he said. "Ya'll see."

The techno-organic smiled. "I hope so," she stated.

"I know so."

Sari chuckled against her hand. "Well, isn't that optimistic," she said, reaching up to brush away a lock of dark red hair.

"Dat's mah philosophy: thing's will get betta after th' bad has ended," Jazz said, giving a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders. "En't dat th' best way t' be?"

"Totally."

Ratchet glanced over to the young leader, who was taking in everything around him, and drumming his digits on his arms. He looked pensive, biting at the tip of his glossa, and optics narrowed—he was deep in thought.

"You alright, kid?" Ratchet said, placing a servo to the broad shoulder of the Prime.

Optimus turned, staring at the older mech with now open optics. "Oh, yeah, fine," he said quickly, "I'm just deep in thought."

Ratchet nodded knowingly, turning his helm to see Arcee and Bulkhead join Sari, Jazz, and Bumblebee, and talking amongst each other. "Yeah, I understand," he said, turning back to the Prime. There was a pause. "The council will be just fine, kid, just be you."

"I know," Optimus said, letting out a deep sigh.

"After all, you are a hero."

"As are you," Optimus said, softly smiling.

"Yeah, well . . ." Ratchet grumbled, rubbing at his wrist mindlessly. "You kicked Megatron's can."

Optimus chuckled, placing a comforting servo to the old mech's shoulder. "And it nearly put me offline," he said, nodding his helm.

Ratchet let out a little huff, and nodded his helm slowly. "But, you did it," he said, placing his servos to his hips. "And I'm proud of ya, kid."

Optimus stared at the older mech, and couldn't help but to smile at him. "Thanks, Ratchet, that means a lot to me," he said softly.

Ratchet stared at him for a moment, arching an optic ridge. "Don'tcha start gettin' all sentimental on me," he grumbled out. "I don't need you to get all sappy all on me."

Optimus let out a laugh, and patted the medic's broad shoulder. "Sure thing, Ratchet," he said, his servo dropping to his side. "I promise I won't."

"Good."

The Prime turned his helm, noticing a table filled with cubes of warm Energon. Some scattered Autobots surrounded the area, taking said cubes to drink from waiters and waitresses. Optimus turned to the older mech, thumbing over his shoulder. "Would you like some Energon?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," Ratchet stated, placing his servos to rest on his stomach. "Thanks, kid."

Optimus gave a curt nod, and shifted, turning his attention to his group of friends. "Hey, guys, would you like some Energon cubes?" he called, leaning back slightly to gain their awareness.

"You don't even have to ask," Bulkhead said with a large grin.

"That'd b' great, OP!" Jazz said, giving the Prime an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

The others chirped and chimed in, giving the Prime their approval.

Optimus smiled, and curtly nodded his helm. He turned to Ratchet. "Could you help me carry the cubes?" he asked nicely. "I don't have enough servos to carry all the cubes."

"Sure thing, kid," Ratchet said, flexing his digits mildly.

Optimus nodded, and both mechs approached the table where the cubes of Energon were resting. A mini-bot was already starting to clear said table, preparing to put everything away to make room for later. Optimus and the mech medic approached the table, and that was when a pretty femme with a green paintjob materialized at their side.

"Would you like some help?" she asked.

"Oh, no, we're fine," Optimus said politely.

Ratchet glanced over the cubes, and inhaled the scent that sprung forth from the liquid. It was high-grade Energon—the type that would make even the biggest and strongest of 'bots overcharged within a few glasses or cubes of it. He'd make sure that Bumblebee or Bulkhead would only have a single cube. It would be suicidal to allow them to have anymore. He shuttered at the thought of them acting like complete idiots in front of the entire Council.

"This is high-grade," he told Optimus. "Don't let Bumblebee and Bulkhead have any more than one cube."

Optimus chuckled, grabbing a cube carefully so he would not spill it. "Understood," he replied, his servo reaching over to grab another cube.

Ratchet grabbed a cube in one servo, and his optics flickered over, landing on a familiar blue and white paintjob. He paused, turning his full attention to the Autobot he remembered as Mirage having a verbal fight with Sentinel Magnus. The strong-chinned Magnus was waving his digit in the air, face twisted in anger, and sometimes would jab a thumb towards the direction of his chest. Mirage, meanwhile, stood there, face crunched up with seething annoyance, arms tightly crossed over his chest, and one of his pedes quickly tapping at the floor. Occasionally, Mirage would point a digit at Sentinel, and lean in closer towards the Magnus, as if to irritate him more. Ratchet could barely hear what was being said, because of the distance between the duo and Ratchet and Optimus, but he knew that it was not good.

"Hey, kid, look at this," Ratchet said.

Optimus turned to Ratchet, and then followed his gaze to see Sentinel Magnus violently jabbing his digit into somebot's chest, who then twitched and slapped said digit away, as if it were contaminated or something. The Prime let out a displeased sigh.

"Oh, no, Sentinel," he groaned. "Who is he yelling at this time?"

"That's Mirage," Ratchet answered.

Optimus did a double-take. "That is the Mirage you were talking about?" he asked in a whispered.

"Yep," Ratchet stated. "Looks like he don't like Sentinel either. Pfft, I haven't met a 'bot who does."

Optimus blinked, and then turned his helm to stare at Sentinel and Mirage. Mirage said something, held up his servos as if in defeat, and walked away. Sentinel, however, was highly displeased by the lack of respect, and said spoke to voice his opinion. It was so loud, the whole room could practically heard what he said:

"Don't you walk away from your Magnus, 'bot!"

Mirage whipped around, a smug look on his faceplates. "You are not my Magnus," he said lowly, and returned to walking away.

Sentinel growled, his engine roaring. "You have some nerve," he snarled around a half-yell. "You stupid Towers brat!"

Mirage rolled his optics at the drama, and then shook his helm. "I prefer Ultra over you," he muttered in a low voice. He glanced up, catching the optic-sight of Ratchet and Optimus (the old medic suddenly found interest in collecting Energon cubes), and the mech smiled. "Optimus Prime," he called, approaching the table, "it's an honor."

Optimus smiled, though his optic ridges were creased. "Hello, Mirage, right?" he asked.

"That is correct," Mirage answered once he became within a foot of the Prime. The Towers mech turned to Ratchet, and smiled. "Hello, doctor."

"Yeah, hello," the medic mumbled, collecting his third cube.

Mirage blinked, staring at the red and white Autobot for a moment before turning attention back up to Optimus, and then smiled. "Well, as I said, it is a pleasure to meet you," he stated, placing a servo to his chest. "I heard many good things about you and your team."

Optimus laughed shyly. "Oh, yeah, it was—it was nothing, really," he said with a mild shrug. "We were just doing what we did." He then frowned, hanging his helm. "But we did lose a great friend and warrior."

Mirage's smile faded from his face. "Yes, I heard you lost a friend," he said sullenly. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

It grew deathly silent. Ratchet's optics narrowed, a frown creasing his features, and Optimus looked completely sunk in sadness. His optics were hooded, his helm tipped forward slightly, and his face contorted with sorrow. Ratchet loudly cleared his throat, and whirled around, tightly holding his three cubes.

"C'mon, Prime, mopin' around over Prowl won't bring him back," he muttered, though there was a light tone of sadness in it.

Mirage perked up, his digits flexing and his form straightened. "Do you need help carrying those, doctor?" he asked.

"No, I can carry three slaggin' cubes," he answered sharply back. "I'm not a pile of scrap just yet." He stated to walk back to the others, all the while muttering things that only he could hear.

Mirage and Optimus stood there, watching the old medic before their gazes met, and the Prime let out a nervous laugh. "He's a little grumpy, but he's a nice 'bot, trust me," he said.

Mirage grinned. "If you say so," he stated, nodding his helm. "Um, by any chance, is the organic from Earth with you?"

"Sari? Yes, she's with us."

"Oh, good, I wish to see her, if that's okay. I'm a tad curious—that is all."

"By all means," Optimus said, a happy smile returning to his features. "Come, and you can meet the others too."

Mirage smiled, following obediently after the Prime as they rejoined the group. "Here you go," Optimus said, handing a cube to Bulkhead and Bumblebee. "Don't drink them too fast—they're high-grade."

"Alright," Bumblebee said, taking his cube, sniffing it, and then he took a long sip.

"High-grade?" Sari mused, turning up to somebot who could answer her.

"Um," Bulkhead said, his free servo scratching the back of his helm. "Like you humans have . . . um, alcohol, I think you call it."

"Oh," Sari chimed in. Her blue eyes flickered over, catching the gaze of an Autobot she had never seen. He regarded her with innocent interest. "Oh, hello. Who are you?"

"Mirage," Jazz quickly answered, giving the blue and white 'bot a delightful wave. "Been ah while."

"Yes, it has been a while," Mirage answered with a smile. "I just wanted to congratulate all of you for your capturing of Megatron, and see the organic." He moved closer to Bumblebee (who didn't like the close proximity of the other mech at all), staring at the techno-organic with a kind and honey-sweet smile. "Hello."

His voice sounded like the trickling of a calm river on a spring day. It was positively delightful to listen to, and Sari couldn't help but to smile. She moved from a sitting position on Bumblebee's shoulder to standing, and she gave a little wave.

"Hello."

His offered his digits, and she stared at them for a while. It took her about a few seconds to realize that he wanted her hand. "Oh," the techno-organic said, flustered, and she offered her hand to him.

He carefully took it, and placed a kiss to it without colliding with Bumblebee. What a gentleman, Sari thought quickly as the blue mech pulled away, and started to analyze her. Or gentlebot, should I say, she added in an afterthought.

Organics were smaller than he thought. She seemed to have no protective metal casing around them (the armor she did wear moved with her body and looked rather flimsy), a strange substance was on her helm, her paintjob was the colour of mud (he thought she had beautiful optics, though), which was rather strange, but it worked well with her, and her body-type was slender. Strange—they looked very similar to Cybertronians, but had their own flare. His processor reeled with thoughts about how other humans looked like.

"You're . . . smaller than I expected," Mirage offered, holding his index digit and thumb a few centimeters apart.

Sari could only laugh. "Compared to you guys, yeah, I guess we are," she said, leaning against the obviously peeved Bumblebee.

He smiled, and then turned to Bumblebee—finally acknowledging his existence. And, the Autobot did not seem pleased at all. "And you are Bumblebee, is that correct?"

"Yeah," the yellow Autobot said around a frown.

"Pleasure," Mirage said, offering his servo to the youngest of the group.

"Yep," Bumblebee said, just staring at the servo hanging limp in the air.

Mirage glanced between his servo, Bumblebee, his servo, and then back to Bumblebee. The Towers mech lowered his servo in an awkward fashion (Sari staring hard at her friend with confusion and mild anger), and quickly moved to Bulkhead, offering him a smile. "You are Bulkhead, is that correct?" he asked, and re-extended his servo. "Pleasure."

"That's right," Bulkhead said with a grin. "Nice to meetcha, buddy." His servo came down, gripping Mirage's in a vice grip, which caused the other mech to wince at the pain.

"Yes," Mirage said, pulling back to stare at his servo. He was relieved that it wasn't really damaged. He then approached Arcee, and offered her a dashing smile. "Hello, Arcee, right?"

"Yes," the pink Autobot femme said, flushing at the sight at this handsome mech. "Nice to meet you."

"I should be saying that," Mirage stated, reaching for her servo, and laid a tender kiss to its top.

Ratchet twitched, staring at the blue and white mech getting chummy with Arcee, which he did not like at all. He loudly cleared his throat, causing the femme and mech to glance up at him.

"Yes, yes, it was nice to meet you," Ratchet mumbled, taking a sip of his drink and optics shifting to the right.

Optimus gave the medic an odd look, and he glanced away. That was strange, well not too strange because this was Ratchet. However, the look Ratchet gave the blue and white mech was indeed bizarre. He could speak to him about that later, but not now.

Mirage stared at the older mech for a moment before stepping away from the pink femme. "Well, I believe I must go," he said, feeling out of place around the strange stares of Bumblebee and Ratchet.

"Must you?" Sari called.

"Yes, things to do," Mirage said, waving his servo in the air dismissively. "It was a pleasure to meet all of you. But I must leave." He nodded his helm. "Good day."

It was silent, and that was when Optimus turned to Bumblebee, just staring hard at him. "Why didn't you shake his servo?" he asked, optics narrowed.

Bumblebee twitched, fiddling with his thumb components.

"Yeah, what was with that, Bee?" Sari asked, placing her hands to her hips.

"What? He was getting chummy with my best friend," the yellow Autobot said, shrugging his shoulders. "You saw what he did."

"That is no excuse, Bumblebee," Optimus said, taking a sip from his cube. "He was just being nice."

"Being nice, my aft," the yellow Autobot said. "He was hitting on her—and Arcee. You're with me, right, Bulkhead?" He reached over, tapping the large Autobot on the chest with the back of his knuckles.

Bulkhead stayed silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. "Um, I liked him," he quickly said, taking a drink from his cube.

"Oh, c'mon. Ratchet, you with me?"

The medical 'bot grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Bumblebee threw up his arms, which then tightened around his chest. Arcee only smiled nervously.

"Well, I thought he was a complete gentlemech," she said. "Right, Sari?"

"Definitely," the techno-organic chimed in.

The pink femme leaned forward, trying to catch the grey face of the yellow Autobot. "And the next time somebot offers their servo to you, you shake it, you mech," she said, waving her digit in the air.

Bumblebee turned to her, optics wide, and he just stared at her, digesting everything that she said. He felt like she was his teacher and he was the student that she was chastising. He grumbled mildly, and turned from her. Optimus shook his helm, and took a sip from his cube. Sari, meanwhile, slapped her best friend upside the head, which caused him to whine. Something poked Optimus on the thick arm, causing the Prime to look down. Peacemaker was there, smiling awkwardly, and servos linked.

"Hello, Peacemaker," the Prime said.

"H-h-hello," the orange and tan mech replied, smiling sweetly.

"Oh, hey, Peace," Sari called, waving at the mini-bot.

He waved enthusiastically back, a quirky smile upon his lips. "T-the C-Council is beginning," he said, thumbing over his lofty shoulder. "Come." He skittered away, and then stopped, staring back at them, expecting them to follow.

"Oh," Optimus said, and then he turned to the others. "C'mon."

And they followed the mini-bot, after all, the Council was beginning.