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This solar cycle was going horribly for Optimus Prime.
The traitor among their ranks had refused to go peacefully.
Taking his life as well as six bystanders with a large explosion that left a gaping hole in the side of the Ark.
A few were still missing in the rubble, many more were injured. Including himself.
Though Optimus’s injuries weren’t major, only small burns on his chassis, others and the Ark were another story.
Mirage and Drift were in medical stasis with severe damage.
Prowl, Arcee and others were still in the med bay with blown off limbs and serious burns.
Optimus sighed and ran down his face plating as he read the damage report from Wheeljack.
He could barely keep his optics online and proccesor on task. The words on the data pad were being to blur into unreadable blobs.
Some emergon would be nice.
Optimus moves is massage to his aching temples.
He sub spaced his data pad. He flinched as his joints hissed loudly as he stood up. He would have to tend to that soon, he wasn’t that old.
Optimus made his way out of his small dark office and towards the officer lounge.
The hallways were dimly lit and empty.
No one was wandering the halls except himself and the guard on duty.
Optimus nodded his helm respectfully to Crosshairs as he passed him.
The officer lounge was surprisingly bright and occupied for this time of solar cycle. Many of Optimus’s high ranking officers were here sipping energon while reading a data pad.
But the mechs that really caught Optimus’s optic were his CMO and Security Director.
Ratchet was curled up at Ironhide’s side, and tucked safely under his a sound in recharge. Ironhide was rubbing circles into Ratchet’s back while reading his own data pad.
Red Alert was pacing back and forth in an anxious manner, Inferno sitting on a couch next to him.
Inferno gently grabbed Red Alert’s servo, startling the SD, but his face plates quickly softened.
He allowed Inferno to gently pull him onto the larger mech’s lap.
Inferno pulled Red Alert close to his chassis, whispering something into the smaller mech’s audial. Which made Red Alert visibly relax and sink deeper into the embrace.
Optimus smiled softly to himself as he reached the energon dispenser. It was good to see his most restless officers relax for once. Especially in the arms of a mech they love. And after a long stressful solar cycle.
Turning back around, Optimus took a long refreshing sip of his newly poured energon.
Only to choke on it hard enough Ratchet’s medical programming would have kicked in if he were awake.
There, in the far back corner lay Bumblebee.
Curled up and in recharge on top of Smokescreen.
Smokescreen also seemed to be in recharge, reclined in a chair, helm back and engines snoring.
What really surprised Optimus was where the mech’s servos laid on his sparkling.
Cupping Bee’s aft and the other in his back wiring.
On any other solar cycle, Optimus would have ripped the two apart.
If they—Bee didn’t look so tired yet content.
Optimus sighed and took another sip of his energon, heading for the door.
Bee was growing older, he didn’t require the Prime’s help or assistance anymore. He could love who he loved, and be who he wanted to be.
Bumblebee isn’t that voron old sparkling he found in the ruble of Crystal City anymore.
And after such a long, emotional solar cycle, Optimus would have curled up in Megatron’s loving embrace in a spark beat if Primus allowed it.