Optimus came online slowly, and with his helm throbbing.
Oh it had been a long while since he had suffered a crash. He kept his optics offline, not moving as he tried to figure out what had sent him crashing to…the…
The sparkling!
Optimus jerked into a sitting position in the berth he had been moved to, his optics coming online even as he sat up, and he quickly scanned the room. A chorus of loudly snarling engines jerked his optics straight onto the twins as they shielded the little one between them.
They knew Optimus was not- would not- move to harm the sparkling, but the abrupt way he had jerked up after coming online had pulled the warning noise out of them both without thought as their Guardian Protocols snarled.
O~O~O~
Optimus remembered how powerful the Guardian Programing had been when it activated with Bumblebee and instantly went still, his wrists crossing in a promise of nonviolence. He would not push the Gladiator Twins in regards to this- he understood how large a show of trust it was that he was being allowed to attempt to be labeled 'safe' by the Guardian Protocols at all.
He remembered a time near the beginning of his own Guardianship of Bumblebee he had tried to behead Ratchet.
Ratchet who had known him long before he had become a Prime at all. A bot he trusted with his life, who had been his friend and comrade for mega-vorns of time. He knew it had nothing to do with what they knew to be facts- it had to do with subroutines.
It had been an accident, but Ratchet had still bent without thought to pick up Bumblebee when the mech-ling had fallen and injured himself. Even then he had been a Medic and it had been habit and want to fix the little one that had him lifting the wailing sparkling up off the floor to treat him.
Optimus had rounded the corner already with his Guardian Protocols on high from their newness as well as the pain he could feel coming from Bumblebee.
Seeing a mech his Guardian Protocols had not deemed 'safe' over his injured sparkling?
Optimus hadn't even had a chance to realize it was Ratchet over Bumblebee before he was moving, his Programs screaming to remove the threat. It had been a near miss as Ratchet sensed the killing blow aimed for his neck and rolled away, taking Bumblebee with him automatically as he hadn't realized it was Optimus at the time. When he turned to face the threat only to realize it was Optimus in a full Guardian Rage Ratchet had cursed sharply and creatively as he immediately placed Bumblebee on the ground. Holding onto Bumblebee past that point would only have made it worse, especially as his first move- done without thought as it was- after Optimus had found his injured sparkling was to pick him up and move him away from Optimus.
Ironhide and Jazz had been the mechs to bring Optimus down to the ground and pin him long enough for Ratchet to bring Bumblebee right up to Optimus and place the mech-ling on his back-plates. Optimus had gone completely still from his previous attempts to escape, not wanting to accidently fling Bee away, and calming a bit now that his sparkling was touching him and clicking happily. Optimus had calmed by the time Bee stopped playing on his back and slid down on his own, allowing Ironhide and Jazz to release him.
O~O~O~
The engines stopped snarling slowly, the noise dying down though their armor still bristled warningly. Optimus kept his optics on the two of them, not even glancing at the little seeker in Sideswipe's arms despite wanting to do so. He would wait and allow the mechs the chance they needed to settle before anything- he knew how much he had wished for the same while dealing with his Guardian Protocols.
His patience was rewarded as the seek-ling clicked and cooed up at the two mechs cradling him, attempting to lean around the two of them and peek at Optimus. The sparklings obvious lack of fear and equally obvious curiosity eventually saw the twins allowing the seek-ling a clear view of Optimus and by extension allowing Optimus to get his first good look at the little one.
He was going to be a powerful little flier.
O~O~O~
Shadowstrike leaned around the twins, hoping to get a good look at the mech they called Optimus. He hadn't really seen much of anything apart from colors- red and blue- in regards to the mech because of the twins' twitchy reactions and constant shielding behaviors.
The moment the twins moved so he could see Optimus clearly for the first time, Strike's optics flew wide with surprise.
The mech was huge!
A low impressed whir escaped his control even as his wings arched and quivered in surprise. He had thought the twins were tall, but Optimus was bigger than them. He stared at Optimus, then turned to look at the twins, then down at himself.
Would he get that big?
It would be…odd to be tall. He could very well end up the smallest of the bots and he would still feel really tall when compared to the five foot nothing his human body had topped out at thanks to his treatment in his formative years.
He heard the low chuckle and his optics darted up and back to Optimus. He clicked at him curiously. "It has been a long while since I've seen that reaction to myself." The mech answered his silent question.
A long time?
A low toned noise of curiosity escaped him, a completely instinctive noise mimicking the one Optimus had released earlier that he had responded to.
Optimus blinked, his optics brightening with feeling at such a missed sound. "That is a story for another time little one- just know it has been a long time."
Shadowstrike clicked at him, his face-plates twisting to mimic a pout without his conscious thought.
Optimus smiled down at the little one's reaction.
Shadowstrike could feel the defensive-protective feelings the twins were projecting at him lighten a little with amusement. He relaxed cooing automatically up at the twins before turning back to Optimus.
Shadowstrike…wasn't sure how to explain it…but…
There was something about this tall mech that relaxed him. A vibe that poured off of him that screamed Warrior-Protector-Safe to Strike. He crooned low and pleased, in time with the pulse of the feeling he could pick up.
O~O~O~
Ratchet's optics went wide as he stared at the mech-ling.
It had taken him a moment to realize what the little one was crooning too. It wasn't just a random sparkling-noise. The seek-ling was hearing something. The pulse of Optimus' spark. He was listening to the pulse of a Prime and he could hear it.
He could hear the pulse in a proper Prime's spark that offered protection and safety and welcome to all.
Ratchet had not seen a Sensitive in…ages.
He saw the moment Optimus realized what exactly the sparkling was crooning in time too, and what it meant that he could hear it.
Optimus' optics went wide, and the bot went still- even the motions and noises of venting going still.
O~O~O~
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had always known Optimus was a Prime. They had always known they were welcomed by him, that he was a protector by nature, a nurturer, a Warrior of a different sort to their own. A Prime.
They had known these things, and it was part of the reason they had given themselves over to him- become Autobots.
But they had not realized what that meant. They could not feel the very nature of a Prime's spark and all the responsibility- the weight- that came with it.
Shadowstrike could, and through their Bond with the sparkling, the twins could- for the first time- feel the call and pulse of Warrior-Protector-Nurturer that the Prime gave off with every beat of his spark.
Something in their Guardian Protocols eased and clicked.
The bots in the room were unaware of it, but it was an instinctive reaction. A program worked into their very spark. A Prime was meant to be the ultimate Protector-King-Guide of his people. A Prime was meant to be the first and last line of defense for his people.
In Ancient times- when more than one Prime lived at a time- the Cybertronians would often separate into Clans. They would choose their Prime and follow them across the world as a Nomadic Peoples, meeting up once every vorn to mix Clans and speak to one another sorting out any issues or wishes.
For Guardians…the Prime was an extra protector of their young while out on a rugged, undeveloped, city-less Cybertron. For a Prime there was no greater thing then the survival of their People and especially the next generation.
And in their very cores, in their sparks, their souls, they knew this.
As Cybertron developed and grew, Primes dying out, and walls and buildings went up, that unspoken understanding died with them. Cybertronians forgot those wild days living off the land and working together in what their Earthen friends would call 'Packs'- as wolves would- when they would need their 'Alpha'-their Prime- to help care for the young in the wilds of their home.
They forgot how to feel the pulse of their Prime that called to them with every beat, that promised safety and welcome and the promise of nurturing protection.
That told them in the deepest parts of their core being their Prime would protect and keep safe their 'Pack' until the day their spark beat its last. The knowing that allowed Guardian Protocols to identify the Prime as Alpha-Safe-Protector.
As Shadowstrike shared this feeling with the twins, shared this spark-deep knowing straight to their sparks through his own…the twins Guardian Protocols shifted and clicked as the Cybertronians of Old had done for ages.
Optimus was Prime.
He was Alpha.
He was Safe-Nurturer-Protector and he would not- could not- harm their sparkling.
They relaxed, opening their servos and striding forward to allow Optimus and up close look at the sparkling they were welcoming into their 'pack'.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
-sigh- It ran away with me. Again. That's okay- I like how this turned out. As for Shadowstrike being Sensitive- able to feel the core of a bot, sensitive to their very sparks and beings- It is tied to his magic and what happened to it when he changed worlds.
Enjoy~