IDK. Just wanted to write this one.
True to his word, Lennox did not speak of what he had witnessed. He carried on with his duties and kept his head down.
Two days later, he was tasked with passing along a request from General Morshower and so went in search of the Autobot leader. Lennox did not have to go far to find him. For as soon as Lennox set foot upon the runway that separated the two sides of the base, his eye caught on a figure like the Colossus of Rhodes rising from the tides.
This was not all that surprising. It had often been the Prime's habit to walk out into the shallows where the waves would lap and beat against the steel of his treads. If not for the gentle heaving of his chassis, one might think him a statue. He would look out, those luminescent eyes fixed on something that only he seemed to see upon the horizon.
Sometimes, he would kneel and sink into the waves, the waters enveloping him, until at times he would plunge almost completely out of sight into the depths. His stupefying height swallowed up by the Kingdom of Poseidon.
Maybe it was a ritual, one that perhaps had its origins on a planet far from here. Or maybe Optimus simply liked the feeling of the waves against his plating. Lennox had never known which it was. He had never asked. All Lennox knew was that no one ever dared to disturb him in these moments. It seemed sacrosanct in a way the soldier lacked the vocabulary to describe. Staring at him now, it was hard to reconcile the regal image of Optimus rising out of the water with the stricken figure that had twisted and bucked like a terrified animal on Ratchet's operating table.
Lennox had never been much for religion but seeing Optimus standing there was almost enough to make him believe in higher powers. The resurrected Prime had made real all the fantastic stories of bodily resurrection, warriors and kings, knights and dragons, the myths of Hercules, and the glory of the Olympians.
Optimus put all of them to shame. He had saved the sun itself, the star that now blazed down on both of them. Such a feat was the feat of some primeval god.
Lennox had never been particularly philosophical. But Optimus Prime was enough to change that in a man.
From what Lennox could gather, the Autobots viewed him as some sort of king and general, perhaps in the wake of Egypt, even as a demigod. The Autobot's trust in their leader was so absolute that, even in death, Ironhide had held their ranks planetside under Optimus's posthumous will that his Autobots defend the planet.
And yet…Optimus was, at times, more human…more humane even…than Lennox himself. It sickened the soldier to think that, mere weeks for prior, Optimus had been still and lifeless on the tarmac over which Lennox now walked.
It sickened him further to have now seen the depth of his wounding, and to know that his superiors had repaid such courage and compassion by holding Prime's soldiers at gunpoint.
Prime wasn't like the other Autobots, who were as temperamental as any rank and file soldier. Optimist was more pensive, philosophical even. Reserved and eloquent. He was, in a word, majestic.
Even so, that majesty did not contradict the vulnerability and mortality to which Lennox had become an intimate witness. Rather, it couched his view of the Autobot leader with a patina that made his glory all the more precious and fleeting.
As if sensing Lennox's gaze, the Prime turned. His profile sharp against the setting sun. With eerie prescience that seemed to read the Major's thoughts, the alien raised a hand and beckoned the Major forward. As he did so, Lennox was reminded suddenly of a sermon the chaplain had given about some king who had raised his scepter to offer protection and blessing to a guest who had come uninvited into his presence.
Obediently, Lennox's legs carried him forward.
"My sincerest apologies for disturbing you" Lennox hollered over the waves, picking his way along the strand, "but General Morshower has learned that the White House wants you to communicate with the President directly tomorrow on the scramble phone, to help smooth over the Egypt incident. He wanted me to confirm with you before coordinating with the boys over there in the Secret Service."
Prime regarded his human counterpart with his usual intensity. Seconds ticking by as the fair winds of Diego Garcia whipped in the human's ears.
"No."
Lennox faltered. He tried to pivot, hoping perhaps that Optimus had misunderstood. "It would merely be a formality, a show of confidence..."
"Have we not sacrificed enough for your nation's interests? Or must my honor go as well? I have no confidence in your leaders. And until such time as I am presented with a showing of contrition for Director Galloway's actions, I will not dignify your President with a false display of confidence."
"Optimus, this is the President—"
"Of one nation among many. I speak for all that is left of my planet. For however many Cybertronians remain. And I will not overlook the actions taken against my people by yours. I will protect this planet. And defend it. I will make this country my home. But I will not forget what was done to my Autobots in the wake of my demise by your President's representative. You may quote me, if you must."
Lennox swallowed hard. He wasn't about to put up an argument. He couldn't even blame Prime. This was about to go over like a lead balloon. But Prime was right: there was nothing the US government could do about it. He sighed internally. Preparing himself for the tongue lashing he was surely about to receive. Though he supposed it was better to catch hell sooner rather than later…
"Very well, I will inform the general."
As he began to stride away, the Prime's voice stopped him.
"Stay for a moment, Major."
Lennox came to an immediate halt. It seemed Optimus was not so keen on letting him deliver the bad news, at least not yet.
"Major, I trust it is clear that my sentiments do not extend to you or to your men personally."
"No offense taken," Lennox assured, turning around. "I was the one who bitch-slapped Galloway and dumped him out over the desert, I'd be a hypocrite if I blamed you."
There was a low rumbling noise that seemed to vibrate the air around him, causing Lennox's sternum to rattle even as gulls shrieked in the distance, sensing the strange sub-sonic disturbance.
It took Lennox a moment to realize that the Prime was chuckling.
He had... Never seen him do that before.
There was suddenly something kindly in the Prime's manner, the steely firmness of his refusal evaporating like smoke. The face plates shifted into a configuration that the human hardly recognized but realized must have been a smile.
"And for that alone you would have my gratitude, Major William Lennox."
Lennox shook his head with a smirk.
"It was my pleasure."
The Prime smile softened into something that must have been a smirk.
"You are a brave soldier, Major. While I know your loyalty must ultimately lie with your government, I have always been grateful to have you as my counterpart."
The two soldiers lapsed into silence, and Lennox considered for a moment, staring off as the shadow cast by Optimus's frame grew longer and longer.
"Why me?" He asked at last, voicing the question that had weighed on him ever since that night in the Autobots's hangar. "Why did you have Ratchet ask for me?"
The Prime turned to look at the sunset. Seemingly weighing his answer.
"Because I knew that you would understand. You are a leader, Major Lennox. And my Autobots cannot lose faith in me as their leader. They need strength. And, at that moment, strength was not something that I could provide."
Several moments passed with nothing but the lapping of the waves filling the silence.
"Everyone wants to be king until they actually are, huh." He remarked.
"I have been a soldier, a scholar, and a slave," the Prime intoned gravely, "but I am no king. I am their guardian. A shepherd, in human terms. My Autobots are free to dispose of their destinies as they please. If they follow me, it is of their own will."
Lennox shot him an apologetic look, realizing that he had perhaps inadvertently characterized the Prime as a despot.
"I did not mean any offense." He assured, "I guess I only meant to say that…well, you must be lonely."
Optimus's brow ridge lifted, as if surprised by the sentiment. Though his demeanor softened noticeably. He paused, as if considering whether to indulge the personal remark. The ridges of his face were now illumined only by the glow of his optics, making it harder to read his expressions.
When he did at last reply his voice was noticeably quieter.
"Not on Earth." He answered with a strange reverence as the sun slipped below the horizon. "Rest assured, Major, your compassion for me will not be something easily forgotten."
Lennox found himself going back to the memory of the Med Bay. To the vulnerability and desperation he had seen in Prime's burning eyes. Suddenly, it occurred to Lennox that humans were, perhaps, the only beings with whom Optimus had spoken as equals in close to a millennium.
Human beings were, perhaps, his only friends.
And they had failed him.
Oh, how terribly they had failed him.
Guilt pitted in his stomach. The same guilt he felt every time he lost a soldier. It never got any easier. Even when the soldier he had lost was now talking to him face to face.
"I'm sorry, Optimus." Lennox said solemnly, staring off into the black roaring ocean.
"For what reason should you be sorry?" Rumbled the voice above him in the darkness, confusion creeping into its edges.
"I'm sorry our reinforcements didn't arrive in time. I'm sorry I failed to protect your men."
He cut himself off there. What more was there to say? He had let Optimus die and then allowed a bureaucratic prick to hold their Autobot allies at gunpoint.
There was a great rush of water and a shower of salty droplets as the Prime made his way back to the sandy shoreline, before kneeling to eye level with the human soldier.
"Those were not your responsibilities, they were mine."
Lennox stared silently up at him, awed but not intimidated by the Titan.
"But that is why I cannot give my Autobots reason to doubt me." The Prime continued. "It is why I will not treat with your president. I cannot let your government's disregard for us go unanswered. And I would hope that you can now better understand my position, Major."
"I do." He answered. "And, if anyone objects, you can be assured that I will add some of my own colorful support to boot."
Optimus grunted in approval, rising back to his full height as Lennox turned and made his way back to deliver the Prime's answer to Morshower.
Perhaps the Prime was not a god. But he was a damn good commander. And maybe, just maybe, Lennox had begun to understand him.
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