Serendipity

by sparksinger

Family is what you make it. Love is what helps you get there.

Author's note:

Slightly different fic this time. I've been aware for a while that despite my ramblings about Optimus and Cordelia, I haven't explored their relationship from the first movie...as in how they bonded, etc.

This fic does go slightly AU as what I wanted for Lia and Optimus just didn't work with the plot of the movies. The movies and the events that happened in them are still canon, but I have gone off the beaten track a little.

A few disclaimers:

I live in the UK so I may write/spell a few things differently than you're used to reading.

Leo in this story is NOT Leo from ROTF. He is my OC and is originally from Wales. 'Bach' is a Welsh term of endearment that means 'little'.

Trigger warnings:

Mention of abortion. Mention of a suicide attempt. Self-harm scene. Mention of menstruation. Implied rape of a minor.

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Right, I think that is everything! Happy reading! ^^

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Lean on me

When you're not strong

And I'll be your friend

I'll help you carry on...

- 'Lean on Me', Bill Withers

'Serendipity - noun. the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.'

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The lenses that made up Optimus Prime's optics constricted to their narrowest aperture as he watched the Sector Seven cars depart the immediate vicinity.

Cold fury seeped into the edges of his central processor, causing the covers on his audio receptors to spin counter-clockwise, the way they always did when he was feeling any sort of heightened emotion.

He signalled to the other four Autobots to transform and roll out, folding in on himself until he was a gleaming Peterbilt truck, looking as fresh as the day it had rolled off the assembly line.

His navigation systems had already synchronised with those of the vehicles belonging to the Sector Seven agent team.

He rolled forward onto the smooth tarmac, still getting used to the absent feel of the cool metal of Cybertron's roads underneath his tyres.

The other Autobots fell into place behind their leader, easily keeping pace with the eighteen-wheeler.

He followed the Sector Seven vehicles at a respectable distance, careful not to activate their primitive Energon sensors until it was absolutely necessary.

His RPMs increased slightly as he thought of the way the burly Sector Seven agents had restrained Cordelia and bundled her into one of their service utility vehicles.

The emotion currently coursing through his circuitry was enough to cause the great Prime some puzzlement.

Through the many, many millennia that he had been alive; through the whole duration of the war for Cybertron, no one or anything had elicited such a strong, primal reaction from him as this tiny organic had.

He thought back to only a few short hours ago, when she had, quite literally, fallen into his life.

He had been amazed by the complexity of the structure of her tiny body. Two hundred and six bones, encased in a body of flesh and blood, in the centre of which was nestled a tiny heart, no bigger than the tip of his smallest finger. A heart that had seemed intent on escaping the ribcage that held it hostage.

This tiny girl had stirred more in him in under a minute than anything else had in his long lifetime.

In one night, his Spark had been captured by this tiny female organic. Not even Megatron, who had lived and worked beside him for thousands of years before he had defected to the Decepticon cause, had ever caused the great Prime's emotions to run so thoroughly unchecked.

He felt an intense and undeniable urge to protect and defend the young female. She was easily the tiniest sentient being he had ever come across. She was even smaller than a juvenile scraplet, and they were small.

She had fit so easily into the palm of his hand, flesh and bone melding seamlessly with Cybertronian metal as if it was always meant to be.

At this thought, Optimus accelerated forcefully and pulled off the main road and onto a small side street that would allow him to overtake the Sector Seven vehicles.

A few oblivious cars honked at him as his passage forced them up onto the pavement.

Optimus paid them no mind. What were a few angry humans compared to that of a vulnerable child? A child who had just been removed from his protection.

He reached the structure that the human information super-highway referred to as a 'railroad crossing'. He transformed quickly, the whole sequence taking no more than a few seconds.

Optimus directed his Autobots to get into position and to await the arrival of the fleet of Sector Seven vehicles.

Optimus timed his approach perfectly as the convoy of Sector Seven vehicles snaked their way up the road and towards the railroad crossing.

Optimus planted both of his colossal feet firmly on the ground, ensuring that the vehicle would strike only his heel strut, minimising the damage and the risk of injury to the humans within.

When the collision came, Optimus marvelled at how such a light contact with his foot had caused the bonnet of the vehicle to crumple like protomatter. He ran a quick scan and detected five heat signatures within the SUV. It shocked him how easily he picked out Cordelia's heartbeat from among the other four.

Wasting no time, he bent from the waist and gently pushed his fingers through the car's windows, wincing internally as they shattered underneath his touch. He began to lift the SUV slowly into the air, mindful not to let the car tip too far forwards or backwards, so as to not jostle the humans inside too much.

The car began to groan as the strain on the roof became too much for it to bear, and the main body began to tear away.

Optimus sensed this, being a living vehicle himself and was thus attuned to such sensitivities. He lowered the car by a few feet so that it wouldn't have so far to fall.

With a final groan of straining metal, the roof came away from the main body of the vehicle and it fell back towards the earth, coming to rest with a jolt on all four tyres.

Optimus deactivated the headlights that sat at the top of his abdominal armour, simultaneously discarding the now-useless car roof.

He allowed his optics to travel downwards, locking his gaze upon the car's occupants. In the driver's seat was the burly male who had bundled Cordelia into the car back at the Witwicky domicile. In the passenger seat next to him sat another male, his heart rate not massively high, as Optimus would have expected after his brief study of the human race on the Internet.

In the back, were the three youngsters. Samuel James Witwicky, Mikaela Banes and…Cordelia. She looked up to meet his gaze, her green eyes wide with fear. Her heart was hammering furiously, so fiercely that Optimus wondered how the other humans in the car couldn't hear it.

An involuntary growl rumbled deep within his vocoder at the sight of Cordelia in such a vulnerable situation.

He ground his mouth plates together and stepped back, commanding his Autobots to relieve the 'agents' of their primitive weapons.

Only once the weapons had been secured by his first lieutenant, did Optimus kneel down to regard the humans more on their level.

He narrowed his optics at the two men in the front of the car, his left-hand clenching sub-consciously into a tight fist.

"Taking the children was a bad move." Optimus pitched his tone low and noted the slight increase in both agents' heart rates.

He lowered himself further still, pushing his great visage towards the two men so that it was only a few feet above their heads. He noted with interest, the lack of cortisol in their central nervous systems.

"You don't seem afraid. Are you not surprised to see us?" Optimus stated, regarding the two men through narrowed optics.

Optimus lost patience as both men moved their mouths to speak, achieving nothing but a weak goldfish impression.

"Get out of the car. NOW." Optimus' tone was ice-cold as all of the car's passengers began to exit the redundant vehicle.

Optimus looked on gratefully as Mikaela Banes relieved Cordelia of her handcuffs, having divested herself of her own pair. Next, she attended to the young male and turned to regard the towering Autobots who had all appeared to stand around the small cluster of Sector Seven agents.

"Incoming!" Optimus' head snapped up at Ironhide's warning.

Five more black SUVs were making swift progress to where the strange gathering stood. Optimus gave a wordless sign of permission to Ironhide with a wave of his long arm.

Ironhide punched the ground forcefully, causing a small crater. A sonic blast exploded out from underneath his clenched fist, growing outwards into an ever-expanding circle.

It was a defensive move, designed to disarm, not attack. It achieved the desired effect as the five cars' tyres blew out upon contact with Ironhide's defence.

They swerved and screeched to a noisy halt, the tyres sending up smoke, swiftly followed by the smell of burnt rubber.

"Bumblebee, take Sam and Mikaela to a place of safety and rendezvous with us at the co-ordinates I will supply to you."

Bumblebee nodded the affirmative and folded himself into the sleek yellow Chevrolet Camaro. Mikaela and Sam did not need to be told twice and tumbled quickly into Bumblebee's interior before being whisked quickly away.

Optimus took a step forward and curled the fingers of his left hand around Cordelia's body, once again marvelling at how perfectly she moulded into the shape of his palm.

There was a fluttering sensation as Cordelia's tiny hands explored his for a handhold. He lifted her and placed her carefully on his right shoulder, hand hovering behind her until he felt both of her arms wrapped tightly around his smokestack.

"Woah woah woah. This is high!" She exclaimed, wrapping her legs around his smokestack for good measure.

Optimus turned his head slightly to the right so that he had a clear view of her.

Her freckled cheeks were flushed with blood, no doubt a side-effect of her galloping heart. Her green eyes were glassy and wide, darting in every direction.

His battle mask slid into place over his mouth and nose as he prepared to run into the black night.

Three weeks later

The blue glisten of the Indian ocean was perhaps one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen, Cordelia thought as she sat on the deserted beach.

The sun was deliciously warm on her back, but it did nothing to thaw the icy tendrils of fear that had wrapped themselves around her heart.

A slight breeze blew across the beach, stirring the loose grains of white sand and creating the optical illusion of an ocean upon the land.

Cordelia tilted her head back and exposed her throat to the sun, squinting her eyes against its harsh glow.

She dug her hands and right foot into the warm sand, scowling darkly at the cast on her left foot.

It was just her luck to survive an alien battle relatively unscathed and then injure herself on the aircraft carrier that had brought them to Diego Garcia.

She had fallen down a flight of the narrow, steep stairs that littered the carrier and had landed badly on her left ankle. A clean break, the medial officer had said, though it still required a Plaster of Paris cast for eight weeks.

Optimus had been beside himself with worry, pacing up and down the deck of the aircraft carrier until Cordelia had emerged from the medical room, a tired smile on her face.

That had been three weeks ago and she had five weeks left until the cast could be removed.

The scars on her left forearm were now a shiny pink, no longer the red, weeping gashes that they had been on the night that Optimus had caught her underneath the traffic bridge.

Optimus.

The thought of the Autobot leader brought a smile to her face, albeit with a flurry of mixed thoughts and emotions.

When she had opened her eyes to see the enormous form of Optimus Prime looming worriedly over her, her initial reaction had been relief.

She thought she had succeeded in her plan to end her own life; that the confusion, sadness and pain had finally stopped. When she'd realised, that actually the enormous mechanoid creature with the booming voice was responsible for saving her life, she'd had an overwhelming feeling of incredulity.

She had not once been fearful of him.

She exhaled, a long and continuous rush of air as her lungs emptied themselves.

In a very short amount of time, she had become incredibly fond of the Autobot leader. He understood her in a way that no one else ever had before, not even Leo. He listened to her without interrupting or offering his opinion on the jumbled thoughts and feelings that she spilled from the darkest corners of her mind. He made her feel safe and valued, and loved.

Cordelia's face scrunched up as she thought of the word 'love'.

What was love?

Cordelia knew herself well enough to know that she was indeed growing to love the Autobot leader, and that confused her.

She knew it wasn't romantic love, nor was it the kind of love she bore Leo; as a daughter for a father. But the love she was growing for Optimus Prime? That was a kind of love that she could find no name for.

She shrugged. She was still a child of only fourteen, she had the rest of her life to figure out what love meant.

Pushing the confusing thoughts away, Cordelia took up her crutches from where they lay next to her on the sand and struggled to her feet.

She was beginning to get quite hot, despite the denim shorts and blue spaghetti strap top that she wore.

It was difficult to manoeuvre herself and the crutches on the soft sand, but she managed it nonetheless.

There was a great palm tree that sat just a little further up the beach that offered the promise of shade and a fresh tidal rockpool.

Cordelia sat against the trunk of the palm tree, slipping off her one flip-flop and dangling her right foot in the rockpool.

The crystal-clear water was deliciously cool on her bare skin and she closed her eyes for a few blissful minutes, simply happy to take in the feeling and sounds of the serene environment.

.o

Cordelia didn't know how long she'd been dozing when the faint sound of approaching hydraulics stirred her into consciousness. The sun had moved from the centre of the blue sky and now hung low on the west horizon, a dull orange amongst the brilliant blue of the sky and ocean.

Optimus had been in a meeting for the better part of the afternoon with the Secretary of Defence and various other world leaders.

She got to her feet and hobbled off the sand and onto the gravel, just in time to see Optimus' giant right foot descend onto the ground just in front of her.

Craning her neck, she offered him a wide grin as he lowered his gaze to meet hers. He knelt and gathered her gently in his fingers, securing her into the safety of his palm with his thumb.

He straightened and placed her delicately on his left shoulder so that she was sitting with her legs dangling.

She let him ease the crutches out of her grasp and watched as he pinched them carefully between a thumb and forefinger, his enormous hands making them look like cocktail sticks.

He started towards the main part of the base, where their shared quarters were located.

The view from her perspective on Optimus' shoulder never failed to take Cordelia's breath away. She could see for miles as the aquamarine blue of the ocean stretched on endlessly into the distance. Diego Garcia itself was a flat island, but the distant buildings reminded her of Lego when she observed them from this increased height.

She swayed lightly with the motion of Optimus' walk and leaned against his audial cover, enjoying the cool feel of the porcelain-smooth metal against her cheek.

Optimus hummed softly, a deep, rumbling sound that was not dissimilar to the purr of a domestic house cat. Cordelia had noticed he made this noise whenever he was contented or just enjoying her company.

"How did your meeting go?" Cordelia asked brightly, rearranging her auburn hair into a loose bun at the nape of her neck.

A large blue optic swivelled around to regard her as he rumbled an answer.

"Very well actually. The Earth's governments have formally recognised we Autobots as refugees and have granted us asylum on your planet. A formal allies' treaty is being drawn up as we speak; I have been asked to detail the particulars of the Autobot side of things."

Cordelia smiled and traced her nails absent-mindedly over the smooth metal of Optimus' facial plating.

"That's awesome! How does it feel?"

Optimus cycled a large volume of air through the vents on the back of his head and ex-vented through his nose thoughtfully.

"It feels somewhat emotional. For countless centuries we have scoured the galaxy, looking for the AllSpark, only to find it…" he trailed off and looked down at the ground. "Only to find it for it to be ripped away again. To know I will never again see life return to my home world is Spark-breaking, but myself and my fellow Autobots are here, and where there is life, there is hope."

Cordelia opened her mouth to respond, but found that she could not. She was being crushed internally by a wave of tremendous guilt and panic.

Distorted memories flitted to the forefront of her mind; a personal picture show of her fears.

"Get that cube somewhere safe!"

Ratchet and Ironhide protecting her as she ran for her life and for the survival of her planet.

"Hurry! Run!"

Her lungs threatening to spontaneously combust as she ran up flight after flight of stairs to get to the top of the building that was the designated extraction point.

"Give me the cube and you might survive."

Megatron's clawed fingertip caressing the fine line of her jaw.

"I've got you little one."

Optimus' rumbled declaration after he saved her life a second time.

"Mine! AllSpark!"

The crushing figure of Megatron as he overpowered Optimus, preparing to deliver his final blow.

"No Lia!"

Optimus' guttural roar when she'd pressed the cube into the centre of Megatron's chest.

Blinding lights.

Chaos.

Blood.

Her own pounding breath as she looked at the jagged remains of the Decepticon leader.

Optimus noticed her conspicuous silence and reached up to cradle her gently in his left palm.

He held her up to eye level, and the worry in his optics was all it took for the floodgates to open.

Hot, silent tears streamed down Cordelia's face, painting a liquid trail of guilt and shame as they fell.

Cordelia dropped her gaze from his, unable to bear the kindness and pity she knew she didn't deserve.

With the utmost gentleness, a metal fingertip was placed underneath her chin, tilting her face upwards to meet his anxious optics. The same fingertip brushed away her falling tears.

"Oh Lia, what has caused you to become so distressed?"

She hiccupped before she answered him, wishing she could tuck the cumbersome cast underneath her body.

"It's my fault that you don't have a home to go back to; that you'll never be able to put life back on your home planet."

Finally saying what had been plaguing her for the last three weeks was liberating and she collapsed into a relieved heap on Optimus' broad palm.

His strong fingers began to draw gentle lines up and down her spine, helping her to stay grounded and regain some control over her laboured breathing.

He brought her close to his face and nuzzled his nose gently into her red hair, trying to comfort her through touch alone.

Her hands found their way to his face and drew soft, tender lines into his facial plating.

"Cordelia, please don't ever, ever think that. You are responsible for no such atrocity, that shame belongs to Megatron and the Decepticons alone; do you hear me? You are not responsible for the fate of Cybertron."

She nodded weakly, hugging herself to his thumb.

"Besides; if we hadn't have followed the AllSpark here, I never would have met you."

He spoke these last words softly, offering her a tender smile that tilted the inner corners of his cerulean blue optics.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and shifted her weight on his palm.

"Thank you…and…for what it's worth, I'm really glad I met you, Optimus Prime."

"I feel incredibly protective of you little one. I'm not quite sure why, but what I do know is that you are the first person in Primus knows how many millennia that I feel comfortable enough to be Optimus with, as opposed to Optimus Prime."

Cordelia was amazed to hear her own feelings spoken by the great Autobot leader.

She was about to respond when her stomach decided to emit a thunderous growl.

Optimus' optics widened in alarm. "Cordelia! What was that sound? Are you malfunctioning?"

Cordelia burst out laughing, her tears of sadness easily morphing into tears of hysterical laughter.

The confused look on Optimus' face only fuelled her relentless hysterics as she battled to catch her breath. Her stomach cramped painfully as she continued to bellow with peals of laughter.

When she finally managed to catch her breath and meet Optimus' gaze, she was hiccupping with the effort of trying to control her giggling and speak at the same time.

"Oh Optimus, you are so sweet. No, I'm not malfunctioning, I-" she broke off mid-sentence and saw Optimus' bemused expression, both optics squinting with one optic ridge raised. This sent her into fresh hysteria and she had to turn away from him in an effort to compose herself.

"No Optimus, I am not malfunctioning. That noise was my stomach rumbling." She patted his palm, hoping he wouldn't think that she was making fun of him.

"I think it will take me some time to get used to the sounds that your internal assemblage make." Optimus said as he ducked to go through the huge doorway that granted access to their shared quarters.

"Does this 'stomach rumbling' have any specific significance?"

Cordelia settled herself against his curled fingers and wrapped her arm around his thumb. "It means that I'm hungry; I need to eat something."

"Hmm. When was the last time today that you consumed a form of sustenance?"

Cordelia giggled. "Umm, mid-morning I think."

Optimus frowned. "Well, considering that it is now 1900 hours, I think we should rectify that sooner rather than later."

Optimus adjusted his grip on Cordelia so that she was clasped gently between his thumb and forefinger. He placed her carefully on the raised catwalk that housed a small kitchenette and a combined living/sleeping area. A bathroom was located on the next level up.

He waited for her to find her feet before handing her the crutches. She accepted them and hobbled over to the fridge, pulling out last night's meal of spaghetti Bolognese.

Optimus watched with curious optics as she gathered a bowl and cutlery.

"Do you intend to heat up that food by using the magnetron located within the cooking device? Heating up the water molecules so that they vibrate and produce the desired temperature so that the food may be consumed?"

Cordelia looked at him as if he'd just spoken in old Latin.

She placed the bowl into the aforementioned appliance and set it to the pre-programmed setting for reheating food.

"Umm, yes I guess? I'm not sure how microwaves work, and I definitely don't know what a magnetron is."

Optimus pulled his seat over to the catwalk, sitting on it so that he wasn't towering over Cordelia whilst she ate her evening meal.

Cordelia marvelled at the raw, brute strength that he possessed in just one arm. The 'stool' that he had pulled over to sit on was actually a bunch of disused shipping containers, each of which were reinforced by great concrete blocks that sat in their interiors.

The great structure made a loud, screeching noise as Optimus pulled it across the floor. She watched as the coils, springs and mechanisms in his arm tightened and loosened, enabling him to lift huge weights.

She shook her head at herself and tore her gaze away from him, brought back down to earth by the beeping of the microwave.

She grabbed a fresh bowl from the cupboard and transferred the steaming spaghetti and mince into the new bowl, placing the other one in the sink to be washed up later.

She pulled up a chair and sat down to eat her meal, laying her crutches so that they leaned neatly against the table.

The food was hot and tasty. It had been brought to Cordelia and Optimus' quarters yesterday by Major William Lennox.

Cordelia chewed thoughtfully as she thought about the dark-haired soldier.

He was someone who had fought tirelessly for his race and his planet, his sole aim to be able to get home and to be able to hold his baby daughter for the first time.

Daughter.

Cordelia mentally tripped over the word and paused to take a generous swig of water.

She was someone's daughter. More than that, she was her father's daughter.

Involuntarily, she shivered as the fine hairs on her arms raised and gave way to goosepimples that pricked her on the back of her neck.

Optimus noticed and fixed her in his gaze, a gentle look of worry present in his kind eyes.

Neither of them spoke to acknowledge the enormous elephant in the room; both unsure how to broach the uncomfortable subject.

From where Optimus sat on his homemade stool, he was at a perfect eye-level with Cordelia. She smiled warmly at him, still feeling a little shy even after staying with him for three weeks.

It surprised her how quickly she'd opened up to the Prime, telling him almost everything about her childhood and experiences with her…father.

Cordelia had learned very early on in life that she could rely on no one except herself. To do so otherwise was a sure-fire way of getting hurt and let down. The one exception to her personal rule was Leo, and she couldn't help but feel abandoned by him when she had needed him most.

And then there had been Optimus.

Somebody who, for the first time in her short life, had made her feel safe and loved.

Sighing, she finished the remainder of her meal and then hobbled over to the sink, placing the bowl and cutlery in it.

She looped her arms through her crutches and made her way over to the well-worn sofa that had been donated to her by the kindness of a random stranger.

It looked thoroughly done in and ready for the dump, but it was clean and deliciously comfortable.

Cordelia sank gratefully into it, swinging both legs up so that she was in a comfortable reclining position.

The sofa was positioned so that it faced Optimus and it sat about five metres way from the edge of the catwalk's railing.

Optimus rested his chin gently upon the railing and looked at Cordelia with so much love and devotion that it made her throat ache.

"Did you enjoy your meal little one? Your internal assemblage seems to have stopped making those strange noises." He winked at her and the effect on his face was so adorable that Cordelia couldn't help but giggle a little.

"It was great thanks. It's filled a hole for now anyway." She stopped speaking as a sudden thought occurred to her. "Hey, when are YOU going to eat something? I don't think I've seen you eat since you…landed here."

She watched as his optics widened at her question, their housings clicking quietly with the increased movement.

"I do not need to eat, nor does any other Cybertronian."

Cordelia scrunched her face up in confusion. "Then…how do you survive?"

Optimus chuckled and leaned his chin back onto the railing. "I survive through Energon. Energon is the fuel and life-blood of any and all Cybertronians; regardless of their faction."

Cordelia mulled his words over thoughtfully. "But…I thought you said that there was no Energon left on your planet?"

Optimus seemed to simulate a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose between a thumb and forefinger.

"The war for Cybertron was started for various reasons, but control for our planet's supply of Energon was chief among them. Each side began hiding and stock-piling Energon for their own use. In increasing the war effort, more Energon was consumed. What could not be taken and refined, the Decepticons destroyed.

"Our planet died a slow and painful death…unable to produce Energon from the core as it had become poisoned beyond repair. I had to make the decision to launch the AllSpark into deep space; the risk of Megatron taking it and using it for his own sinister purposes was too great. It is not a decision I made lightly."

A soft mechanical moaning sound came from somewhere deep within his body. He looked up at Cordelia sadly, his small smile not quite reaching his blue optics.

"Ahh, I fear I have strayed into the realm of 'straying from the subject' when answering your question. What I should have said is this; I am able to survive by obtaining Earth's fuel through your allocated fuelling stations. My body is then able to convert the gasoline into Energon, albeit not as efficient as the authentic Energon, but it is better than nothing."

Cordelia decided to take this opportunity to get to know Optimus on a deeper level. She was burning with questions and she figured that the worst he could do was refuse to answer them.

Still, she was embarrassed about asking him, so she dropped her gaze, watching her slender fingers intertwine with each other as she mentally built up the courage to get the words out.

"Umm Optimus? Would you mind if I…that is can I…may I…" she trailed off, burying her face in her hands as she felt her cheeks begin to flame.

Servos whirred as Optimus reached up to gather Cordelia into his fingers. She let him pick her up but squirmed uncomfortably in his palm, feeling absolutely mortified.

She kept her face buried in her small hands and was momentarily startled at the feel of cool metal on her left wrist.

She looked up to see Optimus' thumb and forefinger delicately grasping her wrist, pulling it back with a touch that was but a whisper on her soft skin. In the back of her mind that she was amazed at how such a colossal being could hold her wrist with such careful tenderness; he was capable of crushing her bones into powder should he so wish.

He lifted her to eye-level, releasing her wrist to slip a fingertip underneath her chin, tilting her head up so that she met his azure gaze.

"What is it little one?"

Blood rushed to fill her cheeks again as Cordelia scrunched her eyes shut, too embarrassed to look Optimus in the eye.

Optimus waited patiently for her to speak, moving to stand.

Cordelia exclaimed quietly as she felt the sensation of her stomach being left behind. She was slowly getting used to being picked up by Optimus, but the sensation was going to take a bit longer to get used to.

It was like going up in a lift, but on a bigger and more exaggerated scale.

She peeked over the edge of his broad palm and saw that he was heading towards his berth.

Optimus' berth was an enormous, raised platform that was about fourteen feet high and thirty-five feet long. It was about as wide as a tennis court and was Optimus' designated sleeping or recharge area. It accommodated him comfortably and he was able to recharge to his Spark's content.

She grabbed onto his thumb as he lowered himself to sit down on the berth, careful not to jostle Cordelia too much.

He regarded her questioningly, the ridges above his optics ever-so-slightly raised.

She sighed and offered him a small smile.

"I was going to ask you if it was okay to ask you some questions…but now that I've said it out loud, it just sounds stupid."

Optimus shook his great head, hydraulics hissing lightly with the motion.

"Not at all little one, an enquiring mind is always to be admired. Besides, you've met an entirely new species! It would be unusual for you not to have questions. I know I certainly have dozens of questions for you."

Cordelia released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, relieved that he had not been offended.

She knotted her fingers together. "I'm sorry, I thought you might be offended by me asking questions."

That made Optimus chuckle, a low rumble that reverberated in her ribcage.

He lay down and rested his head on one hand, using the other to cradle Cordelia where he had placed her on his vast chest, preventing her from rolling down onto his abdomen.

"Ask away little one."

She drew her knees up, wrapping her arms around them and resting her chin on top.

Although Optimus' chest was made of metal, it was surprisingly comfortable.

"Okay, how old are you?" She offered him a shy smile, pressing her chin further into her bony knees.

"I am approximately 300,000 years old, as it stands in human measurements. How old are you?"

Cordelia balked. She couldn't comprehend the fact that Optimus had just told her that he was 300,000 years old. It was insane. She couldn't even comprehend how many human lifetimes that length of time was equivalent to.

"I am fourteen years old. I'm sorry if this is rude Optimus, but how are you not all rusty and…old?"

Optimus chortled. "Again, that is thanks to the Energon that flows freely throughout my body. It not only keeps me alive, but keeps my armour and internal assemblage from oxidising, and thus rusting. As for being old…well, I shall remain like this for the rest of my days."

"So you'll live forever?" Cordelia stroked the metal she was sitting on absentmindedly, drawing small circles with her fingers.

"In theory, yes. If I have access to Energon or a suitable convertible alternative, I should be able to function for an infinite amount of time. I can be extinguished though; I am not by any means immortal."

"Wow…that's incredible. I bet you have seen so many things."

"What about you? Fourteen is the age of a mere Sparkling."

He flexed his hand slightly as Cordelia leaned back into his curled fingers.

"Humans don't live for very long compared to you…most get to their mid-eighties or early nineties. Fewer still make it to one hundred and beyond."

She watched Optimus' face carefully as he digested her words.

His optic ridges came down to form a small frown, his optics themselves breaking from her gaze and staring downwards towards the floor.

She watched with interest as his pupils constricted, just slightly, but the effect on the appearance of his eyes was instantaneous. He narrowed them at the same time as the corners of his mouth turned downwards.

"Humans only live for such a short amount of time? That is…surprising to hear. I had no idea that human lives were so brief." As he spoke, his fingers curled a little more tightly around her, his fingertip lightly brushing her shoulder.

"It's okay Optimus. Okay, I've thought of another question. Do you ever need to pee?"

Optimus smiled at her, amused by the sudden change of direction in her line of questioning.

" 'Pee'? I am unfamiliar with that particular word." The way he said it sounded almost fearful, matched by the unsure expression on his noble visage.

"You know, go to the toilet, get rid of waste that your body doesn't need?"

His optics widened in taciturn understanding. "Ahh, you mean the evacuation of urine and faeces from the human body?" Cordelia nodded, cheeks reddening at his use of the scientific terms. "No little one, we Autobots do not need to dispose of waste materials in that matter, though we do have to cycle old coolant and water on a regular basis."

Cordelia fiddled with a strand of her auburn hair, wrapping it around her finger and watching it as it unravelled of her own accord.

"Cool! Umm, do you need to sleep?"

"Ahh, a recharge cycle? It varies from bot to bot, but my personal preference is every seven to ten solar cycles. What about you?"

"Umm, humans need to sleep every night, I think the recommended time is eight hours, but I often sleep more than that. I like to sleep."

"Speaking of sleep, what time of day do you retire?"

Cordelia snorted, stretching her legs out on his vast chest. "Not right now if that's what you're getting at. It's only just gone half seven."

He smiled warmly at her, running a finger down the length of her right arm. "How is your foot? Is it bothering you at all?"

She shook her head, canting it to one side. "No, it's fine. I just can't wait to get this cast off. It's so annoying."

Optimus reached upward, towards the cast on her left foot. "May I?" He asked, motioning towards her leg.

She nodded and raised it up for him, once more marvelling at his gentleness.

He pinched her leg between a thumb and forefinger, tapping the cast carefully with the tip of his finger.

"It never occurred to me that humans would be so fragile." He released her foot from his grasp and his hand found its way back behind his helm.

They spent the rest of the evening enjoying each other's company.

Cordelia shed tears of silent joy as Optimus comforted her, listening intently as she told him of the atrocities committed by her father, relishing in the gentle comfort he provided without question.

When she began to shake with the force of emotion she was trying to suppress, Optimus gathered her in his hands and lifted her to his face, nuzzling his nose gently in her hair and then against her neck and shoulder.

And like that, a lonely girl and burdened Autobot leader healed a little more.

.o

The weeks moulded seamlessly together as Cordelia got used to the new normal that was now her life.

She'd been enrolled into the NEST Education Programme; a non-profit organisation run by retired teaching staff.

She covered all the core subjects and a few optional extras.

Her favourite was by far English Literature.

During the hellish time that she had spent living with her father, the written word had been her only escape.

She had gone through the wardrobe with Lucy, attended Mallory Towers with Darryl and had blown dreams with The BFG.

This last thought made her smile.

Ha, now I suppose I have my own BFG…

She shut her book report on Of Mice and Men and shoved it into her plain black rucksack.

Getting to her feet, somewhat gingerly since the removal of her cast a week previously, Cordelia made her way to the front of the classroom and approached Gerry, the kindly old teacher for English Literature.

He was a man who was well into his sixties, with a retreating hairline and kind brown eyes. Glasses sat on top of a slightly wonky nose, accentuated by ears that stuck out like jug handles.

He was gently mocked by the other students on the base for his unique sense of dress; Bermuda shorts coupled with a loud short-sleeved shirt and Jesus sandals, complete with white socks.

He was a gentle and patient teacher, pushing his students to achieve their potential but never at the expense to their own limits.

Amongst the twenty or so children that resided on the base in Diego Garcia, he was one of the firm favourites.

"Finished Lia?" He asked, setting down the chalkboard duster on the desk.

"Mmhmm, I think so. I think I've got everything I need to finish my book report." She said, placing the comprehension book down on Gerry's desk.

Gerry chuckled and gathered up some stray papers, tucking them into his battered leather briefcase. "I'm sure you have. You're a clever girl Cordelia. And if you get stuck, I'm sure the boss won't mind helping you out!"

Cordelia smiled at the use of Optimus' unofficial nickname on the base. "I don't doubt for a second that he won't mind helping me out, but I don't know how much he will know about North America during the Great Depression."

They made their way out of the classroom together and into the bright sunshine.

Although it was still relatively early at eleven in the morning, the day had already reached the kind of heat that made Cordelia's top stick to her back and cause the downy hair on the nape of her neck to become damp with perspiration.

She rearranged her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head, looking forward to being spoiled by Optimus' delicious air-conditioning.

She looked up to see the gleaming Peterbilt sitting about fifty yards in front of them, glinting innocently in the brilliant sunlight.

As the two humans drew nearer, Optimus transformed in a series of clanks and seamless movements.

The sight never failed to take Cordelia's breath away.

She couldn't quite comprehend how his huge body managed to fit into the relatively small size of the Peterbilt semi-truck.

Optimus cast a long, wide shadow over the two humans before kneeling to regard them on their level.

He extended an index finger towards Gerry, a friendly smile on his faceplates.

"Gerry, it is a pleasure to see you again. I trust you are enjoying good health?"

Gerry started a little but shifted his briefcase to his other arm, taking Optimus' proffered finger. "I can't complain, can't complain at all. I just wish this heat would die down a bit. How are you doing? Cordelia keeping you busy?" He said with a conspiratorial wink.

Optimus smiled down at the two humans, his face melting into a tender expression as his gaze fell on Cordelia.

"I am doing very well, thank you Gerry. It is always a pleasure to be around Cordelia. Can I offer you a ride anywhere?" Hydraulics hissed lightly as he moved to brace his weight on one hand.

Gerry shook his head, dabbing at his forehead with a checked handkerchief. "No thank you, I'm parked around the back of the building there. Cheerio you two!"

He raised a hand in a farewell wave and disappeared around the back of the Education Centre building.

Optimus held out his little finger expectantly.

Cordelia looked at it dumbly, wondering what he wanted her to do.

She felt his gentle chuckle reverberate deep within her ribcage as the little finger moved around to gently tug on the bag on her shoulder.

Oh.

She grinned and slid it from its perch, hooking it over Optimus' little finger.

She wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of it. It looked like a Polly Pocket accessory, just dangling there on the end of his pinkie finger.

She climbed on, assuming her usual position of leaning back against his curled fingers; an arm hooked around his thumb.

His hand was surprisingly cool. She had expected it to be hot, like the metal slides of her childhood that had almost given her third-degree burns when she'd played on them.

There was the usual rush of air as Optimus rose to his full height, closing his fingers securely around her as he reached up to place her carefully on his left shoulder.

She let her legs dangle from the edge of his armour, one arm hooked around his smooth chrome smokestack.

The metal underneath her was deliciously cool and refreshing against her hot skin.

She leaned her hot cheek contentedly against Optimus', greedily seeking more of the cool contact.

"How was your English class?" Optimus asked, beginning to walk at a leisurely place in the general direction of the south beach.

"It was good thanks. I got some good material for my book report, so I think I should be able to finish it today. Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, you are always welcome to ask me absolutely anything little one."

"How come you're so cool? I mean cool to the touch…not that you're not cool, but you know what I mean, even…ugh." She buried .her head in her hands, wishing that she could stop the cases of the word vomit that occurred when she was nervous.

Optimus chuckled lightly and turned his head lightly to regard her.

"I cooled myself for your comfort. I didn't think it would be conducive to your physical health to be sitting on me when I was 175 degrees Celsius."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Cordelia exclaimed, bringing one knee up and wrapping an arm around it.

She had just settled herself down into the crook of his neck when she shot up again, sitting up ram-rod straight.

Optimus noticed and stopped in his tracks, turning to face her fully, one optic ridge raised in a silent question.

"Are you alright little one?"

Cordelia nodded and forced a smile onto her face. "Yeah, sure. I just…I just don't want you to think that I'm taking advantage of you."

Cordelia almost wanted to laugh at the utterly confused expression that made its way onto Optimus' face.

His optics were slightly squinted, optic ridges raised and his facial plating was slightly scrunched as his mouth plates moved to form a small 'o' of confusion.

"How in the name of Primus would you be taking advantage of me?"

Blood filled Cordelia's cheeks. "I don't want you to think that I am just using you as a piece of furniture or as a piece of…" she paused, unsure if the next word was going to be offensive to him. She took a deep breath and carried on speaking. "I don't want you to think I am using you as a piece of furniture or a piece of…machinery for my own gain. You're the first person in forever who has just let me speak without interrupting.

"You haven't judged me for my past, or what I have done. You've been kind and patient, never asking me for anything in return. And I suppose I am scared that you think I am just…using you."

Her voice trailed off as she drew nervous circles into the smooth metal underneath her skin.

Servos whirred as Optimus reached up to grasp Cordelia lightly in his fingers, raising her up to eye level.

"Do you honestly think that little one?" He asked earnestly, his optics constricting the by the tiniest degree.

"Well, I don't think that you think that, but I am afraid that you might, or that you're just saying you don't in order to spare my feelings."

Optimus simulated a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose between a thumb and forefinger.

"Cordelia, what has made you think that?" He spoke with nothing but eternal patience, bathing her in the soft blue glow of his optics.

"I've always struggled with paranoia. Not the kind that makes you doubt everything, but the kind that eats away at you slowly, picking and picking away at you until you don't know what to believe anymore."

A sad look came into his optics, the kind of sadness that only comes from mutual understanding.

"The kind of paranoia that makes you lose all belief in yourself and convinces you that there is no way out of the darkness that is the torturous horror of your own mind?"

Cordelia was speechless. This, peculiar, beautiful soul had just described what she had felt her whole life in a more eloquent and beautiful way than she herself ever could.

"…yeah. That's exactly it. That and…you carry me around all the time. I don't want you to think I'm just using you as my personal taxi service…"

Optimus surprised her by uttering a booming laugh. The thunderous sound inadvertently startled her, and she laughed internally at her own skittishness.

A finger gently rubbed up and down her spine by way of apology. "My apologies little one, I didn't mean to scare you. Please, let me reassure you that I absolutely, do not in any way whatsoever think that you are using me as a personal taxi service. As for carrying you around, it is my absolute pleasure to do so. Until you direct me to do otherwise, I will hold you for as long as I am able to. I promise you Cordelia, it is not a problem in any way, shape or form.

"Does that allay your fears?"

Cordelia had to swallow past the lump in her throat before she could answer him.

"Yes. It's like you opened my mind and just…plucked out all of my thoughts."

Optimus grinned at her and the effect on his face was astoundingly beautiful. "What can I say? I am a good bibliophile."

Now it was Cordelia's turn to be confused.

"A bibliophile? As in a person who enjoys reading?"

"No…someone who is good at determining the emotions or thoughts of other people."

Realisation dawned on Cordelia. "Ohhh, you mean you're good at reading people around you?"

Optimus shook his great head, his mouth plates pressed tightly into a thin line. "It would appear that my grasp of the English language is not yet perfected."

Cordelia patted his palm encouragingly. "Well, you speak every language on the planet, and in my opinion you speak English perfectly. You just need to get used to all the different 'figures of speech'." She inserted air quotes to illustrate her point.

His vacant expression was the only answer she needed.

"Don't worry big guy, I've got your back."

He smiled warmly at her, raising his hand to put her back on his shoulder before stopping and regarding her closely through inquisitive optics.

"Would you like to ride on my shoulder?"

Cordelia nodded shyly and was rewarded with one of his signature small smiles. His hand hovered behind her as she settled herself back into the crook of his neck.

Once he was satisfied that she was sitting safely, he resumed his gentle pace in the direction of the south beach.

In the weeks since their arrival to Diego Garcia, Optimus had expressed a certain fondness for being near the ocean.

Five minutes later, they were at their destination.

The beautiful aquamarine blue of the Indian ocean never failed to bring a sense of peace and serenity to Cordelia. The very sound of the waves washing up on the beach relaxed her instantly and she let out an involuntary sigh of contentment.

He picked Cordelia up carefully, holding her between a finger and thumb.

He lowered her to the ground before lowering himself to a sitting position, one leg pulled up and the other stretched out in front of him.

Cordelia sat down in the warm sand. Sitting next to Optimus was like sitting next to a building.

For a few countless minutes they sat in a companiable silence, just happy to enjoy the peace of the waves breaking upon the beach.

"So, you said you have everything that you need in order to complete your book report?" Optimus rumbled softly from above her.

Cordelia leaned back on her hands, enjoying the warm feeling of the smooth sand between her fingers.

"Yeah. I just had to ask Gerry a couple of things and I wanted to see a few sample answers so that I knew how to write my answer. I know what I want to write, but I just wanted to make sure I was headed in the right direction."

"That is very sensible. May I ask what the question is that you have to answer?"

"Sure," Cordelia said, reaching around to grab her notebook from her rucksack. "The question is; 'Steinbeck presents loneliness as an inescapable part of the characters' lives in Of Mice and Men. To what extent do you agree with this statement?'"

"Loneliness…hmm. A sentiment I fear that we are both all too familiar with."

Cordelia smiled up at the Autobot leader, shyly placing a small hand on the back of his own.

"Not anymore big guy. We have each other now. Hey, do you mind it when I call you 'big guy'?"

Optimus shook his head and turned his hand over, clasping Cordelia's between a colossal finger and thumb.

"Not at all little one. It is true after all. I am…significantly larger than most of the life forms on this planet…" he trailed off for a few seconds, seemingly deciding on what to say next. "Anyway, do you mind it when I call you 'little one'?"

Cordelia shook her head. "No, I don't mind in the slightest. I've never had a nickname before. Hey, how tall are you actually? Like you're huge, but how tall?"

She craned her neck to meet his gaze, squinting one eye shut against the harsh glow of the September sun.

His frame vibrated lightly with a gentle chuckle. "I am twenty-eight feet tall. From these," he tapped an ear finial with a finger, "down to these." He lifted one of his immense feet into the air, shaking it this way and that.

"Woooow." Cordelia said, stretching out the word. "So you're twenty-three feet taller than me? That is epic."

Presently, she found the sand to be just a little too hot to sit on comfortably, so she got to her feet and made her way to the breaking waves, shaking off her battered Converse shoes as she went.

The water was deliciously cool and refreshing against her hot feet. She decided to go in a little further, right up to her thighs.

Her late summer outfit of ripped shorts and William Lennox's donated Iron Maiden t-shirt (which looked more like a dress on her) allowed her to get fairly far into the ocean without getting her clothes wet.

She lowered her hands into the crystal-clear water, gently waving them backwards and forwards, tilting her head back so that her throat was exposed to the sun.

Hydraulics hissed as Optimus got to his feet and took a tentative step into the water.

Cordelia looked at him in surprise.

"Woah! Careful! Won't you rust?"

"No little one. Every Transformer emerges from the AllSpark with a protective layer of zinc. It galvanises us and protects us against any corrosion from outside elements." He took another step into the water, though it barely covered his metallic toes.

Cordelia was about ten feet out, given the current low tide. She motioned for him to come further out.

"Come on! It won't bite you!"

She watched him curiously as he slowly made his way out to her. He could have easily cleared the distance in two steps or left, but instead he chose to shuffle slowly forward, foot by foot.

She brought a hand up to cover her eyes as she raised her face skywards to look up at Optimus.

His own face was tilted down, optics tracking her every movement.

"Are you nervous?"

"I wouldn't say nervous as such…more…apprehensive. There is no liquid like this at all on the face of Cybertron. The closest we have is refined Energon, and even then, the consistency is totally different. This stimulus feels strange on my pedes."

Cordelia smiled at him encouragingly. "That's okay big guy, take some time to get to know the water. Feel it between your fingers. Let it get to know you."

Optimus raised an incredulous optic ridge at her, but took one huge step over her and into deeper water.

Now the water came about a quarter of the way up his legs, resting where his shins would have been.

He bent low and cupped both hands into a bowl shape and lifted an astonishing amount of water. It fell from between his fingers in multiple waterfalls, the clear torrents catching the light of the mid-morning sun.

Cordelia felt a strange surge of pride swell behind her sternum as she watched a small, almost child-like smile appear on the great Prime's visage.

She stood watching him quietly for a few minutes until an unpleasantly warm sensation between her legs brought her back down to earth.

A warm, gushing sensation.

She was horrified to see a small trail of red begin to trickle out from underneath the leg of one of her shorts.

She frantically used the salty water to was the blood off her leg whilst simultaneously making a mad sprint back to the beach.

"OPTIMUS!" Her frantic voice sounded shrill, pitched high with the horrendousness of the situation that she had found herself in.

The Autobot leader's head snapped up at the sound of Cordelia's distress.

In less time than it took for her beating heart to pump another load of blood around her body, he had scooped her up into his palm, his panic-stricken gaze combing her for injury.

She turned her back to him, jamming both hands between her legs in an effort to stop the blood from coming out.

She could already feel her shorts were damp and saturated with her first period since the termination of her pregnancy six weeks earlier.

"Please can you take me home? I need to go home. I need to go home now."

Immediately, Optimus lowered her to the floor and folded himself into a Peterbilt, his passenger door hanging open for her.

She threw herself into the cab, sitting on her rucksack.

Mortified didn't even begin to describe how she felt. She wanted a black hole to appear and swallow her up into nothing.

How could I have let this happen?! Why didn't I feel any pain?

Hot, angry tears prickled at the back of her eyes, causing a lump to form in her throat.

Optimus said nothing but accelerated forcefully towards their quarters.

He drove quickly and arrived at their hangar in record time.

Cordelia didn't even wait for him to come to a full stop before she launched herself out of the cab and up the catwalk stairs that would take her to her own living quarters.

Once inside the bathroom, she removed her shorts and underwear and saw that the gusset of her knickers was stained dark red.

She scowled at them and threw them into the corner.

She set about cleaning herself up quickly, thanking her rarely lucky stars that she had thought to stash spare underwear and a pair of old cycling shorts in the bathroom.

Once she was done, she went over to the sink and turned the cold tap on, rinsing her face.

When she looked up and met the gaze of her reflection in the mirror, she saw that her usually alabaster skin was streaked with intermittent patches of red. The blotches made the freckles across her nose and cheeks stand out all the more. Her green eyes looked almost jade, the colour brought out by the tears she had yet to shed.

She brushed them away angrily, blotting her face dry on the hand towel that hung on a rusty ring next to the sink.

There was a low rumble as the sound of something enormous tapped lightly on the bathroom door. Optimus' low baritone rumbled in the bathroom's acoustics.

"Lia? Are you alright? Did I do something to upset you?"

Cordelia took a deep breath, unlocked the bathroom door and walked straight into Optimus' nose.

She leapt back, startled by how close his face was.

If she hadn't been so embarrassed by what had just happened, she would have burst into hysterical laughter at the way Optimus was currently displayed in front of her.

He had braced his weight on one arm on the wall above her, his other hand pressed flat down onto the catwalk floor on the level below. One knee rested very tentatively on the catwalk's rail, allowing him to all but stick his face in the bathroom doorframe.

He wasn't expecting Cordelia to come out of the bathroom so quickly and jerked his head back.

Relief flickered across his optics as he scooped Cordelia into his palm, carefully extricating himself from his impressive display of flexibility.

"I didn't know you were also captain of the Autobot gymnastics team," Cordelia said wryly, keeping her face hidden from his worried optics.

He didn't respond but went over to his berth and sat down, holding Cordelia up to eye level.

"Cordelia, whatever is the matter?"

She sighed before she answered him.

Although she was mortified at what had just happened, she was surprised to find she was not at all anxious about telling him what had happened.

What she was anxious about, was his reaction.

"Do you remember when I told you what my father made me do? When he took me to the clinic and…"

Optimus nodded solemnly, a finger stroking her shoulder tenderly.

"Well, after you've had something like that done…it takes a little bit of time for your body to go back to…" she paused, looking for the right word. "It takes a little bit of time for your body to resume its normal…functions. Well, I just resumed one of my normal functions, and it has embarrassed me a lot. It's nothing serious, it just took me by surprise is all."

The look of undisguised relief on Optimus' face was strangely comforting.

Cordelia was taken aback at how worried he'd been for her welfare.

"It's something which will occur once a month or so…and it's called a period."

Optimus' optics took on a slightly glazed expression as he searched the Internet for the meaning of the word.

Cordelia was immensely grateful to him for not asking her outright.

He is good at reading people…

"'The shedding of the endometrium through the cervix in the event of no pregnancy. Occurs approximately every twenty-eight days to compose the menstrual cycle.'"

His baritone voice made the unremarkable sentence sound somewhat interesting.

Hah, if only he taught biology at school. Maybe we would all actually remember something.

"You were embarrassed about this? But it is a wholly natural phenomenon, and your body does this on a regular basis."

His question highlighted the chasmic gap between their two races.

Cordelia struggled to answer him, unsure of how to phrase what she wanted to say.

"Yeah…I was embarrassed. It was the thought of you seeing me…bleed. I didn't want you to be worried or anything."

His optics widened marginally before going back to their normal aperture. "Bleed? Is that normal? To bleed during menorrhea?"

"Mmhmm. Happens to every woman on the planet at some point. I just wasn't expecting mine to show up…usually I get pain a few days before."

"Do you require assistance with anything?"

She smiled and motioned to be brought closer to his face. He obliged immediately.

She stood carefully in his palm, hanging onto one finger as an anchor.

With her free hand, she drew a tender line down his facial plating, marvelling at the glyphs that were engraved into the smooth metal.

"No big guy, I am absolutely fine."

.o

A few weeks later

Cordelia was cleaning her little kitchenette area when she heard a thunderous noise at the main door of her and Optimus' shared hangar.

Poking her head out from behind the cupboard door she was currently crouched behind, she saw the hulking black form of Ironhide making his way through the double-doors.

Cordelia swallowed nervously.

She knew that she could trust Optimus' Weapons Specialist, but the brash Autobot made her a little nervous.

Standing, she threw her dirty wash rag into the sink and approached the catwalk railing, wringing her hands nervously together.

"Hey Ironhide, is everything okay?" She asked shyly, checking his blue optics for any tell-tale emotion.

She was shocked at how difficult he was to read. In only a couple of months, she had learned how to read Optimus' body language and facial expressions. Of course, she was still learning more every day that she spent with Optimus, but she'd observed so much already.

His optics were the most obvious way into his emotions. When he was angry or tense, they constricted to tiny pin-pricks, whereas when he was sad or concerned, they were wide and expressionate with his unsaid emotion.

A subtle downwards turn of his lip plates told her that he was losing his patience, in the same way that the quiet drumming of his fingers on one knee meant that he was a little nervous.

With Ironhide, there was absolutely nothing. His face was completely discernible of any expression or emotion whatsoever.

He acknowledged her with a brusque nod.

The raised catwalk platform placed her at eye level with the great Autobot. What he lacked in Optimus' height, he more than made up for in bulk.

His body screamed nothing but pure power; weapons seemed to cover every conceivable surface of his frame. His scarred right optic gave him a tough, 'don't mess with me' kind of vibe.

Cordelia offered him a small smile.

"Hey Half-Pint. Optimus is in the main hangar. He asked me to come and get you. He said he's got a surprise for you."

Cordelia raised an incredulous brow at Ironhide. "A surprise? What kind of surprise?"

Ironhide narrowed his optics at her. "Well if I knew that, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?"

Cordelia didn't respond, not really knowing how to or what to say.

She was gobsmacked when he offered her a big grin.

"I like you Half-Pint. Since Optimus met you, he's changed. He's gone from a serious, worried leader to someone who seems happier and more laid back. I've fought alongside that mech for over a thousand years, and I have never seen him the way he is when he is with you. You have an important place in his Spark."

Cordelia found that she had temporarily lost the power of speech.

"Why are you calling me 'Half-Pint'?" She asked, fiddling with a strand of her auburn hair.

"Because you're small, the smallest human I've seen so far anyway." His tone of voice was gentle and light, teasing her a little.

She shook her head at him and descended the catwalk stairs.

A gleaming GMC Topkick sat in front of her, its passenger door hanging open.

She scrambled up the steps and buckled herself into the seat, still a little unnerved at being driven in a vehicle with no visible driver.

A little red light on Ironhide's dash flashed as he spoke.

"Thought I'd drive you over kid, it'll take you ages to walk over there with your little legs."

Cordelia gave an unladylike snort. "Whatever you say 'hide."

The truck vibrated beneath her with Ironhide's quiet laughter.

Within five minutes they had arrived at the main hangar.

Ironhide clicked his passenger door open and Cordelia jumped out, casting her eyes around the vast space for Optimus.

She spotted him just as Ironhide gave a little honk of his horn as he reversed back out of the hangar.

Cordelia waved at him and jogged over to where Optimus stood, placing a hand on the wheel-arch that doubled as his ankle.

"What's this surprise then big guy?"

Optimus bent down and wrapped his fingers around her, lifting her into the air.

"I have someone here for you Lia." He said, carefully placing her on the raised catwalk. "I'll give you some privacy."

He walked quietly towards the exit and hovered just outside the massive doorway.

Cordelia turned her confused gaze from Optimus to the tall man who stood with his back to her.

The man turned around. He had a shock of curly, brown hair that looked completely untameable. His blue eyes were set in a kind looking face, framed by small age lines. His nose was innocently crooked, no doubt from being broken on more than one occasion.

Leo.

The strength of their reunion was told in the timeless soul connection of their eyes; blue and green meeting to form a kaleidoscope of emotion.

She fell forward into his outstretched arms, feeling her body relax into the sweet safety of his long-awaited embrace. A million unspoken words passed between them, and somehow, each knew what the other wanted to say without needing to utter a single word.

She buried her head against his firm chest, greedily inhaling the scent of his aftershave. Her hands balled into fists on his back, gripping his jumper in a vice.

His arms snaked around her waist as he lifted her to match his towering six-foot-three-inch frame.

Cordelia wrapped her legs around his waist and pushed her cheek into the crook of his neck, tears falling unbidden from her wide eyes.

She relished in the feeling of his strong arms embracing her, feeling like he was putting the last few pieces of her fractured soul back together.

They drew apart, Leo releasing Cordelia from his grip and steadying her on her own two feet.

She was astonished to see the dewy moisture of unfallen tears in Leo's vibrant blue eyes.

His big hand moved down to clasp her own within its soft but rough hold. He rubbed his thumb back and forth over her bony knuckles.

Leo led her over to one of the many desks that littered the catwalk's surface and pulled out a chair for her.

Cordelia lowered herself into it, watching as Leo sat in a chair directly opposite her on the other side of the desk. He didn't release her hand.

There were a few tense seconds of pregnant silence as the two kindred spirits each took the other in.

Without warning, Leo lifted Cordelia's hand to his mouth and pressed a long, tender kiss to the back of it. The contact was so caring and so gentle that it brought fresh tears to Cordelia's eyes.

She reached up to cup his face with her free hand, the slight prickles from his five o'clock shadow lightly scratching her palm.

"I thought I had lost you." He spoke almost unintelligibly, she had to lean right forward to catch his whispered confession.

It was evident that these six words had not been easy for him to say. She could see it in the way his shoulders hung low, in the way that his chin dropped to his chest.

In the muted blue of his achingly kind eyes.

He sniffed and rubbed his eyes roughly with the back of his free hand.

"So…who was that extremely…large metallic chap? He said his name was Optimus something…?"

"Yeah, his name is Optimus Prime. Leo…how much has he told you?"

Leo blew air out through puffed up cheeks. "Only that he found you, he said he wouldn't tell me how you met each other without your consent. He also explained that you'd been in all that mess with…Deceptibums? In Tranquility City."

Cordelia nodded, taking in a large breath. "Yeah…I was involved with him from the evening that he arrived, landed, however you want to put it. He actually…he actually saved my life. I don't just mean in the fight in Tranquility, but before…it was actually how we met."

Leo questioned her with an inquisitive raise of his eyebrows. "Are you going to tell me how you met? You don't have to if you don't want to…it's just…you are incredibly important to me bach, and the thought of losing you, was to be honest, one of the worst feelings on the planet. I think of you…I think of you as a daughter."

Cordelia reached up to clasp her other hand over Leo's.

"Leo…I honestly count meeting you after that…clinic was one of the luckiest moments of my life. You made me feel safe and you were there for me at a time when no one else was. What I'm about to tell you will be hard for you to hear, but you deserve to know.

"During the time I spent with you after I was removed from my father's custody…I can't put into words how good that felt. In a very short amount of time I found that I was beginning to grow incredibly fond of you. Optimus and I have had a good conversation about this. He thinks that I imprinted on you. He said that you were what I needed, and as a result, I latched on to you with a limpet-like grip.

"When you said that I couldn't live with you anymore and that I would have to go back to him…it was like the world fell away from underneath my feet."

She stopped for a second, tightening her fingers around Leo's hands. He freed one and clasped it over the top of hers, encasing their hands together.

She studied his hands over hers carefully. Even compared to Leo, who was human like her, her hands were miniscule.

"When I ran away from the station…away from you, there was only one thought going through my mind. I wanted to get away from all the noise inside my head. The confusion, the anger, the desperate sadness, the pain. Most of all the pain. I only knew of one way to do that.

"I was out at the town limits when Optimus landed on the hills. He was inside this metal egg-shaped thing, and as I went over to have a look at it, it started to move and shift. I wasn't gonna hang around to find out what it was. I carried on running until I got to the traffic bridge. You know, that one that goes over the river?"

She watched for Leo's reaction carefully.

The widening of his eyes in taciturn understanding painted a tendril of sadness around her fragile heart.

"Were you going to jump?" His voice came out low and husky, slightly choked by the emotion he was trying to fight.

Cordelia dropped her eyes from his, unable to look at him in the eye as she delivered the truth that had literally sent her into the hands of Optimus Prime.

"Leo…I did jump. Optimus was hiding from the cops under the bridge and heard me fall. He caught me. He saved my life."

There was nothing but silence.

Cordelia made no effort to stop the tears that spilled over, shuffling her chair slightly closer to the table so that she could in turn, be closer to Leo.

He shook his head and pulled his hands from her grasp, getting up from the table.

He walked away, his back to her with his fingers interlaced on the back of his head.

She watched his shoulders move quickly up and down, supressing what she thought were body-wracking sobs.

He went over to the railing and grabbed onto it with both hands, simultaneously taking a step back and lowering his head.

Cordelia didn't know what to do.

She'd never seen Leo display this level of vulnerability, and it unsettled her.

It was like putting water on a roaring fire and the fire continuing to burn.

She got up and made her way uncertainly towards him, one hand outstretched.

Her fingers brushed his bicep, taut with the constricted tension in which he held his body.

He stood so quickly and stepped towards her so closely that she took an involuntary step backwards, momentarily startled by his sudden movements.

She was horrified to see multiple fat tears rolling down his cheeks, the whites of his eyes blotched red.

He grimaced at her in an expression of pure horror and regret as he grabbed her shoulders with both hands, bending his knees a little so as to bring their faces level.

"Are you telling me, that if…Optimus Prime hadn't had been there to catch you, that you would be dead? Is that what you're telling me?!" His voice raised slightly on the last word, betraying his anger.

Cordelia flinched.

Leo sighed, moving his hands from her shoulders to cup her face. She leaned into them, grabbing onto each of his thick wrists.

She nodded a silent affirmative as treacherous tears smeared a line of shame down her cheeks.

She could hold the burden of regret no longer and fell to her knees as the storm of her emotions ravaged her psyche.

A great sob escaped her, and she covered her face with shaking hands. The old urge was rising deep within her and it was all she could to do respond to its unnegotiable demand.

Seemingly of her own accord, her nails drove their way down her face, deep and hard.

Again, sinking into the soft pale skin of her cheeks.

Scraping away the badness.

Digging out the poison.

Releasing the-

At once there were thunderous footsteps that shook the whole hangar. Lights rattled in their fixtures. The chairs on the catwalk fell over.

Cordelia didn't feel the desperate tugs of Leo, the strength of her pain too much for him.

She didn't feel the cool, metal fingers that gently grasped her wrists, pulling them away from her bloody, tearstained face.

She didn't notice the ground disappearing from beneath her as she was raised up into the air, safe in the embrace of her benevolent titan.

She did not register the vestibular motion of her small body being gently rocked to and fro, or the hum of the Spark that now sang only for her.

A numb sense of catharsis came over her, pulling her mind into the protective grey fog with which she was so well acquainted. The familiar heaviness of each of her limbs was like the embrace of an old friend, the leaden weights on her eyelids as comfortable as slipping into a favourite cardigan.

She shut herself off from the world around her, bringing down her mental walls and surrendering to the blissful oblivion that was her tortured mind.

.o

Ow. OW.

Cordelia winced as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision, trying to work out where she was.

She gasped when she saw that she was back in her own bed, in the hangar that she shared with Optimus.

She lifted a hand to her face, gently brushing both cheeks with her fingertips, feeling the soft edges of the loose bandages that had been placed there. Something felt wrong—

What the hell? Where are my—

"I asked Leo to remove them little one. The distal edges of your fingernails. I am so, so sorry to have asked him to do it without your knowledge and consent, but I was in fear of your safety."

Optimus' low baritone echoed from above her head, and she looked around and saw that her bed had been placed close to the catwalk railing so that Optimus could talk to her easily.

She saw that Leo was perched on the end of her bed, hands clasped together in his lap.

When he met her gaze, he practically threw himself at her, wrapping both arms around her slender shoulders and reaching up to cup the back of her head.

His kissed her forehead fervently, careful to avoid the rectangular bandages that covered the angry gashes on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry." She barely spoke above a whisper, but she knew that the two most important people in her life had heard her.

Hydraulics hissed quietly as Optimus reached up to brush the tip of his index finger against her neck and shoulder. Leo shied away from the Autobot leader's close proximity.

"When you're feeling up to it bach, you're coming home with me. We'll get something sorted out."

A deep, primal growl reverberated in Cordelia's ribs as Optimus rose to stand at his full height, lip plates grinding together quietly.

Leo turned to face Optimus, annoyance clearly present in his body language.

"What is your problem?!"

Optimus narrowed his optics at Leo before he answered him. "As I have already explained to you, it is Cordelia's choice with whom she stays. Not ours."

Leo ran a hand through his wild curls, barely keeping the lid on his anger.

"I'm sorry, but that just isn't going to happen. She is a child. She is fourteen years old for crying out loud! How do you expect to take care of a child? You're busy fighting some intergalactic war! How will you keep her warm, safe, fed, healthy and educated? Are you going to cook her meals, go through her school work with her, comfort her when she needs it?"

Optimus lowered his face over the railing and pushed it into Leo's personal space.

"I have ensured all those things and more over the last six weeks. Cordelia has been enrolled into NEST's education programme, where she is taught by fully qualified teachers. She has access to healthy and nutritious food. She sleeps in a warm bed, with a roof over her head." He lowered his face further still. "And as for keeping her safe; any threat will have to go through me."

His tone was glacial. Cordelia could almost see the cold fury radiating off his huge body in translucent waves.

Leo scoffed and backed up a little. "How do you expect to cater to her emotional health and needs? She is a young girl with a complicated and traumatic past! Can you even feel anything?"

Cordelia gasped as Leo's aggressive inference hung in the air.

Optimus stood as still as a statue, his face completely unreadable.

Countless seconds ticked by, thickening the tension with each passing chunk of eternal time.

Then he raised an arm and gently, but in a way that displayed his ethereal fury, jabbed Leo in the shoulder.

"I am capable of feeling every emotion that you are. I can feel happiness, anger, pain, sadness, confusion. The whole spectrum!" He banged on his chest with a closed fist. "Do you think that I did not mourn my world when it went dark? Or the soldiers that fell under my command? Do you think I did not rejoice when the Decepticon threat was eliminated from your world? Do you THINK that I do not care for that precious, beautiful, wonderful, complicated soul who I already think of as the most important person in the universe, known and unknown?

"Do you THINK THAT I WOULD NOT LAY DOWN MY LIFE IN ORDER TO SAVE HERS?! DO YOU THINK THAT SHE IS NOT THE MOST INCREDIBLE BEING THAT I HAVE EVER MET?!"

The explosive volume of his beautiful, sonorous baritone made Cordelia's brain feel like it was vibrating inside her cranium.

"Do you think," now he spoke more softly, pulling back from Leo. "That I do not love her with everything that I am? If that is the case human, then you are sorely mistaken. Know this; I will never, as long as I am functional, forsake Cordelia Winter."

He straightened back into a standing position, his audial covers rotating furiously.

Cordelia could have sworn that she saw steam expelled from his nostrils.

Leo didn't utter a single word.

He turned back to face Cordelia, his face noticeably paler.

She swung her legs over the bed and got gingerly to her feet.

"Leo…please don't do this. I love you more than I know how to say, but I can't go back with you. It's not that I don't want to, more than anything I want you in my life. You mean so much to me and I…I love you so much. But the thought of leaving Optimus…"

Even as she expressed the words, her heart gave a painful twinge within her chest. She reached up to cup his face.

"I know where I belong now Leo. For the first time in forever, I feel safe. And I…I love Optimus. I love him so much that quite frankly, it scares the poop out of me, but it's the way that I feel."

Tears welled in Leo's tired eyes.

"Lia, are you sure bach? You're just a child! You are so young, you have your whole life ahead of you."

Understanding dawned on Cordelia.

"Wait a minute, wait one minute. Do you think that I love Optimus in a romantic way?"

Leo's eyes widened, his mouth hanging slightly open as his nervous gaze darted between her and the furious Autobot that loomed over them.

"Isn't that…why you want to stay with him?"

Suddenly, Cordelia had to bite back incredulous laughter.

"Are you serious? Of course I don't love him in that way! Oh you stupid man! I love him in a…platonic way. In the way that you love a family member or a dear friend."

"And you?!" Leo's tone of voice was accusatory, filling the hangar with his tangible confusion.

"I love Cordelia as I would love my own Sparkling. That is to say; no. I do not love her romantically. I would lay down my Spark without question for her. Do anything that she asked of me. But I do not love her in a romantic way. I have never in my long existence, harboured any kind of romantic love for anybody. And I would be surprised if that were to change."

Cordelia released Leo and made her way over to Optimus.

As she approached, all the fury present on his noble face melted into an expression of pure love.

Wordlessly his hand came down and enveloped her in its immenseness, drawing her close to his Spark chamber.

He dipped his head forward, nuzzling her shoulder gently with his nose.

The downy hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

She returned the tender contact, planting a shy kiss on the metal that felt like porcelain beneath her nervous touch.

Optimus' optics widened. He drew back a little so that he could look at her properly.

"What was that little one?" He asked, a fingertip touching where she had kissed.

She worried for a second that she had offended him, but then she realised that he would have no reason to know what a kiss was.

The gashes on her cheeks throbbed painfully as blood rushed to them. "That was a kiss. It's something humans do to show affection."

"Well, in that case…" he dipped his head forward once more and pressed his lip-plates clumsily to her shoulder.

She giggled. "Here, I'll show you." She pursed her lips and planted a small kiss on the tip of his thumb, exaggerating the quiet smack of her lips so that he would hear as well as see.

He dipped his head once more, this time his lip plates pulled together in an adorable pout.

He pressed his mouth onto her shoulder, lip plates clicking as he adapted the kiss.

"How was that little one?"

Cordelia swallowed before she spoke, suddenly overcome with emotion. "That was perfect big guy. Absolutely perfect."

He returned her to the catwalk and turned his optics on to Leo.

"Leo, please accept my most sincere apologies. I had not anticipated your interpretation of my love for Cordelia. My emotions clouded my judgement and while not an excuse, I hope you can understand the reasoning for my anger."

Leo sighed. "I'm sorry too, Mr Prime. I won't pretend I'm happy about the situation, because I have legitimate and founded concerns. But I want to make this work for Cordelia's sake. She is too important to me to risk losing again."

Optimus offered Leo a small smile. "Leo, please call me Optimus. I would like to get to know you, for Cordelia's sake. You are clearly important to her, and thus, important to me."

Leo offered a wan smile.

"I think we can make that happen…Optimus."

Cordelia jumped up to hug Leo, wrapping both arms around his neck.

His well-toned arms snaked around her waist to lift her.

Air hissed from between Optimus' joints when he moved to lay his index finger in Cordelia's outstretched arms.

Among the two souls that she loved most in the world, Cordelia felt true peace for the first time in her life.

These were two souls that loved her and would keep her safe. That knowledge was earth-shattering in its power of comfort.

Knowing she'd never again have to sleep with a chair underneath the door handle or worry about what hairstyle she had filled her with so much gratitude and relief that she didn't know quite how to process it.

They anchored her in a place of love and safety, enabling her to lay down roots for the first time.

She was older in mind than her fourteen years. She had more experience of trauma and loneliness than most adults she knew. She'd played the role of a caretaker for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to be cared for.

With Optimus and Leo at her side, she knew without a doubt that she could conquer this thing called life.

She was going to cultivate them into a family.

Family.

A concept she was wholly unfamiliar with.

She'd never had a family before.

Never considered herself worthy enough.

Now she was the recipient of love from two amazing individuals.

One, a selfless, funny, caring man who adored her as if she were his own daughter.

The other, an alien from a distant planet. A being who was altruistic and who fought for the freedom of a species that he himself was not part of. A person who had seen her broken spirit and given her the love and tenderness that she needed to start putting herself back together.

Their family would be an unconventional one, but it would be one born of love and mutual respect.

The Autobot leader and his human companion.

The retired Lieutenant General and his surrogate daughter.

The healed girl and the two people who saved her life.

Leo lowered her back down to the ground as Optimus extended a finger towards him.

Leo took it, a small smile sliding onto his face.

An epiphany hit Cordelia as she watched her two favourite people unite in their love for her.

The three of them had been thrown together by fate. An occurrence of events that had been brought into play totally by chance.

A chance that ended in happiness and peace for all involved.

Her heart warmed and she swelled with pride as she gazed upon the titan and the human man.

Her memory took a photograph of the moment, not just in the visual sense but in the sense that every feeling was captured on a visceral level.

The love that permeated her very soul. The joy that came from seeing the two most important people in her life accept each other.

The feeling that, at long last, she had found her serendipity.