28: The Adventures of Little Riley!
Chapter 28 - Deus Ex Machina
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Transformers Prime or the franchise. All characters (except Riley/Raina) belong to Hasbro.
::Hello:: - Bumblebee Talking
"Hello" - Normal Talking
'Hello' - Thoughts
*Hello* - Cybertronian Talking
—
Raina had missed the day where Jack and Miko nearly died on a train. Agent Fowler was transporting the DNGS, a nuclear device. Unfortunately, alleged Decepticons took him down so the bots had to help escort him and the DNGS. Turns out, they weren't Decepticons but an organization called MECH. The DNGS got safely transported after all the stuff that went down.
Now Raina was sitting in Bulkhead's alt as they went to her high school. They pulled up out front and jammed out to the metal/rock music.
Miko had gotten detention again, as usual. So Raina tagged along with Bulkhead to pick her up. At this point, Raina didn't mind being with Bulkhead, she could stand him.
After a couple of mins, Miko came running out of the school and hopped in. Jamming out with the two until they noticed.
"Miko, I thought you had a history report to do. Did detention end early?" Bulkhead asked, turning the volume down.
Miko buckled herself in and leaned back. "Did for me." She replied relaxing.
"Uh-oh. Here comes teacher, and she doesn't look happy...STEP ON IT BULKHEAD!" She suddenly demanded, shrinking herself down into the seat.
"Ah, Miko." Bulkhead and Raina said in unison, as Bulkhead sped off.
The three drove out of town and towards base in an awkward silence. Not even music. Raina was texting on her phone, to her old group of friends. Miko just stared out the window in pure boredom.
"Miko, I'm supposed to be your guardian not your getaway car. You can't just cut detention. What if your parents found out?" Bulkhead asked, breaking the silence.
"They live in Tokyo remember? And don't even worry about my host parents, I think I scare them." Miko said a bit cheeky.
"That's not something to be proud of Miko. They are trying to care for you." Raina spoke up, leaning forward in between the seats.
"Nah, if they cared, I wouldn't be here right now." Miko replied, leaning back in her seat more and putting her hands behind her head.
"Miko listen, if you fail high school, you can't go to, uh...Uni- uh, it's 'keys'...uh 'codge'." Bulkhead struggled to find the word so Raina helped a mech out.
"College?" She asked. "Yeah that. I was close...sort of." Bulkhead drove into base, slowing down to a stop.
"You sound like my parents." Miko said, hopping out. Raina followed suit so Bulkhead could transform.
"Well, aren't they Japanese?" He asked confused. Last time he checked, he didn't speak that language.
"They may speak a different language but you say the same things." She clarified for him.
"Because we want the best for you. And that means making sure you go to school, not jail." Bulkhead explained to her, basically like a parent.
"Uh-oh. What'd you do?" Jack suddenly asked teasingly, looking at the girl. Bulkhead leaned down to her, telling her something.
"Look Miko, before I became a warrior, I was a laborer, construction. I can build stuff. I can break stuff. And that's it."
"I love breaking stuff. I want to be just like you Bulk." She said, avoiding the point he was trying to make.
"Ugh. Why would you want to be like me when you can be a-a medic like Ratchet?" He asked, gesturing to the grumpy bot.
"I'm detecting a fresh energon pulse from the nation called...Greece. An ancient city, quite historic I believe." Ratchet spoke up.
"Someone's been studying." Raina teased the bot, who gave a glare back.
"Ancient Greece huh? Oh field trip." Bulkhead said happily, looking at Miko then Raina.
He transformed as the two kids got in. Ratchet opened the groundbridge and Bulkhead went driving through. Once arriving, he opened the doors to let the girls out.
"Here we are!" He announced, transforming.
"Sweet!" Miko exclaimed, looking around.
"More like awesome!" Raina corrected, squealing in excitement.
"So what are we doing in Greco-ville?" Miko asked, scanning the view with Raina.
"I'm scouting energon. Raina can help you do research for your history report." Bulkhead told the kids, the device in his hand beeping away.
"You punked me Bulk? Not cool." Raina placed a hand on her friends shoulder, laughing how Miko easily fell for it.
"Take this as a one of a life time opportunity to learn. From the place itself." Raina said, trying to make it sound more cool for Miko.
The two girls caught up to Bulkhead as he waved the device around. "Signals strong." He observed, the device rapidly beating more now.
"An excavation site." He said, noticing the machines.
"Whoa." Miko was kind of shocked Bulkhead knew that.
"I know construction." He said, reading her mind.
"According to my scanner, humans hit energon veins and they don't even know it."
Then as Bulkhead was searching the environment, he spotted an old painting from afar. It had a old Greek man with a staff and a golden orb. Except the golden orb was an energon harvester.
"Whoa. That's Cybertronian." Bulkhead realized, looking closely at the object painted on the wall.
"Why would Ancient Greeks paint an energon harvester?" He asked himself, trying put two and two together.
"You know what that round thing is? Your smarter then you let on." Miko complimented while taking a picture.
"But even dumber than he looks." A voice suddenly said. The three turned around to see another mech, walking towards them from a distance.
"Breakdown." Bulkhead said, walking forward a bit.
"Uh oh." Raina breathed out, staring at her guardian then her best friend.
Breakdown chuckled, "miss me?" He asked.
"Like rust in my undercarriage." Bulkhead replied coldly.
'Right' Raina thought. She remembered 3 years back when Breakdown saved her. Afterwards feeling upset because he didn't get to 'pound Bulkheads face in'. Well now he was going to have that chance.
"You know this lunkhead?" Miko asked Bulkhead, staring the other mech down.
"We have a history." Bulkhead replied, trying to put it simply for her.
That's when Raina stepped into Breakdowns view. He looked shocked for a moment, earning a confused glance from Bulkhead and Miko. Breakdown shook it off, smirking at his enemy.
"And you have some pets, do they play catch?" He asked, walking to a pillar and grabbing it. He lifted it up in the air, ready to throw it.
"Catch." He said, heaving the thing directly towards the girls. They both ran away from it (not to the side, they're dummies.) when Bulkhead shielded them last second.
"Raina, Miko, stay down!" He shouted to the girls before getting tackled by Breakdown.
Miko and Raina ducked their heads down while hiding behind a broken down wall. They watched as Breakdown (yeeted) threw Bulkhead into the picture, crumbling it.
"Oops. Hope the pretty picture wasn't too important." Breakdown said sarcastically.
He turned around to see the two girls watching from afar, giving an evil smile. Raina gave him an annoyed look back as he drove away. Miko and Raina quickly ran towards Bulkhead who was recovering from the throw.
"Told you I'm good at breaking things." Bulkhead said, looking around at the mess he made.
"I always have your back Bulk. Got us a picture of the picture." She said, pulling out her phone to show the picture she took earlier.
"That Breakdown guy basically introduced himself, tried playing catch with Miko and I, tackled you like it was football, then threw you and drove away. That's both weird and hilarious." Raina recapped, hunching over from laughing.
Miko and Bulkhead joined in before he commed base for a bridge. Once back, they showed the picture to Ratchet who pulled it up on a bigger screen. They also got the rest of the team to see if it truly was what Bulkhead suggested.
"It is indeed an energon harvester. A powerful tool created by the ancients to remove raw energon from any source." He explained to the kids, looking down at them.
"Greek Gods knew Autobots?" Raf asked.
"No. The ancients often used the art of a given era to conceal messages. This fresco was likely a signpost indicating a harvester's location hidden somewhere on this planet." Optimus clarified, looking at the image more closely.
"Uh, Optimus. If the harvester removes energon from anything and you all have energon pumping inside you..." Jack questioned.
"In Decepticon hands, the harvester would be a devastating weapon." Optimus answered for him.
Raina liked the sound of that, easy win for the war.
"See? You were a genius to total that painting." Miko said, walking to Bulkhead.
'Technically Breakdown threw Bulkhead into the painting so don't think it was Bulkheads idea.' Raina thought to herself.
"Miko's not wrong. How can the cons find the harvester without the fresco?" Arcee mentioned.
"With high-speed internet." Raf piped in.
"If you do an image search for 'Greek God' and 'Golden Orb', this pops up. It's in a museum." He said, showing the image to everyone. It was a statue of the same old guy with an actual golden orb, aka the harvester.
Raina took a secret picture of the image search with her phone. Ready to send it, she just needed to go up top.
"That the real deal?" Arcee asked Optimus.
He looked at it for a second, "contact Agent Fowler." He said, basically confirming it was the real deal.
"I'm going to get some air, be right back." Raina said excusing herself and heading to the elevator.
She made an excuse when first arriving that she couldn't handle being indoors for long periods of times. Saying that she might get 'panic attacks' when in reality, she needed an excuse.
She headed up just as the bots called the Agent. Once up top, she got her signal back and she started to text Soundwave. She sent the image with a small explanation. He replied back with a smiley face and thumbs up. Laughing at that, she put her phone back and sat on the edge. She sometimes admired the view, it was pretty cool. Looking to the side, she saw a bunch of rocks piled up. She's been meaning to ask about that but kept forgetting.
After a few mins, she returned back inside, mid-conversation. Something about sneaking into a museum and illegally stealing the harvester.
"But it may be our best option Bulkhead."
"Don't encourage her Optimus. She's bad enough." Raina spoke up, walking towards the group from the elevator.
"Don't worry Raina, this will hopefully be a one time thing." Bulkhead said laughing nervously. Optimus smiled at the small exchange before continuing what he was saying.
"The longer we debate, the more time we give the Decepticons."
Eventually Team Prime made a plan for their 'heist'. The kids got ready in the yellow scissor lift, waiting at the groundbridge.
Optimus asked for everybot to confirm their positions. Once that was all done, he spoke again but to the kids.
"Jack, Miko, Rafael, Raina, I will have a clear view of you. Once you secure the Harvester, I will contact Ratchet to bridge you back to base."
"Now, since you'll bypass all points of normal entry, you won't need to worry about setting off the alarm. But take care to avoid any security guards." Ratchet spoke up to them, powering up the groundbridge.
Raina just couldn't believe she was pulling this with the Autobots. The Autobots. Based off what she's seen in Optimus and the Team, they don't seem like the bots to actually do this.
Jack drove the lift through the groundbridge, where they ended up in one of the museum's halls. The kids looked around the bigger room, before Miko spotted the Harvester.
"Opa!" She exclaimed, looking up at the shiny golden orb.
Then all the kids looked towards the huge glass window. They spotted Optimus who flashed his headlights, meaning it was good to go ahead. Jack nodded his head as he started to raise the lift below a camera.
Miko took her phone out and stood right beside it. She angled her phone upside down and made sure the shot would look identical to what the camera was seeing. After snapping the shot, she pulled the image up on her phone and placed it down on the camera.
She gave a double thumbs up as Jack moved the scissor lift forward. They kept moving until they were right underneath the statues hand.
"I vote Raf." Miko whispered.
"What?! Why me?" Raf whispered back.
"Cause your the smallest, duh."
"I'm not doing it!"
"Come on Raf, you won't fall."
"Ugh fine!"
Jack helped lift the small 12 year old boy. While those three focused on the orb, Raina saw Knockout pulling up beside Optimus. She didn't know if they were talking or not but knowing him, he probably was chatting it up.
Just as she was thinking that, Breakdown came rushing in and launched one of his missiles. Optimus immediately transformed and stopped it the best he could. It dragged him across the pavement until it finally stopped, cracking the glass.
He looked up at the kids who stared back in worry. Then he turned his attention back to Knockout who wasn't parked anymore. He had his shock rod and used it against Optimus. The mech took a few steps forward before falling to the ground. Knockout jumped on top and shocked him more until he was immobilized.
"It's cons." Raf realized, his tone a bit shaky.
"They got Optimus." Jack added, looking at the current situation.
"We can worry about him after, we need to get the Harvester out. Besides, the others got his back." Raina ushered and reassured them. They all nodded their heads but kept watching the scene.
Knockout flashed his lights to Breakdown, obviously some sort of signal. The other con sped towards the museum, only stopping to launch a missile at the incoming scout. It hit Bumblebee, causing him to transform and roll forward. Then he aimed and fired at Arcee, who skidded to avoid the impact, only to knock into Bumblebee, causing them to both be down.
Then Bulkhead dropped from overhead and ran at Breakdown. He transformed and swung his hammer at the former wrecker, launching him towards Knockout.
The medic didn't even move as Bulkhead collided with him, sending them both flying into the museum's exterior wall. It crumbled on impact and the alarm went off. The vibration also moved Miko's phone, causing the security guard to be aware now.
Raf pushed the Harvester on to the lift with a thud. Raina, Jack, and Miko stepping out of the way. When Raina turned around to look outside, she saw Knockout charge at Optimus only for him to get smacked out of the way.
As Jack lowered the lift, Miko hopped off.
"Come on. Time to make our exit boys and girl." She said, pointing down a hall.
She ran ahead with the other three following close behind. Miko looked around until she found a button that opened the door ahead of them. Hitting the button, she ran towards the opening door. Then she rounded a corner and went underneath another door. Then she met face to face with a security guard with his flashlight.
"Uh...what's up?" She asked nervously. The other three hopped off and listened from the corner as the security guard flicked his light off.
"Better come with me miss." He said as he grabbed Miko's wrist and pushed her into the surveillance room.
"Not good." Jack said after the door closed, leaving Miko alone with the guard.
Jack, Raf, and Raina shared uncertain glances, poking their heads around the corner. A pair of familiar legs came into view.
"Arcee!" Jack exclaimed, running with Raf towards her. Raina stayed and watched as, not Arcee, but Soundwave pulled up the door. Jack and Raf stumbled back, slowing shuffling away from the mech.
"It's Soundwave." Raf said shakily.
Soundwave noticed Raina who gave him a nod. She looked around and found a pipe. Then she sneaked up on the boys and swung it against Jack's head. Then before Raf could turn around, she got him too. She only hit hard enough to knock them out, not hurt them.
"Home run." She smiled, leaning the pipe on her shoulder like a baseball bat. "And very sorry." She added quickly in an apologetic tone.
She dropped the pipe and guided Soundwave to the Harvester. He showed a smiley face on his visor before taking it and leaving immediately. Taking flight into the night sky.
Raina quickly ran outside and towards the bots, keeping up her act.
"The cons have the harvester! And security has Miko! And Soundwave knocked Jack and Raf out!" She said, pretending to be worried about the current situation. She slowed to a stop, catching her breath afterwards.
"Security has Miko? I'm going in after her." Bulkhead said, ready to pound someone.
"Bulkhead, Miko may be detained but she is safe from harm." Optimus told Bulkhead, stopping him with his own arm.
Optimus called for a groundbridge back as Raina and Arcee went back for Jack and Raf. They all went through and reported what happened to Ratchet. Raina got her friends sitting down comfortably on the couch, guilty of what she had to do.
Bumblebee and Arcee got sent out to explore for Starscream or any signs of the Harvester, a few mins later.
"In all likelihood Starscream will use the Harvester to gather as much energon as quickly as he can. From the planet's otherwise unmineable energon deposits. Approach with extreme caution. Starscream will not hesitate to turn the Harvester on any one of us. Bulkhead, it is best that you remain here." Optimus explained in a classic speech.
"So I can bust Miko out of the museum?" Bulkhead asked eagerly.
"So you can help Ratchet." Optimus said, crushing Bulkhead's wanting to help.
"You may be Miko's guardian but she requires human assistance. Agent Fowler remains her best option." Optimus explained further as he headed towards the groundbridge, transforming and going through.
Bulkhead watched dumbfounded and disappointed as his leader did. Then the same message rang out, the one where Agent Fowler explained he wasn't available till Tuesday. Raf had woken up by now and tried calling the Agent again.
"Still no answer." Raf said, looking at Bulkhead.
"Fowler's lounging around some poolside Cabana." Bulkhead vented angrily before smashing Ratchet's frame welder.
"Bulkhead! I needed that!" Ratchet shouted angrily at him.
"We can free Miko. If we can just return that Harvester to the museum." Bulkhead explained more calmly this time.
"So the Decepticons can steal it all over again?" Ratchet asked Bulkhead, in a tone that says 'you're so stupid'.
Bulkhead thought about it himself, shaking his head slightly before exclaiming that he was so dumb.
"So how are we going to help Miko?" Jack asked.
"By returning this replica to the museum." Ratchet said, emphasizing on replica.
"The construction of which would be going a whole lot faster if Bulkhead hadn't just managed my frame welder!" He further explained, raising his tone angrily.
"We're already trespassers and thieves. Why not add forgery to the list?" Jack mentioned jokingly. Raina laughed while Bulkhead just groaned in annoyance at the whole thing.
"I wish I'd never taken Miko to the- the painting of the Harvester isn't the only thing we found at those ruins." Bulkhead suddenly realized.
"I'm sorry?" Ratchet asked not catching along.
"Starscream's not dumb. No matter what kind of tool he has, he's going to take the easy route." Bulkhead explained before rushing to the groundbridge and entering coordinates.
Pulling the lever, he transformed and rushed out of there before Ratchet could stop him.
"Raina, how did we get knocked out earlier?" Raf asked, looking up at her. She looked away, unable to look at Raf while telling him a lie.
"Soundwave did it. Don't you remember? Guess he hit you harder than expected." She said nervously but still keeping her cool.
Jack and Raf didn't looked convinced but they couldn't think of any other reasonable explanation. She wouldn't do that to them, she was on their team.
After a while, the Autobots got sent back to base so they could go after Bulkhead. Ratchet had to bridge the kids back home since it was getting late.
The next morning, they all saw Miko at school. She said the bots finally got a hold of Agent Fowler.
After school, they all got to hear about Bulkheads showdown with the cons. Miko enjoyed every bit while Raina hoped her Decepticon friends were ok. The girl went up to Optimus as Bulkhead kept rambling on.
"Optimus sir?" Raina asked, getting his attention.
"You don't have to say sir, my name will do." Optimus said smiling.
"Sorry, uh can I ask something? That we never do that again." Raina said laughing at the end.
He kept his smile, assuring her that would be the only time.
"Oh and I've got an idea. I really think you should join us." She also mentioned.
"What would that be?" He asked.
"Truth or Dare. Do you know what that is?" She asked him.
It's been a while since he played that game. And that time didn't end so well.
(~Flashback~)
"The last is the little Bumblebee, so truth or dare?" Cliffjumper asked the scout.
::Truth:: Bee beeped quickly. No way was he doing a dare with Cliffjumper picking.
"You have to tell everyone something you recently overheard but wasn't supposed to hear nor tell anyone."
Everyone listened as Bumblebee looked nervous. He couldn't think up a lie, this one was super specific.
"Come on Bee, everyone's waiting for an answer" Cliffjumper teased as everyone nodded in agreement.
Bee shook his head as he ran out of the room and down the hall. Everyone looked strangely at him as he did. Riley quickly ran after him, disappearing into the dark halls.
It was after a few mins when Bumblebee returned with Riley, Cliffjumper, and Arcee. Optimus had told Bee not to keep things bottled up, only for the scout to play a recording of himself and Fowler. Discussing plans for Riley to leave.
Optimus remembered everyone getting angry at him. Deep down, he was panicking. Unsure of what to do. But he also felt so much pain. He made the team upset, his daughter upset.
After everything cooled off, Riley asked him a question that stuck with him to present day.
"Daddy? You still love me...right?"
"Of course sweetspark. Do you understand my reasoning." He asked walking towards Bee who was holding her. She exchanged herself from Bee to him.
"Yeah I understand but I don't want to leave you guys. What if something happens." Riley looked worryingly in Optimus' optics.
Her eyes showed fear, hurt, lost, and sadness. He couldn't bear to look at her that way, but he kept his appearance.
"Nothing can or will happen to us. We will be safe."
"If you guys are gonna be safe, then why can't I stay?" Riley asked, clearly trying to find a way out of this. He didn't back up from his decision, which he much regretted now.
(~End Of Flashback~)
"I do know what it is. Unfortunately I have some work to do. Enjoy it with the other bots though." He lied, walking away to his berthroom.
Raina stared at him in confusion. She knew he was lying but something in his tone suggested he was hurting. She followed him and watched as he pulled out datapads and read them. Sitting on the edge of his berth. Then one of pads showed a picture, of a young girl.
But the young girl looked like Raina when she was little. She wasn't going to mention that though.
"Optimus, I understand if you want to be alone but I could tell mentioning that game meant something to you. And not in a good way." Raina suddenly spoke up.
Optimus flinched slightly at her sudden presence but made it seem like all was cool.
"You don't have to worry about me Raina." Optimus assured her.
"Sometimes it's nice to chat. Get it off your chest. Somebody one said this, I'm not sure where or when but they said it's not good to bottle things up." Raina said, walking into his room.
He wasn't one to share his personal feelings but for some reason, with Raina, it seemed different. Like he could. He offered a servo so she could sit beside him on his berth.
Raina didn't know why she comforting her friend's mortal enemy but she didn't like to see others hurting. It was like coding in a robot, she just couldn't help it.
"So, what's on your mind Optimus?" Raina began, looking up at him.
He pondered whether or not to actually follow through with this but he did. Raina was ready for whatever this big guy had to vent.
"Someone very close to me suggested we play that game. It was also the last time I played it. It didn't end off on a good note. Mostly everyone was mad at me. I guess the mention of it reminded me." He expressed lightly to the girl.
Raina looked up at him with sad eyes. What could have happened that got a lot of people to be mad at him? How bad could it have been? But that must've been a not-so-good situation.
"I'm so sorry for that. But your Optimus Prime, what could you have done to make people mad?" Raina asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
"Someone on the Team over heard a sensitive conversation I had. They were forced into saying it via the game and once they did, most turned against me. A couple didn't but I could tell they were rather...conflicted." Optimus explained, keeping a monotone voice.
Raina could tell it took everything in him to not start crying. So she decided to make him comfortable to. Almost like a therapist.
"I'm sure they didn't mean anything they said or did when angry right? You all made up in the end. If you want, you can tell me more. I won't say anything else to anyone, promise." That was the truth. She wasn't planning on telling anyone. What's told in the room, stays in the room.
"It was about a member leaving. The others know, even the children. Your apart of this team now, you have every right to know their name. Which was Riley, Riley Pax. A girl raised by us. I regret my decision of sending her away...maybe the team was right." He explained, starting to doubt himself. His emotions becoming more and more viable and apparent.
Raina could feel his pain. Losing someone from your makeshift family, regretting your decision, never seeing them again. But the fact her name was Riley Pax and she looked like her just made her skip a beat. Megatron did mention her being raised by these guys...but they seemed to have actually cared. But they sent this girl away...if she truly was what Megatron said, then things didn't add up. She ignored that for now though.
"I can somewhat relate. My closest friend, Rose, was killed 3 years ago. I regret my decision of leaving her and now I can never see her again. But sometimes we must move on with our choices. Life is just a roller coaster of emotions. Some good, some bad. Decisions shape the track ahead. I believe one day, she'll be found. I'm sure she's safe, wherever she is. Optimus, I know it hurts you that she's gone now and you being a key factor in that. But I'm sure you can find peace and move on happily from it. You did what you thought was best at the time, because you cared about her. I'm sure she wouldn't want you doing this to yourself either."
Optimus could feel a tear running down his faceplates. He smiled so kindly at Raina who gave him the comfort and support he long needed.
Raina climbed up him and to his shoulder, wiping away the lubricant.
"Sometimes a good cry helps me overcome my sadness. Everyone just needs a moment to let their emotions out. Whether it's sadness, anger, guilt. I mean laughing is letting out the joy so why not do that with other emotions. You may be the fearless leader with heavy walls but I say you need to let them down for now. Your in no position to argue either. You don't need to worry, just let it out. Nobody will judge you, and if they do, I'll beat them up for ya." Raina comforted him more.
He chuckled at her last statement, claiming it wasn't necessary for that. But like she said, he was in no position to argue.
"I know your a Prime and all, needing to keep up appearance. Show no vulnerability, blah blah blah. Come on Optimus. Just once in a while is always good. How about we go for a drive?" She offered to him. Thinking of nothing better to do, he accepted the offer.
Soon everyone was confused as Optimus explained to them, him and Raina were leaving base.
"We'll be back soon!" Raina shouted, hopping into the leader's alt.
Soon the two were off, driving off into the setting day. The window was open and Raina was taking in the air. Ignoring the rivalry that blocked her from having a real connection to the bots.
She led Optimus to a nearby cliff that overlooked the badlands and town of Jasper. The sun slowly dropping from the sky.
"Now, how are ya feeling?" Raina asked, getting out of his alt and walking towards the edge.
He transformed and joined her as they sat down, enjoying the evening breeze.
"I feel much better after our conversation, Raina." He replied, smiling at the view.
Raina placed her hand on Optimus' servo and looked up at him with comfort.
"If you ever need to talk, don't be afraid. Even Primes and leaders need comfort. We are all the same, meaning we need the same things. Such as support, comfort, freedom, and love." She told him, staring deep into his optics.
She didn't know why but to her, Optimus seemed like such a father figure. To her, the kids, and the bots too. Even if he encouraged them to break into a public place to steal something.
The Prime just looked into her eyes as well, feeling a connection to her. One that the others didn't share. He felt comfortable around her, like his guard and walls went down. He could trust her and she could trust him.
The two stared at the sunset, enjoying each others company and silence. Sharing a moment the two wouldn't forget anytime soon.
Once arriving back to base, Optimus felt like he had a new perspective. He was debating whether or not to start acting a bit more open and kind around his team. No, his family.
And the answer...was yes.
—
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