Bayverse. Epilogue to The Last Knight. With Quintessa defeated and Optimus out of a home, he comes to stay with the Lennox family. As years pass, the Earth begins to heal, and Optimus Prime begins to die. In his final days, the Prime receives an unexpected visitor. One-shot. AU.
Jynx, if you're reading this, I guess I lied. I still have one-shots on the brain. However, this is not meant to be strictly in the My Legacy one-shot continuity. Could be read as a sequel to Fraternitas.
In the wake of Quintessa's defeat. The world was left in chaos. Many were left homeless. Not the least of which was the newly-returned Prime. Cade Yeager would have gladly taken him in, except that he and many others were also now homeless.
"Where are you going to go?" Lennox had asked Optimus when they'd returned to terra firma.
"I..." Optimus had hesitated as if he had never considered the question. "I cannot quite say…. My Autobots have scattered. Disbursed across the globe. I suppose I will have to make arrangements of my own."
"Then why don't you come home with me?" Lennox had suggested. Even if the thought of Ironhide sent a bittersweet ache through his heart, it wasn't like he was unaccustomed to housing a transformer.
The trek to the Lennox cabin was hours long and blanketed by weighty silence. A fog rolled through the mountains as the Colonel drove, followed closely by the blue and red vehicle mode of the towering Autobot.
When they arrived at the Lennox homestead, Sarah ran out to greet her husband, closely followed by a blonde-headed girl of about ten years old. It took several moments before the Autobot unveiled himself, rising to his full height with an almost shy hesitance. He was unsure of himself, which surprised the human Colonel. It was rare to see such reticence from the self-possessed alien leader.
Lennox was quick to reintroduce the shy girl to the Autobot, who knelt to her with all the aplomb with which he might have once greeted human generals and leaders. The girl's voice faltered as she introduced herself." Hi... I'm Annabelle... Did you–did you know Ironhide?"
"I did indeed, little one."
"Are you coming to live with us like he did?"
There was a questioning look that passed over Optimus' face, which prompted Lennox to interject to save him from having to infer an answer to so delicate a question.
"Yes... For as long as he might like." The Colonel said with a pointed look.
Later that night, Lennox approached Optimus as he stood outside staring up into the stars.
"Why don't you and I take a walk?" Lennox suggested. The Autobot shot him a confused look.
"Just up the mountain side... We'll be back by morning...There is something I wanted to show you."
And so, they set off up into the pine trees that dotted the Colorado landscape. The trail was wide meant for trucks, just wide enough for a large transformer. When they reached the top of the mountain, Lennox sat down and invited the Autobot to sit beside him. Obligingly, Optimus dropped onto his haunches with a notable thump that left dust flying in the air.
"Do you see all those twinkling lights? " Lennox asked. The human gestured toward the city below and the rolling plains rife with little pockets of glowing stars like the ones that shone above them.
"Yes."
"Ironhide used to come up here with me and stare down at them all. I used to tell him that all of those represent lives that exist because of what the Autobots fought for….There will be generations because of you, Optimus, because of Ironhide, because of Ratchet… and you can claim credit for every single one of them."
"I am sorry I was not able to save more of my own," the Prime intoned. "I only ever wanted them to live in peace."
"Well, guys like Ironhide don't exactly make themselves easy to save," Lennox offered with a rueful smile. "He was always running straight into danger..."
Optimus only grunted in response, looking out pensively onto the cities below.
"I only wanted to tell you, Optimus…" Lennox continued. "...that you're not alone…In place of a grateful world, please accept the gratitude of my family. I meant what I said earlier today. You can always stay here with us."
"I will bear that in mind, Colonel Lennox." Optimus responded with a very sad and patient smile.
As years went on, Decepticon attacks continued but faded off as it seemed even the more aggressive of the transformers came to grips with their fate as residents of Earth. Even so, from time to time, the Decepticons made themselves problematic for various human governments. And every so often, Optimus was dispatched to deal with them himself.
Ultimately, Optimus came to be something of a ghost, though not an unwelcome one. He would appear and vanish from the Lennox homestead, sometimes for months or years at a time, only to reappear, usually limping and worse for the wear. The Lennox's always greeted him warmly. They even set up a pallet in their barn that was large enough to accommodate Optimus as a berth for recharge. Sometimes, they would send for Cade whenever the Autobot needed medical attention.
Fifteen years passed. Time moved on. And so did the rest of the world. Annabelle moved away. Sarah decided to travel the world. For his part, Lennox had partaken of enough travel to last a lifetime. And so he stayed behind while Sarah sent him postcards from exotic places.
As the transformers integrated, humans became less prejudiced. As did the Autobots. Even the Decepticons began to give up their insignias, assimilating gradually into human society.
At some point, Optimus got sick. Lennox had not even realized transformers could get sick. By the time Lennox did realize it, it was already too late to stop it. It was not obvious at first. But a weakening that came on gradually. The Prime's spark fading and flickering. Life slipping from his circuits for reasons indecipherable. Optimus was never all too specific about what exactly was killing him, and, in truth, Lennox had to accept that it was just as likely that the Prime simply did not know. Cade had come and examined him but found nothing mechanically wrong. Beyond that, there was little else a person or Autobot could do.
It became an unavoidable fact that the last of the Primes was dying. One could imagine that some wound or another had at last taken its toll, or maybe an after-effect of Quintessa's tainting touch. Perhaps, without war, the Prime simply had no further will to live. No matter the cause, its inevitability became clear.
Optimus made peace with this reality long before the Lennox family knew. He did not deign to tell the retired soldier of his condition until Bumblebee arrived one day with uncharacteristic solemnity. The Autobot leader had not wanted to be a burden, he explained to Lennox, and so, like any soldier, he had sent word for the closest thing he had to next of kin.
Bumblebee became his caregiver. Assisting him with his needs and obtaining what little niceties he could to make the older Autobot's end more comfortable.
To watch his deterioration was its own kind of pain for Lennox. He was growing old himself. But it wasn't age that was killing Optimus. It was something else. Something like usefulness. As if his life had passed the point of its purpose. Months passed, and Optimus worsened to the point where he could no longer rise without Bumblebee's assistance.
Every morning brought the question of whether the Prime's spark would still flicker. And every morning, Lennox would walk the length of the house to the barn, rain or shine, coffee in hand, knowing that, instead of bidding 'good morning,' he was really bidding a slow 'goodbye.' There was little Lennox could do for him, except to keep him company. Though it seemed that Optimus now had plenty of that with Bumblebee.
Bumblebee spoke to Optimus often in that whistleclick language of the Cybertronians, their conversations lilting on the breeze like the chattering of birds. It was springtime in Colorado, and the robins were building their nests. It was often hard to distinguish which were the chirping of the birds and which were the snatched conversations between the two Autobots that had been carried in the wind.
It was nothing but a matter of waiting, now. Waiting for Optimus to pass.
One morning, a gray shape moved stealthily through the sky. A shadow passing over the rolling hills. The telltale whine and squawk of a transformer's gears preceded a heavy thud. In the midst of the yard stood a towering gray shape, its armor and helm shining and sharp. On its back remained an array of melee weapons that had once struck fear in the heart of Cybertron.
Megatron. Or, as he was sometimes called now, Galvatron.
It did not take hardly a moment before Bumblebee burst out of the barn with his cannons blazing, twirling, and flipping with the fury of his namesake as Lennox snatched up a modified sidearm and rushed to join in the offensive.
In a single elegant bound, the small Autobot landed on the Decepticon leader's back and began firing his arm cannon into the soft spots between the larger transformer's armor. Lennox also raised his sidearm, aiming it coolly at the Decepticon's eye sockets as he began to pepper the Decepticon leader with small arms fire.
"Get off me, you insolent Autobot!" The Decepticon leader bellowed, snatching Bumblee from the air and tossing the smaller Autobot into the trees beyond. The yellow Autobot recovered himself and rounded on the Decepticon, his blue eyes sharp and piercing as he once again aimed and readied his cannons with a whine.
"Would you deny me my right to pay my respects?" Megatron demanded with civilized menace, dodging as Bumblebee made a tackling lunge. It was a mockery of social graces.
"Stop that, insect!" Megatron snapped, shielding his face with his hand as Lennox continued to pop off round after round, circling around the pair of transformers as Bumblebee seized and grappled with the Decepticon.
The three combatants continued for several moments, neither side gaining the upper hand until a booming sound left them all frozen.
"Enough!" The word thundered through the valley, causing all three pairs of eyes to snap toward the direction of the barn. In the shadow of the doorway leaned a panting, trembling shape that was wasted and thin, but stood untouched in its nobility.
Optimus may have been near death, but the strength of his voice could still stop an army. He had risen from his deathbed, only to scold them all like little children.
"Both of you. Enough. Let him come."
Neither Bumblebee nor Lennox would dare to raise an argument. The two froze and looked to one another. After a moment, both lowered their weapons, Bumblebee shoving Megatron away with a spiteful hiss. Lennox stood back with a glowering look, watching Megatron as he straightened himself and strode toward the direction of the doorway.
"You're pathetic, Optimus." The Decepticon growled as he approached. "You know that? Relying on humans to defend you."
"If you've come for a fight, I am afraid I will not offer much sport," Optimus said wearily, his knees sagging beneath him as he slumped against the barn, eyeing Megatron with an exhausted look of disappointment.
To Lennox's surprise, before the Prime's knees could touch the ground, Megatron stepped forward and caught the collapsing Autobot, steadying him with his claws.
"Always such a pessimist." The Decepticon growled softly.
"If I am, it is because you have made me so."
Further words were exchanged, but it was beyond Lennox's ability to understand, as they disappeared together into the barn. Megatron seemingly half carrying Optimus back to his pallet.
Lennox could only stare after them, shocked by the events that had just transpired. For a moment, the retired soldier considered forcing his way into the barn, but Bumblebee held up a hand to stop him.
For several hours, Lennox and Bumblebee sat patiently in the yard beyond the structure. It was unclear what, exactly, was taking place behind the closed barn doors, but whatever it was, Bumblebee assured Lennox that it was solely between Optimus and Megatron. What choice did Lennox have but to believe him? The two leaders' shared history was long and storied. Rich with bloodshed and adversarial regard. The two titans had a past that would make War & Peace look like a children's book.
Dusk was falling when the door creaked open, and a growling voice burst from the darkness within.
"Both of you, come here. My brother's time grows short."
With wary eyes and tense shoulders, both the Autobot and the human approached and entered. There was a crackling noise, like a lightbulb before burning out. As Lennox's eyes adjusted to the gloom, there, he saw a sight that would haunt him to the end of days.
There sat Megatron, crosslegged, with Optimus's helm pillowed against his thigh. The warlord's clawed hand draped itself over the blue light flickering and sputtering within the Autobot's sternum.
"Bumblebee…" Optimus murmured, calling the younger transformer to his side. The yellow Autobot shuffled forward, meeting Megatron's gaze in hesitant glances as he dropped to his knees before the Autobot leader. After a moment, Optimus extended a hand of blessing and placed it on the yellow transformer's helm.
"...to you, spark of my spark, I entrust our history…" The plating in the Prime's chest shifted open and up floated the dagger-like Matrix of Leadership, its glow moving toward the astonished Bumblebee with ethereal grace.
Megatron's red optics averted themselves, seeking to look anywhere but at the artifact.
"Take it…" Optimus rumbled. Obediently, Bumblebee opened his chest plates, and allowed the dagger to sink into his spark.
"I will guard it with my life." Bumblebee intoned, ignoring Megatron, his steady blue gaze focused only on Optimus as his rasping voice scraped with more than its normal injuries.
"I know…" The Prime murmured.
"Lennox…" The Prime called, the blue optics cracking open as they searched for the soldier's small frame. After a moment, the human stepped forward, even as Megatron's face twisted into a sneer. "...I wanted to thank you. For giving me a home. For being my friend. Watch over Bumblebee, as you have watched over me. His burden is a heavy one to bear alone..."
Lennox stood at attention, saluting through the lump that had formed in the back of his throat. "I will watch over him, Optimus. I swear it."
The sparking noise grew louder as Optimus gave a groan. Megatron's claws tightened where they rested across the Autobot's chest.
"...you may leave us…" Optimus ground out, seizing Megatron's wrist with a groan of pain.
Bumblebee looked conflicted, glancing between his Prime and his mortal enemy, but ultimately, after a moment, he rose and followed Lennox out into the night. The two lingered in the yard. Suddenly, strangers in the darkness.
An hour passed. Maybe more.
Lennox rose to his feet as a black shape appeared in the shadow of the barn, its red optics blazing in the gloom. Heralding the end of the age of Primes.
The two stood staring at the Decepticon. Who stared back at them with equal intensity.
"His spark has gone out…" The Decepticon intoned at last, his eyes turning to Bumblebee. The yellow Autobot squared his shoulders and gave him a defiant look. Megatron only stared back, his optics subdued, his shoulders lowered.
"You have a large shadow to fill, Autobot." The warlord growled at last. And with a whining groan of gears, Megatron transformed and took off into the night sky. Never to be seen again.
No one really knew what became of Megatron. Although Will Lennox had his suspicions.
Optimus was entombed in a crypt and honored by Autobots who came from all the corners of the earth. Two decades later, when the crypt was reopened as part of a cybertronian ceremony, the world was shocked to discover a second corpse within the tomb.
Severe erosion had erased its identity. But for one old soldier and the current Autobot commander, its identity was really no mystery at all.
Fin.
Yeah. I know. It's really fanfiction-ey. But hey. I wanted to write it. No, Bumblebee is not a Prime now. That era is over. He is now holding command, but he isn't himself a Prime. All of this is to say that we love who we love. And we care for who we care for. In the end, neither blood nor betrayal matter so much as the affection we hold within our hearts. Also, to further justify the Bumblebee succession line, I would simply point to the indicators in AoE and TLK that Bumblebee "held command" in Optimus's absence. Also, the fact that Bumblebee is his "oldest friend."