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“Okay, get over here everyone!” Elita yelled. Was that too loud? Whatever, she’s supposed to be loud. “I'm doing a headcount.”
A handful of bots jog over and line up in front of her. She’s worked with all of them, knows her subordinates to a T, she can totally handle them.
“…Seven, eight… nine,” she murmured, frowning. She scanned over the lineup, trying to figure out the absentee. “Alright, who’s not here yet?”
Everyone looked at each other, and a low buzz of confusion sparks among the small group.
“Hey, uh, captain,” one voice piped up. She turned around — D16 looked back at her tentatively. “Y’know there’s a new guy joining our team today? Think it’s probably him.”
Right, Elita tsked, annoyed with herself. How did she manage to forget? One of her bots had moved up a rank, leaving an extra spot for a newbie - whoever it was. She wasn’t paying as much attention as she normally would when she received the update from one of her superiors.
“Thanks for pointing out the obvious,” she said huffily. “Unbelievable. First day on the job and he’s not even on time.”
“I'm sure he’s got a good reason,” D16 reasoned. “Look, he’s probably on his way right now, cap’n.”
Elita checked the time with gritted teeth. Great, we’re behind schedule. I did not become squad captain for this.
“Should we just go on without him?” one bot asked, probably noticing her getting antsy about the delay.
“Can’t. I'd be responsible if he was injured somehow,” she replied curtly. Her arms crossed and she paced back and forth, wondering what to do.
Heavily approaching steps echoed in the dark cave—the new bot. Elita turned to the source of the noise coming from the path they entered earlier, ready to give this ignorant bot several pieces of her mind. She eyed the bot running up to them, panting heavily while he lugged his equipment with one arm over his back.
“Hey- hey, captain, ‘m sorry for being tardy,” he said, catching his breath. He extended his empty servo to her. “I'm Orion Pax, reporting for duty.”
“You better have a good excuse for being tardy,” she spat, jamming a digit into his chest. “And I hope you’ve got what it takes to stick around here, Orion Pax, because you’ve already made a crappy first impression on me and I've got half a mind to send you back to where you came from!”
“Yes, I'm sorry, I understand,” Orion Pax replied hurriedly. He straightened up, and she saw that he easily towered over her by a couple of inches. Despite that, she noted that he didn’t seem to be looking down at her at all—not physically, anyway.
“Get your jetpacks, guys,” she hollered, putting hers on. Looking at the newcomer dead in the eye, she added snarkily, “And you—try to keep up.”
He simply saluted her without a word and jogged on over to D16.
Hours passed as the crates became overflowing with energon. Elita found herself smiling triumphantly as they’d reached their quota for the day—with time to spare, too. She noted down the team’s progress while her bots transported the energon back to be processed.
“So, captain.”
She jolted, and turned—Orion Pax. He seemed to be looking at her almost expectantly.
“What?” she said, turning her attention back to typing.
“I wanted to apologise again, for being late. I swear, I don't show up late every shift,” Orion said.
“Sure.”
“And, well, I wanted to know how I did today,” he said, bouncing on the balls of his pedes. “By your standards. Am I in the team or what?”
She made a show of rolling her optics, but admittedly, he did better than she expected. Granted, that might have been caused by her terrible first impression of him, but what the hell would she know? That was all his fault.
“You’re okay,” she replied coolly, finally facing him. “It'll take too much work to transfer you to another team anyway. But if you pull a stunt like that again, I have zero problems going through all that tedious paperwork.”
He laughed it off. “Well, thanks. I’ll see you around then.”
As Orion walked away with D16, she gathered her things and caught bits and pieces of their conversation.
“No point making friends with her, dude, she’s a tough one,” D16 said. She liked to hear that.
“It's just small talk, D,” Orion said casually. “Plus, I feel like we got off on the wrong start earlier.”
“Damn right. I told you not to mess around in the archives right before a shift—on your first day too!”
Messing around in the archives…? Elita wondered, frowning.
“It's fine. I'll show up on time, do my mining, next thing you know she’ll forget all about this.”
Smart guy, huh? she mused. Maybe you’re not so bad, Pax.
Orion Pax I'm going to fragging kill you.
Elita dumped crate after crate onto the train, not caring about the noise she was making, or how every other bot was looking at her like a madman. Her steps—frankly, her stomps—echoed through the vicinity, turning more helms around her.
“I told him, don’t stay behind, exit the cave, what is so hard about that?” she ranted under her breath. “Next time I see that mech—”
“Hey, you!” a femme called out, visibly annoyed. “You don’t have to load those crates so roughly. They might spill.”
“Who cares? It’s just waste!” she called back, laughing bitterly. The femme approached her with a stern look on her face.
“Toxic waste. Look, I get that you’re pissed about this but you’re not gonna get your position back by doing a crap job down here.”
Elita paused. Her breathing slowed down and she began to think rationally. She was right, as much as she hated to admit it.
“Fine,” she muttered, lowering the crates gently into the train car. She began to form a plan in her mind—work her way up in waste management, get promoted and maybe, maybe she could plead for a transfer back into the mines. If she’d done it before this should be an easy feat, right?
The femme left her, knowing she’d calmed down. Her plan brought some comfort, and she began to feel a little less angry about the whole situation.
If she ever bumped into Orion Pax, though, he was definitely gonna get it.
After a few shifts, she was definitely getting the hang of it. Elita never knew just how much toxic waste they disposed of in a day, let alone a single shift. Being kept busy underground, she hadn’t exactly been kept up to date with current events going on in Iacon.
That is, until she caught the words “Iacon 5000” coming from one of the screens mounted on the wall. She stopped in her tracks, watching the array of racers at the starting line. She recognised most of them, having watched the race a couple of times before.
Her gawking was interrupted as a mech shouldered her aside. Before she could protest, she noticed he was carrying a whopping three crates, shielding his front view. Elita sighed disgruntledly and let it go, returning to her work as well—though she opted to stay closer to the screen, just so she could hear the announcer’s updates on the race blaring in the room.
It wasn't long before something else caught her attention.
“I can't believe what I’m seeing here, there are miners trying to run in the Iacon 5000!” the announcer exclaimed.
“You gotta be kidding me,” Elita muttered, watching Orion and D16 on their busted jetpacks in disbelief. What the hell were they thinking? She could name a billion reasons why a miner joining the Iacon 5000 was the stupidest idea of the century.
Then again, she scoffed, this is Pax we’re talking about. That happy-go-lucky idiot was probably just trying to prove himself, to make a name for himself by beating the other transformers. She wondered irritatedly why exactly he had to be so loud, so flashy, making himself and his presence known everywhere he was.
She kept glancing at the screen as time went on. Orion and D16 had at that point beaten a sizable number of the other racers, despite losing their jetpacks and only running towards the finishing line. Most of the bots around her had abandoned the task at hand, choosing to cheer for the miners as they slowly, steadily rose to the top of the leaderboard. In that moment suddenly she found anticipation coursing in her body, hoping to see the two of them win.
When they fell, at the very last second, everyone in the room winced—herself included.
Get up, get up, get up-!
Orion helped D16 up, and they hobbled towards the line, the line that was right there, within an arm’s reach‐
And Chromia won. The stream of transformers whizzed past the line a second later, leaving two helpless miners lying on the ground in last place.
Elita wondered why she was so disappointed. What was she thinking? They were just two dingy miners up against hundreds of professional racers. She shook her helm, picked up the nearest crate and made her way to the train, careful to avoid the crowd of bots as they returned to work as well.
It didn't take long for the news to start spreading. “The two miners in the race had died from their injuries.”
There you go, she thought, as bots all around began to talk about it. That's why you stick to protocol, Pax.
To her, it wasn’t inspiring, or impressive. It was yet another stupid stunt of Orion Pax’s that, in the end, got him and D16 killed for nothing.
The blinding yellow and orange in the sky had dwindled into a deep blue on the surface. Elita rested against a tree as she gazed at the stars, hearing three other bots’ quiet breathing. Bee was fast asleep, curled up on the ground. Orion seemed to be snoozing as well, sitting up against the same tree as D16—who had his optics shut, but the way he clutched tightly onto the map on his wrist told her he wasn’t asleep.
They’d decided to rest for a little while, on their way back to Iacon. With the proof from Alpha Trion, Sentinel would soon be exposed as a false prime and the miners would gain their freedom and independence. It seemed like an exciting thought, to not slave away underground hauling crates and earning almost nothing for it—but what else was there? Elita didn’t know what she could do, now that she was given the choice.
But maybe, she thought, looking at Orion sitting across her. That's a good thing. She’d only been forced to work in the mines before. If she still wanted to do that, that would be her choice. And… if she didn’t, it was still her choice. The cramped, limited-option box she’d lived in had suddenly opened to a whole new world of possibilities.
Thanks to him.
Yes, she tried to stop them from finding Alpha Trion. And yes, she hated the fact that her world had been turned upside down in a matter of days. But, for the first time, Elita realised that Orion was constantly being so reckless and stupid for a good reason.
Like saving Jazz, back in the mines. She’d given up on him before he even got his leg lodged between the rubble—Orion didn't.
And when D16 had fallen during the Iacon 5000. She would’ve at least crossed the line first, and went back for him after she’d won—Orion didn't.
Now she knew that he wasn't chasing personal glory or attention. Just a better future for Cybertron's lower class.
Somehow she didn’t feel too bothered, admitting that she was wrong. But she knew she owed him for all the hell she gave him.
Bee stirred, suddenly. The noise shook both Orion and D16 out of their rest, too.
“Is it go time?” Bee asked, looking at Orion for an answer. D16 rose up forcefully before he could say anything.
“Let's go.”
So they transformed, each following the grey tank in front as he led the way. Elita noticed that Orion seemed to be tentatively driving closer to D16, backing up when he got too close and inching towards him again just moments later. Never had she known Orion’s nervous side, let alone see him hover behind D16 anxiously as he currently was. Elita recalled D16’s outburst at the cave.
Yeah, I can't blame Orion for worrying.
D16 had been one of her most docile workers since she began working in the mines as a leader, he did everything she ordered them to and never gave her any trouble. To see him lose his cool was enough to raise her concerns as well. She noted that Bee had quieted down himself—and she was sure he hadn’t run out of stories to tell. The atmosphere had changed, transformed into a hostile energy around them. Before they arrived at the cave, all she could hear was Bee’s continuous chatter, sometimes followed up by another story or question from Orion. D16 simply listened to everything.
She watched the grey tank in front of them moving at a steady, almost controlled speed. Elita had a bad feeling about this, as much as returning to Iacon to expose Sentinel’s lies would change their lives for the better. She trusted that, at least with Orion around, he would serve as their voice of reason and keep things at bay.
In this state, he might be the only one D16 would ever listen to.
The blinding pain in her helm woke her up immediately. Elita sat upright, dusting off pieces of rubble from her frame. The sun was rising upon the surface peacefully.
Except that nothing about their current situation was peaceful. She took a look around her and saw the damage that Sentinel’s troops had done to the High Guard. Their hidden base was destroyed, a good chunk of them had been taken away and the ones who remained were scattered everywhere. She hated the thought of it, but after last night, there was no way every single one of them had survived.
The events slowly played out in her mind. The explosion in the sky. The descent of troops firing away and grabbing as many prisoners they could. And then Sentinel’s lieutenant Airachnid had barrelled into the bridge, destroying it and disarming probably dozens of bots in the process. Elita herself had been holding up surprisingly well, considering it was her first time in combat. She’d grabbed a stray gun, fired the hell out of it, next thing she knew she was tackled to the ground by Orion and knocked out cold.
Orion.
She looked around for him. If she’d fallen after he pushed her out of the way surely he couldn’t be too far from her.
Primus, Orion, you better not have been captured too. She didn’t know what the hell she could do with the High Guard without him around.
Slowly, she stood up and noticed a larger pile of rubble and debris laying nearby. Wasting no time, she began uncovering the bot underneath, hoping, hoping that it was him.
She’d never been more relieved to see the familiar glint of blue and red before.
Orion slowly came to. He looked so dejected, laying against the rocks defeatedly. After she explained the situation, and he chucked the shattered piece of evidence away, she began to grow worried. Who was this mech, just sitting there and blaming himself for everything? Where was the annoyingly cheerful Orion Pax who led the way and wouldn’t stop giving up? He didn’t give up when she tried to stop the train, or when they were thrown off of it and forced to continue finding Alpha Trion by pede, but this was where he drew the line?
She could have yelled at him, taken charge of the High Guard like she was used to.
But he didn’t need that. He just needed a bit of help—from her.
So she kneeled down in front of him, taking a deep breath. Even though the only inspiring speeches she’d ever given were to her team when they had deadlines to beat and mining quotas to fill, she wasn’t about to let Orion Pax simmer in self pity then.
“Listen to me,” she finished her pep talk, smiling softly. “We can do this.”
Elita had never been particularly proud of him when he worked under her, but seeing him rise to the occasion and form a plan to rescue the captives gave her pride and a sense of warmth that spread to the tips of her digits.
And honestly, she thought, switching to her vehicle mode as Orion ordered them to “roll out”. I can't say I'm not impressed with him right now.
Was Elita happy?
At that moment, she would say yes. The flowing energon was a beautiful sight, and seeing the delighted miners receive their t-cogs and transform into their polished, upgraded frames was enough to make her smile too. This wasn’t how she imagined it would go, but in the end Sentinel’s reign had ended and a new beginning was upon them.
But at what cost? In taking down one tyrannical leader, a new one was born. The amount of damage Megatron and the High Guard had made in the short time before they were banished to the surface was shocking. Buildings damaged, Sentinel’s tower reduced to ash and rubble, and multiple citizens were left injured.
Not to mention the absolute roller coaster of emotions she had been through. Watching Orion’s lifeless body fall into the depths of the city to Primus-knows-where was awful. She didn’t even notice Bee holding her back, she just wanted to reach for his servo, catch him before it was too late-!
But he was gone, shrinking into a tiny speck of grey as he fell deeper into the darkness. She didn’t hear her own scream of despair. The rioting crowd was muted and all she saw was a colorless world.
And then Megatron rose, forcing her to tear her optics away from the well and watch the gruesome murder unfold. She watched helplessly as he threw away the cog of one prime for another, turning into a monster right before her own optics. She couldn’t see the former hardworking miner in him anymore, Orion Pax’s brother—he was just another Sentinel, one driven by hatred and violence.
So she had no time to mourn Orion’s death, because a crazed dictator was burning down the city with everybody in it. Elita and Bee tried to stop him. With Orion gone, who else would? Despite being outnumbered, Megatron still managed to hold his own against them both. Was it the rage, or Megatronus Prime’s cog giving him this surge of strength? He threw her to the side like she weighed nothing, had Bee pinned to the ground and aimed for a blow right to his helm. One that would definitely kill.
With a sudden force, they were both thrown off the edge onto the ground below. A familiar mech in red and blue stood before Megatron, challenging him.
Orion-? She believed it instantly, that he was back and alive, because she’d rather be delusional than believe he was dead. Even though he was taller, bigger, and barely the same mech that fell into that well just minutes ago; she knew it was still Orion Pax. Elita could have cried then. She didn’t know how, or why, but he was back and she suddenly couldn’t care less about the disaster happening around them then.
Looking at him now, he was taking in the state of the city thoughtfully and watching the miners explore their vehicle modes. She nudged him in the midriff carefully—that growth spurt was no joke.
“Well, Pax,” she said. “What's our first move?”
“Actually, it’s Optimus now,” he said, almost shyly. “Optimus Prime.”
She nodded, impressed. “It suits you.” The way Bee was staring at the taller mech in awe, he definitely agreed too.
Optimus smiled at her, and she couldn't help beaming back. “I think restoration of the city would be the first order, commander. Get everyone settled down, and let everything calm down first.”
“Before we deal with the Quintessons?” Elita asked.
Optimus nodded slowly, frowning to himself. Holy Primus, she knew he was good looking before, but this recent reformat was something else. That serious look on his face was doing things to her.
No, what? she thought in disbelief, shaking the thought out of her helm. I'm just glad to see him alive.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Bee asked, eagerly. Optimus looked at him amusedly and stepped forward, facing the crowd of citizens around him.
All in all, despite everything that happened, Elita would say they gained more than what they had lost. So yes, she was happy.
And not just for herself. She watched the new prime at work, unaware of the proud smile she wore on her face. Just a week ago she would have hated the idea of Orion Pax, her subordinate ruling Iacon as the last prime. Now, though?
Good for you, Orion.
-
Despite the pitch black night, Iacon’s city lights illuminated the skies with an array of color. Elita found herself gazing into the distance, taking in the beautiful view—one she never had the time to really enjoy as a miner. After all, she’d spent all her time underground, even off duty. Chasing promotion after promotion, hoping to climb the ladder was all she ever wanted. That was all she thought she could do.
She eyed the mech next to her, sitting by her side in a rather cramped position.
“What’s on your mind?” she asked, her voice rough from sitting in silence for too long.
Optimus Prime turned to face her. “Not much,” he said, quietly. “But… a lot, too, to be honest.” He turned to the skyline again, facing in the direction where Sentinel’s tower once stood. “I'm a prime now.”
“You are,” she agreed, smiling. The statement was obvious, but she knew what he was saying. To be Primus’ chosen, granted the wisdom of the thirteen—she didn't know how she could ever bear such a responsibility. “But, I know you’ll do great.”
“Can I?” he asked. His bright optics were dimmed, gazing into her own like he was searching for an answer. “I never wanted things to turn out like this. All I wanted was to quit mining, not… this.” He gestured toward his own frame with slight frustration. “I don't know if I can be the prime that Cybertron actually needs. All I can think of is D, you know, how I should've done better when I could. How I should have said something, or stopped him when I had the chance. I didn't know.”
“Exactly,” Elita said, placing a servo on his shoulder. “you didn't know. Neither did anyone else. He chose that path for himself, you can’t keep beating yourself up over it.”
Optimus smiled sadly. “I know that you’re right, but… it’s going to take time to really process everything.”
“That's okay.” She inched closer towards him until there was no space left between them. “Take your time. You’ve been through a lot, and it’s all so fresh. You need to heal to become the leader that we need.”
Her spark thrummed when he seemed to lean, ever so slightly, against her. “Thank you.”
She nodded, not knowing what else to say. They stayed there, falling into a comfortable silence again while admiring Iacon from her room balcony. Truthfully, this wasn’t what she’d expected at all when the mech came knocking at her door, but she wasn’t about to turn down the chance of spending time with him.
“Actually,” Elita piped up. “Why did you come here? I kind of figured you had other friends to talk to, you know, like Jazz or Bee.”
“Well, I don’t know,” Optimus said, after a pause. “but I figured you would be able to understand, since you were with us on the surface. And I… just needed someone to sit with. I don't want to be on my own right now.”
“Gotcha.”
“Plus,” he added. “you’re not that bad to talk to.”
“Oh, really?” she said, crossing her arms.
“No, sorry, you’re great to talk to,” he corrected himself hurriedly, making her giggle. “You’re supportive, in your own way. I never knew you could be so… sympathetic.”
“Well, I didn't have the opportunity to be, back when we were working together,” Elita said. “Or, I guess, I wasn't too interested in getting chummy with you and the others.”
“And you are now?” Optimus asked, with a teasing smile.
“No, I just want to hang out with you because you’re a prime now.”
“Ouch.” He laughed, but she noticed a hint of worry in his voice.
“I’m kidding,” she said. “I know that I used to give you hell when I was your mining captain, ‘cause you were pissing me off left and right. And I'm sorry about that. After everything that happened, y’know, I got to know you and the others better and I realised that I judged you too harshly.” She reached for his servo. “I can't think of anyone better to lead Cybertron.”
“Not even somebody better than me in every way?”
She swatted him. “Are you never going to let that go?”
“I can't promise that I will,” Optimus replied cheekily. For a moment, she saw Orion Pax in his smile; the same silly grin she’d fallen in love with.
Elita had to look away—she could feel herself blushing every time he gazed into her eyes. Thank goodness he wouldn’t be able to see it in the dark.
At the same time, though, she wished he could. She wished he would say something, or make a move.
Do something, she begged, so I know that I'm not crazy.
“So, I think I should go now,” Optimus said instead. She nodded, masking her disappointment by turning away.
“I'm glad you’re feeling better now,” Elita said, getting up. She extended a servo to Optimus and helped him up slowly. “And, hey,” she added. “Come back here if you need company, okay? No matter what. I'll be here for you.”
Optimus beamed, smiling warmly at her. “Thank you, that… It means a lot. Especially coming from you.”
“No problem.”
She walked him to the door of her living quarters, lingering by the entrance until he was out of sight. With a sigh, she dragged herself back to her bed, despairing over her possibly unrequited feelings.
How lucky, she griped, to be in love with the one mech I can't ever be with.
Over the next few weeks, Elita found herself welcoming Optimus into her home again, more times than she had expected. Sometimes after a long meeting they’d take the time to unwind together, other times he’d simply show up with a bottle of liquid energon. On several occasions he would summon her into his study under the guise of discussing reports—which they technically did at first. But as always, they’d end up talking about something else.
Usually, it would be exchanging life stories, past experiences and embarrassing secrets. Elita surprised herself, every time she kept the conversation going with a question, or an anecdote of her own. With each passing day, she fell undeniably harder for him. She grew to enjoy his company, finding that she needed him as much as he needed her. So, naturally, she never turned him away or declined an offer to spend time together, away from prying optics.
“You really are crazy,” she commented, as Optimus finished telling her a story of how he’d escaped the archive guards by crawling through the vents and proceeded to get lost in the network. “How did that not teach you to stop digging around in that dustbox?”
Optimus shrugged, spinning from side to side in his chair. She noticed that he seemed so tense and serious in public, but with her, he was more relaxed. She felt that he acted more like Orion Pax than Optimus Prime when they were together. “In all honesty, it just taught me to never escape through the vents again.”
Elita shook her helm playfully, adjusting herself in the seat next to him. What started out as a private meeting to discuss the current updates on getting miners settled into new sectors of work, had now turned into another one of their relaxed conversations—one which had her seated next to him, barely any space between them. Hell, their arms were already touching and neither of them paid any attention to it.
“Y’know, on your first day, I heard that you were late because you spent too much time in the archives,” she said, recalling the conversation she’d eavesdropped on.
“Oh, right,” Optimus nodded. “I was actually there the whole night; I fell asleep and woke up right before my first shift with you.”
She laughed. “That day, I thought you’d overslept or something. and I honestly thought you were gonna be one of my worst miners ever.”
“Is that so?” She almost panicked when he leaned in closer. “And would you say your impression of me has improved after that?”
“You want me to be honest?” He nodded, of course. “You totally annoyed me,” she confessed, “If you weren’t late, you were always trying to talk to me, or ask about my day or whatever. I'm not really one for getting distracted on the job, y’know.”
“Kind of ironic,” Optimus remarked, gesturing at the forgotten datapads lying on his desk before them.
“I'm pretty sure you started this,” she countered. “But anyway, I wanna know too; what did you think of me, when we first met that day?”
“Oh,” he said, and paused to think. “Well, actually, I'd heard beforehand that you were kind of tough. And mean. But I'd say my first impression of you was… a relatively good one.”
“Seriously? I'm pretty sure I told you off before you even managed to say anything.”
“I can… barely remember that,” he admitted, sheepishly.
“What? Did you lose your memory or something?” she asked, incredulously.
“No, I was- um,” he faltered. His voice seemed to become quieter. “I didn't pay attention to what you were saying because I got distracted. All I remember thinking is that you were just so beautiful.”
Elita’s processor short circuited, and she could feel herself blushing a bright blue at his words.
“I mean, you still are,” Optimus continued, with a small smile. “But I guess I was caught off guard that day, finding out my captain was a pretty pink femme.”
Okay that’s it.
She jumped from her seat and kissed him, hard, with her arms around his neck and one knee resting against his chair for support. He yelped with surprise, but quickly recovered by holding her closer and angling his helm for a deeper kiss.
“I never knew you were a smooth talker,” she said breathlessly, pulling away after a few moments.
“I didn't even say anything,” he said, looking genuinely taken aback.
“Liar.”
“What can I say?” he protested. “It's true! You’re the prettiest femme I've ever seen in my life, ‘Lita.”
“Really?” She smiled coyly, repositioning herself so she was sitting comfortably on his lap, with one arm hooked around him.
“Yes ma’am. I've been in love with you since that very first day we met.”
“Oh, my,” she sighed, melting into his touch as he kissed her again. The touch of his servos on her frame could drive her processor absolutely haywire.
“I love you,” Optimus whispered, genuinely.
She nodded, holding his servo against her face. “I love you too. But this seems like… horrible timing.”
“It does,” he agreed. “but I'm more than happy to work through this, together, if you are.”
“Hell yes,” Elita grinned. She spotted the closed door from the corner of her optic. “I think we might have spent too much time here.” Despite that, she made no indication of moving.
“Are you sure? I don't think we spent enough,” Optimus said, his voice deliciously low. He lifted her face towards his gently, alluringly.
“Yeah, you’re right.” He grinned, just like he always does, and guided her lips to his for another kiss—and another, and another, and another.
Optimus Prime, she thought, I love you so much.