Disclosure : I do not own Transformers Prime, it's characters, the storyline, or anything of the sort. I am simply borrowing it to place a piece of my mind in it. I only own my OC, and I will, in a sense, carry the one. I give full credit to those who have created this wonderful series, and Hasbro. Read and Review my loves!
- Lizzzard
"Optimus," Ratchet called again after a few minutes of silence. "Have you uncovered any further sign of Unicron's emergence?"
"Unicron is power incarnate," a low, evil voice shattered through Optimus' open end of the comm. The voice was worse than Megatron's on the evil scale, fear piercing my heart. "And you, the last of the Primes, shall perish,"
"I take that as a yes," Ratchet mumbled.
"O..Optimus," I called weakly.
"We are on our way," Ratchet called next, turning to the ground bridge, the others not far behind.
"Negative," Optimus' order caused them all to stop, and stare at the screen in shock. "Unicron cannot be defeated by sheer force. He wants me Ratchet, this fight must be mine alone,"
"Slagging… glitch head.." I muttered, turning to Ratchet and begging for his optics. "Don't.. Listen," I pleaded. "Go.. help,"
"I agree with Cara," Bulkhead pounded his fists together, gathering the other two bots around the ground bridge. "Last time I left Optimus behind we almost arrived too late,"
Ratchet nodded in agreement, opening the bridge to Optimus' coordinates. The three bots charged through it the next moment, shots ringing from them before they even exited the ground bridge.
The purple in my chest flared dangerously, the pull growing stronger. I moaned in pain as June returned to me, the sound of Ratchet's transformation before Ratch, too, was by my side. Agent Fowler and the kids looked away as the blanket was pulled down, the two of them observing the growing sensation.
"It's spreading.." June observed.
Looking down, I confirmed her observation. The purple glow etched it's way into more of my veins, clouding through my stomach and upper chest, closer to my neck.
"I don't understand what could've caused this to her, and not to Raf," Ratchet puzzled, looking me over again.
"Did Ratchet not relay my command?" Optimus' angry voice thundered through the comm. Ratch disappeared, Ratchet transforming again. "Return to base."
"Re-enforcements will not prevent your destruction, disciple of Primus," the same eery voice followed Optimus'.
"Optimus," Arcee called. "You're Unicron's target. Maybe you should consider returning to base."
"These manifestations of Unicron can locate me anywhere on Earth. Even our base's shielding would only cloak my position for so long. I will not put others at risk. I will not bring harm to my Cara,"
"Then fall back and let us take the lead," Bulkhead ordered next. "Just this once,"
"Please," Ratchet begged into the comm. "Listen to reason. If you do not survive, Optimus, I fear neither will this planet,"
I groaned in pain again, the force in my chest pulling me in the direction of the ground bridge. It took all I had to latch onto the rails beside me, grounding myself into place. June grabbed hold of my forearm as the kids watched me in fear. My back arched, my brain overloading with pain.
"Please," I called out to whoever was listening, praying to God and Primus that Ratchet still had the link open. "Optimus, I need you!"
"Very well," I heard him cave, voice laced with worry. "Ratchet, what is-"
"I don't know," Ratch's voice was quieter, near me this time. "Optimus, I just don't know."
"Let's move!" I heard Arcee holler before she was drowned out by my own moans.
The pain slowly faded as Ratch scanned me, yet again. His scanner reported my whole body was faulted, growing red over each passing stroke.
Bumblebee buzzed through the comm next, quizzically.
"No, not Unicron himself," Optimus thundered through, calming the worry in my heart. "But another of his manifestations."
"If we can't beat Unicron, and we can't outrun him, what exactly are we supposed to do?"
"All we can do," Optimus answered Bulkhead with a commanding voice, pride overriding my body as I listened to the gravity of his voice. "Neutralize his vessels as they appear, until we find a way to destroy him, without destroying the very earth upon which we walk."
"I am this world's past, and it's future," Unicron's voice carried through then. "And as of this moment…"
"No!" Arcee called out desperately. Not knowing what was going on was really starting to bug me…
"All Primes are simply past."
Oh. "Optimus…"
A string of blaster shots could be heard faintly, before a massive crash to the ground echoed the base. Ratchet and the humans stared at the screen, waiting to hear anything from the bots.
Bumblebee buzzed, confused.
"Wasn't me," Arcee replied. "Ratchet?"
"What is it, what happened?"Ratchet responded.
"I happened," an all too familiar voice demanded through.
"Megatron!?"
"King con's there too?" Miko retorted, walking towards Ratchet carefully.
"He has aligned himself with Unicron," Ratchet stated angrily, throwing his hands to the side.
"Don't be so sure," Arcee called out softly. "Megatron just saved Optimus' tailpipe."
"It is rather ironic, considering our last encounter," I could almost see the cons smile. "If memory serves, you were desperately attempting to extinguish my spark."
"That option remains very much in play," I heard my guardian rumble threateningly.
"I would expect nothing less. However, I have a proposal. Join me in defeating our shared enemy - Unicron, the chaos-bringer."
"Ha!" Ratchet laughed next. "Absurd. Unicron is evil incarnate. If Megatron was to take any side, why would it be ours?"
Reasoning hit me, just as it hit Optimus. "Because Megatron's pride would never allow anyone other than himself to rule this planet,"
"You know me all too well, Optimus,"
"You lead an army of cons," Bulkhead protested. "Why come to us?"
"Because this particular endeavour requires something beyond the realm of my command - the power of a Prime,"
Bulkhead laughed. "Then I guess we don't need you,"
"On the contrary. Optimus may be the only one who can defeat Unicron, But I remain the only one who can guide you to him. Unicron's lifeblood runs through me. Only I can hear his thoughts, anticipate his movements. Optimus - our past alliaces - Autobots, Decepticons - no longer matter, not while Unicron lives."
Ratchet slammed a fist into the catwalk, jarring the floor we all rested upon. "The past will always matter!"
"A truce between autobot and decepticon. How long do you expect us to believe that will last?"
"Only as long as it's mutually beneficial."
"And when our proposed shared mission is complete?"
"I will conquer this earth; my way."
"Brutal honesty from a decepticon?" Arcee laughed.
"Aligning with the lesser of two evils is still aligning with evil!"
"Do you think you've witnessed the true power of Unicron? Those foot soldiers were nothing more than a taste. Unicron has yet to fully awaken. With each passing moment, the bringer of chaos evolves, mutating the earth from the inside out. What we have witnessed until now is but a prelude of the utter devastation his rising will wreak upon your world."
"Like your quest for power destroyed Cybertron?"
"Make no mistake. This time, there will be a planet left for me to rule."
"Even if we agree, Unicron's all the way down at the center of the earth; how are we supposed to get there - drive!?"
"There is only one way…" Optimus rumbled.
"Absolutely not!" Ratchet demanded next. "Ground bridging into space, or onto moving trains is difficult enough! But plotting a blind jump inside of a sentient being!? Besides, that much exposure to that much dark energon will debilitate you! You haven't built up an immunity like Megatron has!"
"Yet another argument for soliciting my guidance," the mech in question rumbled.
"You can provide Unicron's exact coordinates?"
"If you transport us to this planet's core, I can lead you directly into Unicron's spark; the very heart of his darkness."
I groaned, the pull forcing me to pay lose attention to the ongoing argument. June rushed to my side, looking at me with pain in her eyes. "O-Optimus.." I called out, searching for him. I knew he wasn't there, but I guess a part of me wanted him to be.
"Carabelle," he called out to me over the comm link. "I'm here,"
"C-C-Come.. Home…" I begged, not caring that sounded like a kid. Sweat broke thorugh my skin, trailing down my back and my chest.
"I will be there soon, my spark," he said softly. "Ratchet, is there any news on her condition?"
"None, Optimus," Ratchet sighed. "The dark energon is spreading through her system rapidly, more so than what we would have feared"
"We've got another one!" Bulkhead suddenly called out.
"Ratchet, send a ground bridge!" Optimus demanded.
Ratchet walked over, pulling the handle down. I thrashed in pain once the ground bridge opened, the pull strengthening around my body, pulling me forward yet again.
Optimus plowed through the ground bridge the next moment, his optics immediately falling on me as I let out another moan in pain. The bridge closed behind him, the others arriving before he did. He transformed, Orion rushing to my side.
"Cara?" he called out anxiously, holding my sweating hand in his own.
"O-Optimus…" the pain died down slowly as Orion's thumb traced patterns into my hand, gentle. "Come, here,"
He crawled into the bed with me, its metals screaming in protest. He settled himself down, an arm draped around my shoulders, cuddling me close to him. I buried my face into the crook of his chest, and listened as the autobots crowded around, debating Megatron's proposal.
"How can you even think about letting that monster near these children after what he did to Raf? To Cara, even!"
"Nurse Darby," Orion muttered, his voice still carrying the same demanding tone in human form as it does in bot form. "I am not fond of the idea, especially as I lay here and feel what his doing has done to my Cara," he placed his lips on my hair for a second, before finishing his statement. "However, he will be closely monitored, and only allowed to linger long enough to send us on our journey. Not one moment more,"
"What's going to stop the con from calling in an air strike if he knows where you live?" Fowler asked next.
"By ground bridging Megatron here, he will be unable to get a fix on our coordinates,"
"Optimus," Jack called out, softer. "What's going to happen to you when all your matrix energy is released?"
"The power within the matrix has not yet been utilized in this particular manner."
"But you have an idea don't you?"
I twisted in Orion's arms, facing him as he fell to silence. "Matrix?..."
"In my chamber, there were two lights, do you remember?" I nodded, of course I remember. "The one you clung to was my spark. The other light, is the Matrix of Leadership. It is passed down the lineage of the Primes, and I, being the last, carry it within me now."
"Wait," Ratchet called suddenly. "Cara has seen your spark?"
I nodded. "Touched… it,"
"Optimus," Ratchet called out, turning to type on the computer. "If Cara has had prolonged exposure to the energy within your spark, it could explain why Cara's reacting to the dark energon exposure so differently than Raf,"
"What do you mean?" Miko asked, turning to him.
"If Cara's skin came in contact with the powerful metals of Optimus' spark, then she may have begun to develop a spark of her own," Ratchet explained. I felt Orion tense beneath me. "Spark contact is what creates younglings, new sparks. If one was created inside of Cara.."
"And the dark energon fueled it with the energon that was needed to bring life to it," he growled, pulling me closer to him.
"But why does she keep having flashes of pain?" June asked.
"It would seem from her lack of energon supply, her spark is reaching for the only form of energon she's touched."
"Dark energon…" Jack mumbled. "Which is why every time the ground bridge opens, she tried to pull herself towards it."
"Ratchet," Orion called, Optimus transforming below. Orion quivered for a second, before he stabilized, the shard of Optimus' spark in Orion whining in protest. "Activate the ground bridge to allow our guest to arrive,"
"Optimus," Ratchet scolded. "You know keeping both forms active at the same time will only drain your energon reserves twice as fast as normal."
"She needs me Ratchet," Orion called then, Ratchet turning to look at us as I cuddled closer to him. Optimus then mumbled something to Ratchet that I couldn't quite hear.
"Megatron," Optimus called into his com link, Ratchet ushering the humans to one of the halls, Miko screaming in protest. "We are sending transport."
Optimus took a defensive stance in front of me, Orion reaching for one of the pistols lying on the ground beneath us. Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee stood with their weapons online, aimed for the tunnel before them as heavy footsteps carried through the base. I buried my face into Orion's chest, hiding myself as dread and evil overtook the room.
"So," Megatron's familiar voice called. "This is where the magic happens. Quaint."
I shivered, stifling back a moan as the pull lurched me forward. Orion tightened his grip around me in surprise. I latched onto his shirt, my knuckles turning white.
"Ratchet, the ground bridge!" Orion called, Optimus' form freezing as he focused all of his efforts on keeping me close."
"It's not the bridge," Jack observed, the others emerging from their hiding spot. "It's him,"
"Optimus' pet," Megatron growled, Optimus' bot form shaking his helm as Orion flickered beneath me. I slid towards the warlord a bit before his grp on me tightened again. "What is this?"
"You fired a shot at Bumblebee, Cara and I," Raf bravely stated, running up the catwalk, much to the bot's displeasure. "It almost killed me, however with Cara, it's doing something else. Her body created a spark with Optimus, and your energon activated it."
Megatron grinned widely, approaching us. Optimus moved to stand between us, Orion cocking the pistol in his hand and aiming it at the con. The con simply grinned at him, raising a claw to his palm and raking it across roughly. "A donation," he grinned, offering his closed fist to Orion, ignoring Optimus.
Orion growled before reaching his hand out. June brought forth an IV bag, handing it to Orion carefully as Megatron's purple optics watched us closely. He squeezed his fist, the purple energon falling into the bag gently. Once full, Megatron pulled away, Orion handing the now full bag over to June, who hooked it up to an IV, stabbing the needle into my arm.
The pain ceased almost immediately, the dark energon coming directly from Megatron soaring through my body. I turned to Orion, running a hand over his face. "Thank you.."
Orion dissipated the next moment, Optimus reaching a hand out to me. I grabbed hold of the IV bag, securing it to my waist, and throwing a bra June had handed to me over my form, not caring of the optics that watched me closely. I climbed into Optimus hand, and as normal as one can be with Megatron watching, climbed onto his shoulder, settling on the weld I performed.
"Ratchet," Optimus called, lowering his hand and looking at Megatron carefully. "Receive destination coordinates from our guest."
Megatron stalked over to Ratchet, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee following, weapons still drawn and aimed. Jack stalked over to the humans retreating down the hall, before he kneeled down to their height.
"Jack," he called. The bot turned and looked at my guardian curiously. Optimus looked over his shoulder, checking his troops before he turned back the the boy. "Will you, keep something for me?"
"Sure," Jack shrugged, giving Optimus a smile. He pulled something from his hip, it transforming down to size as it traveled closer to Jack. "What is it?" he asked, grabbing it from his fingertips.
"It is… the key to the ground bridge power supply," he lied. I narrowed my eyes at him, allowing him to continue on.
"Woah, shouldn't Ratchet have this?" he asked, eyes falling to me. "Or Cara?"
"Perhaps," his optics turned from me. "But I've been impressed by how much you have matured since we first met. As such, I feel you have earned the responsibility of safeguarding this important device."
"I won't let you down," Jack smiled as Optimus rose and turned to the others.
"You're a terrible liar," I told him, his hand rising to me. The dark energon on my hip bouncing as I climbed onto it. "What really is it?"
"Nothing," Optimus dismissed, transforming. I couldn't help glancing back to see Megatron watching us carefully as Orion stepped out of the driver's door. He enveloped me in a hug, holding me close. I snuggled into his chest, feeling his spark hum beneath me.
"Return to me," I demanded him as he pulled away, the others crowding around the ground bridge. They tried not to watch, but I couldn't blame them. If I saw Optimus Prime acting like this, I would want to watch as well.
"As you wish," he smiled, leaning in to kiss me softly on the lips.
I pushed into him, forcing him back into his metal form. My hands wound up his back, dragging his shirt along with them, my hands trailing along his bare skin. I found his hair at the same time he found mine, using it to crush my face further into his. I pulled back, desire building up inside me. I couldn't forget we had an audience, despite what was at stake here.
"I'm serious," I demanded again, pointing a finger on his chest. "You. Safe. Home, to me,"
He chuckled, lightly kissing my forehead before he disappeared, the truck transforming, rising to his full height. "Yes ma'am," he agreed, walking towards the others.
I felt a burning in my chest, not the same as before, but a desire. One that I couldn't ignore. "Optimus, wait," I called, rushing after him. The bot slowed to a stop, turning his back to the others and kneeling to me. I placed a gentle hand on his cheek, looking him dead in the optics. "I... " I hesitated, watching as his optics studied me carefully. "I love, you."
His optics widened in what I hoped was surprised, before a real life grin spread across his face. "As I love you," he raised a single digit to my black hair, following the strands down my back.
"I'm serious, Optimus." I said again, moving to stand by the humans and Ratchet's feet. "Come home safe, and soon,"
"Yes ma'am, of course," he smiled at me, repeating the phrase before turning to Megatron.
"You first," Arcee said to the con, gesturing to the open ground bridge.
"As you wish," he mockingly stated, bending at the waist in a slight bow before turning and stalking through the bridge.
As they followed him through the ground bridge, Optimus turned to take one last look at his cluster of friends he was leaving behind. The others were waving, and blew him a kiss, smiling as his eyes brightened. He returned the gesture, before walking through the ground bridge, it closing gently behind him.