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Optimus walked in shock, quietly following the guards. He didn't put up a fuss, still trying to process everything.
Elita was gone. Forever.
One moment they were escaping, he made it out, and then Elita fell and the explosion happened, and he had to focus on keeping Sentinel alive, and then getting them both out.
Elita died. And it was Optimus' fault.
Maybe if he had been faster, if he'd notice her timer, if he had simply been able to stop them from going to that blasted planet. Optimus doesn't even want to think about how much worse it could've been if Elita had been carrying Sentinel.
He doesn't think he'd be able to handle both of their deaths, a single one already stained his hands with enough energon for a lifetime.
Snapped out of his thoughts by someone yanking roughly on the chains attached to his stasis cuffs, Optimus realized he both stopped walking and arrived.
Arrived where? Why before the council to await his judgment for the death of a fellow autobot of course.
Stumbling, Optimus did his best to follow the guard pulling him forward until he was in the center of the council room where he was shoved to his knees.
He's never felt so small, seeing all the council members literally look down at him from their podiums. His stasis cuffs prevented him from moving any more than hunching over.
Optimus felt so very guilty right then, and technically he was. But it was an accident! He tried his best, and clearly that wasn't good enough but…
The doors to the council room were thrust open once again, this time a guard dragging in Sentinel, wearing the same cuffs and far-off look in his eye. He too stumbled until he was forced to kneel besides Optimus before the council members.
"Magnus, council, before you kneel two bots responsible for the death of a fellow academy cadet, one on track to become a prime. They await their punishments," One of the guards calls out, once everybot had settled.
Optimus and Sentinel flinch back in unison at the words. It felt like a slap to the face, a cruel reminder of what they just lost, on a personal level.
But… we haven't given our testimonies yet, Optimus thought, the stasis cuffs preventing him from speaking.
As if reading his thoughts, Alpha Trion spoke up.
"They will receive their appropriate punishments, once we hear what they have to say,"
Optimus was relieved they were getting a chance to defend themselves, but to hear from Alpha Trion of all bots felt wrong. After all, Elita had been one of Alpha Trion's favorite students.
With a nod from the Magnus, two guards approached to modify their cuffs, first Optimus then Sentinel. It would take a klik or two before their frames adjusted accordingly, giving them a moment to consider their words.
Obviously it was an accident, or at least Elita's death was an accident. They were guilty of leaving academy grounds without permission, stealing a ship, and trespassing on a forbidden planet but not for her death.
But they're not on trial for all of that, are they?
It doesn't matter what they already did, all of those other crimes were just the cherry on top, to add extra to their punishment. They're here for Elita, nothing more.
Optimus looked up, and caught Alpha Trion's eyes glimmering with satisfaction and the energon on Optimus' lines ran cold. That was his plan, wasn't it?
He didn't let them speak because he cared, he did it to see them flounder, to see their last spark of hope go out. To see them dig a deeper hole trying to get out of this mess.
This was his revenge, it was no secret he hoped Elita would become one of his primes. To see a spark he dedicated so much time and effort nurturing go out over a perfectly preventable accident, an accident that only claimed Elita as a casualty.
No, Optimus won't let them get treated like criminals just because of her unfortunate fate. The punishments will be for the crimes they did commit, Elita's death is not it.
Confident, Optimus was about to argue his point until he spared a glance at Sentinel, and if he didn't feel bad before, he felt sick to his spark now.
Sentinel looked terrified, His shoulders were shaking minutely, his head was bowed but his eyes were darting everywhere, he might be crying, he kept trying to move his hands despite the cuffs.
Ultra Magnus' voice boomed, stopping Optimus from doing or saying anything.
"For your crimes, you will receive nothing less than immediate expulsion from the academy, banned from most workplaces, up to exile. You will be allowed to explain yourselves but if you are found guilty of purposefully plotting the death of Elita One, you will be sent to the stocks, for life."
That was… that was a really heavy sentence. No wonder Sentinel was scared, he probably already knew the inevitability of what would happen.
Unless…
Optimus slowly stood up and took a step forward. The guards reacted immediately but Optimus didn't move any further. They stayed wary, but let him be. He heard Sentinel look up but he didn't look back.
"As senior cadet, I take responsibility for the crimes committed and the unfortunate passing of a close friend-"
"Optimus what-" Sentinel tried to talk too, but was shushed by his guard.
"Elita's death was nothing more than an accident, however I take the blame for it. It was my own decision to save myself and Sentinel, but I could not have predicted the explosion, nor could there have been a way for her to survive." Optimus continued over Sentinel. He thanked Primus his voice sounded steady, internally he was ready to breakdown. But he couldn't.
Sentinel had more to lose here.
Unlike Optimus who was about to graduate, Sentinel still had a bit left in the academy, and still had not caught anybot's eye for a job. Elita and Optimus had been favored by Alpha Trion and Ultra Magnus respectively, Sentinel had no one. If Sentinel shared the blame, he'd be left with nothing at all, Optimus had been the most dedicated and learned of the three, he could pick himself back up, Sentinel couldn't.
A small part of him hoped to be able to use that bit of sway as unofficial Magnus heir to lighten his sentence. By taking the bulk of the blame, Sentinel would be able to stay and keep going.
As Optimus explained and twisted the truth, Sentinel kept quiet, no longer interrupting once he realized what Optimus was doing.
Maybe he'll regret this later, maybe he won't. All he knows right now is that he can't let Sentinel fall.
.
.
.
Regret this?
Oh Optimus will absolutely regret this later, and his team will give him hell for this, as the humans say. But he's not going to allow the Autobots to blame all their problems on Megatron, not again.
"This isn't right! Megatron deserves a fair trial, not a public execution. The decepticons already served their 4 million year sentence, they should-"
"Are you a decepticon sympathizer, Optimus? Why do you care what happens, he's a con, he's the con, he 'deserves' to die for what he's done!" Sentinel shot back, glaring at Optimus who refused to back down.
He's not going to be cowed so easily, not by a bot who he once knew so intimately. Not for Megatron, it wasn't fair.
It hadn't been fair that all of Optimus' crew were outcast or exiles that still tried to protect the same bots that cast them out, or that literal decepticons treated them with more respect, or how guilty Optimus had felt when he realized he fell for the decepticon leader despite years of propaganda shoved down his throat.
Optimus and his crew had learned better, about the real reason for the war, how absolutely nothing has changed, how the autobots weren't any more innocent than the cons, how maybe they belonged back together, in their home, on Cybertron.
Optimus himself learned about a decepticon's devotion and autobot's betrayal, a love with no strings attached that he wanted to hold onto for the rest of his life, a home for him and his bots.
And all this was only happening because Megatron got caught, protecting his bots. He was not about to let Megatron suffer all over again if he has any say in the matter.
"Then let Megatron, leader of the Decepticons be charged gui-"
"Objection!"
Sentinel froze when he heard that voice. That strong, yet oh so sweet voice stop the verdict. Although it didn't feel very sweet right now.
Optimus was protecting Megatron, preventing him from receiving his retribution, just like he did all those vorns ago with Sentinel.
No… no no this can't be happening again, he had lost Optimus and Elita that same day, he just got him back he can't lose him again.
"It was an accident-"
"The decepticons were punished enough-"
"I take full responsibility for the whole incident-"
"I was the one who found the Allspark-"
"Elita had known as much as we had about the risk-"
"Megatron is just doing right by his people-"
"Had I managed to stop them, this wouldn't have happened-"
"Had the autobots listened to me, or to them-"
"Enough!"
"Enough!"
And yet it was happening again. And again, just like before, he was helpless to stop it.
Ultra Magnus' voice had a resounding echo that caused the whole arena to quiet down. Sentinel felt it down to his struts, he was right next to the Magnus after all.
Before, Sentinel had been down there alongside Optimus, kneeling, hiding, behind him like a coward, letting him take the fall.
Now, Sentinel was sitting next to the Magnus himself, and Optimus was still down there, still protecting another bot from the fall, still taking as much blame as possible so the others don't have to.
He had to change the outcome, he can't let history repeat itself, not again. He's not going to let Optimus, his Optimus sacrifice himself for some con, he has to keep him safe.
He stepped forward, about to shout something. He didn't know if it was to get Optimus to shut up or to cover for him, apologize, something.
But from one step to the next, a hand covered his mouth, stopping his words. He didn't even know what he was gonna say, and now he can't even say anything.
He tried shrugging the arm off, but didn't resist when it pulled him back. Just like before, he was silenced again. Useless.
He didn't notice when his knees hit the floor, but he felt Jazz's hand move from his face to wrap around his shoulders. He was holding his arms, fingers digging into the protoform underneath his armor so tight he felt energon slowly start dripping down.
Optimus is down there, and he can't stop him, can't save him, can't do anything.
Megatron kneeled frozen.
What was Optimus doing?
He had appeared out from somewhere behind him, these damned stasis cuffs limiting his senses. And he had leaned in close, his hands cupping Megatron's face, gingerly picking around his gag.
Megatron in turn just basked in his presence, enjoying these few moments of peace before Ultra Magnus decides to end this charade and kill him.
He's not afraid of dying, he already lived through millennia of war, and even more time scavenging the rest of the universe for enough resources to sustain his decepticons. If anything happens to him, Strika and Shockwave will take command if not Optimus himself.
He snapped out of his musings when he felt something small and gentle brush his cheek.
Optimus had softly pressed a small kiss right above the gag covering his lower face. Megatron had never wanted to rip his restraints off more, that is until he looked at Optimus, properly.
Optimus brushed his hand across Megatron's helm, his face soft and open, his finials tilting back in sadness, and his eyes shiny and bright with tears, tear tracks already staining his cheeks.
Optimus was crying, for him no doubt. The fury running through his lines burned, every instinct pushing him to comfort Optimus, to wipe his tears and reassure him everything was going to be fine. But he can't, because of these damned stasis cuffs!
And then he heard something that made that fire freeze, his vents stalling.
The softest, quietest, "I love you," whispered by Optimus before he stepped back, into the arena. And he turned around and addressed the crowd.
Despite the speaker being Optimus, Megatron did not hear a single thing after the small phrase registered.
No, no, no, Optimus can't possibly be doing what Megatron thinks, what he knows he's doing.
It seemed the autobots caught on too, and Ultra Magnus called for guards to stop him, all of them ignoring him and going straight for Optimus, who turned ready for a fight. But there were a lot, and more just kept pouring in until Optimus was overwhelmed.
Tied up, cuffed and gagged, Megatron can't do anything to stop him, can't stop Optimus from putting his spark on the line for him, he can't help him, can't save him.
That's when he received a comm from Strika. Nothing more than a ping, and yet that was enough for Megatron to realize exactly what was happening.
Optimus wasn't hoping to convince the crowd, he was distracting them, he's stalling Megatron's execution long enough for reinforcements to arrive. But they won't arrive soon enough to save Optimus, and Optimus knew that too.
Straining against his restraints, he barely managed to lean forward, overlooked by everybot except Optimus, who immediately turned towards him, his helm tilted awkwardly but he still held eye contact.
And he smiled, something soft and sweet just for him.
It hurt to see Optimus being swarmed with no hope of escape and yet he still tries to comfort him. That hurt a lot.
It was a spark deep pain, for they had been in the middle of their conjux rites, and the only thing less painful than a dead sparkmate was an unfinished bonding.
Optimus had chosen this pain over letting Megatron die.
A small tear slipped down his face, the only inclination that Megatron felt any way about Optimus' intrusion and subsequent capture.
For Optimus he will live. He will live and rally up his cons once more, this time they will win. Cybertron will fall to whoever holds the Allspark, which is secure within his ship, guarded by his own most trusted. Safe alongside Optimus' own treasured bots, that he trusted him to keep safe.
They too will take up arms, their loyalty is to Optimus, just like Megatron's.
Optimus's sacrifice will not be in vain. He will burn down all of Cybertron if he has to, Ultra Magnus will not run away this time. Not for taking his beloved from him.
And no autobot will be safe from his wrath, come acid rain or rust storms, he will not stop until his decepticons are home once again and Optimus safe by his side.