18. Reunion

My message to Optimus consisted only of a time and a set of coordinates. I arrived at my chosen location first, which suited me fine – I didn't mind waiting, but I didn't want to leave Optimus any doubt that I would come. Besides, it was safer for me to be waiting around in Decepticon territory than it would be for him.

I'd chosen an inconspicuous canyon at the edge of Decepticon territory, near the Tarn-Praxus border, and I'd made sure that this area would not be patrolled for the rest of the orn. I kept to the shade for protection from the notorious Tarnish heat, pacing restlessly back and forth and trying not to think.

I waited for a good megacycle until the appointed time. I'd given him enough space to come all the way from Iacon if he had to, though I suspected that he was nearer. It was just a breem after the appointed time that I heard engines.

Optimus Prime rolled in from the north, red-and-blue paintwork shimmering in the heat. He transformed, straightening to his full, considerable height. I'd almost forgotten how tall he was. He still towered over me and always would.

His next action was to retract his mask, revealing that I still had the privilege of speaking with him face-to-face. He was smiling. If he saw the Decepticon insignias on my wings, he showed no sign of it as he came forward, surprising me with a sudden warm embrace.

"Nova," he said as he drew back to observe me at arm's length. I felt as though I could melt at the sound of his voice. "I'm so glad you're all right. I've missed you."

Mere words could never express how much I'd missed him, but I answered anyway. "I missed you too, Optimus."

"You've grown," he remarked, blue optics soft.

My vocalizer caught. Oh yes. I have. Learned enough to terminate many of your Autobots. Oh, did I mention that I'm now the leader of your enemies? Or that I'm the creation of your archnemesis?

Helpless, I pulled away. How could I even face him now?

"Did you know?"

His answer was a blank look. "Know what?"

"About… my creators."

A troubled frown etched itself across Optimus's features. He held his silence for a few kliks, close to half a cycle. "I knew about Starscream," he answered at last. "And only then after you were Sparked. I didn't know that he was carrying… none of us did. He took great pains to hide it. I'll never know what he went through trying to keep you a secret. I only found out when Ratchet contacted me after your transfer into a protoform.

"I wanted you to grow up free… that's why I adopted you as my ward. Starscream raised you for the first several vorns, hidden away in my estate to keep your origin a secret. But he never told us who your co-creator was. Ratchet and I assumed it was one of his wingmates."

So Optimus didn't know. A nervous fear nagged at me: if he had, would he still have raised me as his own? If I told him now, would he hate me?

Even so, Prime deserved to know. After all that he'd done for me, all that he'd given me, I owed him this much.

But it was so hard! To tell Prime would be to accept it. If I said those hated words aloud, I would be forced to acknowledge them.

The internal struggle was brief but violent. At last I opened my mouth, forcing my vocal processors to emit the horrible truth.

"It was Megatron," I told him. "Megatron was my creator."

Prime said nothing. I waited for the explosion, for horror or disgust to pass over his faceplates. Any moment, it would come. He would hate me now.

"I admit, I had my suspicions," he said. To my surprise, he only sounded sad. Not angry, not sickened. Just sad, and tired. "But I always thought that Starscream would never allow it. Perhaps I misjudged their relationship, if they decided to have a sparkling together… though if I know Starscream, he would never admit to—"

"Are you glitching, Prime?!" I burst out. He looked at me in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't hold back on my account, by all means," I said bitterly. "You don't have to pretend it doesn't matter."

"Nova, what are you talking about?"

"I was Sparked from Megatron. I'm the son and heir of your greatest enemy. We're thinking of the same Megatron, right? The Slag Maker? The one who killed Sentinel Prime, thousands of your Autobots and countless millions of alien creatures? The one who tried to terminate you too many times to count? Is any of this registering?!"

"Nova…"

"Please, Prime, if you hate me, don't lie to me. Don't smile and play pretend. Just hate me and get it over with!"

"Nova, stop." It was as though he'd disabled my vocalizer. I could never disobey Prime. "What are you saying?"

I looked down, but he lifted my chin with gentle fingers, forcing me to look him in the optics.

"I could never hate you, Nova," he said softly. "I held you as a sparkling, I watched you grow into the mech who stands before me now. You are not your creators, and I will never hate you."

"But I… I'm a Decepticon," I managed. "I've killed Autobots…"

"I will never hate you. No matter what. I know why you wear those symbols." One finger gently brushed against one of my seared-on insignias. "Not for revenge or hatred, like Starscream. For justice, freedom. We both want the same thing, Nova; we're only working towards it from different directions."

He smiled fondly, then, to my surprise, he chuckled.

"What?" I asked.

"I was just thinking of… do you remember when Ironhide nearly blasted you through the wall at the party I held for your graduation from the Academy?"

I smiled. It was funnier now than it had been at the time. "I remember."

Prime backed off again, taking in all of me. "You've been repaired recently," he noted, well-trained optics tracing the painted-over weld lines on my wings and torso.

"Ah... yes. I…" I hesitated, but he recognized my facial expression.

"No matter what," he reminded me.

"I… challenged Starscream." Another brief hesitation. "I won."

I watched as the implications sank in, but before he could speak, I murmured, "I don't want to be your enemy, Optimus."

After a moment he laid a large hand on my shoulder. "You never will be, Nova. You will always be my dear friend… a good mech, and a leader worthy of my respect."

It was perhaps the highest praise he'd ever given me. I was almost certain that my Spark had flared warmly enough to combust.

"Optimus… isn't there something we can do?" I asked him. "Between the two of us, couldn't we end this now? Couldn't we call a truce?"

"I wish we could," Optimus said darkly. "But I am no longer the absolute leader of the Autobots. I gave up those powers after Axis. I know now that was a mistake. Any treaty must go through the Senate, and I'm afraid they aren't likely to vote for peace. But many of the Autobots will still listen to me. I will do what I can."

"On my end, I…" I had to make sure he knew this, really knew it. "What happened at Simfur… it won't happen again. I'll make sure of it. I promise."

I checked my chronometer. There was time, but I wanted to take no chances. "The longer you're here puts you in more danger. You should go."

"I will," he answered, but he spent another long moment just watching me.

"You've grown so much, and you've come so far. I can't tell you how proud I am of you, Nova."

For a klik I found it difficult to speak; then I found my voice again. "You're more my creator than… he ever will be. If I'm ever half the mech you are, Optimus, then my life will be complete."

His smile was radiant. Then he let his battle mask slide back on and he nodded to me. "Until next we meet."

"I'll be seeing you, Prime," I answered. I watched him until even his dust had vanished from sight.

My anticipation of seeing Apis again drove me faster than my thrusters. Even the dust I had to hack out of my intakes upon landing in Khalkon didn't dampen my spirits.

But my anxiety returned as I approached Steelcrusher's shop. Optimus had taken the news well, but he'd known me all my life. What if Apis rejected me when I told her? Because I had to tell her. I'd never consider hiding something this important. She had the right to know everything before we continued this… this whatever-it-was that we had.

The small orange mech was at the counter. I approached, looking discreetly around for a glimpse of Apis.

"Oh," he said. "It's you. I figured you'd got yourself shot down over Polyhex."

"Is Apis here?" I asked, feeling foolish. The little mech regarded me coolly.

"She's not working right now. She's at home."

"Oh. I see." I hesitated. The orange mech drummed his fingers on the countertop. "Uh… is there a staircase or something?" He arched an optic ridge, but said nothing. "Or not," I muttered.

"What are you hanging around her for?" the little mech asked suddenly. I hitched up my wings defensively.

"I just want to see her again, that's all."

"Yeah?" he growled suspiciously. "Well, 'Crusher'll grind you into scrap metal if you try anything funny."

I'm sure he could, I thought, picturing the purple tank's huge hands. "Look, I'm not going to 'try anything funny.' Can't you just comm her or something?"

"No." The orange mech crossed his arms.

I could see that there was no arguing with him, but there was another way. I left the shop, made sure the grumpy mech couldn't see me, and headed around the side of the building, flying up to Apis's window. She sat cross-legged on the floor with parts scattered all around her – it looked like a disassembled pair of thrusters.

I tapped on the window and she jumped, looking over her shoulder. Her face split into a grin and her handlebars perked up as she came over and opened the window.

"Nova!"

"I hope you didn't offline anyone I know for those," I said, pointing at her project. She giggled.

"Decepticon humor?"

"In Kaon, I'd be serious."

"Don't worry, I didn't. What are you doing here?"

"Here in town or here at your window?"

"Either."

"I'm at your window because your little bodyguard downstairs wouldn't let me in the proper way. I'm in town because I wanted to see you."

"Oh, that's Shortstop. Don't take it personally, he's like that to almost everyone." She glanced down and snorted with laughter. "Do you, um… do you want to come inside?"

"Yes, please. If it's okay with…"

"Don't let 'Stop worry you. You're perfectly fine, Nova. Come on in."

I climbed awkwardly inside, squeezing sideways to give my wings enough room. She cleared the grimy parts out of the way, but didn't sit.

"How've you… been?" she asked. I could tell she had seen the signs of repairs all over my frame.

"Fine. All right, I guess." I hesitated. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"How've you… been?"

"Fine. I mean, it's the same as ever."

There was an awkward silence. Apis fidgeted, her handlebars twitching this way and that. Then, finally, she reached out for my hand.

"You want to go grab some energon? My treat?"

I nodded, grateful that I could spend even a little more time with her before she was sure to draw away from me.

We left her room and she led me down the stairs into the shop's back courtyard. Steelcrusher was there, and my fuel pump stopped as he looked up at us. Then he guffawed. "'Ey, it's Nova! Been a few vorns. Takin' Apis out agin?"

"I'm takin' 'im out this time, 'Crusher," Apis answered.

"Giss I don' hafta warn you 'bout gittin cosy," the tank laughed. "Wouldn' be much fun fer you ta short-circuit again, eh, m'mech?"

Heat rose to my face and I mumbled something incoherent. I didn't short out when Ramrod kissed me, I thought viciously, but checked myself. Apis was more… well, I didn't know yet.

"Leave 'im alone, 'Crusher. We'll be back later, 'kay?"

"'Ave fun, you two."

Steelcrusher's blessing secured, Apis tugged me into the shop and towards the door, but not before the orange mech spotted us. He banged his hands on the counter.

"Now hold on a klik! How— what— where…"

"Oh, Shorty," Apis laughed. Immediately her friend – Shortstop, she'd called him? – sputtered.

"Don't call me that!" I was reminded of Skywarp and Starscream and couldn't help but snicker. Immediately Shortstop glared at me. "What're you laughing at, Airhead?"

I bristled, but only slightly, since my amusement made me less sensitive to insults. "Nothing… Shorty."

"We're going out," Apis announced loudly enough for the whole shop to hear. "See you later!"

"'Crusher likes you a lot," Apis told me over our energon. She smirked up at me from under the edge of her helmet. "I guess when he found out about your little, ahaha, defect—"

"Hey!"

"—he thought it was hilarious. He said you were nice and polite, too."

"I don't think I'd like it if he didn't like me."

Her handlebars wiggled happily. "Probably not, but when 'Crusher likes you, he really likes you." She took another gulp of energon. "But you didn't come here to talk about 'Crusher, did you?"

My fuel tank contracted. Stalling, I glanced around at the other patrons of the small restaurant. "I'll… I'll tell you later."

"I understand." Another gulp, another little twitch of her handlebars. "How about this weather we've been having?"

She didn't mention the war until we were walking along a mostly-deserted street – I recognized the route to her rooftop hideaway.

"We don't get much news here," she said, "and definitely not from someone who was actually there. I didn't like not knowing what was happening… I was worried about you. What's going on?"

I told her about the northward push, leaving nothing out, not even the destruction of Simfur.

"That's awful," she murmured, leading the way up the winding stairs. "All those innocent bots… I can't imagine it."

"All of that's going to change," I promised as we came out onto the roof. "From now on we won't attack civilians. If we take the moral advantage, it could rally more support to our cause. We'll concentrate first and foremost on securing our freedom."

"How can you be so sure?"

This was it. I had to tell her now.

With a sigh, I gestured to her blanket. "We should sit down. I have a lot to tell you."

I couldn't look at her as I told her. Instead, I watched my pedes and let the words fall from my glossa, trying not to think of what would come next. I told her everything, and then I fell silent.

For a distressingly long time, we sat without speaking as she mulled it over and I fretted.

"I was Sparked after Axis," Apis said, and I glanced at her sidelong. She wasn't looking at me, but at her fidgeting hands. "I heard the stories, of course, but I didn't know anything to back them up. The only Decepticons I ever met were slaves and they… well, they weren't so bad. Not as bad as the Autobots taught us, anyway. I didn't like that they were slaves. It just didn't seem right. That's why I came here. And I thought, what if there was someone who could free them? But he'd have to be as wise as he was strong, as kind as he was firm. There needed to be someone who would fight without hatred, or else the killing would just keep going and the Decepticons really would be the monsters that the Autobots said they were.

"I hoped it would happen, but as I got older I realized that there weren't many people like that anymore. It just wasn't possible. There was too much hate, and everyone was too set in their ways to change the way they thought. So I thought it would never happen, that the Decepticons would stay slaves, and that it would just keep going.

"Then I met you. From the moment I first saw you, I knew there was something different about you. The more I got to know you, the more certain I was that you were the one I'd been looking for. Listening to you talk just now… about the war and everything… I know that you're the one who can change things."

She swiveled to take my face in her hands.

"You're the best thing that could possibly have happened to the Decepticons, Nova," she told me. "And I'm the luckiest bot on this whole planet." She leaned in and kissed me at the corner of my mouth. "And as for… him… you aren't your creators, Nova." That was exactly what Optimus had told me. "I don't care who wrote your programming. You're nothing like him. You are your own mech."

I stared at her, hardly able to believe my audios. She didn't care. It didn't matter to her whether my creator was Megatron or the Unmaker himself… she still wanted me.

I had never wanted to kiss someone so much, but a short-out would have ruined this moment, so instead I opted for an embrace. I pulled her close, reassuring myself that this was real, that she was real, that I had been accepted by the two bots who mattered the most. She held me in return, little handlebars flicking back and forth in joy.

Finally, I drew back, struggling to say something.

"Apis… I…"

She interrupted me. "Nova… let's race!"

Right now there was no war, not for me; the purple insignias on my wings disappeared to match Apis's unmarked chassis, and as we raced each other through the dusty streets of this tiny Neutral settlement, we were just two young bots enjoying life.