Chapter Four
Crystal awoke from pleasant dreams to find herself snuggled against the large, warm form of the mech that she loved. She sighed happily, wriggling closer. The object of her affections murmured something and shifted slightly. Unable to resist, Crystal traced the planes of his face with a fingertip. Primus, he looked so young and defenseless without his mask! Her finger playfully traced his lips, enjoying the warm metallic texture that had brought her so much pleasure the night before. As if in response to her actions, Optimus stirred slightly.
She smiled craftily and covered his lips with hers, applying pressure until the mech's optics flickered to life. "Good morning," she purred holding her new treasure close.
"This *is* shaping up to be a good morning," Optimus said teasingly, grinning at the femme.
Crystal flickered an optic sensor at him, the equivalent of a wink. "Stick with me and every day will be a good day," she said playfully.
Prime's chuckle was cut short by a gasp as he consulted his internal chronometer. "By the Matrix, I'm late!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, so am I!" Crystal said, somehow not sounding remorseful at all. The two bots ran around in a blur of motion. Optimus paused to give his new ladylove a brief kiss before attaching his faceplate.
The two darted out the door, forgetting all about discretion in their haste to get to their posts on time. Suddenly, something made Optimus stop in his tracks and turn, bumping into another figure. The angry pink femme glared at him. She opened her mouth to tell him off.
Optimus said cheerfully, "See you later, babe!"
Alita's mouth worked angrily. Babe? Optimus had never used that word before around her. How dare he call her that! The angry words died in her throat, however, as she realized he was looking down the hall at someone else. He didn't even notice her!
"Not if I see you first!" a trilling voice answered, sounding giddy with happiness.
Optimus waved and walked on, realizing that his slight tardiness was dipping into the zone of severe lateness. Though he could afford to relax his schedule a bit more, the Autobot army did not run itself. He quickened his pace, his mind running through his 'things to do' list of the day, though it occasionally flashed back to last night's pleasure.
Alita was left gaping in the middle of the hallway. Her processor struggled to make sense of the scene that had just played itself out before her. It was worse than being snubbed - it was like she didn't exist for him anymore! She had relished his mournful expression, the way he bravely tried to drag himself through another day without her while she worked her way through the Autobot army, dating a different mech every night. She figured that some femme would snatch him up sooner or later - after all, he had been elected "Most Eligible Mech" in their secret election - but this was intolerable! Her former life mate was dating her worst enemy! Of all the femmes for him to take up with!
A small, strangled noise of rage finally escaped her vocal unit as her hands clenched into fists. Leave it to Crystal to twist and pervert even the most righteous of males! With her, Optimus had been gallant and almost too respectful at first, and even when he had finally loosened up, he kept their relationship behind closed doors. They rarely even held hands in public, wanting the troops to accept them as co-commanders and not as a romantic item. Still, word leaked out, as it does in such tight circles, and their relationship had been an open secret, never acknowledged but widely known and accepted. Optimus and Alita became off-limits for anyone seeking a long-term relationship.
Alita didn't even mind the fact that he was having a spontaneous fling. Sure, it surprised her, since her former lover wasn't known for spontaneous action, but it had happened more than once in the past. He had always returned to her, more faithful than ever. Each pardoned the other's indiscretions and chalked it up to loneliness or the need for a change of pace. But - ugh! This time Alita had to question the Autobot leader's sanity. Her face twisted into a grimace, causing a few passerby to shrink away, lest she vent her anger upon them. Crystal was very popular among the males, running through the ranks faster than she used up a bottle of polish. Only Crystal could brag of such an immense track record. She had gone out with three-fourths of the Autobot ranks, and the other fourth was either too young, gay, physically unable, or had too-high standards to accommodate her. And then there was the Decepticon army... Alita's CPU quickly killed that train of thought. Best not to get into that. She couldn't blame Crystal for doing her job.
Finding her mobility again, Alita whirled on her heel and stomped loudly back to her temporary quarters. The hall's occupants quickly pressed themselves up against the walls in order to avoid her wrath. Alita rarely got angry, but when she did, she was meaner than a cyber-pit-bull. The fuming femme muttered as she stomped, plans of revenge rapidly forming and dissolving in her mind. One thing was sure - she'd get that femme if it was the last thing she did!