Adult-FanFiction.org : Movies

Lines	By : CGH Category: S through Z > Transformers (Movie Only) > Transformers (Movie Only) Views: 3802 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own the Transformers. I am not making money off writing this.

Chapter List
- 1-Lines
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-13
- 14-14
- 15-15
- 16-16 (FINALE)
- 8
- 9
- 10
Mikaela woke the next morning to find she rolled over in her sleep. Optimus had fallen into recharge and either forgot or didn't bother to shut off his hologram. His eyes were dark and closed, and his right hand was a comfortable presence on her hip. She smiled, leaning closer so she could kiss the Prime symbol on his brow.

Somehow, Mikaela realized the word Prime in his language translated into Protector. On his planet, his name meant Beloved Protector...

Almost immediately her ears began ringing with digital howling noise like a telephone from hell. Glyphs flew across her sight in rotating rows just beyond understanding. Visions of herself at ten years old flickered through her head. Her younger self was climbing on something metal, but the image disappeared into more symbols.

"Op...Op-Optimus!" Mikaela jolted into a sitting position and shook his arm.

Optimus came online immediately and sat up. No groggy mumbling, just instantly awake. "Mikaela!"

"G-get me s-s-s-something t-t-to write on. Hurry!"

The Autobot leader practically launched himself at the dresser for the notebook and pencil sitting beside the TV. Mikaela's body felt frozen. Optimus set the notebook down in front of her, placed the pencil in her hand and guided it to the page.

"Focus," he said gently. His voice sounded so far away that she feared she'd never reach it again, but his hand on her knee reminded her of his presence. He wasn't going anywhere, and neither was she.

Mikaela's eyes watered as she pressed the pencil to the paper. It felt just like writing normally. Words vertically, numbers horizontally and coordinates in concentric circles. Only a few actual words jumped out at her--terms like energon, worlds and commandments of freedom, justice, peace. She heard herself turning pages. Optimus did not interfere except to guide her hand back to the paper on the occasions she wrote too close to the edge.

Six pages and a headache later, it stopped.

"There. It's over." Optimus stroked Mikaela's face, effectively calming her. He examined what she wrote for a few moments before he tore the pages out and burned them in the fireplace. Before she could ask, he spoke, "You wrote down the coordinates to inhabited worlds my ancestors left alone. A blacklist, you could say."

"Can any of them be pronounced in English?" Mikaela couldn't help but ask. She wanted to know the names of other worlds because it meant Earth wasn't alone.

"Let me see..." Optimus squinted and nodded. "Nebulos, Paradron, Lithone, Junkion and Quintessa are a few of the named worlds. Others are only designated by coded numbers and coordinates. Those planets haven't seen our kind since my ancestors set foot on their soil. Many of the worlds you wrote were touched by the Cube, and so are populated by mechanical life forms similar to myself. They are much further away than Cybertron, though. Even at my fastest speed it would take many human lifetimes to reach them. Otherwise..." He looked over at her, "I'd take you to see them. A mechanic like you would enjoy Junkion. Everyone there has something to repair."

"That does sound kinda fun." Mikaela managed a shaky smile. The trauma of the last few minutes bled out after two deep breaths. "But what was that one line I wrote on the last page? It didn't look like everything else."

Optimus dipped his head so the symbols on his ear finials caught the light. "The commandments of a Prime," he said, running his finger along the markings. "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings. Justice is the right of all sentient beings who seek freedom. Peace is the right of all sentient beings who bring justice."

Then he straightened, a being made entirely of the sun's brilliance. Anybody could see how seriously he believed in those commandments.

"When I was just a young Prime, 'freedom, justice, peace' became my rallying cry. Whenever I transmit a message before a battle, I close it with those three words. And Jazz..." He sighed a bit, remembering the fallen soldier, "He took it so seriously he had those three words engraved below his right eye. It became a trend--everyone who is an Autobot has those words somewhere on their body."

Mikaela buttoned her pajama top and marveled again at how Optimus could turn into a sexual beast and return to normal again without any outward signs of what took place the night before.

"Maybe someday, I'll get them tattooed on me, too." She took his hand in both of hers and fidgeted with his thumb. "I always thought tats were kinda sexy."

"Hmm..." A hint of Optimus' sexy side slipped out, "Would you be terribly offended if I had our family sigil engraved on myself? Yours, mine and Elita's..."

"No, I wouldn't." Mikaela wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned against his side. "Where will you put it?"

He gestured vaguely to his chest, "On my Spark chamber. Ultra Magnus is a master engraver. He will do it for me."

Mikaela blinked at him. "Wait, what about the engraving that's already on your chamber?"

Optimus flashed an amused smile and opened his Spark chamber for her to see. "That engraving is at the top. The new one will be at the bottom."

It was there, barely visible in the glare of his Spark--a black etching of two intertwined symbols. Just looking at it made Mikaela's chest hurt because of the detail. They weren't just little scratches like the graffiti carved into school desktops...they were deep, sprawling and intricate.

The process wound up being quite an experience to watch.

Residing in such a remote location meant the Autobots could safely walk about in the forest in robot mode, and they often did. At noon, Optimus, Ultra Magnus and Mikaela ventured deeper into the forest where a good-sized tree had fallen between two smaller trees. Ultra Magnus gestured for Optimus to lie down and started removing tools from a compartment in his forearm. One looked just like the Turbo Engraver tool she used to etch and engrave things on the motorcycles she helped her dad fix. Next to it, he set down a little box of burs--the rotating tips used to do the actual engraving. Beside that was a metal plate sporting the basic idea of the mark Optimus wanted: His name inside of the symbol for Mikaela's with Elita's attached underneath like links in a chain.

Like family.

Optimus unhooked his outer chest plating and set the pieces aside, leaving his silver components and naked Spark chamber exposed to the sun's brilliance.

Mikaela sat off to the side where she had a clear view. Ultra Magnus kept talking to Optimus in Cybertronian. Optimus' replies were extremely serious. He looked a little jittery, his eyes flicking between the tools and Ultra Magnus' face.

It was in this lighting that Mikaela noticed Ultra Magnus had sigils all along the edges of his helm, circling his audio covers, on the plating around his wrists and on the sides of his nose. They were also on the backs of his hands and even on his feet. Mikaela wondered if the three on his left upper eyelid were the freedom, justice, peace glyphs every Autobot wore. The marks made Ultra Magnus resemble a tattoo artist who had a ton of his own to show his experience.

"Are you ready, Optimus?" asked Ultra Magnus.

The mechanisms in Optimus' throat bobbed like a nervous swallow. Something in his eyes hardened. He nodded and relaxed against the fallen tree. "Yes."

Ultra Magnus started the engraving tool with a buzzing hiss and lowered it into Optimus' open Spark chamber. It made horrible dentist's drill noises on contact.

Optimus once said this procedure was painful. Mikaela wasn't prepared for how painful it would be. She watched Optimus' face plating scrunch until his eyes forced themselves into a squint. His hands flew out to the sides, gripping the two standing trees next to him--one being the tree she was sitting in.

"Oh, my God..." Mikaela fought the urge to look away. Optimus was going through this pain for her, and she felt that closing her eyes would be disrespectful. She climbed down next to his head and leaned against his ear finial. "You're doing fine, Optimus."

"Perhaps--this will help me to--to better sympathize with your labor pains in the future." He said in a high, strained voice. "Dying in battle--hurt much--worse than this."

"That was one quick stab in the back!" Mikaela frowned. When Optimus shook his head, it gave her a feeling that he died far more violently that anyone was willing to discuss with her. Especially considering the condition of his body and the pain on his face when Sam brought him back to life.

Ultra Magnus backed off a moment. He used a swab to dab away beads of glowing purple fluid. Optimus flinched and picked up his head, examining the work so far. He settled down again after a moment. His eyelids snapped shut and his face plates were tense, expressing the discomfort Mikaela knew he'd never verbalize. How could he stay so calm and quiet?

"Are you okay?" Mikaela asked him.

Optimus' optics opened again to look at her. He smiled a little. "I'm fine. What about you?"

Typical. You're in agony and you're asking ME how I'm doing...

"I'm hanging in there."

"Here comes the worst part," said Ultra Magnus, who offered a look of sympathy. He'd changed the burr on his engraver to a finer point. The tip glowed dull red. That explained the swirled edges on the etching at the top of Optimus' chamber--the markings were literally melted into the metal! "Um, Mikaela...this may be difficult to watch."

"I'm staying right here." Mikaela said insistently. She saw Ultra Magnus scoot over and sit on Optimus' legs. "God, Optimus, why aren't you offline for this?"

"Because it is a pain meant to be felt." Optimus fixed her in his gentle eyes. They flickered each time he blinked. "Like childbirth."

"I will begin now." Ultra Magnus met Optimus' gaze for the go-ahead. Upon receiving a nod in response, he lowered the glowing tip and Mikaela's nose detected burning hot metal and coolant mixed into a scent she could only describe as ozone.

Optimus' upper lip plate pulled back in a mechanical grimace. Every servomechanism in his neck and shoulders locked together. He moved his legs, trying perhaps involuntarily to kick, but Ultra Magnus' weight pinned them down. His fingers left dents in the trees he was grasping. He finally started to moan when sparks spit off the engraving tool. It looked like torture, yet she couldn't help noticing he made the same faces and sounds during an overload.

That unwelcome thought was quickly cast aside.

"You're doing fine." Mikaela whispered, leaning on and petting his forehead. She watched Ultra Magnus work the engraving tool and couldn't believe how close it got to Optimus' Spark. "Relax...you're doing fine. I love you." And you're insane...

Optimus peered over at her when she said that. She saw his eyes smile despite the obvious agony pouring through every atom of his being. He was in pain and he still tried to comfort her.

The whole process took half an hour, and after it was all done, Optimus just sat up as if nothing happened. He peered down at the new engraving that still glowed bright orange, and smiled over at Ultra Magnus. "It looks wonderful. Thank you, my friend."

"Bah! Don't thank me. Thank these steady hands." Ultra Magnus flashed a grin--his smile was more obvious than Optimus' since his mouth had more flexibility to curve--and returned the tool box to its proper compartment within his arm. "I better get back to my station."

Optimus gave a quick nod. Ultra Magnus went back the way they came. Even funnier, he made a sound similar to whistling, and whistled the Andy Griffith theme. Once he'd vanished into the trees, Optimus replaced his chest plates and climbed slowly to his feet.

"Geez, Optimus! Shouldn't you sit for a minute?"

He arched a brow, "The pain is tolerable. Engravings don't require rest afterward. The pain stops as soon as the engraving cools down. Only marks on the Spark chamber are that painful. The rest only sting."

"Oh." Mikaela shook her head. "Then at least sit for a minute so I can see what he did."

Amused, Optimus knelt and leaned over, letting her see. She had to shield her eyes from the glow of his Spark. The marking was lying on its side and huge, covering the entire bottom curve of the chamber and partly obscured by his Spark. Mikaela admire the engraving. It was many tiny lines 'braided' together and then melted inward to form deep indentations in the metal.

Mikaela's chest hurt again just looking at it.

"It will be black when it cools," said Optimus.

The softness in his eyes cinched around her heart. No more doubt existed in her mind. Their destines were intertwined like the lines of the engraving.

Optimus offered Mikaela his hand and carried her back to the cabin. Sunlight and shadow licked along his armor. Dead leaves crunched under his feet. He walked slowly, taking great care not to move his upper body too much. She could feel the heat of his new engraving.

"Thank you for staying with me. I know that was frightening." He said when they reached the front of the cabin. Ultra Magnus stood a ways off, watching, his body blocking the only entrance to the little road leading to the cabin's front door.

Mikaela patted his thumb when he set her down. "Stick with me when I'm in labor, and we can call it even. How's that?"

"Deal," he winked. "I'm afraid I will have to miss cooking your dinner tonight. It's my turn to refuel in town, and it's a two hour drive each way."

"Don't worry about it. Do what you need to. I'm probably going to go to bed early anyway. This one--" Mikaela pointed to her belly, "--kept me up with her aerobics last night."

He smiled at that, and leaned a little closer. "Elita, don't harass your mother. She needs rest."

Laughing, Mikaela gave his nose a shove that didn't move him at all, and watched him transform back into vehicle mode. He did it slowly, still obviously sore. Ultra Magnus sidestepped to let him pass. She heard Optimus' horn toot twice before the sound of his engine faded in the distance.

"So, you two are serious now..." Ultra Magnus spoke without turning around.

"Sorry?" Mikaela stopped with one foot on the front steps. She about-faced and joined him by the trees. Hopefully what he had to say was quick; her Braxton-Hicks were acting up and she wanted nothing more than to stuff herself with leftover lasagna and take a long nap stretched across the couch.

The afternoon sun gave Ultra Magnus' white armor a gold tinge when he knelt to regard her. His expression was relaxed and schooled, not angry at all.

"Optimus is happy. I knew him before he split with Megatron, and when they parted ways his outlook on life became incredibly grim. I believe your word for it is depression. He never spoke of it, though I noticed it when he thought no one was looking. He buried himself in strategy and battle. All that has changed ever since you came into his life. The grimness is gone. He smiles more often--he laughs more often. If I say your name, his optics twinkle. He loves you as much as he did Megatron, and he is very excited about the child you carry." Ultra Magnus smiled and glanced at the road. "You've healed him, Mikaela. You brought back the old Optimus, and I've missed him. I suppose a thank you is in order."

His words sent heat shooting into Mikaela's cheeks. Suddenly, she felt guilty for her impatience. She rubbed the side of her face in a half-hearted attempt to conceal the blush. "Um...you're welcome..."

Ultra Magnus nodded and stood up, his body language indicating their conversation was over. Always to the point, nothing more. Mikaela turned on her heel and headed inside to make herself a late lunch.

.o

Days melted together again. Christmas season had officially begun, and the air carried a cold energy Mikaela found infectious. Christmas music took over most of the radio stations and lights started going up on houses in the city.

Once a week, one of the Autobots would take Mikaela to the nearest shopping strip where she bought her essentials. They never took the same path twice, so once in awhile she spent over three hours on roundabout routes between the cabin and shopping centers.

Sometimes her trips into town became interesting than the drive. On a day that Optimus took her, she emerged from the market to see a short, blue-eyed man with a mustache admiring the Peterbilt idling in the parking lot. He looked around sixty or so years old, and smiled kindly at Mikaela when she slipped by to load her groceries into the passenger side.

"Nice rig." He said. "Show truck?"

"Thanks, and ah--no. It's my boyfriend's. He just lets me drive now and then."

The man's kind eyes flicked to her stomach. He smiled. "Mind if I take a photo of that beauty? I have a friend down south who'd enjoy the sight."

Mikaela felt electricity jump through her pulse and glanced up at the idling truck. Optimus had secret signals for yes and no--dropping his engine RPM's meant no, and speeding them up was yes.

They sped up for a heartbeat.

"Sure, go ahead." Mikaela climbed in to Optimus' cab while the man took a quick shot with his camera phone and waved in thanks. She waved back. Then, smiling, the man walked off while dialing his phone.

"Hey, Frank! It's Peter. Take a gander at what I saw parked at Stater's!"

"That guy kinda reminded me of my dad," she remarked to Optimus.

Being away from family meant Mikaela felt lower and lower as the season wore on. She tried cheering herself up by breaking the routine and buying items other than food.

Ironhide was not happy the day she emerged with a baby car seat, a stroller and a stylish black diaper bag that could be carried like a backpack. On another shopping trip, she bought a seven foot tall fake tree, LED lights, two boxes of cheap ornaments and a box of silver icicle tinsel. The tree fit great in the corner opposite to the staircase and looked wonderful once she had it all lit up and decorated. Except...

"Optimus, help me get this topper on."

Up until then, Optimus spent the whole day bent over the kitchen table. He'd forbidden her from asking about or looking at what he was working on. The project disappeared when she called for his help.

The tree topper was a gold ball with fake red jewels at the bottom and a spike on top. It'd look great--

If I can ever get this damn package open, Mikaela grunted in frustration at the resistant plastic repeatedly slipping off her fingernails. Optimus took it from her, snapped the backing right off and freed the metal topper. It rolled into his hands with a soft clank. He placed it atop the tree and stepped back to admire the result. When they shut off the lights so only the tree stayed lit, the effect of colored lights on Optimus' armor looked stunning.

"I don't fully understand this custom," he remarked, "but I like it."

Mikaela turned away. "Yeah, it's great." She sat down on the floor beside the tree.

"You miss your family."

"Tch, yeah." She glanced up at his frown. "I'm not upset with you...it's just I never had a nice Christmas before. Never had the money, never got to do the Santa thing. We'd just put up a tree and fake it when I was little. I used to put boxes under the tree and pretend they came from Santa." A wry smile twitched at her lips, "Pretty lame thing to be bitter about, isn't it?"

Optimus' eyes blinked slowly. "It's never wrong to want. Just don't let it consume you."

Mikaela rolled her tongue against the back of her front teeth, hating how bitter she felt about being so far from family during the holidays. Except she wasn't entirely removed from her whole family--she had one beginning right before her eyes. It was not a perfect one, but perfect families only existed in corny Lifetime movies anyway.

"If we're going to get snow, I should get chains for everybody's tires. Otherwise traction on the roads is going to be hell."

Optimus straightened, frowning. "I hadn't thought of that. The weather reports did say it might snow on Friday or Saturday."

"I know. First winter storm of the year. But I dunno where I'll get chains for you and Ultra Magnus. You're not average vehicles, you need specialty chains."

He just winked one optic, "I'll take care of it."

Sighing, Mikaela hugged her knees to her chest. Her belly made that harder to do than before, she realized. Every week it was just a tiny bit bigger and becoming obvious even through baggy turtlenecks. "We should start practicing for when I go into labor. I've been doing kegel exercises for a long time now, but I've only got a couple months before Elita says hello to the world."

Optimus' optics were pretty in the near darkness of the cabin. At least, up until he unintentionally spoiled the effect by turning on the lights. "I was wondering when you would suggest that. What is it you wish to practice?"

She stretched out her legs. "Everything. Breathing, positioning. Everything on that birthing naturally dot com website."

Everything paused for a few minutes while Mikaela dug out her laptop and Optimus acted like a wireless proxy server to hide her surfing trail from prying eyes. They combed through the website together--Optimus guiding Mikaela into different positions and Mikaela helping Optimus to understand the importance of breathing correctly.

Two hours later...

"...and the contraction ends. Breathe in and out."

Mikaela exhaled heavily while Optimus rubbed the base of her spine. "Be ready for me to say I hate that when the real thing happens."

"I will do all that I can to keep you focused." He gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. "Ratchet recently informed me that Elita is developing normally."

"When did he--"

"On the third, when you bought the stroller and seat. He performed a complete scan."

She sniffed in dismay, "Next time, I'd like to know when he's doing that. I really liked it when he pulled up that picture of her when I was six weeks along."

Optimus laid a calming hand on her growing belly. "I will discuss the matter with him. Oh..." He looked down, "Elita is kicking hard tonight."

"I know. I think she's been having an argument with my spine for the past ten minutes. Must be the Braxton-Hicks. They're getting pretty common now. My mom had a lot too, so I guess it's genetic."

"Those are normal, correct?"

Mikaela nodded. "Normal and really ann--OW!" she giggled, "I think she punched my bladder!"

Optimus laughed and bent over, bringing his mouth next to the side of Mikaela's belly. "Elita, stop abusing your mother."

"Oh, like that's gonna make her stop." Mikaela pulled her shirt up and watched little lumps move under her skin when Elita's feet kicked. Those weak popcorn, bubbles and goldfish swishes she used to feel were a thing of the past, replaced by miniature battering rams that, if they hit the right spots, actually hurt.

Reaching up, Optimus used his index finger to poke just below Mikaela's belly button. Nothing happened. He tried again, a little higher. She moved his finger down towards her left hip. Poking there resulted in a startled jolt and a flurry of kicks they could both see through her skin.

"Ow!" She broke out laughing and doubled over, an instinctive response to the sudden impact. "Oh man. She's kicking my ass!"

Optimus decided to run his hand up and down the left side of her stomach, which elicited more squirms. "This is rather fascinating."

"Yeah--" Mikaela winced when two hard blows landed next to Optimus' fingertips. "--and I'm sure my ovaries enjoy being stomped."

He chuckled, hugging her against him before helping her up. She went to sleep that night with his hand resting against her belly.

.o

It was the middle of the month when Optimus inquired about the pool table in the loft. Mikaela taught him how to play pool and they spent hours competing...but only after Optimus agreed to turn off his targeting sensors.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I don't have any, and I like to play fair," Mikaela teased.

"Very well." Optimus leaned over the table, balancing the cue stick gracefully while he lined himself up. He never moved the cue stick back and forth, he just set his bridge hand down, positioned the stick and nodded to the corner pocket before calling his shot. "Eight ball, corner pocket."

CRACK.

Mikaela watched in dismay as the eight ball clattered into the corner pocket right in front of her, ending the game. She helped him gather up and rack the balls for another round. It was hard to stay annoyed while watching Optimus play. She got to marvel at the way light played off his hands and body and how his face tightened in concentration. If he had a tongue, it'd be poking out the corner of his mouth. Doing things like this took his mind off the mess they were in. She knew more than anything that he stressed a lot over the possibility of a surprise attack.

She also knew he was trying hard to ease her depression over spending the holidays away from her family. Phone calls were still too dangerous, and neither her mom or dad had answered the email she sent last week.

I just hope my dad isn't on the run from the law again...

Mikaela backed up a bit too far while chalking the tip of her cue stick. Her elbow bumped into Optimus' chest.

"Hey! Stop touching my butt cap!" she playfully complained.

"Stop fondling my balls," Optimus countered teasingly.

"I'm going to break your balls in a minute." Mikaela leaned over the table. She stroked as if to go through the cue ball and, after her follow-through, watched the multicolored spheres spread out over the table. The solid two ball rattled into a corner pocket. "Solids are mine this time."

"You're on."

Days continued to pass. Leaves fell until the thick trees became lifeless brown squiggles covering the landscape. Mikaela couldn't count how many times she walked outside to find the Autobots covered in dead leaves, slush or frost. The snow wasn't thick enough yet to fully coat the ground--it just left everything wet and miserable.

There was also the time Mikaela stepped outdoors to find Ironhide's windshield splattered with bird poop. He got washed and made a point to never park near the eaves of the cabin again. Keeping everything clean proved a workout--better than jogging or aerobics--but Mikaela's growing uterus was slowly becoming an obstacle. Not to mention it made her back and hips ache after two or three hours on her feet.

Optimus never grew boring as company. He and Mikaela could spend hours conversing and debating...or they sat quietly together and watched the clouds go by.

He was with her when the first real, blanketing snow fell over the bare skeleton of the forest.

"Bumblebee informed me that he and Sam are driving back for Christmas break."

Mikaela's pulse missed a beat. She looked over, noticing Optimus' gaze straying to the vast windows. "I sense a 'but' in that."

"Mmhmm. Bumblebee is bringing Sam up here."

"I thought we weren't planning on doing that." She frowned.

"He...was very insistent on talking to you in person." Optimus scratched at his ear finials. His expression remained composed and stoic. Too composed and stoic. "Bumblebee is taking measures to ensure he doesn't alert the Decepticons to his movements."

Unsaid words reached out to Mikaela. They were in the glints of light bouncing off his eyelids.

"He met somebody, didn't he?"

When Optimus made no gesture to confirm or deny her statement, she felt the truth wrap around her spine like a strangling cord. She wasn't even sure why it hurt. Was she really that easy to get over? Did he feel no guilt or shame about what happened between them?

"Why's he even bothering to come here then?"

"He still cares enough to worry about your safety, Mikaela." Optimus replied calmly.

"I get that. I appreciate that. But...well, I don't know how you guys deal with breaking up and all that on Cybertron. Imagine Megatron not even giving the end of your relationship six months before he goes off dating somebody else. Kinda makes you wonder."

Was it her imagination, or did that make Optimus flinch?

"Sam also knows what it is like to be a human unwittingly caught within a war many millennia old."

Usually, Mikaela could blame irrational anger over silly things on her pregnancy hormones. But here, now, she knew the heat swelling in her innards was genuine indignation. Optimus understood so much, but there were areas of human behavior he didn't quite grasp yet. That wasn't his fault, but Mikaela felt too angry to care.

"You don't get it." She crossed her arms.

He turned his head sharply to look at her. "Then inform me."

"God, Optimus..." Mikaela reached through her hair and grabbed the back of her scalp, massaging it before letting her arm fall back at her side. "Look at me. I'm pregnant, my feet are starting to swell, I'm getting fatter by the day and my skin looks horrid. A college campus is full of perfect, not-pregnant, fertile girls. Sam is a healthy specimen of a frat boy. YOU do the math!"

"I'm well aware of how your body is changing." Optimus lowered the Esquire magazine he'd been reading. It was two months old and had Matt Damon on the cover. A pair of half moon glasses would have fit the moment when Optimus tilted his head slightly to regard her. "Life is a beautiful thing."

The argument on Mikaela's tongue sounded stupid even to her, but she blurted it out anyway. "I've never looked gross before. Not the serious kind of gross you can't just fix with hairspray and makeup. This is a planet where looks matter, Optimus. People say they don't, but everybody is judged by looks first and everything else second. Just look at advertising. Look at the media. It's all about beauty and perfection! And now that I'm not the hot girl Sam knew in school, I'm yesterday's news! Now do you see why I'm upset?"

Optimus flicked the magazine shut and slapped it down on the couch, but other than that his expression and mannerisms didn't express the faintest hint of ire. "I think you're worrying too much. Though I do wonder why you're so concerned about your appearance when you know outward appearances have little effect on my opinion of a person."

Mikaela pressed her palm against her forehead and sighed. "You're not everybody else." She grumbled. "Let me know if you find my confidence floating facedown in a pool somewhere."

"Mikaela--"

"How would you feel if you saw somebody you just broke up with dating somebody else without even a hint of grief over what they just lost?"

"Megatron did it to me." Optimus rose and approached her. "Feeling bitter does not change or improve the situation."

"Then excuse me for having emotions I can't turn off like you can."

She moved to go up the stairs, but he grabbed her arm and turned her back around. It was done strongly enough to stop her in her tracks without causing any pain.

"Contrary to what movies and television make you believe about mechanical beings, emotions are not something I can turn off. They are as much a part of me as they are of you." He held her in place when she tried again to leave the room. She could hear the hurt in his voice when he went on. "And I understand all too well the way you feel." His grip loosened and he rubbed her upper arms. "The best you can do is face it and work through it. A very lovely young woman in a red dress reminded me of that about two years ago."

Mikaela's frustration deflated in the face of his calm words. She hung her head. "Sorry...that was a really stupid thing for me to say. I guess when you live for millions and millions of years, you kinda get better at handling emotions."

"One would think." Optimus remarked. "Feel like a sandwich?"

Diversion. He was excellent at it.

"Sure." Mikaela filed the incident into the back of her mind for later. "Any beef left?"

The argument died there, and its remains slipped between the wood panels at the base of the staircase.

After Mikaela ate lunch, she and Optimus ventured into the basement for no reason beyond a change of scenery. It could be reached through a trap door behind the washer in the laundry room. A pull cord lit the staircase with a single, bare light bulb. The only illumination in the basement came from a ceiling fan fixture. Optimus couldn't walk his hologram down there, so he "beamed" himself downstairs via the tiny storm window in the far corner.

The basement turned out to be a treasure trove of interesting items. Whoever lived here last must have been a cowboy or cowgirl--Mikaela found coils of rope and a black felt Stetson in a cedar chest tucked under the staircase. It had a red ribbon around the crown and a silver buckle on the right, which meant whoever wore the hat was left-handed.

"Oh, interesting. I just read about these." Optimus picked up the cowboy hat by the crown and set it on his head. It fit perfectly over his ear finials. He looked at her and tilted it forward just slightly. "Go ahead. Make my day."

He looked charming and a bit silly--a robot cowboy.

"Sexy," Mikaela snickered at his shockingly good impression of a western. She uncovered a tan Stetson that appeared to have seen better days. Its brim had holes and the crown was too squashed to make the hat wearable.

"The people before us were certainly interesting," Optimus said as he walked over towards something covered in a dusty white sheet. The center formed a lump and the rest of the sheet spread out in a hexagonal pattern. Optimus poked the edge with his foot, and it sank in slightly like a workout mat. He adjusted his new hat. "Hm. Should we explore this, or leave it alone?"

"Whoever had it before didn't take it, so...let's check it out." Mikaela replied. She grabbed one edge, Optimus grabbed the other, and they pulled at the same time.

The sheet whispered aside, revealing a stark black mechanical bull with a leather saddle and horns on one end to denote its "head." The hexagon shape was the safety mat. Mikaela noticed the controls near the wall.

Optimus looked over at Mikaela. Mischief twinkled in his eyes. "Let's see if it works."

Then he smiled and climbed onto the saddle. His legs were so long that his feet rested flat on the floor. He bent his legs a little and gripped the rope around the bull's "neck."

Optimus Prime straddling a mechanical bull with a black cowboy hat on his head. Mikaela mused, wishing she still had her camera phone. She barely kept a straight face just looking at him.

"Start it up." He said. "Let's see how long I last."

I've gotta see this. Mikaela thought. Sliding behind the control box, she squinted in the low light and turned on the power. Optimus made a startled noise when the mechanical bull whirred, rose and started to spin around. She laughed at his widened eyes and open mouth.

"That's just level one."

"Please, do you think this thing will throw me off so easily?" Optimus adjusted his grip on the rope. The position of the rope made it resemble something else, and Mikaela had to look at his face or risk breaking out into laughter.

"No," she eyed the controls again, "but it'll make you dizzy."

So far, he seemed pretty calm--even when the bull finally bucked slowly beneath him.

"How fast does it go?"

"Uhhh..." Mikaela checked, "Level nine."

"Turn it up to that. If I could stay on top of Demolishor in Shanghai, I know I can handle this."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Mmhmm."

"Okay." Mikaela turned it up to nine.

Optimus moved with the sudden change in motion, rocking forward and back as the mechanical bull jerked his body around. A good minute passed before he lifted the cowboy hat off his head and held it up in the air by its brim. He was laughing, having genuine fun.

Suddenly, the mechanical bull spun to the left and tilted violently forward, spilling Optimus headfirst onto the mat. Unhurt, he got up with an amused chuckle.

"I haven't had that much fun in a long while," he said. "You should try it."

"Not while I'm pregnant." Mikaela grinned, pulling the hat down over his eyes.

For a solid week, the mechanical bull became the Autobot team's favorite toy. Ultra Magnus tested his hologram by taking a ride. He couldn't stay on it to save his life, but Ironhide lasted longer than Optimus or Ratchet combined.

Then one day, Ratchet climbed on and the bull broke, bringing their games to an end.

Optimus kept the cowboy hat.
- 8
- 9
- 10
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Lines