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Times Are Changing	By : LuciferDragon Category: S through Z > Transformers (Movie Only) > Transformers (Movie Only) Views: 4016 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: The only characters I own are Icestriker, Jadefire, and Katrina. Everything else belongs to the Transformers movie-verse. I make no money off this fic. It's all in good fun.

Chapter List
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22

Ironhide pulled out of recharge with a jerk, feeling a strange pulse stirring in his spark. What on Cybertron…? The pulse came again, this time fainter. This… oh Primus, no! He got out of his berth as carefully as he could, as to not wake Jadefire, and left as quietly as possible. Once the door closed behind him, he rushed to Optimus’ quarters. His whole network was shot with a sort of panic, almost overriding the fading pulses from his spark. Please be here. He pounded on the door. “Prime! Open up!”
Optimus must have already been awake and pacing, for it took him no longer than two seconds to allow Ironhide inside. “You as well?”
“It has to be them. Prime, they’re dying they’re—“ He stopped short as the pulses faded away completely.
“No, old friend. They’re dead.”
Ironhide slammed an angry fist into the wall next to him. “Why now, of all fragging times?”
Optimus looked away, seating himself on his own berth. “At least now we know the truth.” He gazed at his old friend. “We’ll also have to find out if Arcee and the twins are doing well on their mission back on Cybertron.”
“How are you taking this so well? Didn’t you love her? Didn’t she give you offspring?”
“There’s nothing that can be done for them now.”
Ironhide visibly fumed as he stalked over to Optimus, jabbing the larger mech in the chest plates. “Was everything in the past nothing to you?”
“Of course not. I’m only thinking logically. I should be asking you the same thing. Was yours nothing to you?”
The older mech fell silent, letting his hand fall to his side.
“Ironhide, we must take this for what it is. Nothing can be done.” He folded his hands, clenching them tightly together.
It was then the weapons master understood. As a leader, Optimus Prime had to stand strong, no matter what the situation. If he fell, so did his followers. He wasn’t taking this as well as he let on. “I know you, Prime. You don’t want to admit what this is doing to you, but I know.”
The Autobot leader said nothing.
“Everyone shows signs of weakness at some point in time. It means you are alive. Don’t keep this inside.”
“And what should I do? There is nothing more that can be done besides carry on.”
“And leave their memory to only us? Don’t Chromia and Elita deserve better?”
“We will give them a memorial service, and mourn them in private. Apart from that, we will carry on our mission of peace.”
“Optimus…”
They both looked to the doorway, seeing Jadefire hiding herself partially behind it.
“You don’t need to hide behind that mask of yours.”
Optimus put a hand to his facial plates. “But my battle mask is away.”
She gave a soft laugh and entered the room. “Not that mask.” She looked to Ironhide. “Mind giving us a few minutes?” She added silently, Wait for me in your chambers.
He nodded in silence, leaving the room without looking back.
Once the door was closed, Jadefire sat next to her much larger leader. “You think you have to be strong to support all of us at every waking moment. Truth is, you don’t.”
“Jadefire, please, I know you’re trying to help, but—“
“But nothing!” She reached up and made him look her square in the optics. “The femme you’ve been bonded to for millions of years just went offline, and you’re going to act like nothing happened? Brush it off? Do you know how cold and uncaring, and completely unlike you that sounds?”
“I can’t let it get to me.”
“Yes you can.” She sighed and sat back again. “You know, Boss ‘Bot, for a wise leader, you are dense at times.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s like ‘Hide said. Showing weakness shows you’re still alive. That you can still feel. Not letting this get to you… what do you think it’s telling me and him?”
“Do do care. Very much. More than you can understand.”
“I can understand plenty. My creators are dead. I know all too well the feeling of loss.” She motioned around her. “There are no ‘bots here. No humans, no plants, not even rats. It’s just me, Sir. There’s no one here to impress.” She looked on as his frame shuddered very minutely. “Pretending like it is nothing… that is not how a good leader should act. Every loss should affect you.”
“Jadefire?”
“Yes, Sir?”
He looked to her with a sad smile. “Your mech needs you more than I do at the moment. See to his wounds, instead of worrying about mine. I’ll be fine.”
“Of course, Sir.”
She gave him a comforting hug, one which he returned gratefully. “You have a spark of gold. Firefly would be proud.”
“And for your protection of your image, this doesn’t leave here.” She pulled away and started to leave. “By the way, when will we have the memorial?”
“Tomorrow evening, once base knows of what happened.”
Jadefire nodded. “Until then.”

She returned to Ironhide’s quarters, seeing him in the process of draining the contents of a high-grade cube. “Drinking isn’t good for your health.” When he didn’t answer at all, her lighthearted mood faded. “’Hide…”
“Don’t try and comfort me. Don’t need it.”
Jadefire was taken aback by his harsh tone. “How could you know now, if you didn’t know before?”
“Spark never really returned to how it was before the bond. I had never been bound before, so what the frag was I supposed to know to look for?” He chucked the empty cube across his room, watching it shatter, ignoring how the femme before him flinched. “At least now I know for sure, right? Nothing I had remains.”
A sudden anger began to simmer in her fuel tank. “Doesn’t it? Don’t you have your memories?”
“Don’t even try.” He got up to retrieve another cube. “I know how to deal with this. Not my first time around death.”
“No, but it’s the first time around your sparkmate’s death, is it not?” She saw him pause with the cube halfway to his mouth. “You think ingesting large amounts of high grade will fix anything? You’re sorely mistaken.”
“Shut up.”
“Why? Because I’m speaking the truth? She’s gone, ‘Hide. You need to accept it.”
“I said, shut up.”
“I won’t. We’ve both been around death in our own time. You said it yourself. Times are changing.”
He knocked over the cube of high grade and stalked up to her, slamming her frame against the closest wall and holding her by the throat a good half a foot off the ground. “You don’t know when to quit, do you?”
“Why did you indulge me? Why did you confess to loving me if you didn’t know if she was alive or not? Why have you done everything up to this point if you weren’t sure in the first place?” She narrowed her optics. “More importantly, what would you have done if she had returned? Cast me aside like nothing ever happened?”
“Of course not—“
“You would have had to choose, you know that, right? So why is it that now you know you’re free to do as you wish, you’re hung up on the details?” She flinched as his grip tightened.
“You’re speaking too much.” It wasn’t until she let out a cry of pain that reality snapped in. He released her, letting her fall to her knees. “You know nothing.”
“You think I don’t. Answer me. What would you have done?”
“I don’t know…”
“That’s not good enough.”
“I really don’t know.”
“That’s still not good enough!”
“I don’t know!” He wheeled around and put his fist into the wall next to her. When he saw the fear in her optics finally, actually felt it through the link, he let the anger subside.
She saw his frame shake, and she reached out to hold his face gently, placing her forehead to his. “I know what you would have done. You don’t need to answer. It’s there, in your spark. You would have chosen her. It’s only proper. She is mother to your sons, your first lover. She’s the better choice.”
“I did love her. But it belongs to you now.”
Jadefire let out a small laugh and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Fact of it is, that’s what you would have done. But…” She cycled a steadying breath through her vents. “Now, you have to move on. You are not alone in this. Primus is watching over her now, as are all the others who have fallen before us.”
“When I wasn’t sure, I suppose I was still able to hope she was alive somewhere, that she’d come back.” He swallowed and looked at her. “Am I a horrible being for starting to hope she wouldn’t come back?”
She bit at her mouth plates. “No. No you’re not. You just… you had found a source of happiness after centuries of being alone and isolated. You didn’t want a confrontation to arise and ruin it.”
He laughed a bit. “Sorry for ruining all this.”
“All what?”
“You finally got what you wanted… and this happens.”
She let a soft laugh escape and kissed the front of his helm. “Glitch-head. Don’t think like that. This is a time for new beginnings, new friendships, relationships. New…”
“New families.”
She paused. “Yes, new families. But with the Allspark destroyed, only sparkbound couples can procreate now. You’re in no condition to be even thinking things like that. Not now.”
“Didn’t mean now.” He put a hand to his head, feeling a processor ache kicking in. “For now, it’s time to complete the recharge. Far too much has happened the past few days. Starting to wear me down.”
“It has been a lot.” She frowned. “Now that I think of it, the Decepticons are getting pretty busy again. Think it means something.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” He helped her up, letting her follow him back to the berth. “Starscream is too tricky, too manipulative to figure out what he’s planning. Could be something, could be nothing, just a display of the power he’s wanted for millions of years.”
“You worked with him once, didn’t you?”
“That was a very long time ago. Back when Optimus was just Optimus, leader of the science division. Your father, Starscream, and I were under Megatron’s command with the defense force. This was before he went mental.” He shook his head as they got comfortable again. “He was strange, even then. No telling what he’s capable of now.”
“Rest now. We’ll worry about everything else once you’re fully recovered from everything you’ve been through.”
“My diagnostics say very little damages.”
“But there’s still damages. Let them repair. Nothing will happen without your presence.”
He let out a grunt, knowing she was right. He let himself slip into recharge, still getting used to feeling the whole of his spark once again.
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Times Are Changing