A couple of months ago, a girlfriend of mine convinced me to watch the entire series of Transformers Animated. I was very skeptical at first because when the series first came out it was around the time the first Michel Bay movie came out. Despite having to push through a little PTSD from that, I had a huge bug up my butt about the character design. The biggest pet peeve for this was the lips and he chins. Why did they need to be made with tiny pouty lips and disproportionate big ass-chins? And I don't big ass-chins as if to say the chins are big, I mean big ass-chins. I didn't even see Sentinel before I got a good glimpse of Optimus… I have a joke for this, and it is so overused I will keep it to myself just so I don't hear my friends rolling their eyes from over the internet.

Anyway, I finally finished watching the end of season three about two weeks ago and was legitimately surprised how much I got into it. Even started making a ship between Optimus and Prowl, it seemed obvious from the beginning to me… All the while I bring this up, the friend I'm watching this with is sighing over our VC feed saying stuff like 'Oh boy...' or 'Wait till the end…' whenever I bring it up. I'm glad I didn't get spoiled, but I assumed perhaps Optimus was going to die in the end. Big deal, he's died in almost every series and then came back stronger than ever. (Except in TFP where he died twice… Oh, spoiler ahead for anyone that hasn't seen the series yet.) I lost it when I found out Prowl died in the end. I'm literally stood and shouted, 'Son of a bitch!'

This will not detour my imagination however, and I have found a way to work around this dilemma… How you ask? Keep reading and find out…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any stocks, trades, or licensing from the Transformers franchise. All rights are reserved for HASBRO entertainment.

SHADOWS

Introduction

On an abandoned road in what appeared to be an abandoned Earth metropolis, lay a red and blue bot. There his body sprawled across the pavement, his frame battered and broken, yet somehow was still functioning. He was certain this battle was going to be his last. The plan to use the All-Spark fragments as a shield worked perfectly. So effective that not only did it entrap the explosive giant protoform, but it managed to trap the bot, and the warlord he was fighting as well.

This was it. He was trapped and literally backed into a wall, and the grip he had held tightly around his weapon was slipping as the servo grasping the base of his helm tightened.

"If I must give up my Spark…! At least I get to take yours with me!" The voice of his enemy echoed in his mind and was followed by the overpowering crackling sound of the forcefield walls scratching over his audios. The large metallic hand over his faceplate constricted so strongly it cracked the outer plating above his right optic, scarring him and placing him on the verge of losing consciousness.

His sight nearly off lined and for a moment he wished it had. He knew that the last thing he was going to see in this universe was the mech Pit-bent on destroying him, and he grew tired of the sight quickly.

"I'm going to die today." The bot thought to himself as he closed his optics. There was a brief feeling of fear rising in his chest, but it diminished when he came to terms with his fate. What was fear now became peace of mind. He would rather die at the hands of his greatest foe then witness the world he learned to love be destroyed, and with his lover along with it.

"I'm going to die…" He thought in repetition as time began to slow around him. "I'm going to die, and my only regret is that my last words will not be 'I love you…'."

The red and blue mech sighed heavily. A grand image of his beloved gradually emerged from the depths of his processor. So elegant, so strong and beautiful. It was his greatest comfort and he held onto it tightly. "If I have any control over my last moments then my last thoughts will be of you! My love… I love you… I love you…"

The crackling became louder and his frame was in so much pain it felt like it was on the verge of shattering. But it all faded away when something wrapped around his chassis and pulled him backwards. Another mech's frame was curving his own from behind, and it felt so right. It must be the Well of AllSparks calling for him, a pair of helping arms to guide him to his rest. He believed it at first, and he sunk into the embrace of such sweet invisible arms.

"Prowl…" He whispered aloud, knowing it was now or never, even if the love of his function would never hear him say it. "I love you so much…"

"I love you too…" The invisible arms whispered back, and before the bot could properly react, his optics flew open. He immediately realized he was on the street. Alone, but alive. What just happened? How was he still functioning? He should be vaporized, and what happened to Megatron?

"Prime!" Ratchet's voice was the first thing he heard that actually sounded like it was grounded in reality, and it alerted the dazed bot back into real life. "We did it! The shield worked!"

"The Starscream Supremes are history! And everybody's okay!" Bumblebee added when he and the rest of their team showed up behind him. Everyone but one bot… The most important bot in Optimus's mind and Spark, and not seeing him at all was frightening him to no end.

"Not everybody…" The weak vocals of Jazz vibrated in the hollow of the Prime's chest. He tried to deny it. There was no way, shape or form, that what he was seeing was real. His optics and CPU must have been damaged beyond repair in the battle, and he was now receiving visions of horrid proportions… But it was true. Sari had confirmed it as such when she called out her friend's name and watched Jazz in awe as he walked towards the group… With the lifeless body of Optimus's lover bridal in his arms. "He gave up his Spark to save us…"

"No!" Ignoring all sensation of pain, the Prime stood so he could rush to Prowl's side, but was soon brought back down to the ground by an ambush. The blast was strong enough to knock the air out of his cooling vents, and his helm hit the cement guarder he landed on so hard he nearly blacked out a second time.

"You have interfered with me for the last time, Optimus Prime!"

That voice reignited a flame of fury in his tanks. How did Megatron survive such a blast? It wasn't fair. It wasn't right! A monster as diabolical as Megatron lives, while his mate-to-be lie deactivated and grey? Where was the logic behind that? Optimus didn't even notice Ratchet had used his magnets to swing Ultra Magnus's hammer into his servo. All he knew was that for the first time in his existence he was blind with rage, and he was going to use it.

Everything was a general blur after that. He didn't even realize he was in the air before he clashed his weapon against Megatron's helm. The Decepticon leader fell to the Earth with a sickening thud which incapacitated him but did not knock him out. Either way Optimus was not finished. He was going to hold the giant mech accountable for all he had done, and he held him solely responsible for Prowl's death. If it wasn't for him Prowl would still be alive and the two of them would be in their chamber preparing for their promised union. Megatron was going to pay with his function right there and then.

That was the plan. It was a good thought out plan at the time, but it wasn't right. At the very last minute, Optimus hesitated over his target's wrecked and weak body. There wouldn't be a better opportunity for the Prime to just end him right there while he was still vulnerable, but it wasn't right.

"What are you waiting for Autobot…" Megatron taunted him. "Finish me…"

Optimus swung his hammer with all the passion and love he had in his Spark for Prowl… And missed the warmonger's helm by mere inches. "That would be the easy way out, Megatron!" He hissed through his dental plates. "You don't deserve it…"

When he had Megatron thoroughly subdued in stasis cuffs, Bumblebee and Bulkhead walked over to their leader's side and silently offered to take over. Optimus allowed it before turning around to limp over to where Jazz stood. Ratchet tried to convince the damaged bot to rest a minute and allow him to analyze the young mech's wounds, but he was completely shut out. Onward, the Prime dragged his pedes and held his side in agony. Each step was an internal cry for mercy, but not once was it addressed for relief in anyway. This pain was nothing compared to what he felt in his Spark Chamber. Nothing compared to the knowledge that his mate-to-be was gone.

"Optimus…" Jazz met the weak mech halfway and glanced at him with absolute dread etched in his lip-plates. "I… I tried to stop him… I am so sorry…"

"Give him to me… Please…" With shivering servos, Optimus pleaded with the white ninja for sympathy, and was given so with no doubt. "I will take him home for now… He will rest under his tree until we get everything settled here… Until we bring him back to Cybertron…"

"Whatever you wish Optimus." Ratchet patted the Prime's back before he started walking down the wide-open highway. Bumblebee and Bulkhead went in the opposite direction to Omega Supreme. There they would place Megatron in an active cell until Optimus said otherwise. The rest of the group slowly followed their distort leader in a slow precession, not one soul capable of saying a single word, but all capable of showing their immediate grief.

Optimus was no exception as he leaned forward to kiss the side of Prowl's helm, hardly noticing a stray tear of coolant streaming down his cheekplating.

-END-