This, was a nightmare to edit, but it is the final chapter of what I'm calling the second arc so it was a go big or go home situation. Anyway, hope you all enjoy!
Orichiono Manor, early morning
The early morning sun slipping between the fluttering curtains was what roused Optimus' holoform, his soft sparkling blue eyes fluttering open for a moment.
Upon realising he was a few moments from being woken up by the sun, he promptly rolled over to put his back to the window, and nuzzled his face into the oh so soft pillow he was now hugging to his front, the thin sheets draped over him somewhat rumpled and out of place over him.
Sleep did not return, but he was able to rouse slower, slowly stretching out a bit at a time before a large yawn forced its way out.
Letting his holoforms eyes open again, in the shade of his own form, he took in a content sigh, a peaceful night's rest, a rare commodity in his life but one he was more than welcome to.
A blissful night without the past following him…
The dream was already gone, but he felt lighter, more assured in the aftermath.
He'd likely spoken with Nebular… up on that balcony they used to sneak to when they both found a rare moment where their free time lined up.
If he wished to fool himself, he could pretend her touch lingered on his lower right arm, where she'd lay perpendicular to him, resting her helm on the spot as she looked over the sky line and watched the stars pass by without her.
He ran his left hand over the area, trying to remember that gentle presence for a few moments, before he closed his eyes and pulled his hand away.
He could feel his spark twist, but after a few moments it settled again.
Maybe he should see if Aria or Wren wanted to humour his foolish spark again? Just, speak, allow these things that burdened his spark to be released to the air…
This time he did feel a faint touch, a long off memory from a night when he held them both in the darkness of his room in that tower, one of their servos had come to rest just to the left and up of his spark, on his windshield, pressing just enough to be felt against the glass.
He reached for the spot, and for a moment, found it funny, the spot was directly where a human heart beat, a little coincidence, but one that strangely put a small smile on his features.
He rolled back onto his back then and looked up at the high ceiling, at the intricate overlapping geometric patterns they'd apparently hired an artist to design. He had to admit, it was very easy to just while away time staring up and following the lines and shapes through their tempered madness.
A noise at the door of nails catching the metal door handle alerted him to the fact his morning routine was about to begin.
He braced himself as the door was pushed open by two over-excited snouts, followed by the rest of the large black masses that made a mad dash for the bed.
Nuit jumped first, landing just to his side and letting out a singular loud bark before beginning his assault of licks, paws, and what Raf referred to as 'zoomies' on top of him.
Noire took her time clambering up, barking once herself before flopping over in such a way that exposed her belly for rubs he was more than happy to provide, which had her back leg kicking out and her tail thumping the sheets emphatically.
He had to laugh as Nuit landed firmly on his chest and started a full licking offense on his face.
From past experiences he knew better to open his mouth, dog slobber wasn't the nicest of things to taste.
But he knew the message well enough at this point.
Nuit was hungry.
Noire whined as he managed to wrestle Nuit off himself long enough to sit up. "Alright, alright, I'm up, who wants food?"
Both gave an enthusiastic bark, Nuit butting his long snout into his holoforms chest for a moment before vaulting back off the black with red trim bed and nearly crashing headlong into the door on the opposite side of the corridor.
Noire watched after Nuit, then glanced back at him with what he swore was a 'Can you believe that idiot?' look.
Wren had mentioned at some point they were brother and sister from the same litter.
They certainly acted like it.
Letting out a low chuckle he started to untangle himself from the sheets, he'd rolled around quite a bit over the night it would seem.
Noire jumped back up to her paws and barked, batting at the sheets, nipping and tugging them, evidently trying to help him get out of bed quicker.
Soon enough he was walking out of his room, running his fingers through his ruffled hair as Noire walked so close to him her side was against his thigh.
Nuit was already at the end of the hallway, at the head of the stairs that lead down to the more open plan ground floor.
As he and Noire walked down, he paused, noting that the door to Prowl and Annie's temporary room was open.
'Temporary' meaning it was already fully furnished and ready to accept them whenever they returned to visit from America.
It took a moment but sure enough, there was Rafeal, snuggled in between his parents, with Prowl wrapped around both his son and wife.
A small smile came across his features at the truly domestic scene.
He was happy, truly happy for Prowl.
Unburdened by memories of the war and his old life, he'd found a happiness Optimus doubted he'd ever achieve himself.
His spark just wasn't able to trust such a peace itself anymore.
Noire nudged the back of his leg with her hip, giving him an imploring look to keep walking.
He had to chuckle at that and spoke in a hushed whisper. "I know, I know, I'm sorry." He rubbed her affectionately between the ears and kept walking.
Taking the stairs down he took another moment to bask in the warm glow of early morning as he took in the living and dining area.
Nuit was already there, pawing at one of the cabinets, the one that specifically had a dog proof lock on it.
Noire padded ahead of him, then sat down next to the door Nuit was pawing at.
Chuckling he moved over and gently nudged Nuit aside, popping the lock off and pulled out the open bag of dog kibble inside. "Alright, get your bowls."
The two raced off, the sound of their claws clacking against the floor, a pause, and then them both running back their bowls clamped in their jaws.
Both were dropped at his feet, he held out a finger at them. "Stay." He stated.
Both froze in place.
He poured out the kibble into the bowls until some of the kibble fell out the sides.
Setting the bag back in the cupboard and putting the lock back on, he turned his attention back to them. "Alright, go."
Nuit and Noire were wolfing down the kibble a moment later.
Chuckling to himself he let them be and walked to the sliding doors that led to the patio, stepping out into the chill morning air helped him wake up.
The manors garden was a lovely place, filled with rose bushes, although the white roses had long fallen off in preparation for the chill of Autumn.
The soft sounds of water sloshing in the pool added to the soundscape as the wind blew through the area.
Beyond the hedgerows was Monaco, out of sight of the ground floor but not the second.
Perfect privacy for his holoform to be standing out here in just a set of blue boxer shorts.
Maybe he should have put some more clothes on his holoform.
That maybe became a certainty when he stepped back inside and found Aria looking between him and the dogs as they stuffed themselves.
To be fair, she was barely wearing anything either, a set of thin whitish grey cotton shorts and a matching garment for her bust, a sports bra if he remembered Lena complaining about them correctly.
That fact seemed to click in her own head too. "Ah… um… morning?"
He nodded. "Um, morning, sorry, they wanted food." He explained, gesturing to Nuit and Noire.
She chuckled. "Oh it's fine, they didn't wake you up did they? Hera rolled over on me and that's why I'm up."
He nodded. "I see, that didn't hurt did it?"
She shrugged with a little 'eh' noise. "Holoforms don't have to worry about broken bones, when a mechanical bird the size of a pony rolls on them, so yeah, I'm fine."
He nodded at that, then paused. "You haven't been using Hera's docking function recently, is there a reason for that?"
Aria paused, her expression going blank for a few moments before she shrugged again. "We haven't needed her help with anything, we only need our mouth and talons to eat, and well, we're hardly having to pick stuff up when you all do it for us. Besides, Hera's still a wild animal, she likes her freedom to do whatever it is she wants to do… which is normally just sleep most of the day until she gets hungry, you know? Living the stress free dream?"
He had to chuckle and nod at that. "I will admit, I do envy her ability to recharge like that, without a care for anything else…"
She nodded back then glanced at the kitchen's wall side counter. "So… Coffee?"
He looked to where she was looking, to the kettle with the little round box marked 'Coffee'.
He nodded and gave her a smile. "I'd like that… Lena's certainly given me a good understanding of why this drink is so vital to human functioning."
Aria's shoulders hunched forwards as a small laugh seemed to bounce around inside her as she turned to start the process, taking a water filter jug and filling it far more than it needed to be before setting it back on the counter and pulling two interesting looking mugs from one of the cabinets mounted above on the wall.
One said '1# Sister' and the other said 'It's nice to be nice, but sometimes it's just not appropriate'.
He let himself chuckle at that one. "Words to live by if I have ever heard them." He stepped over closer, Nuit, who was finished before his sister, padded over and nuzzled his narrow snout into his upper thigh, wanting attention Optimus was happy to provide for the doberman.
Aria glanced over again as the kettle started to do it's thing. "So… there's something I'd like to ask for your help with…"
He perked up and gave her his full attention. "What do you require?"
"Hmm… well, you know Derrick's been here with us for about a month and a half now right?"
He nodded. "Yes… I distinctly remember his arrival being rather... tumultuous."
She gave a somewhat awkward chuckle at that. "Yeah, sorry about that. We don't handle panic well."
He reached over and patted her shoulder before pulling his hand back. "It's alright, I doubt I'd react much differently if I had been in your situation… I doubt there is a force in this galaxy that would have stopped me from getting someone... someone's I love back in my arms… That I had believed was no longer online…"
Aria regarded him then as a silence enveloped the room, she stepped away from the counter, moved to stand in front of him, Nuit padding out of the way, she carefully took his right hand in both of her smaller ones. "Hey… hey… focus on me… there we go. Don't apologise. No, I could see you were about to, there is no reason on this planet for you to apologise for this… you've been hurting for a long time, and only now there isn't a constant fight for survival keeping you from noticing… you asked us to help you through this remember? Well one of the first things to do, is accept that you're not going to be perfect going through this. You're allowed to scream, to shout, to cry, to shut down, to want nothing and everything, to be sentient and alive. Remember that okay?"
The silence returned, and he felt his lower jaw wobble slightly, before he headed her words and let his guard fall and impulse take over.
Using her hold on his hand, he pulled her in, his arms swiftly flung around her as he hugged her as tight as he dared, burying his face into her shoulder so as to just avoid seeing anything else of this world. He could feel Aria's white and grey hair curtain around him, as messy as it was from her own rest.
Aria was evidently taken by surprise for a moment, body going tense for a few seconds, before she shifted to rest her cheek on his left pectoral and carefully put her arms under his and around to his back, where he felt the pads of her fingers press into the holoform tight, a solid firm touch…
Something clicked to him then…
This was a difference
A solid, physical difference he could focus on.
The Mutes had been small, barely above minicon class due to being Pilot Frames.
But Aria and Wren, they were big, bigger than the average femme, tall enough to reach his chassis.
Big enough to wrap their wings around him.
The Mutes were too small for that.
This was a difference.
Something he could focus on.
He smiled into Aria's shoulder and pulled her tighter, practically flush to him, hoping she'd be able to understand his thanks, because he doubted he'd be able to get a word out for the next minute or so.
The whistle of the kettle was what had Aria pull away a few long moments later, giving his shoulder a quick double pat before moving back to the finished kettle and the two mugs. "Cream and sugar sound good to you?" She asked, already pouring the boiling hot water onto the coffee grounds in the cup.
He smiled. "That would be nice, in the fridge correct?"
She nodded and at the confirmation he moved over to said fridge, opening and pulling out the canister of whipped cream he found inside, closing the fridge door once he had it out, he passed it to her, watching as she dropped in a cube of sugar into each, then the milk she already had out, and then topped both cups off with a bobbing mountain of whipped cream to finish it off.
She smiled over at him and carefully slid the 'It's nice to be nice' mug over to him, while she picked up the 1# Sister one. "So um… back on track… with everything that's happened… we've kinda forgotten to teach Derrick... how to fly…"
He paused just before his lips met the rim of the mug, lowering it a little. "Ah, yes that is an… unfortunate side effect of everything that has happened isn't it?"
Aria shrugged. "Here's hoping things calm down between now and when that ship of your soldiers arrive… Ira's already started house hunting cause there's no way there's gonna be enough room in Rome for some of them plus her and Jazz."
He nodded, took a quick sip before he spoke again, not noticing that the whipped cream was now making a small cream moustache on his top lip. "I was under the impression it was large enough for at least two more bots?"
Aria nodded. "Large enough to fit two more, but not large enough for three plus Ira to live, smallest of us Harpies she may be, she likes her space, and Rome's city council won't grant anymore digging permission. She's looking into more rural locations now, finance isn't a concern, but Ira's a picky thing."
He hummed and went back to drinking the boiling hot liquid, he was fairly certain humans had to normally wait for it to cool a bit, but the temperature wasn't bothering him.
Aria set down her mug on the counter and moved past him to the fridge, which she opened and began rummaging through, pulling out a small number of things before setting them down on the counter.
The last thing was a small jug of milk.
He recognised that at least on first look.
Second look provided the rest, a packet of thin sausages, a cartoon of eggs, and butter.
Evidently Aria intended to make breakfast for herself.
He shifted to sit on one of the seats that sometimes flanked the kitchen's island, content to sip on the coffee and just watch as both Nuit and Noire shifted to each side of Aria and started to whine, begging for human food.
He was fairly certain they'd already eaten their fill with the amount he put in their bowls, that were noticeably already licked clean.
Aria took the time to boop a finger between their eyes each as she chastised them. "No. This is human food, not dog food. Go get Derrick up, he'll play with you."
The dogs were bounding back up the stairs, assumably heading for Derrick's room to go do just that a moment later.
Aria chuckled. "Ancestors I love those two." She mumbled, getting back to making breakfast, pulling out a frying pan of sorts that seemed to be made from a type of stone, a glass bowl was pulled out as well, which she cracked the eggs into, followed by a small pour of milk, and then topped with a a few grinds of the pepper and salt mills that were normally pushed up against the wall at the back of the counter.
From there, the contents of the bowl were mixed with a fork, then set aside for Aria to focus on frying the sausages in the pan after melting some butter into it.
He wouldn't lie, it was certainly smelling inviting.
Soon enough there was a bowl with steaming hot sausages as well as well done scrambled eggs on the kitchen's island, two forks and knives and a substantial lathering of ketchup covering it.
He regarded the breakfast in surprise, from the last breakfast he'd seen her make, this was a lot less garnished and extravagant, it smelled wonderful and would probably have a human salivating, just, not so flashy.
She seemed to notice his perplexion and shrugged. "I'm hungry, this is quick and tastes nice." With that said, she grabbed up one of the two sets of knife and fork and started to dice up one of the sausages, plus some of the eggs, and took a bite, which caused her to lose some structural integrity and she sagged in bliss.
A few moments later she reached around, and nudged the other set of cutlery towards him.
Oh, she wanted to share it with him.
He hesitated for a moment, but then obliged her, she had made a rather large portion…
Mimicking how she loaded up her fork, he took his first experimental bite.
A noise left him he wasn't previously aware he could make, and it had Aria nearly choking from the laugh she tried to muffle mid mouthful.
He wasn't going to claim he could describe the flavours, so universally different were they from any energon he'd ever tasted, the best he could really express was it was fragging good and Aria was likely going to have to make seconds.
They ate like that for a while, sharing a mostly peaceful silence while sharing the eggs and sausages until they were scraping up the last of the ketchup with the last few morsels.
There was a rather tense few seconds of standoff over the last piece of sausage before Aria conceded and let him have it.
With the plate cleaned up, he realised, strangely, he felt full, despite knowing he'd yet to have his morning intake of energon, curious.
He asked Aria about it as she was cleaning up the small mess she'd made from cooking in the sink, her answer simple, the 'placebo effect'.
Once she was back at the island, Aria was turning the subject back to helping Derrick to fly.
"We want to be able to make the most out of the night, so getting both ourselves and Derrick transported there late evening is likely the best option to make the most of the darkness…" Aria explained. "You can say no to transporting us, we can call in one of the not autonomous trucks and do it that way... "
He shook his helm. "No, I'm willing to do this, it's nice to go for a longer drive from time to time, and I won't lie, I'm curious to see how Derrick will do."
Aria laughed under her breath a bit then. "Hopefully better than we did, though to be fair, we were rather impatient and had barely gotten walking down before we tried to figure out our wings on our own… Derrick won't have to go through that."
There was a solemn note in her tone, he leaned over and tapped her shoulder gently. "I can imagine those early days were… difficult…"
She shrugged. "They were, but we didn't let the body dysmorphia, the confusion, the indignation… the fear… we didn't let any of those stop us, and we still haven't fallen to them… so it's good, we're good." She tried to reassure, patting the hand on her shoulder.
She shook her head a bit then and chuckled. "Wren's finally getting out of bed… and she's in a bad mood… joy…"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you know why?"
"Just an update on something from one of our employees, it's a bureaucracy thing so not something I really understand."
"Ah, perhaps I'll be able to help her?"
Aria looked at him in perplexed surprise for a moment. "I mean, if you want to offer up some help to her, she'll probably rip your arm off." She joked, then glanced towards the stairs leading upstairs, where rapid foot falls could be heard. "Oooh boy…"
Wren, in a moment drastically against her normal character, appeared more as a blur than an holoform as she vaulted from the top landing off the stairs, landing into a roll on the ground floor, and used the momentum to break into a final burst of running which lead to her tackling the counter, hands slamming down onto the counter as she tried to slow her momentum.
"Vraiment? Vous aider?"
He had to pick his jaw off the metaphorical floor, as well as run a quick translation before he could answer. "I mean… yes? Before the war I was trained in the 'art' of bureaucracy. So to speak at least. It is with the Cybertronian system that I am most accustomed to though, and I have until now had little inclination into looking into the human system."
Wren was grinning. "No issue, I can get you up to speed in a couple of weeks, so good?"
Then she looked to Aria. "Coffee?"
Aria huffed out a laugh and turned back to the kettle. "Black as the abyss as usual?"
Wren grinned. "Please."
He watched alongside Wren as Aria prepped a cup, after a minute or so, the solid black brew being slid over to the twin who half sipped, half chugged the brew down, only putting the grainy mug down when it was about half empty.
"Mmhm, as good as ever sis…" Wren mumbled, before reaching to her side and patting her hip, once, twice, then frowning and looking down to said hip. "Fuck I left my phone on the nightstand."
Aria snorted. "You really got out of bed that quick huh?"
Wren grinned. "Clipped through three walls to get down here faster."
"You turned off the obstacle reaction system?" Aria enquired, causing Wren to nod.
He glanced between the two with eyes slightly wide. "You can do that?"
Aria and Wren both nodded, answering at the same time. "It's in the settings menu."
He chuckled and asked another question. "So what time should I aim for getting you two and Derrick out to that valley?"
They looked to each other and hummed in thought.
"5:30pm." Wren answered.
"6:00pm." Aria answered.
It was their turn to laugh.
Another deeper laugh came from the stairs, as Megatronus made his appearance. "You two still can't agree on times I see?"
Both answered him with a middle finger and a chuckle.
Megatron rumbled out a chuckle in reply, walking close enough to lightly knock on both of their heads. "You both look like messes, go get your tail feathers up and go make yourselves look decent."
Both stuck their tongues out at him, but they took the advice as their holoforms flickered out a couple moments later.
Megatron glanced over to where Optimus was standing and raised an optic ridge. "Blue boxers?" He enquired.
It took a moment for Optimus to realise what he was talking about, head snapping down to take in the fact that yes he was still in the singular item of clothing he'd had his holoform sleep in.
His lips shifted into a lopsided pout for a moment, before he chuckled. "It would seem I can now safely say you're no longer my enemy, you aren't outright mocking me for this."
Megatronus just shrugged. "I had the displeasure of seeing the twins father in one of those 'Budgie Speedos'." A shudder of revulsion seemed to overtake him for a moment. "And I have made the horrid mistake of allowing that image to resurface in my central processing, so yes, I won't mock you for this, for I have had the displeasure of witnessing far, far worse."
Optimus had to let himself chuckle at that, reaching over to pat his old friend on the shoulder. "Try and think of something more positive?" He suggested.
Megatronus pouted for a few moments, before his optics widened and his features morphed into an amused smirk. "Aria dropped a small malformed crab down into the crack of his ass… By Primus that scream could have been heard around the world!" He was cackling through his words by the end, servos on his hips and shaking his helm.
Optimus raised an eyebrow at Megatronus. "I can't really imagine Aria… Actually no… I feel that's something she would be capable of… how old were they at the time?" He enquired.
Megatronus took a few more moments to steady himself before he answered. "Oh they were only four at the time, the definition of innocence hiding devilish intent if you ask me…" Then he scowled. "It was also one of the rare instances I saw anything but a scowl of disdain on their mothers' features, but that wench had a sense of humour worse than Shockwave."
He frowned then. "Was their mother truly that unpleasant?" He enquired.
Megatronus huffed. "She had to die, Prime. That's how unpleasant she was." He didn't snap, he still loathed that monster, but she was dead, locked away deep within the ninth circle.
Optimus jerked back a bit in alarm. "You… killed her?" Megatronus nor the Twins had really elaborated how much Megatronus had affected their lives beyond being a constant presence for the two, but this was a rather alarming revelation.
It was one thing to slay an adversary in battle, it was another entirely to kill the mother of his wards.
Megatronus snorted, though the base of the vocalisation was hinted with a growl. "No. I was unable, I had to coach the twins through it."
"By Primus spark… Megatronus… how… old were they?" He half gasped out.
Megatronus scowled and tapped his chin with a digit. "Hmm… They were ten years, six months, fourteen days old when the doses of poison finally reached the lethal dosage level…"
"Doses? Poison!? Megatronus you had them poison their own mother over an extended period?!" He exclaimed in horror, his processor had suggested something like a knife being the murder weapon, maybe a gun, but poison?!
Megatronus didn't even flinch, scowling at Optimus. "Yes. Doses. Poison. Specifically Cyanide. The Bitch was hardy."
Optimus stalled, he hadn't looked into poisons on Earth, it had never even passed his processor.
He went on a swift dive into the internet, trying to learn as much as he could as quickly as possible.
Megatronus evidently noticed his distraction and waited for him to finish his deep dive before speaking again, cutting off whatever Optimus was going to exclaim. "Morally reprehensible, yes, I am well aware Optimus. But I believe you require some more context on this issue." He stated. "You remember your carrier I hope?"
Optimus jerked a bit in surprise at the enquiry. "I… No… I was constructed straight from the Allspark… I was taken in by Alpha Trion-"
Megatronus nodded. "Very well, imagine yourself then, you've just finished learning to walk, you express something you know deep inside is incredibly important to you, a part of your identity you wish to be known, you have no concept of the wider world and it's views, but Alpha Trion does, and he mocks you, belittles you, tells you every time you try to express yourself that you are a liar, that you are merely trying to get undeserved attention, you are never held, never even touched, left alone in a crushing, cold solitude where all have been given orders to not even humour this part of you that you know is unequivocally you. You need it to live." He paused, letting that all sink into Optimus.
Optimus scowled. "Alpha Trion would ne-"
Megatronus cut him off before he could go any further."Alpha Trion was guilty for many things, remember? He could of raised so many alarms when the people began to suffer under the senate, he had access to all, yet he never spoke up until you went to him exclaiming your horror over the Mute's condition trapped in that tower, only after he let the senate pick you to be their successor. He never helped them get away, never warned you of the true nature of those vile pigs. Alpha Trion has no moral ground to stand on in this, do not fool yourself Prime, I'd hope you'd be smarter than that." Megatronus growled, corralling Optimus back until the back of his holoform hit the island in the kitchen.
Megatronus tilted his helm to the side, getting in closer, pushing Optimus to lean back. "Humour me, try and imagine what it would have been like if Alpha Trion had shunned you for this vital component that made your existence complete. Had kept you locked away in a place that scared you witless. Imagine in those moments in isolation, that part of your existence continued to be a part of you, and a voice and rare touch of something you couldn't see were the two things that held the house of cards that was your fraying belief in oneself together."
"Imagine if Alpha Trion decided the isolation wasn't working. And more direct methods were required. Imagine being starved for cycles, a punishment for refusing to bend, no sustenance, and then a single half filled cube is presented to you. You drink it, systems begging for life to continue through this sustenance. The world starts to blur, you start losing feeling in your frame, and then, nothing. Alpha Trion put something in that energon, had starved you so it would be a concentrated dose, something that would knock you out in seconds. Imagine the next thing you're aware of, is being strapped down with something cold and sharp being driven into your helm via your optic. Imagine being saved too late to avoid permanent damage to that optic…"
"Imagine realising they were going to kill that part of you, the part of you that you needed to live Prime. That Alpha Trion did not value you as a whole, only wanted the part that he saw as valuable to him." Megatronus snarled, worked up from the memories.
Optimus was balking at them, and muttered out. "Y-you saved them?"
Megatronus snorted. "Not soon enough, the narcotic had affected me as well. It was too late to save Wren's eye from permanent damage and the trauma of knowing your own flesh and blood loathed the existence of your other half so much, that they were willing to mutilate them until they were nothing but a… a… Aria would have died Prime, the individual who you just shared Breakfast with and held, she wouldn't be here Prime. She'd be a vegetative thing with no individual thought, the only part of her still somewhat functioning being the parts that would keep her half of their organs working. Tell me Prime, if Alpha Trion had tried to kill half of you, would you have let them do it again? Would you have taken your first chance to save yourself? Even if it meant becoming a murderer before you could count to a hundred and fifty?"
Optimus was shaking, his breathing heavy as if he'd just run a marathon, eyes darting from side to side as all that Megatronus had said plagued him.
"Aria… would be dead…" He muttered. "Why… why was their mother so… so…"
"Callous? So vile and unloving she saw her own daughters as a nuisance that needed to be corrected? Aria had a free spirit once Prime, one that pulled Wren along into attempts at fun, to distract from the bleak reality around them. Their mother, their mother hated that joy, hated the carefree, if all did not suffer from the truth of reality like herself, then all would learn true suffering from her hands. That's what they killed with my aid Prime. They killed a monster masquerading in human skin."
Optimus looked towards the lift that led down to the bunker.
Megatronus pulled his attention back to him. "Do not, antagonize them, they know I have uttered these words to you, they know you know. They need you to understand Prime, that they were put in a near impossible situation, I have not been able to convince them they are not monsters, they refer to themselves as abominations, they have been calling themselves that since they were little, because their mother was not a fool, she knew what she was doing to them."
He floundered for a few moments before slowly nodding. "I… I understand… I will give them their spa-"
"No. You will not give them space, do you really think treating them with isolation will do them any good Prime? To keep your distance from them like some china pot you're afraid of breaking with a single touch? Derrick has informed me of what they became after my connection to them was severed, they nearly snuffed out from starvation, they lost the motivation to do anything until it was Derrick who was in peril that they began to act again, to take care of themselves, not for themselves, but for him. They have no care if they die, Prime, the only thing that keeps them alive, is having someone else who needs them. Having people pull away is not a good thing for their psyche. I suggest you make use of shipping them and Derrick to that valley for his flight lessons as a chance to reassure them, because my words are ringing hollow to them." He stated, before moving back out of Optimus' personal space and moving to seemingly just wander the halls of the manor, examining some of the paintings hanging from the walls in the corridor that lead to where Optimus knew was the main meeting room in the left wing of the manor, as well as the large hosting hall where the twins had held their housewarming party that first cycle they arrived in Monaco.
Optimus was left to stand there for a time, before he scowled and deactivated his holoform, his actual form finally moving from the padded berth he'd had his frame recharging on.
Leaving his sparsely furnished room, he found the twins and Derrick all up, their faces stained with red as all three slowly pulled apart the remains of a cow and two medium sized pigs.
He'd picked up that Derrick didn't have as much of an appetite.
Derrick's visor was much easier to see through, not the pitch black of his sisters.
Which meant he could track but not really understand the emotions he saw flicking through those sea green optics.
The twins, he knew they were watching him too, their frame taught with a tense trepidation.
Waiting for him to make the first move while they were half way down to having their face pressed into the carcass again.
Hunched over, he could see those large plates that ran down their back strut tense and rattle minutely.
It dawned on him then what they were in all likelihood feeling.
They were terrified.
Derrick's gaze kept jumping from him to his sisters, a building worry there as he awaited whatever was coming next.
So, he started to move, slowly walking closer, before kneeling down just opposite them, he opted to ignore the carcasses between the three of them for the time.
After taking in a vent to steady himself, he spoke. "May I touch you?" He asked.
They jerked back slightly, a flinch, but after a few moments, they nodded.
He reached over first with one servo, it landed on Aria's broad shoulder span, his digits flexing slightly to try and ease out some of the building tension.
They jerked a little again, but held mostly still.
His other arm moved then, going lower, under Wren's wing, under the mass of components hidden by the feathers that were connected to them down to the hip.
The feathers moved away from the armour on his arm, but he could feel cables somewhat loose rub against the armour as his servo moved on to hold onto the lower most ridges that were soon replaced by the long tail feathers that stretched out behind them, nowhere near as long as their younger brothers, but Derrick being a male peacock made him a substantial outlier in that metric.
After a few moments of letting them get used to his touch, he coaxed them towards them.
Out of the corner of his optic he saw Derrick's expression shift to surprise as it seemed to click within the Peacock what he was trying to do.
A few moments later their chassis connected with his, their helm, held up on that long neck, ended up going right past his and hanging almost limp against his back, resting between his smokestacks.
Wings came up slowly, but with time they were wrapping around him, those massive limbs obstructing the majority of him from view as those feathers draped across the floor behind and around him, the struts bumping against each other.
The scythes were in there somewhere, but he opted to not think any more of those lethal weapons that were kept hidden away the majority of the time.
Today seemed to be a day of hugs.
And honestly, he could only hope they understood that Megatronus had effectively crammed the point into his helm.
The last thing they needed, was being given space.
Rome
Ratchet's holoform regarded Jazz for a few moments after he materialised. "How's she been?" He enquired.
Jazz pouted for a moment before speaking. "She's been doing better since she came back from that flight a couple weeks ago, she's been working on the next update to the holoform program pretty religiously since. Something about accurate internal organs."
Ratchet tried to hide the shudder that went through his holoform, but Jazz noticed, the mech noticed everything.
"Don't worry, she went out and got a whole stack of medical textbooks to go through, I doubt she'll be asking you too many questions.
He nodded. "That is a relief at least."
He looked towards the door at the end of the corridor he now knew well as Ira's, the Red Kite was very set on her privacy and no one, coming into her room.
The only exception was himself, who was permitted entrance.
Jazz, Maggie, Glen and Scitter were not permitted.
He nodded to Jazz, letting him know their small update was over, and watched out of the corner of his eye as the mechs holoform relocated to the well worn sofa where Maggie was already, fruitlessly trying to convince Scitter that he couldn't go swimming in her cereal.
Jazz easily plucked the little memory stick up and put the little thing on his chest once he sat down, using his fingers to distract the sparkling while Maggie made quick work of her breakfast.
Ratchet lost sight of them as he stepped into the corridor that led to Ira's room, running the same mental checklist as always when it came to her check up.
He knocked twice with the back of his hand, a 'Come in.' granting him entrance as he stepped in.
Something was different, he noticed it at once.
There were cardboard boxes, each taped shut and labelled something or other.
The only things not packed away was the bed, which looked rather spartan, and the massive computer array she had that took up a good chunk of the master bedroom.
Keeley's holoform was also present, the therapy bird resting in her owners lap, head tucked under her left wing.
He carefully closed the door behind him and moved to sit on the bed as Ira pulled herself from whatever code she was writing, turning her swivel chair to regard him. "So, bi-weekly chec' up righ'?" She said.
He nodded, pulling a notepad and pen out of the large satchel of human medical supplies that formed whenever his holoform did. "Yes, Jazz alerted me that you went on an excursion just after my last check up, you look from your holoform to be feeling much better in the aftermath, I'd like to know what you did that granted you this recuperation."
Ira bit her lower lip, Keeley's head popped up and she shifted to rest her head against Ira's midsection, cooing and chittering.
Ratchet tried to give her an imploring expression. "Please Ira, if you did something that made you actively feel better, I'd like to know it so I can continue to accurately monitor your wellbeing, both spark and your mentality."
She was fidgeting a bit as she finally answered. "Ah… Ah wen' tah where he was burie' back home…"
Him being her fiance.
He reached over and patted her knee. "Did it help?"
She shook her head. "There wasn' anythin' there… tha stone… tha town… tha town i'… tha place ah lost him don' even exis' here… There was a tree growin' where his stone was supposed tah be… ah... ripped it outta tha' ground…"
Ratchet frowned for a few moments. "Did ripping out the tree help?"
She shook her head. "No… no it jus' made me feel guil'y yah know? Li'e… i' ain' ever done anythin' wrong… an' then ah'm just bitin' i' in half an' tossin' i' away."
The side of his face quirked down in a frown. "What happened next?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Fell ova an' just cried fah ah bit… then this old lady foun' me… turns ou' she's Prowl an' Annie's friend Sophia… Sophia… Kuznetsov… she ha' ah cat in a bas'et she was carryin'... she gave me some words ah advice ah been keepin' in min' since… been helpin' me a bit…"
"Well I think we can count ourselves lucky, that out of a few billion humans, you managed to slip up and be caught by the one human in Russia, who is friends with Prowl and was able to handle finding you crying your optics out in a forest." He remarked somewhat dryly.
He'd have to get in contact with Prowl and see if he could pass along some words of thanks to this Sophia individual.
Ira giggled then, catching his surprise then.
She answered his look before he could express his confusion vocally. "She sai' tha' reason she betraye' Russia an' turne' herself in, was 'cause she wal'e' in on Prowl and Annie frenchin'!" She burst out laughing properly then. "KJB swayed by ah kiss!"
Keeley warbled in a sound as close to a laugh along with her owner for a few moments.
It took Ratchet a few moments to register what was happening in front of him.
This was the first time he'd heard Ira genuinely laugh.
He pinned that note to contact Prowl as a high priority.
Ironhide thrummed from across their bond, having been paying attention, the mech had developed quite the soft spot for the redhead from their infrequent encounters and his check ups on her.
Ever the hovering sire type.
Ironhide sent a good natured jab to him over the bond for that.
He reached out and carefully took Ira's hand, thumb petting the back of it as he waited for her laughter to slowly abate.
It did, after a minute or so, leaving her to pull away from his touch so as to wipe a few tears from her eyes. "I's one thin' she sai' in particular tha' go' mah head on straigh'... 'Those yah care fah mos', seem tah have tha shor'es' of lives'.
As she trailed off, her hands were back to fidgeting, stroking over Keeley's head as the bird chittered at her.
"On tha' fligh' back… Ah realise' she was pretty damn righ' abou' tha' yah know? I loved him so much… an' it made him a targe'... he was my sof' spo' an' they killed him tah brea' me…" She sniffed. "Ain' been a day in my life since where ah ain' wished they'd just shot me… he didn' deserve dyin' like tha'..."
He stood up from the bed and shuffled over, and offered out his arms in a invitation to hug.
She carefully relocated Keeley from her lap to her desk, rose, and almost fell into him, nails digging into his back as she clung on tight.
He wrapped his arms around her in return, lifting one hand up to rub at her messy red locks while another clung to her shoulder as he swayed them from side to side.
There was silence for a time.
Ira broke the silence with a void that was barely there. "Can… can ah tell yah somethin'? You're mah doctor… an' I feel li'e yah gotta know…"
He nodded. Ironhide read the room through the bond and closed up his end, giving them complete privacy.
Ira leaned up until her mouth was hovering not far from the shell of his ear.
What she said next… it took a few moments for the implications to dawn on him.
In the aftermath, he nearly crushed her to him.
Then he pulled away from her. "Your physical. Now." The urgency of his words were impossible to miss.
Ira nodded solemnly, looking like a kicked puppy in a way.
Her holoform flickered out from his arms.
Keeley warbled from her desk, despite how little her face could move to emote, he knew the bird was well aware of what Ira had just told him.
He moved over and petted her head. "You're doing an incredible job."
Keeley leaned into his touch for a moment, before nipping one of his fingers lightly.
He took that as her telling him to get down to the bunker.
Which he did, relocating his holoform down into the bunker.
Jazz had already left with Maggie, giving Ira all the privacy she needed to shift her chassis plating open to reveal the beating heart within the erratically pulsing spark.
Not as erratic as the first time he'd seen it, but still nowhere near what he'd call healthy.
But now with the new information provided, it helped him understand more.
He stepped close enough to rest his hand on one of her wing struts, which was braced on the ground away from her as she kneeled on the ground, chassis lowered to easy reach of his holoform.
"Thank you, for trusting me Ira. I promise, I will continue to do all I can to help you heal."
A hollow chuckle left her, a wiry half smile forming on her features.
"Ah Ratche' … yah goin' sof' on me?"
He huffed. "Of course. We all care for you, we all want you to make it through this… especially if you ever decide you want to seek out your relic… as your doctor, I cannot in good conscience clear your current state as fit for taking on whatever trauma that relic will do to you. The twins are lucky to be alive considering the grief that thing in their chassis has been causing them."
She hummed in agreement. "Yeah… bu' let's focus on the checkup yeah?"
He nodded. "Of course, try and hold still for me."
She did so, despite her sometimes erratic nature and short temper, Ira was ever a well behaved patient for him.
The valley 7:38pm
The journey to the valley had been done in silence, the Orichiono's and Megatronus content to communicate across their bonds so that Optimus could focus on pulling them along to their destination.
Now as he unhitched himself from the trailer and rose up to his full height, having let Megatronus wriggle his broad shoulders past his passenger side door first, he turned to regard the trailer he'd been hauling for the last hour and a bit.
It was a simple act of flipping a lever for the rear door of the trailer to lower itself down, allowing the mass that was Derrick's tail feathers to spill out and fan out as much as they could, having been folded over himself so that the peacock could fit within the trailer right along with his older half sisters.
Who had been all but shoved to the front of the trailer by Ironhide to make sure there had been room enough to fit all three.
Lowering himself enough to peer in, Optimus spoke. "Do you require assistance in getting out?" He enquired.
They did look very crammed in there.
All three were in their altmodes, it was actually only the third time Derrick had been in his beast mode, the mech still getting used to it.
Derrick's helm bobbed at his request.
Taking the assent for what it was, he reached in and carefully picked up the peacock by the underbelly with both servos, and with quite a bit of care, lifted him up and out of the trailer, before setting him down on slightly unsteady taloned pedes.
As soon as Optimus was far enough away, Derrick began the transformation process to return to his bipedal mode, stretching with a groan as he looked around the valley they were now at the bottom of, with how high the surrounding ridges were, and with it getting late into the year, there was very little light left to see the area.
Optimus wasn't taking in the view, going back to the trailer to see how the twins were doing.
Ironhide had been rather rough with them, their neck pressed up against the front of the trailer with the rest of their frame in a somewhat awkward position.
Unfortunately, unlike Derrick, they were somewhat out of his reach, and he doubted they would appreciate him pulling them by their tail feathers.
Still, it was polite to ask. "Do you require assistance?"
They grumbled in answer, their beast modes weren't able to communicate as succinctly as their bipedal modes.
Megatronus chuckled from beside him. "They do, but let Derder over there help them, he's got the reach for it." He remarked confidently, gesturing to where Derrick had already returned back to the side of the trailer and was trying to look in past the Prime's shoulder.
"Yeah I can help there, hold still sis'." He muttered, glancing to Optimus who took that as a que to step back and let the Peacock reach in with both wings.
After a few moments he seemed to manage to snag his older siblings, and with a grunt, jerked back, the ends of his wing struts managing to keep hold as the twins were pulled about a foot away from the head of the trailer.
Three more pulls and they were close enough to Optimus to be able to reach in and pluck them up and pull them out fully, Derrick having stepped back to give him room to do so.
The moment Optimus had set them down on the ground, they transformed back into their bipedal mode with a disgruntled groan, their plating sliding back into its usual position as they shifted their limbs to get them to stop feeling fuzzy.
A quick yawn later and they were turning on their younger half brother. "Alright, follow us, you've already got the strength to carry yourself, it's time to have you jump off something."
Derrick's line of protrusions flattened themselves somewhat against his helm. "But… but…"
Wren gave him a short shove with her wing strut. "No buts, Optimus hauled our asses all the way out here so we can teach you to fly, so that's what we're going to do." She stated.
Derrick seemed to submit to that, and turned to let them lead the way to the incline of the valley.
Optimus took that as his que to put his attention on Megatronus. "I suggest we find somewhere safe to watch." He remarked.
Megatronus nodded, glancing up at him as Optimus offered his servo to the mech. "You want to carry me?" The old warlord remarked incredulously, raising an optic ridge at the mech.
Optimus shrugged. "Your stride these cycles is rather abysmal."
Megatronus dropped his jaw at the mech and scowled in indignation. "Did you just… you called me short!"
Optimus had to chuckle at that. "Well, you are short Megatronus, not much larger than the average minibot."
Megatronus stormed past him, muttering something under his vents as he began to scale the side of the valley, heading for one of the overhangs that seemed to line this valley in places, providing ample shelter were the heavens to open and unleash a downpour.
Optimus followed after a few moments, reaching the overhang before his counterpart, turning to sit and observe the nearly completely blacked out valley.
He opted then to switch to his heat sensors, spotting both the twins and Derrick further down the length of the valley, still on their way to the slope there.
It was interesting to see how their different morphology translated under heat sensors.
Their wings were mostly inert, almost blending in with the background, while their chassis, where their sparks and hearts resided, were understandably much hotter on the sensor.
Not as hot as his own would register though.
Megatronus sat down next to him, he assumed switching to his own thermal vision as he looked over the valley.
The silence held for a time, before Optimus spoke. "I took what you said this morning to spark… I don't blame you for wanting to save them from their mother… I was just in a state of shock I believe… they'd never really spoken of their creators before, I had honestly been under the impression that they had simply outlived them, as all next generations do."
Megatronus hummed. "Their Earth isn't one where that is a regular occurrence I'm afraid… but let us discuss other things shall we?"
Optimus nodded, shifting to recline himself somewhat. "Will you be sending out your call for the ceasefire soon?"
Megatronus frowned. "I'm finding myself hesitating, such an announcement would require a video message to confirm authenticity… but I look little like what my mechs saw me as, as you so kindly pointed out, I've lost a substantial part of my scale… I'm pondering if Kia may be able to help me with that issue before I send out the ceasefire call…"
Optimus hummed. "I doubt Kia will refuse you, Ratchet will likely aid with whatever procedure is required… Especially if this will enable your ceasefire call to be effective with at least a portion of your soldiers." He replied.
Megatronus hummed in agreement. "I will admit, I have… found myself enjoying being at this scale… being able to interact with them when they're using their holoforms, when they're comfortable, I feel like I've been able to establish more of a bond with them than I ever could have if I'd remained that disembodied poltergeist they grew up with…"
Optimus looked out towards where the three Orichiono's were now, they seemed to be doing warm up exercises, the twins would flap a few times, and then Derrick would try and copy, he could see the building heat in their systems.
He couldn't quite recall who said it, but one of the Harpies had mentioned at some point during the journey from the USA, that generated hot air could be caught and stored within their vents, providing a bit of extra lift to help maintain them on long flights.
It was a rather ingenious trick of their morphology, and seemed to be what the twins were trying to teach Derrick now.
He put his attention back on Megatronus. "I'm… glad you found peace with them, I missed you old friend…"
Megatronus took in a long vent. "Prime… be honest with me… I was a monster… I wasn't in control, but I still feel… so guilty of things I do not remember… Please, was Nebular happy in Iacon? Once she was free from where my puppeted form could reach her?"
The pleading look in his optics pained Optimus' spark for a few long moments as he thought back, after a few moments more of pondering his words, he spoke. "She grieved… there was a time when little to nothing could coax a smile on her face… She'd try but they looked pained. Honestly it was only after the first time they snuck out onto the battlefield, Tetrahex I believe, that I saw a genuine smile on her faceplates, it was as she was describing her managing to stab Starscream in the optic… she was rather pleased with her aim that cycle. And of course, Solar's mood greatly improved as well once Nebular was back in spirits." He finished.
Megatronus let out a low, strained chuckle. "She always did loathe Starscream, I knew he was a back stabbing scraplet, but her outright hatred of him seemed almost comical at times, she bit him more than once you know? One time she ran up behind him, jumped and got him just before his wing met his back, out of his reach, I swear I didn't know his voice could go so high or so shrill, we had to replace some windows once we managed to get Nebular to unlock her jaws, she was hanging there for over a joor and I had to stop him on more than six occasions from sitting on her." He was genuinely chuckling at the end.
Optimus was chuckling right along with him. "I do remember that, Solar was bragging about it and laughing that laugh of hers while trying to give me the play by play."
Megatronus chuckled. "I still remember what she said afterwards. 'I'd have bitten him on the aft if I didn't want to contract something rancid from that rusty exhaust pipe of his.' Honestly I couldn't look the then Air Commander in the optic for over a orn after without having to fight down chuckles."
Optimus continued to chuckle as Megatronus continued to recollect, only once Megatronus was done, did Optimus speak again. "Sol was, in that regard, a lot easier to manage, if anything, she was the one keeping me in check, making sure I recharged enough, kept topped up on Energon, made sure Wheeljack was doing the necessary tests to keep him out of Ratchet's med bay, checking up on anybot I missed, ran detailed inventory checks, there was one time when a datapad containing something irrelevant seemed to up and wander off itself, she was hunting for it for three cycles before she found out Wheeljack was using it to stop one of his work tables from wobbling, she wasn't best pleased about that."
Megatronus would have replied, but a rather distinctive cry of alarm had both of their helms snapping around to witness the hot mass that was identified as Derrick, somewhat fell/glided down to the valley floor, landing unfortunately face first and continuing on into a roll that left him sitting stunned.
Megatronus hummed. "He's got to work on his confidence, he doesn't have indignant fury to propel him like the other Harpies did when they started."
Optimus echoed the hum with one of his own. "I have noticed that Derrick seems to… be lacking in his assurance of himself, an issue inflicted by his youth I assume?"
Megatronus just nodded. "He has the rare moment, but Aria and Wren developed their back bone so to speak, before he did, and he's always opted to let them handle things, when it comes to things only he can do for himself, he stumbles, quite literally in this case." He remarked. "Although there seems to have been an… something happened to him after I left, Wren has confirmed as much with me but has provided no more information on the subject. Given Derrick's limited exposure to me in the past, I can understand him not feeling comfortable with myself or anyone knowing."
Optimus nodded along in understanding, watching as the twins landed beside Derrick with comparative ease, he remembered a time when the injury Wren had been suffering from when they met had hampered them in their own landings.
It seemed to have happened a lifetime ago, not five months ago.
Megatronus spoke up again. "They're not the best teachers… But at least they now know shoving him off the side of the valley won't work…"
Optimus was nodding along at first, but then jerked to a stop when what Megatronus said finished processing for him. "Wait, they pushed him?!"
Megatronus chuckled and nodded. "Yes, give me a moment, I'm trying to give them some advice over the bond."
Right, Megatronus had that with the three present Harpies.
There was a few minutes of quiet before something changed.
Sounds started to drift up to where they were in the valley.
After a few moments Optimus realised what it was, music, one with a rhythmic beat.
He looked to Megatronus, who seemed to be smirking up at him.
"The twins have some speakers built into their back, I suggested they use it to provide a rhythm for Derrick to fly to."
Megatronus' suggestion seemed to work.
Over the next two hours the twins and Derrick worked on him developing a pattern of movements to match the song, that would provide the most lift.
Along the way Megatronus and Optimus continued their quiet talk, discussing all manor of things from Bumblebee getting his voice box repaired, to wondering between themselves just how far Derrick could fly.
Peacocks weren't birds of Prey, they were primarily ground based due to their bulk,the tail feathers of males weighing them down enough to make prolonged flights strenuous.
Optimus had expressed some concern, but Megatronus had reassured him.
This wasn't about Derrick being able to fly at over 30,000 feet like his sisters, this was about him having that quick burst of vertical acceleration to get him out of immediate danger, to get to a safer location.
Running wasn't always going to be enough.
And there may end up being a time when the Twins or any of his mechs weren't going to be there if he ever got caught in a foul situation.
Technically Derrick had the same weaponry as his older sisters, however, the ten scythe blades were notably smaller due to his smaller wing, his talons weren't terrifyingly long like the others and the fangs in his mouth had much duller edges.
Without servos to hold a weapon, he really was the weakest link in the group at large.
No one faulted him for that, it was obvious conflict wasn't his modus operandi.
That being said, he was a studious learner, and was soon getting the hang of staying airborne for a few short moments on his own power, having figured out he was better suited for ground based take offs.
The music continued to flow for the rest of the night, at this distance it wasn't easy to follow, but the rhythms and beats were agreeable enough.
By four in the morning, drastic progress had been made.
He was still a bit unstable landing, but Derrick was able to stay airborne for about five minutes and had made at least one successful loop of the valley.
Optimus would be happy to admit he was proud of the mechs progress.
There came a point where the twins stepped back, and actually came to join Megatronus and himself and just watch from the sidelines, citing that they wouldn't always be there to help him up if he falls.
With the added conversation partners, conversations drummed up again.
The twins ended up offering a wing to each of them, sighting the cold night air and how they could help block some of it out with the broad spans of feathers they possessed.
The pseudo hugs were appreciated, though Megatronus did end up more making use of their side to rest against due to his smaller size, the broad wing acting more as a tent than a touch like it did Optimus.
"So... " Wren started after a quiet pause having been watching Derrick more closely for a bit.
"Any news on that ship of Autobots we're going to be adding to our homes in a few months?" Aria continued.
In the dark, it was difficult to see, but Optimus could tell from their tone they were smiling.
He glanced out at where Derrick was getting adventurous, surprisingly managing a somewhat wobbly barrel roll.
He hummed, checking his com logs, and sent a ping to Elita-1, their ship may be in range of his long distance coms by now.
It would take a few hours to reach them, and a few to return.
"Still a long way out, I'll let you know when they reply, bonds stretch a lot farther than coms do, and they don't have a transmission delay." He somewhat explained.
Their humm of understanding morphed into a wide open mawed yawn, evidently tired from being awake for so long passed the norm for them.
He reached over and patted their white thigh. "You can recharge for a bit, I will wake you both when it's time to return to the bunker."
They nodded, and with little more preamble, all but slumped against him, their broad shoulder span was just behind him, leading their helm to come to rest against the span of his own shoulder pauldrons.
He could see Megatronus' bright red optics focused up on him.
The small former tyrant let out a quiet chuckle, but made no comment, opting to let his younger sisters rest for now.
Optimus opted to turn his attention to the night sky above them, so far away from large scale human habitation, the stars were able to illuminate the night sky, a beautiful display infrequently interrupted by Derrick continuing to push himself to get better, more stable, faster take offs and accelerations.
For a moment he thought of Cybertron, their homeworld without life bar the few who likely stayed behind to scavenge.
For that moment he allowed the pain of failing his people to fill him.
The next moment, he turned his helm just so to regard the twins as they remained at rest against him.
There may still be a time for Cybertron to be healed, to have the planet return to its glory cycles.
A second silver age, with discovery, with peace for its people.
A time without fear of oppression, or fear of war.
He remembered then, long ago that promise he'd made to Nebular one cycle when they were sat side by side, looking out at the city of Iacon below.
He'd promised to bring back the silver age, that time which she'd spoken off through their coms so fondly of, one of the rare things that brought a spark to her optics in those cycles of imprisonment by the Senate.
Perhaps, with the help of the Harpies, he'd be able to keep that promise yet…
Alright! That's the longest chapter in quite a while done! And that's arc two all wrapped up for the most part! Until next time!
Moon.
