Chapter 4

- After two weeks -

Ellie opened her eyes and heard the chirping of the birds from the window outside of her room. She groaned softly and sat slowly up from her travel bed. The girl looked down at her left leg; the scars were still there but the wound was all healed up.

She moved her left leg and felt a slight burning pain. However, she could now run.

"Finally," she whispered in reprieve before she stood up and walked outside.

The store was empty except for small chairs that were strewn about the middle. She looked around and tried to find the familiar glint of the two Cybertronians.

"Now where are those two?" Ellie walked slowly outside of the shop. The warm wind of the Grand Canyon blew against her skin, making her frown in annoyance. She looked around and finally noticed the big bulky back of the red Autobot. Optimus Prime was standing near the edge of an observation deck.

"Hey Optimus, done with what so ever you're doing?" she called. At that, the Autobot glanced at her and nodded.

"I'm done with my digging, and currently am looking at this."

Optimus pointed as Ellie stood beside him and saw what he was looking at.

Whoa. The girl stopped all of her thoughts as her eyes saw the vastness of the Grand Canyon. The red bed rocks reflected its color, purely and vividly, at her eyes while the wind becomes cool, comforting her. The whole world seemed to widen out in front of her and it made her smirk in astonishment.

"I always saw the Grand Canyon before on postcards and tourists promo pictures. But this looks great." Ellie recalled seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time on a postcard back when she was in Jackson. It had amazed her at that time and she'd wished she could see it someday. And that day was today.

"I never realized how beautiful the Grand Canyon would be."

"Indeed, small things like this are very memorable."

Ellie smiled in peace but she noticed the missing presence of another Cybertronian.

"Where's Pailhead?"

"Right here."

Ellie turn around and her eyes went flat. Megatron stood behind them with his back pack on his back and his left hand closed as he held something.

"Oh good morning, Megs." Optimus greeted cheerfully while Ellie groaned at his presence. For the past two weeks, she had still been pissed with the former warlord's rough attitude. Despite the Cybertronian being a war criminal who lead a vast army of genocidal soldiers, Ellie still thought that Megatron was a huge annoying bucket of pussy.

"I see you can now walk, kiddo shrimp."

Ellie's right brow twitched in irritation. 'Kiddo shrimp' was Megatron's nickname for her and she hated it.

"Yes, I can," she made a very happy smile before she whispered, "big pussy."

Megatron chuckled loudly in a taunting way, making the girl's smile turn into a sinister frown of irritation before she then quickly set aside her feelings for him. "But seriously though, I thank you for that," the girl said with solemn look on her face.

It made the former warlord stop and then grin. Finally, she had thanked him and Optimus.

"Hmph, you're welcome then," Megatron replied with his red optics looking away, and his expression going flat.

"Say Megatron," Optimus butted in after he felt the tension between the two subsided, "what are you carrying?"

"Ah, this? Since the human girl ran out of human canned food, I thought I should hunt a deer or two."

Ellie perked up at that. Finally, some good food, she thought with anticipation as Megatron opened his left hand. The movement revealed a huge and charred body of a deer. The girl looked down at it and then gagged and jerked back from the burnt carcass.

"What the hell is that?"

"A deer, duh."

"Why is it charred?"

"Fusion Cannon, kiddo. I killed a couple of them back out on the canyon." Megatron flashed his cannon on his right arm with a triumphant and prideful smirk while Ellie made a disgusted and discontented frown on her face. Sadly to say, Megatron's hunt was disgusting.

No way, jose, that I would eat this. A tired sigh came out from her lips. "It seems you two don't know how to hunt, huh," she said with observation as Megatron frowned.

"Of course we know. Isn't that right, Optimus!?"

"Ah—Yes… I think."

No, you two don't. Ellie frowned more in infuriation. If these two aliens were human like her, they wouldn't survive a day. She calmly let out a breath and looked at the two.

"Get your human version's out," she said with her arms crossed over her chest. It made the two look at each other puzzled.

"Why Ellie?"

"Because…I'll show you how to properly hunt."

This is ridiculous, Megatron thought while he walked across a bush in his human form. "You know my fusion cannon is effective for hunting," he said with a grumble of protest but Ellie scoffed it off.

"Your thingy majinga will turn everything to ashes," the girl explained and heard a soft human giggle from Optimus beside her. "Well, Megs loves his cannon. He's basically inseparable from it," he explained while an amused grin appeared on Ellie's face. Megatron frown and blushed, he couldn't help it for Optimus was correct.

Suddenly, Ellie raised her right hand and dived into a bush. The two followed her and they all squinted their eyes. A couple of meters away was a huge brown deer; its ears were low to the ground while it ate the grass in front of it.

"Watch," Ellie whispered and the two watched as the girl took out her hand gun with a silencer on it. She aimed her weapon at the unsuspecting animal and fired a shot.

The deer squealed in pain but the shot wasn't lethal enough. The animal jumped and sprinted off.

"Now then, we're gonna follow it." Ellie said, quickly jumping out of the bush and beginning to run. Megatron and Optimus followed suit as they all moved deeper into the forest.

"Follow the blood, or the footprints, and if you see fresh droppings, that means there's an animal nearby," Ellie said while she jogged with Megatron and Optimus. The two nodded in unison and smiled with excitement. Good thing they're having fun then. Ellie smirked also, proud that the two Cybertronian's were listening.

Suddenly, her eyes saw her target and she quickly stopped and hid behind a bush. The deer from earlier was standing on a river bank; its left leg was bloody and the poor animal was limping as it drank the river's water. "Now then. Megatron," Ellie called and showed her gun to the cybertronian alien. "Do it."

"Hmph, thought you'd never ask." Megatron took the gun and aimed at the animal. His optics eyed his prey with elation. However, before he could press the trigger, Ellie moved closer and whispered something.

"Don't aim at the body, aim at the head." Her left hand was on his shoulder while her right hand clasped his hands, guiding him to raise his gun a bit. The touch of her hands together with her voice so close to his right ear... both were electrifying and it had made his spark chamber brighten; he felt his human body shake a little.

By Primus, she's so close! He gulped down and then quickly diverted everything to his focus.

"Now shoot," Ellie suddenly said and Megatron pressed the trigger. The bullet flew and created a hole on the deer's head. The animal fell on the river bank.

"Ha, I did it!"

"Congratulations, now you're a human badass." Ellie tapped both of her hands on the man's shoulder and walked towards the dead dear. " Huh, not bad, guess being a warlord makes you an expert in weaponry."

"W-well, not really. I don't know how to use a bow, for example."

"Oh, maybe I'll teach you sometimes."

Please do. "Hah, I'll think about that." Megatron looked away, hiding his blush more. He rather liked her offer, for he had felt his spark chamber scream for more attention from her.

"Now then, that's the first part." Ellie grinned in anticipation as she then shifted her green eyes at Optimus. "For the second part…we're going fishing."

If I remember right, fishing involves a fishing rod, a bait attached to its end and lots of patience involving the fisherman, Optimus thought as he sat down on a rock with a fishing rod in his hands. It was already mid day and it was very hot.

"It's kinda hot." And I'm so hungry right now. Ellie felt her stomach rumble loudly for breakfast and lunch. She wiped her sweat away from her face irritably while she held the fishing rod that she had found on the tourists shop.

"How much longer?" Megatron, on the other hand, was frowning and in a foul mood. It has been hours ever since they started and still they hadn't caught anything yet. The girl looked at them both before she sighed and then began to repeat what she had told them before.

"Like I've said for the nth time…if you feel a tug on your pole, that means you-"

Optimus's held his pole tightly as his eyes widened in shock after he felt a tug on his fishing pole. "I felt one!"

Ellie shot up and smiled. "Quick reel it in-no, not away from you, towards you!"

Optimus began reeling and reeling the pole. It crackled loudly as the Autobot continue reeling it. He could feel that what he caught was big and it could be juicy when cooked for sure.

"Here it is!" Optimus pulled his pole one last time. The water burst and out of it came a fish…a rather very small fish. The excitement died down as the fish landed on Ellie's foot. It struggled for a bit but it soon died while the girl stared at it with deadpanned eyes.

"Brilliant for the first try," she began, hiding her disappointment, and look over at Megatron.

The former Decepticon leader let out a cry of surprised as he felt his fishing rod twitch. "I got one!" he shouted and began reeling fast while Ellie looked over the river with a delighted smile.

"What did you get, Megs-!?"

The water burst open and something green jumped out of it. It was a pile of crumpled wet weeds…and it landed on the girl's head.

Megatron looked at the weeds and then clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Frag, it's a dud."

"It sure is." Ellie removed the weed from her soaked head and threw it on the ground. She grumbled at first, protesting their rotten luck on fishing; however, her disappointment was cut off after she heard Optimus gasp.

"I got another, reeling it in!" This time it won't be a dud, the Autobot reeled, joyfully. He could feel that what he had caught was big. His fishing rod was already bent hard while he fought it in a tug of war-

and then the river opened up.

"Great, Optimus now what did you get-" Ellie stopped in her tracks and Megatron gasped shortly in surprised after his red eyes had zeroed in on the creature that Optimus had caught.

"Primus-it's a crocodile!" the Autobot exclaimed as the reptilian creature bore its eyes at them.

"I heard crocodile is edible but I think we should-"

"Catch it!" Ellie charged at the crocodile with hungry eyes. Megatron felt her hunger at the crocodile and he decided to stand back for he had found her actions to be very amusing and cute. On the other hand, Optimus watch in horror as the girl flipped the large crocodile on its belly and began stabbing it.

Blood pooled everywhere, dyeing the river red, as Ellie plunged her hunting knife at the poor creature. "E-Ellie I think its-"

"Hey Orion, let her do it. Look at her: she's hungry and she needs that creature's meat." Megatron stopped his friend and Optimus noticed the insatiable hunger in the girl's eyes. It was a disturbing sight; however, he could understand the girl's actions.

"Dead!" Ellie breathed hard and chuckled at the mangled corpse of the crocodile. "Now I have breakfast, lunch and dinner, and this is where my hunting lessons end."

She cast a confident smile at the other two, her whole face drenched in blood.

So beautiful…wait what?! Optimus gulped down his thoughts. Why would he find the girl beautiful when she was drenched in blood? It should disturb him. However, the conflicting feeling made the Autobot shrug off his thoughts and he gave her a thumbs up.

"Thanks for the lessons, Ellie."

The sun set on the horizon as night came and Ellie, biting on a bone that had come from the crocodile, sat in front of a bonfire. The crocodile that Optimus had caught was now hovering above the fire, all cooked and eaten up. As for the two Cybertronians, they were back in their bodies resting and sitting across the girl.

"Ha, that was fun," she glanced at the two and smiled serenely. The two Cybertronians nodded and blushed, but thanks to the fire, the girl didn't notice their faces turning into shades of blue.

"I've never had this kind of fun hunting, not ever since Joel had taught me how."

Megatron and Optimus looked at her, hearing the name of the man again, and saw the girl's joyful smile disappear and shift into a remembering and longing one. The two looked at each other as their curiosity peaked. Who could Joel be and what is he to Ellie?

"Um, Ellie... who's Joel?" Optimus asked and Ellie showed a reflective look in her eyes.

"Its ok if you don't want to tell us," Megatron said, feeling that the woman mightn't want to share anything to them if the topic might be too sensitive for her. But Ellie scoffed it off and shook her head.

"I've been a complete shitty person to the two of you, I'm sorry." The girl shifted her smile into an apologetic one. The two Cybertronians only nodded. "I think it's fair if I share some of my life stories with the two of you."

And perhaps do it as a payment for helping me.

Ellie sat in silence for a moment, a contemplative expression formed on her face, while she stared at the fire. And then she exhaled air from her mouth and began.

"I was born without ever seeing my mother's face. It was in the middle of the pandemic year."

Optimus and Megatron only sat in silence; however, deep down they already knew that the woman's life story would be sad.

"The first one who had raised me was a woman named Marlene. I could say that she was my first adoptive mother, however, we soon went in our separate ways." Ellie smiled as she remembered the face of Marlene. "She was the leader of the Fireflies, a notorious militia."

Fireflies huh…Megatron thought and closed his optics as Ellie continued.

"And then I met my first best friend, Riley. We met at a university. During that time, we'd had best time of our lives and I learned more about myself."

She paused and cast a thoughtful looked at the two.

"I'm a lesbian, by the way."

Optimus and Megatron looked at each other, half puzzled at her words.

"It's okay. I don't judge." Optimus said with accepting tone while Megatron snorted in irritation. "Why are humans so obsessed with gender anyways? It doesn't make any sense."

Totally. Ellie slightly chuckled at their responses and then she continued. "We thought we were invincible, that our friendship would last forever…and then one day, fate took a turn for the worst."

Megatron and Optimus felt the air slowly became thick, as the woman's face became serious.

"There were runners. Riley and I were both bitten, and we both waited and hoped that we were immune."

A sad frown appeared on her face as she looked at the two. "This is when I learned that I'm immune. I watched Riley succumb to the Cordycep Brain Infection while I lived. I will never forget her…she was my first best friend." Ellie's hand shook as the memory of her dying best friend played within her mind. The pain and sorrow from before swirled inside her guts. However, she fought the feeling and tried to continue her story.

"And then…there's Joel."

Ah here's the answer, Megatron thought as he took a single energon ore from his back pack and chewed it softly. Ellie watched the former tyrant with half amusement; she found him cute when he was eating those blue colored rocks.

"Joel was anything and everything. When I first met him, he was a stern, cold and shitty person. He was a smuggler and a hardened survivor. He had witnessed the first outbreak and during that time he lost his original daughter." The faint image of Joel formed in her mind and it made the girl form a melancholic and aching frown.

"When I first met him, he treated me as a stranger. Refused to trust me. His mission was to deliver me to the Fireflies, reunite me with Marlene. Along the way, he eventually started to open up." The girl's frown slowly change into a depressing smile as the two Cybertronians only sat in silence, listening to her with undivided attention.

"He, ahh, started to warm up to me and eventually began to trust me. I learned many things from him and he started to treat me as his own daughter. I became his surrogate daughter while I slowly accept him as my father." She paused and glanced at fire, watching the embers dance. "You've to understand, we lost a lot on this pandemic. I only know my mother's name, Anna Williams, but never have I heard my father's. I… just want to have a parent. I just want to have a life where I could become a daughter with a living family."

Her voice wavered as sorrow took over her heart. She stopped and took a mouthful of breath. Optimus noticed her distress and wanted to tell Ellie that she could stop if the memory completely disturbed her. However, the woman shook her head and smiled.

"The delivery was a success; however, they'd found out that I was immune. So I decided to tell them that I would be glad to sacrifice myself for the betterment of humanity."

Optimus's blue optics widened in shock while Megatron opened his red optics, a look of concern formed on his face.

Ellie didn't heed their reaction and only continued her dreadful tale. "The surgery would kill me but I was ready that time. However, Joel found out about the surgery." The woman paused as she rubbed her left wrist, painfully memories resurfacing. "He stormed in the Fireflies headquarters…and killed everyone who tried to stop him. He didn't want to lose me and I understand that. I am his daughter, he is my Father."

The final words made Ellie stop as tears started to trail out of her eyes. Grief had taken over her and the two Cybertronians understood her story and the pain hiding beneath it.

"Joel…rescued you, while in turn he had sacrificed the future of humanity, which requires your immunity." Megatron finally spoke, his voice was an understanding one. There was no malice or tease in it.

Ellie wiped her tears away and looked at the former warlord. "Please. Megatron, please understand. He's not the villain, though he wasn't a good person. He was just a broken man who had found love in this hellish world. He had given me a life which I almost wasted after I found out what he did."

Optimus glanced at her as the girl continued. "I was so angry at him that I treated him like a stranger. However, I was wrong and I found out too late." Ellie calmly breathed the cool air around her as another painful memory surged within her. The memory that almost pushed her to her breaking point.

She clasped her hands, both shaking wildly, as she said. "He was killed, right in front of me, by the surviving members of Fireflies. He was taken away from me, before I could apologize and forgiven him."

The two gasped in shock and horror.

By Primus… Optimus was lost at words as he watched Ellie labor for air and started taking mouthful of breathes. He wanted to comfort her; however, he was already beaten to it by Megatron. The Decepticon's human holo-avatar quickly materialized and strode towards the woman.

And then Megatron knelt and locked the woman into his arms in a tight embrace. Ellie was startled at his action but the Cybertronian whispered to her. "Please Ellie, let it all out. Cry into my chest if you've got to."

He said it with a comforting soft voice and then the girl buried her face on his chest and began to cry.

Ellie burst into tears. Sobs of sorrows and grief that she'd kept inside of her crashed and erupted out of her chest. Megatron felt her sadness the Decepticon continued to comfort her, trying to give her warmth. However, he knew that he couldn't do that. Their human-holo avatars may look like exact replica of a human body but it had limited functions; one of them was the absence of bodily warmth.

Ellie felt nothing but coldness; however, she also felt the soothing touch of Megatron. She felt solace within his arms.

Optimus Prime watched with gladness at Megatron. He had truly changed, he watched how he tried to bring peace to the girl, trying to fight off the sadness that engulfed her.

I must do something to calm her down. Then an idea struck the Autobot. He summoned his human holo-avatar which made Megatron glanced at him with mulled look.

"Optimus?"

"I've an idea, to drive away sadness." Ellie also glanced at him with eyes red from crying. The Autobot entered the shop and then came out again, this time with the guitar.

"They say music can soothe a person's mood. This will be my first time playing the guitar…so please, expect some mistakes." Optimus made a serene smile at Ellie and Megatron who only sat in silence, observing him.

Optimus played the string, feeling the tone and vibration and then with a grunt, he began to strum the musical instrument.

"I dream of living.

Alone but fearless.

Secret longing. To be courageous."

"Loneliness kept, bottled up inside.

Just reveal your brave face, they never know you lied."

The voice of Optimus slowly made Ellie rise from Megatron's chest, she could feel the peace in his gentle tone, the serenity of his words had slowly taken affect on her.

" Country Road."

"They lead me home. Know I belong there. All on my own.

"Destiny Calls. Motionless, I stall. Know I can't go."

"Country Road."

Optimus glanced at her, and the girl saw the solemnity in his blue azure eyes and it soothed her completely. She slowly smiled at him.

"No matter how dark, the world inside me."

"I'll never stop to show a tear that I shed.

But now I have to walk so fast, running sprinting to forget."

"What's lodged in my heard."

"Country Road."

"May lead me home. Know I belong there, all on my own."

"Destiny calls. Motionless, I stall. Know I can't go."

"Country Road."

The Autobot strummed faster, enjoying the music that he was creating as he reached the end of his lullaby-like song.

" Country Road."

"La la la la..."

"You're a good friend. I'll never know.

Same tomorrow, regret and sorrow."

"Can't take you home.

Country Road."

The song was finished and Optimus Prime exhaled sharply before he chuckled. "By Primus, I hope I didn't make any mistakes."

Ellie was silently for a moment and then the girl let out a short, relief laughed. "Liar, you're very good. I kinda envy you two, you can both immediately learn how to play guitar so quickly."

"We just have music program installed within our brain module." Optimus explained as Megatron grinned.

"I found music before to be a useless excursion however…it is fun, indeed."

The three chuckled under the fire that was slowly burning low, the lights slowly disappeared and Ellie took it as a sign for her to retire to bed. She stood up and wiped some tears away from her face and with a tired smile she bid them good night.

"Ellie."

The woman stopped, however, when Megatron called her.

"Joel…he's not the bad guy. He is your hero, though what he did was wrong, he was right about saving you."

Ellie's eyes widened, for his words were very sincere. Optimus walked beside Megatron and cast her an understanding smile.

"Though Joel may have doomed mankind, his intention was noble and righteous. Don't be sad Ellie, he knows that you'd already forgiven him. He knows that you'd love him as a father."

Ellie could feel her chest swirl again; however, it wasn't that of pain but of tranquility and peace. She smiled at the two. "See you around and good night." The two nodded in unison and watched as the girl entered the tourist's store.

Woo-Hoo new chapter! Guys, what can you say now to this!? Optimus had finally sung and I imagine him singing this song, Country road from Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the heart. Do you agree with Optimus and Megatron's perspective regarding Joel? How will the two Cybertronian's relationship with Ellie would blossom?

Stay Tuned for more!

Special thanks to dropout-ninja for beta-reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Transformes Prime and Last of us. I do not own the music and the music Lyircs. It is owned by Studio Ghibli and from their anime movie, Whisper of the heart. Names, places and events in thsi fanfic is purely fictional. If such exists in real life then its purely coincidental.