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He can feel it coming.
The end is near, he thought.
All of his joints went tense every now and then, he couldn't flex his servo without flinching from a pain from his cable, his frame's colour becomes duller than what they once had been, and his system programs take much more time than what they usually do to access a simple program and work properly.
Optimus slumped on his seat behind the desk. There are still several datapads that he needs to verify. He'll not leave Cybertron on an unfinished task without anyone knowing what to do. So he grabs them and begins to read each datapad, writing down things that should be taken into account, the most logical answer he could think of with his already overworking frame.
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"You should comm me the moment you feel it hurts!" Ratchet shout went louder by each nano-klik Optimus didn't give him an answer. "Look here, Optimus. I know you want the best for Cybertron but you're already doing enough! There's Rodimus, Prowl, Magnus, hell even Stsrscream or any other mech out there who can replace you, and you! you need a fragging rest!"
"I—"
"What? Just because you're a Prime before, you don't need to always be the one to solve anything!" He cut through his word, still fuming but didn't move from Optimus's side the entire frame.
"I'll take a rest Ratchet," Optimus spoke slowly, he offline his optic and took a deep vent.
"How much time do i have before everything shuts down?" He online his optics again, staring at the dusty white ceiling of Ratchet's small clinic.
He didn't get his answer right away. There's nothing from Ratchet, not even the previous grumble.
Several kliks have passed.
"Is it that worse?" He crinkled his ridge. Trying to retain his calmmess in front of his friend.
"You know I'm older than you, but knowing you left first before me was— well..." He didn't finish his word.
"Tell me. Tell me so i can prepare."
"A deca-cycle, at best. I noticed some of your internal programmes start to decline and went down, including your frame heaters system," Ratchet said in a low tone while showed Optimus the result of his earlier scans, his rage has calmed down but his EM field now filled with distressed and sadness.
"I see..."
"Will you recharge at my place?"
"Why would i recharge there, i would only disturb your time with Drift." Optimus tried to stand up slowly from the medical berth, but a sudden nausea hit him.
Ratchet took a fast action when he noticed Optimus's unbalanced stance, he put his servo over his shoulder. "So I can monitor you properly when something like this happens again. Sit down here first, I'll grab a cube to tone down the nausea."
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The news of Optimus's worsening condition spreads across Cybertron in a single cycle. Some of his old friends decided to go back from their expedition across the universe, from their current work and labour once Ratchet verified the news. They decided to accompany the now ex-Prime on his last few cycles, at least he'll not be alone on his death berth.
Rodimus was the first to come, there's a big smile on his face and he's holding a stack of datapads Optimus's unfamiliar with.
"What is this Rodimus?" He took one of the datapads when Rodimus finally put it down beside him. He eyed it carefully, reading the title and swipe down to read the content. "I didn't know you enjoyed this kind of thing," Optimus said with a light chuckle, he waved the datapad and put it down on the table.
It was an erotica novel.
The most vulgar thing Optimus ever read after four million years of nothing but important documents, tactical defense, and anything regarding Cybertron.
"I don't know, i just thought maybe you can release all your pent up while reading them?" Rodimus shrugged his shoulder and took another datapad from the stack. "Look this one is about a warlord and a priest!"
"I'm dying Rodimus, not on heat."
Rodimus clicked his glossa, then sat down beside his mentor on the bench outside of Ratchet's house. "At least count the thought, I'm helping you here!"
"I know, thank you Rodimus."
Neither of them is speaking after that. For two micro-cycle Optimus was deep in his thoughts while reading the novel Rodimus brought to him, and the mech beside him was just watching. His field lashed with anxiety, but Optimus said nothing.
"I need to go back, Prowl bugging for a meeting. He sure pours a lot of your work on me." He stands up from the bench, ready to transform before feeling a warmth servo holding him on the shoulders.
"Rodimus, you're going to be just fine."
You took my servo without a word,
Guiding me where the sky felt closer to us.
And there, among the scattered lights in the sky,
One star burned brighter than all the rest.
More mecha knocking on Ratchet's door, wants to have a talk or at least a word with Optimus, but his condition worsened faster than what Ratchet has anticipated, and with a weighted spark he had to reject anyone who's not close enough to him.
The ex-Prime now can only lay on his berth, he already lost control over his pede, even when he put a lot of force to move them at least a bit, he can't. His pede won't budge from where they're planted.
Before that, he was standing at the big window on the house kitchenette, watching Hadeen settle down. But then his pede starts to wobble, it feels like they turned into energon jelly. And Optimus falls down on his back, making a loud noise that startled Drift from his meditation in another room.
Ratchet dashed from his clinic once he got the comm, asking First Aid to watch over for the rest of the cycle. When Ratchet got there, Drift had already moved Optimus to lay on the nearest couch he could reach.
Now he can only lay in the berth.
Losing control of his limb.
Couldn't watch Hadeen settle down.
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Ratchet was shocked to open the door and found a towering grey frame The ex-Warlord was standing in front of him, shifting weight between his pede while tasting a word to say on his pressed lip plate. "How long..." He trails over his own words.
"What do you want Megatron?"
"I just want to know, how long will he last?"
"Not much time anymore I'm afraid. He can't even lift a digit now, so I had to inject him with energon liquid every now and then. And he hasn't spoken at all since the last time he's fallen over." Ratchet let out a breathy vent, his servo placed on his helm. "Come inside."
Megatron followed Ratchet closely behind him, turns out Rodimus and few others had already been there when he reached into the room. They sat together on a corner, didn't want to crowd Optimus's berth but still wanted to be close enough to see him.
"Megs, can't believe i see you here!"
"Tried to come faster but the work held me down."
Rodimus patted the vacant seat beside him, "Come here Megs, we're discussing the datapads i brought for Optimus. He had actually finished reading all of them."
Megatron shot a glance towards the ex-Prime, he's still in deep recharge, oblivious to the living world around him. Then he sat down beside Rodimus and let out a disgusted look on his face plate once he noticed the datapads Rodimus talked about. "Optimus read all of these?" He asked with visible revulsion.
"He did, probably because got nothing to do."
"He has always enjoyed reading since early cycles, but never in my whole life will I see him reading this."
"Pfft, well you don't know what a mecha can do when they're bored to death." Rodimus picked up another datapad and shoved it in front of Megatron's face, "I asked Optimus what he thought about this one, and you know what he said? 'The plot surrounds them was good and well written, the bittersweet ending was, on note, spark crunching. But their interfacing moment at the church honestly baffled me' with a serious look."
"I didn't need to know all of that Rodimus."
"Oh but this is fun!"
Megatron only lets out a faint grumble over Rodimus's ramble and stands up, walking towards Optimus. He settled down on the chair beside Optimus's berth, watching the ex-Prime chassis ups and down as he vented in his recharge. Megatron brings his digit to lightly tap on his servo, when the recharging mech doesn't budge, he gently interweaves their digit together. Slowly caresses Optimus's servo with a stroke. "I would have showed up the moment you comm me about your condition and gave you all of my poetry work instead of whatever Rodimus gave you."
"You write poetry?" Ultra Magnus stood beside him.
"Hm... It's been a long since i write a new one. But Optimus knows I write some, heh, a lot actually."
"Is it back then in the mines?" Drift joined them, pulled out another chair to sit down a few steps away from Megatron. "I only know you write Towards Peace."
"Yes, some of it while we're still at the mines, and the rest was after I became a gladiator. He's the one who helped me write them, gave me a note and so."
"Ohh, you're the poet and he's your poetry!" Rodimus said as he placed his servo over Megatron's shoulder. He's beaming with a grin, his whole face lit up to know his previous leader and co-captain past relationships. "Why not recite him your poetry again, maybe he'll wake up, or even better, get healthy again."
Megatron pondered the thought. It's really been a long time since he read or wrote a poem and to read them here, was to show these mecha how much he loves him in their early days. "Alright, i could do that."
So he pulled out a worn out datapad.
The stars above us had long since settled
Into their plaves across the dark,
Yet i found myself reaching for them again,
Simply because you stood beneath them.
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"Dee, what did you write?" Orion comes from behind him, placing his helm on Megatronus's shoulder.
"Nothing much, still the same one," he responded without turning his face away to Orion from the datapad he's holding. He wanted to write more poetry, but becoming a gladiator didn't leave him a free time to even properly rest his beaten frame.
"Ah, the poetry. You should tell me that you still write one, i can go to the archives to borrow more guide."
"No, it's alright, Pax. I want to try on my own."
"Hmm, what is that? About a star?" Orion murmured, reading each word his lover typed down on the slightly cracked datapad. "I didn't know you really like stars."
"Because you're the star." He gave Orion a light peck on his cheek, and the cop's face went red. "Now shut up and let me finish, or I'll let Elita-1 beat you to pulp."
"Alright, wake me up when your watch time over." Orion kissed him in his helm, then stepped back with a faint chuckle, he lay down to recharge and offline his optics.
The sky outside of the cave they slept in was breath-taking, a dark canvas filled with many glows of stars. And Megatronus continued where he left.
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I could have watched the heavens forever,
But my gaze never left that single light.
And if i were granted one wish by Primus,
It would not be for tge stars to remain—
But only for you.
"He wakes up! Ratchet! Ratchet, Optimus wakes up!" Rodimus ran down to Ratchet's room the moment he noticed Optimus's optic blinked several times before falling over them. "RATCHET IT'S MIRACLE!"
"Tone down kid, he's sick!" Ratchet stepped closer to the berth, he muttered something about Rodimus but everyone doesn't give it an ear, their attention glued the previous leader. "Optimus. Good you see me."
"I'll scan your fram—"
The spark rate monitor that has its cable planted on Optimus's frame showed the spark rate began to drop, Ratchet stopped at what he doing, his optic went wide.
"No, no. Hold down Optimus!" He scrambled to another screen, digits tapping on the keyboard as he trying to stop, decode, doing anything for his friend.
"Ratchet! Ratchet, what happens?!" Rodimus shouted from where he stood and began pacing, both of his servos grabbing his helm in a distressed field.
Drift stood close beside his conjunx, ready to assist whatever he needed. Ultra Magnus steps backward from near the berth, not wanting to interfere the emergency conditions. The other mech in the room joined him and stuck close to the corner of the room.
And amidst all of that, Megatron didn't stop from reciting his poetry to Optimus. His digits still close to him, practically gripped it and gave a few strokes.
Optimus could feel it.
The end is here, he thought.
So he retracted his mask away from his face, the only internal programmes that's still working was now only his helm. He turned around to watch Megatron diligently read his datapad beside him.
He knows that poem, he's familiar with it.
Probably because it was made for him.
His frame starts to turn grey, and as the last attempt he could make, he called for him, "Mega— Tron..."
The mech pulled his attention away from the datapad, his now red hexagonal optics locked with his old love, the mech he once bonded to. "I'm here, Optimus."
"Thank you." A peaceful smile was in his face.
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If there is another night beyond this one,
Another sky waiting beyond the horizon,
I hope it is kind to you.
I hope the stars watch over you—
As faithfully as i once did.
And should you ever look upward,
Know that somewhere among those endless lights,
A part of me is still wishing for your happiness.