I do not own Transformers

To Fly

How he ached to stretch out and take flight

To be free

Absolutely

Completely

Free

Optimus Prime sighed as he gazed out his window. It may not be strange for an Autobot to have these feelings. Everyone wants to fly once in their lives, but to suffer from sky hunger is strange, for that is what Optimus was feeling. He had been denying himself what he wished for the most. To preserve a secret he had kept since before the academy. A loud crash tore him from his thoughts. Sighing again, the young Prime turned from the window and left to find out what was wrong this time.

Outside the small repair ship, a scene that was becoming annoyingly common met the Prime. A large green mech was wrapped in his lines with his wrecking balls stuck in a cliff face. Large scorch marks decorated his frame, the rocks, and the crew. An old red and white medi-bot was yelling at two very young yellow mechs. The two were standing side by side, looking very guilty. Their armor held the most damage. Optimus just sighed again.

"Ratchet. Do I even want to know?" The medi-bot, Ratchet, turned and huffed at the commander.

"Depends, if ya wanna know how these two glitches used their mods to cause all this damage!" He gestured to the scorch marks everywhere.

"Hey! We were just trying to help." One of the younglings spoke, he had red marks on his face with a visor on top his helm.

"Oh yeah crazy mods?" Ratchet snapped back. "Then I suppose trying to set fire to an asteroid was helping!"

"Oh like you can do any better!" The other yellow mech demanded. He had black marks on him, his helm had two little horns decorating it. Optimus just sighed.

"All right everyone, let's stop arguing and get to work. Hot Shot, Bumblebee," The two yellow bots perked at their names. "Get Bulkhead down." They nodded and ran up a ledge that overlooked where the big green mech was and where his wrecking ball was stuck. "Ratchet, help me move some of these rocks." The red and white bot huffed, but started to move the rocks with magnets that came out of his wrists. When the yellow bots got Bulkhead down, they started to help out. Suddenly, Optimus noticed something. Looking around, he noticed someone missing.

"Hey where's Prowl?" He asked. Everyone looked around but couldn't find the mech.

"Maybe he didn't want to help out." Hot Shot muttered, Bumblebee nodding his head in agreement. Then suddenly, two sharp flying things came out of nowhere and slashed a bunch of rocks that Optimus and Bumblebee were trying to get at. Then the sharp things flew back from where they came from, getting caught by a small, dark mech.

"You just have to know where the week spots are." A voice said, before the mech stepped out of the shadows to show a slim dark frame with gold highlights.

"Ya know, a little warning would be nice!" Hot Shot snapped. Prowl just ignored them and stood outside of the group. Optimus stepped up onto a rock to catch everyone's attention.

"Listen everyone, I know we're all stuck out here on a thankless assignment." Optimus spoke, the speech passing effortlessly since he practically lectured the others with it. Ignoring Prowl's and Hot Shot's comments, he was glad he was able to diffuse the situation at least.

"Together, we can move mountains." He finished, when all pit broke loose. The spacebridge behind them all, exploded.

"Bad choice of words big bot!" Bumblebee exclaimed, trying to keep a hold of Hot Shot. Optimus acted without thinking. His battle mask snapped into place as he activated his grappling hooks and latched onto a nearby asteroid. He swung himself over to the two yellow mechs and grabbed both of them in one arm, keeping his momentum and releasing them far enough away for them to run and keep away from flying debris. Then he effortlessly released his grappler and rushed over to Ratchet's huddled form, taking out and activating his battle ax, destroying incoming debris. Ratchet ran off, out of the way and toward the two younglings.

Then Prime saw Prowl's jump boosters fail him and used his ax's thruster, propelled himself up to catch the black mech, also releasing a net to catch the debris falling toward Bulkhead, using them to stop his momentum and descend to the asteroid, releasing Prowl. He then narrowed his sights on the spacebridge, extending his ax's handle, and pole-vaulting forward, he used his grappling hook again and hit the bridge's control panel, deactivating it. When everything calmed down, Optimus let everything that happened settle into his circuits. Well, it wasn't necessarily flying, but it helped. He then turned around and saw everyone watching him in shock and awe.

"Impressive." Prowl stated while closing Bulkhead's gapping jaw.

"Where'd you learn moves like that." The large green mech asked.

"I learned at the….Autobot academy." Optimus hesitantly spoke, his mask disengaging and stowing his ax back in subspace. In truth, he actually knew how to do stuff like that since he was a sparkling, the academy just helped him refine a few moves.

"That was totally wild!" Hot Shot exclaimed while jumping around. "You were like whoosh while me and Bee where trying to hang in there, and the way you saved Ratchet and Prowl, oh Primus that was so cool. Wasn't it Bro?" Hot Shot asked Bumblebee who was being repaired by Ratchet, but nodded at the other yellow mech's statements.

"So what's an academy bot doing commanding a broken down maintanece crew?" Ratchet asked, finally finishing repairs on Bumblebee.

"Yeah. Shouldn't you be commanding the Cybertron Elite Guard or something?" Bumblebee and Hot Shot asked together. Optimus didn't bother answering, trying to hide the bitterness on his faceplates. But a strange blue light caught his attention. It was coming from one of the larger pieces of debris. Walking over and taking his ax out, he ignored the warnings from his crew as he released whatever was trapped in the rocks. It was a fairly large box of some sort with the blue light emanating from it. That was the start of all the Autobots' troubles.

Later…

The first thing Optimus was truly aware of was the sound of the ship's alarms blaring and the Teletraan-1 computer voice announcing an intruder. His stasis capsule opened and he stepped out, rubbing his aching processor. Now he remembered why he hated those things, they always left his processor reeling. He also hated that his processor would replay loops of his memory files. He remembered the feeling of absolute freedom, the one true joy that he wished for with all his spark, the total openness that he was denied here, causing his hunger to nearly overcome him, making him desire to bolt out of the ship and stretch out right then and there, but he had to take care of other matters first.

"How long have we been in stasis?" He asked, making sure the others were alright.

"And what's with the alarm?" Bumblebee asked, rubbing his auditory horns in pain from the assault of noise. As the others tried to figure out what was going on, Prowl noticed something odd. A brown blob of something had made it's way into the ship, and somehow got into the same room as the bots.

"Probably something to-" He began, reaching for the blob, but was surprised when it latched onto his arm. He tried to shake it off, but it just stayed attached, but thanks to Ratchet and his magnet's, it came off without any damage to Prowl's arm.

"Eew, gross." Hot Shot said, getting close to Ratchet's magnetic field and examining the blob.

"Whatever it is, it's definitely got circuitry and….something else." Ratchet identified. Optimus made his way to Teletraan and requested it to scan the area. He hoped the Decepticons weren't around, he didn't want to go another round with Megatron if he could help it. Their last fight was so bad, he nearly let his secret go just to try and survive against the Decepticon leader, thankfully luck was on his side, but he doubted that he'd get that lucky a second time. Teletraan quickly relayed footage of the conflict right outside their ship. A large insect like creature was terrorizing the area.

"Look's like those guys could use some help." Bumblebee noted.

"And fast by the looks of it." Hot Shot nodded in agreement. Optimus agreed and ordered the computer to scan the area for vehicle modes. Optimus knew the computer was programmed to scan vehicles that would best suit the bots mass and size so they weren't really allowed to choose their own vehicle modes, but still, internally he hoped a tiny bit that he would get a mode with flight capabilities, it would make taking care of his needs much better. After the scanning was completed, and they transformed into vehicle mode, he had to squish the disappointment he felt at his vehicle mode, but he did feel better that his mode did hide his markings, so it wasn't very difficult to sound upbeat to the others.

They quickly made their way outside and watched as the other vehicles retreated from the monster. He ordered everyone not to engage the thing, for fear of Decepticons being around. But also, he was afraid that he'd be forced to show his true self to the others. If he had the last time he fought something organic, one of his closest friends would probably still be online.

But when he saw a little organic child captured by the monster, he couldn't hold back any longer.

"What is that thing?" He heard Prowl ask.

"Whatever it is, it needs our help." Optimus responded. "Autobots, transform!" With that, they all transformed. The monster was stunned for a few seconds afterward, granting them the chance to attack first. Optimus took his ax out of subspace and charged at the monster with the others. "Autobots, attack!" Prime's mask engaged and the battle commenced.

Later…

The battle was fought quickly, Optimus glad that he had the restraint to keep himself in check, and glad that his reluctance hadn't cost another Autobot their life, though it was close. Without Sari's key, they would have lost Prowl.

Optimus stood outside the old plant that their new friend Sari had given them to live in, since their spaceship was now at the bottom of Lake Erie. To be honest, Optimus didn't particularly care, he was much happier outside in the large open spaces instead of cramped in the small ship. Why Ultra Magnus gave him such a small ship to command he would never know, but he hadn't really been in a position to be picky.

Now he was watching the night sky as his teammates explored the plant and claimed rooms. He, of course took one with a large window that showed the sky beautifully, though he sort of wished for the one with the open roof. He had actually thought nobody would have wanted it, but he wasn't going to argue about it with Prowl. It would make bots question why he'd want it that badly.

Looking up at the moon and stars, he was sourly tempted to just throw orders to the pits and stretch out. But then he remembered the promise he'd made, way back when, and stamped down on his desires. He knew he'd have to go out sooner or later to take care of his hunger, but his sense of responsibility kept him where he was, even though he was sure no one would see him.

Flashback

"Remember Optimus. You must never show anyone, unless you trust them absolutely. Do you understand?" A large, red and black mech asked a small blue and red sparkling.

"Uh huh." The sparkling nodded, even though he barely understood what was being asked up him.

"I want you to promise me this. Promise?" The older mech asked again.

"I promise." The sparkling answered. The mech smiled and patted the sparkling's helm.

End Flashback

Back then it had been easier to keep his promise, he was allowed to go and take care of his needs whenever he wanted. But when he entered the Autobot Academy, it had been harder. He wasn't allowed off the premises without a good reason, so his hunger crept up on him harder then ever. Then there was the incident with Sentinel. That was when Optimus was glad he kept his promise and not told anyone, because if he had, he was sure Sentinel would have thrown him to the cyber-wolves in less than a klick. Sighing and staring forlornly at the moon one last time, Optimus went back into the plant and headed to his room, unaware of a set of optics watching him from the shadows.

Prowl watched as Prime went back to his quarters. The Ninjabot had originally come out here to watch the nightlife of nature when he spotted his leader staring up at the sky with a look of yearning that spiked a thread of curiosity in the normally cool and distant ninja. He watched Optimus the entire time he was outside, noting how many times he kept sighing sadly and watching the moon, like he wanted to grow wings and take flight like a Seeker.

At first, Prowl shook off this thought, thinking it nonsense that a straight-laced Autobot like Optimus Prime would wish to fly like a Decepticon. But then he recalled all the times he saw his leader glance up into the sky and stare hungrily at nothing. Even though Prowl didn't know Optimus that long, he was startled to recall this happening more times than it should. It was worrying, and made Prowl's imagination run away with him.

Could Optimus be a Decepticon in disguise? He did execute some impressive moves when the spacebridge they were supposed to be repairing exploded, and even saving him from that large monster after they woke from stasis, which he was loath to admit. He also took on Megatron all by himself and defeated him. But there was that moment in the battle that they all lost sight of him, Megatron, and the Allspark.

The more Prowl thought about it, the more evidence he saw that pointed to Optimus being a Decepticon. Why would a Prime be on a maintenance crew? The Elite Guard don't just throw out their own and place them somewhere like here. And why did the Prime always spout off Autobot ideals like he rehearsed them a hundred times over? And then the ninja remembered how Optimus ignored them when he caught sight of the Allspark's glow.

Setting a hard look on his faceplates, the ninja vowed to keep a very close optic on the young Prime. If he was a Decepticon in disguise and after the Allspark, then Prowl would take him out. But before then, he'd have to wait. Nodding to himself, the ninjabot slowly made his way back to his room, being extra careful of the Prime's room.

The next day, the Autobots were enjoying exploring Detroit. Prowl had intended to watch Optimus the whole day, but when he onlined the next day, Optimus had already left the plant. Cursing to himself, the dark mech took off after his leader, assuming he'd be difficult to find. But his assumptions were wrong, Optimus was at a nearby park, enjoying the weather and watching the humans and their younglings running around. He had found himself a grove of trees that hid him from prying eyes, as well as camera bots, while he had an unobtrusive view of his surroundings.

Prowl was actually surprised that Optimus would even be out using his time off to observe organics, but there he was, watching everything with a light smile on his faceplates as children ran by his hiding spot and birds flew from the trees, fluttering in surprise at the noise the kids made.

When the birds took flight, Optimus watched them all with a sad, fond look on his face, then returned to watching the humans. Prowl stayed by a statue of a human, carefully observing his leader, while seeming to observe other things and not at all appearing to be spying on his leader. But when some humans saw him and ran over with their cameras, he was forced to abandon his place and hide while the humans ran about, trying to find him.

When Optimus heard the humans yell at finding one of the Autobots, he had resigned himself to be gawked at and questioned, but was surprised that they were talking about Prowl. Optimus guessed that the dark mech was there to observe the organic life like he was, not at all guessing that he was there to spy on Optimus instead. Shrugging his shoulders he went back to his observations, until Sari found him. Bumblebee and Hot Shot had dropped her off at the Park since she wanted to spent some time with the Autobot leader. She had fun with the brothers, especially when she had learned they were twins, but she wanted to learn more about Optimus, who seemed to keep everyone at a distance.

"Hey Optimus!" The girl greeted him. Staring down in surprise, Optimus nodded his own greeting, not at all expecting to see Sari at all that day.

"Hello Sari. What are you doing here? I thought you were off with Bumblebee and Hot Shot." Sari smiled at the Prime's confused look.

"I was, but now I want to spend some time with you." Optimus couldn't think of any reason to refuse the girl, so he picked her up and placed her on his shoulder, getting up, and walking off to another location in the park. A few minutes later, Prowl returned to his spot and found the Prime missing. Cursing his luck, the ninja went off to look for Optimus at another location, assuming his leader had left the park. He was not going to let the Prime slip through his servos that easily.

"So how did you enjoy your day so far with Hot Shot and Bumblebee?" Optimus asked as they walked through the park.

"Those two are so funny!" Sari giggled. "Did you know that those two are twins?" She asked. Optimus chuckled at the girl and nodded.

"Of course. I am their leader after all. I have to know these things about my team."

"But they don't really look that much alike." Sari said thoughtfully.

"Well, not all twins look similar. There are a few who do look alike. But since twins are rare on Cybertron, not much is known about them." Optimus answered her.

"Really?" Sari asked in disbelief. "They're more common on earth, not everyone has twins, but they're not rare." Optimus looked thoughtful at what Sari had told him. 'It seams there are a lot about organics that we don't know as well.' He thought. They both stopped when they reached a part of the park that held playground equipment for the kids. He watched curiously as young children ran around, while the adults kept their younger children close to them.

"What's wrong?" Sari asked, seeing his confusion.

"We Autobots are programmed to respect the source of life and protect it at all cost. For us, that means one thing, the Allspark. Yet you organics are life, which means we must protect you as well. But how is it that you are able to make these new, smaller organics?" He asked pointing to a couple and their infant. Sari smiled and leaned close to his audio finial, whispering a quick explanation of where babies come from. When she was done, Optimus had a very freaked out expression on his face that Sari was a little confused about.

"What? Something I said?" Sari asked, not really understanding Optimus' discomfort.

"N-no." Optimus stammered, trying to regain his composure. "It's just…..just not what I was expecting." He turned and left the playground, Sari still a little confused by the Prime's reaction, but shrugged it off and went back to talking about her day with Hot Shot and Bumblebee.

"Oh I almost forgot!" Sari exclaimed and turned to look Prime in the faceplates. "My dad is organizing a grand opening for this new railway train and he wants to know if you guys will come tomorrow?" Optimus raised an optic ridge.

"I don't know Sari-" He began.

"Oh please!" She begged, her eyes getting bigger and her hands clasped under her chin. Optimus sighed, unable to stand against the little girls eyes.

"I'll talk about it with the others." He conceded.

"Yes!" Sari cheered. Optimus smiled at her, but let it fall as he thought about what she had asked of him. He was glad to finally be thought of as a hero, it was something he had always wanted since he was a sparkling. But with all the humans looking at him and the other Autobots, like they were something to observe, it made him feel very uncomfortable. And also made him realize the full impact of his promise. If he had told any bot about what he was, that's how he would be treated for the rest of his function. But it got harder and harder with each passing solar cycle of hiding. He knew he could escape for a few hours and hide out in the nearby forest, nobody would think to find him there, and there wouldn't be anyone around to see him.

But then his sense of responsibility told him not to, that there were people here that needed him. What if something happened while he was gone? He wouldn't be much of a hero if he let that happen. Sighing quietly, Optimus carefully scooped Sari off his shoulder so he could transform.

"Come on Sari." He said, opening his door for her. "Let's get you home. It's getting late, and I'll need to speak with the others if you want us to be there for your father tomorrow." Sari whined, but got into Optimus' cab and strapped in. She continued to chatter all the way back to Sumdac Tower while Optimus listened quietly.

"We're here." He quietly interrupted her. He opened his door and watched her get out.

"Thanks for spending time with me Optimus." Sari grinned. "It was fun."

"Anytime Sari." Optimus responded. Sari grinned and ran inside the tower. Optimus chuckled, feeling a bit better after spending some time with the girl, she had this infectious energy that made him forget all about his hunger. Rolling back to base, he wondered if the Autobots would object to actually going to the grand opening. He didn't want to force them to do something they don't want or need to do, but he also didn't want to disappoint Sari.

It wouldn't take that much effort to get Bumblebee, Hot Shot, and Bulkhead to go. The twin bots loved the attention the humans gave them, and wherever the twins went, Bulkhead was sure to go, they were his friends after all. Prowl's reaction was a little hard to figure out, he might want to go to observe a human celebration, but then he might just want to stay at the plant and meditate.

Optimus would have to think of a convincing argument to get him to agree. Ratchet would no doubt say no, but maybe if Optimus made him think that the twins would cause mass damage unsupervised, maybe Ratchet would go just to make sure the yellow speedsters wouldn't cause chaos. With a plan set in his processor, Optimus made the rest of the trip back to the plant thinking about all the things that had led him to where he was at.

The next day, the Autobots were all in attendance for Issac Sumdac's grand opening ceremony. Just as Optimus thought, Bumblebee, Hot Shot, and Bulkhead were all for coming to the ceremony. Prowl, surprisingly, agreed the moment Optimus asked him to go. Ratchet didn't take as much persuading as Prime originally thought. Once the medic heard that all the Autobots were going, he grumped that he might as well go too.

At the ceremony, Optimus tuned out what Sari's father was saying about the rapid transit system. He was concentrating more on not fidgeting too much under the gazes of the humans staring at them, and the camera bots flying around.

"-And especially our city's cybernetic superheroes for attending this magnificent grand opening ceremony." Sumdac finished. Optimus heard the cheers, but wasn't really feeling it.

"They keep calling us heroes, but I don't feel like a hero anymore than I did repairing spacebridges on Cybertron." Optimus whispered to Ratchet. He had thought he was a hero when the Autobots saved Sari from that giant bug and helping the city when a problem arose, but he didn't really feel like he was accomplishing anything. He had read many data pads, when he was younger, about heroes and their great adventures, but here and now didn't feel like anything he had ever heard about before.

"In my experience, heroes usually end up on the repair table or the scrap heap, and I'm not ready to join the Well of Allsparks just yet." The medic said back to Prime. Optimus just sighed, that wasn't really what he wanted to hear from Ratchet, but the bot had a lot of experience, too much to just toss away like it was nothing. So Prime just sucked it up and continued to listen to the humans around them. He was glad that at least the twins were having a good time and actually behaving themselves.

Glancing up at the sound of approaching aircraft, Optimus tensed, ready for a Decepticon ambush, but relaxed some when professor Sumdac introduced the planes as the entertainment for the ceremony. But he all but groaned in frustration, was Primus mocking him or something.

"For once, something that flies that's not a Decepticon." Bumblebee said in relief.

"You said it." Hot Shot nodded and watched the planes set off more fireworks.

'Decepticons aren't the only ones who fly' Optimus thought in irritation, but kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to make the others think he was some kind of Decepticon sympathizer or something.

"Odd." Professor Sumdac spoke in confusion, catching Optimus' attention. "I thought I only paid for six jets." Optimus looked up as the planes performed maneuvers that he all but scoffed at, he could do those things in his recharge. Suddenly a jet came straight at them.

"Is that guy nuts? He's coming straight for us!" Bulkhead asked.

"It can't be!" Ratchet said in disbelief. Then the jet transformed into a Decepticon and shot at them. Thankfully the humans ran out of the line of fire, but the Autobots weren't so lucky. They all were blasted backwards and collided with the train.

"Greetings Autobots." A scratchy voice said above them. Optimus looked up and saw a black and maroon Seeker looking down at them in contempt. "Mind it I crash the Party?" He asked, a smirk on his faceplates.

"A Decepticon? Here?" Optimus bristled, how dare this monster attack them with innocent bystanders around.

"The name is Starscream. Exulted leader of the Decepticons." The Seeker introduced himself, posing extravagantly.

"I thought that was Megatron?" Bulkhead said without thinking.

"Silence Autobot filth!" Starscream became outraged, firing at them, nearly hitting both Bulkhead and Bumblebee, but thankfully just caused them to fall backwards. The building that they rammed into was about to fall on them, but Optimus and Ratchet were able to get the two offline bots out of danger, but not before the Con shot at them again.

"Hey!" Hot Shot shouted, furious that this Con had attacked his brother. He ran straight at the Seeker, not caring that he wasn't a match for him.

"Hot Shot! Wait!" Optimus called out, but was ignored. He was forced to watch his teammate be swatted away like he was nothing by the Decepticon.

Prowl was next to run towards the Seeker. Starscream took to the sky, shooting continuously at the cyber ninja, but Prowl was quick enough to dodge the blasts.

Optimus was torn, he had the ability to fight off the Seeker, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Prowl was able to use his holograms to trick Starscream and attack him, but he wasn't able to cause much damage before he was thrown off the Seeker's back and landed in the middle of a street, causing an impressive crater. Luckily, the ninja was able to pick himself up.

"I expected more of a challenge from such great heroes." Starscream sneered. Optimus using his grappling hook and tying up the Seeker's legs wiped the smirk off his faceplates. Optimus tried his best to pull Starscream down to ground level, he knew he had the superior strength, but in the end, the Seeker had more leverage, flying off with Optimus tied to him. Starscream rammed the Prime into buildings and dragged him into the streets, trying to dislodge him. Optimus knew that he could've avoided the obstacles, but he didn't have the necessary stabilizers to help him in the air.

"I thought for sure you would have let go by now!" Starscream shouted down to him, sounding slightly impressed. "Oh well. No matter." He turned and shot off Optimus' line, causing him to plummet back to the ground below. He was lucky a truck broke his fall instead of the asphalt. Ratchet was at his side in a moment.

"You alright Prime?" The medic asked.

"I'll live." Optimus groaned out. To be honest, he survived worse falls before, this one wasn't going to keep him down.

"You call yourselves heroes?" Starscream scoffed, landing a few feet away and started making his way towards the Autobots. "You think you defeated Megatron? You did no such thing. I defeated Megatron!" He pointed to himself. "I planted the device that overloaded his circuits, his fate was sealed before he even reached your ship!"

"He's lying! Isn't he?" Bulkhead asked, having arrived after Starscream landed. Optimus couldn't answer to that, he did have a feeling that it wasn't him that defeated Megatron, not entirely. He had to have had some help from somewhere, who knew it would be from a Decepticon? Starscream raised his weapon to the Autobots, powering it up.

"Now bring me the Allspark, Autobot scum." He demanded.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Optimus lied through his denta.

"Really?" Starscream asked, not believing him for a moment and taking off into the air again. "Than I'll just have to destroy these puny creatures for no good reason." He set his sights on Sari and a few more humans. Optimus and the Autobots were forced to watch as the Decepticon fired at their friend and the humans, herding them into the rapid transit train. Sari was too slow to follow and was about to be blasted by one of Starscream's shots.

"Sari!"

"Watch out!" Suddenly two blurs of yellow shot out of nowhere and blocked the shot.

"Bumblebee! Hot Shot!" Sari cried, seeing her two friends take the shot for her. They both fell to the ground, unresponsive to the girl's cry. She tried to run towards them, but Starscream had already landed next to them, taking them both in his servo's, the Seeker threw Bumblebee into the train with the humans hiding inside and flew up into the sky with Hot Shot, who woke up.

"Let me go, you dirty Con!" Hot Shot demanded, the damage he took from Starscream's weapon not stopping him from struggling against the Con's hold. Starscream just smirked and held him away from his body by one servo. Then he addressed the Autobots on the ground.

"Now let's try this again. Bring me the Allspark Autobot scum!"

"My name is Optimus Prime." Optimus said, standing up and glaring at the Seeker. "And I'm prepared to sacrifice my life to defend the Allspark."

"Ah but are you prepared to sacrifice theirs?" Starscream gestured to the train and to Hot Shot, still trying to get out of the Seeker's hold. "You Autobot's and your pathetic heroics. You have one megacycle to bring me the Allspark, if not, this vesicle and all it's contents," He gestured to the train again, now flying directly above it. Sari was hiding nearby, hoping to get inside and help Bumblebee, but she couldn't go near it for fear of the Decepticon shooting at her again. "Human and Autobot, will parish. Then I will tear this planet apart until I find the Allspark myself!" Then he threw Hot Shot away with all his might and dove for the train.

Optimus couldn't take it anymore. If he didn't act now, Hot Shot would be nothing but a yellow and red smear in the ground with no one around to catch him. As Starscream was distracted with the train, he acted.

Hot Shot screamed as he was thrown from the Seeker. He closed his optics and curled into himself, knowing this was it, this is how his life was going to end. He just finished praying to Primus when suddenly, he stopped. He hadn't landed on the ground or on any building, his stop was much softer. Peaking through his servos, he saw he was in large, blue and red arms. Looking up, he saw a red chestplate with windows and further up, a blue helm with yellow accents. Smiling, Hot Shot breathed a sigh of relief, his leader had just saved him.

"Thanks bossbot, you really sa-" But he stopped when Optimus looked down at him and he caught sight of Prime's optics. They were larger than before, and they were gold, not their normal deep blue. Then Hot Shot caught sight of something even more strange. Prime's audio finials had something soft and blue growing on them. Then the yellow mech felt wind on his armor plating and looked down, screaming when he did.

He was still up in the air! He and Optimus were both somehow suspended in the air. Hot Shot couldn't help but clutch at Prime's chest for fear of falling.

"It's alright Hot Shot. I've got you." Optimus spoke softly. Hot Shot looked up with wide optics at his leader. Optimus had his battle mask engaged, but the younger mech could tell just by the warmth in his optics that the Prime wasn't going to let him fall. Then they started to descend and Hot Shot heard a strange sound. It was sort of a 'fwoop fwoop' sound. It took him a few klicks to realize the sound was coming from behind Optimus. Trying to see behind the Prime's shoulders were hard, but the yellow mech was able to see something red and blue rising and falling behind the larger mech.

When they were on the ground, Optimus let Hot Shot down gently, not letting go of him until he was sure the young mech was steady on his peds.

"Are you alright Hot Shot?" Optimus asked, taking a step back to examine the young mech.

"Yeah I am. But what about you bossbot?" Hot Shot asked, staring up curiously at his leader.

"Prime! Hot Shot!" They heard Ratchet call. Turning, they both saw Ratchet and Bulkhead heading right for them. They stopped a few feet away from both of them, transformed and stood in shock. Neither could say anything at what they saw of their leader.

"Ratchet, please look at Hot Shot." Optimus requested of the medic, who shook his head to rid himself of his shock and went right to work, repairing what he could of the yellow mech. Sari came running up to them, amazement written on her face.

"Wow, Optimus. I didn't know you had wings!" The little girl said as Bulkhead picked her up and held her in his servo. Optimus looked away from them, taking a few steps back.

"What's wrong?" Sari asked, as Prowl dragged himself out of his hole and walked up to the others, catching sight of Prime's new form. Optimus' optics had become twice their normal size, and much more intense looking, especially with their new gold coloring, his audio finials were covered in blue feathers, his servo digits had become longer, more talon like, and on his back were large, majestic wings made of red and blue feathers.

"What are you?" Bulkhead couldn't help but ask. There was no accusation or disgust in his voice, but Optimus still flinched, taking another step back, not saying anything. Prowl went toward him, stopping when he was close enough to touch Optimus' wings. He slowly brought his servo over to touch the feathers, Optimus watched him closely, but didn't take his wing away. The ninjabot felt the soft texture of the feathers, surprised that they weren't made of metal, but were 100% organic.

"Don't you bots know anything?" Ratchet grumped, still fixing Hot Shot, not taking his optics off his work. "He's a cross organic."

Everyone was stunned at what the medic just said.

"What's a cross organic?" Sari asked. Nobody seemed to hear her.

"But I thought those didn't exist!" Hot Shot said with disbelief, casting a glance at Optimus, who remained were he was. "They're a myth. A sparkling story!"

"What's a cross organic?" Sari asked again.

"Oh they do exist kid. Prime standing there should be proof enough, though I probably should have seen it coming." Ratchet said, finishing his repairs on Hot Shot and standing straight, giving Optimus a look. "You really should have told me, kid." Optimus bowed his head, not meeting any of their looks.

"HEY!" Sari shouted, gaining everyone's attention. When she was satisfied that she did, she asked again, "What's a cross organic?"

"Later Sari." Optimus spoke for the first time. "Right now we have bigger problems." He looked up to the top of Sumdac Tower where Starscream could be seen flying around. It was obvious he hadn't seen Prime's little display.

"Yeah!" Hot Shot agreed. "If we don't do something soon, what will happen to the humans, and my bro?" He was very upset, he could barley feel Bee through the bond that they shared as twins. He also couldn't stand that Bumblebee was in danger and he wasn't there with him. The two had always been together, always had and always would, but now, he was scared he would lose his brother. "What do we do?" He asked.

"Either give him what he wants and risk destroying Cybertron, or refuse and risk destroying this planet. Give up the Allspark or give up the Earth. How am I supposed to decide?" Optimus asked, clenching his hands into fists, the others wondering how his talons weren't tearing up his hands. Ratchet went over to the young Prime's side, placing a hand on his shoulder, mindful of the wings.

"Heroes are the ones who make the hard choices." He said. He had honestly hoped none of the young bots on his team would ever have to make a choice like this, but it seemed Primus had other ideas. Optimus took a few steps away.

"Maybe Ultra Magnus was right." He said in bitterness. "Maybe I'm not programmed to be a…a hero." He raised a fist up and clenched it tighter, his bitterness and anger showing.

"You're not alone." Prowl spoke up. Optimus turned to look at the ninja mech, who still remained where he stood. "A wise bot once told me, 'A machine is stronger than it's component parts.' Only I had to learn that the hard way." He held up his hand, palm down and looked expectantly at the others. They nodded and placed their hands together, all except Optimus. They all gave him expectant looks as they waited for his hand to join theirs.

"Are you sure you want to trust a cross organic?" He asked them, flapping his wings and flexing his talons for emphasis. They all looked at each other for half a klick before turning back to him.

"Of course."

"Sure."

"Why wouldn't we."

"You have to ask?"

Optimus smiled behind his mask, even though they probably couldn't see it. Before he did anything, he raised his wings up and held his arms out. Everyone was curious about why he was doing this, until they saw his wings starting to shrink and disappear, his talons shortened and returned to his blunt digits, and the feathers on his audios fell away. When he was finished, he looked just as normal as before. Retracting his mask he nodded to the others and carefully placed his servo with the others. Sari jumped onto the joined hands and grinned at everyone.

"Ok. So here's my plan."

A Short Time Later…

"Nice grab Autobot, but even you can't out run me on foot." Starscream said, having tried to get the Allspark, but Optimus had gotten to it first. He ran as fast as he could with the Allspark in his grasp and a Seeker on his tail. Prime couldn't think of anything to do except to keep the Allspark from the Con. He couldn't change with the Decepticon after him. He had heard of the horrible things the Con's did to cross organics before the war, he just couldn't risk showing himself to the Seeker.

"Why don't you set down that heavy load, and transform to vehicle mode?" Starscream mocked. Optimus growled, he was really tempted to show that Seeker, but hoping that the others would be able to make it in time to help him. Or not, Optimus saw with relief, Ratchet and the others up ahead of him.

"Ratchet! Think fast!" He called out, throwing the Allspark to the medic. Ratchet had just enough time to grumble before catching the Allspark. Optimus was really proud of the other Autobots when they passed the Allspark between them, keeping it out of Starscream's clutches, especially Bulkhead when he nailed the Seeker with his wrecking ball.

"Nice teamwork bots!" Optimus said as all the Autobots made their way to where Bulkhead was, who handed Optimus the Allspark. "Now, let's get the Allspark somewhere safe before-" Suddenly a large blast exploded around them, causing Optimus to lose his grip on the Allspark.

"I have had enough, of toying with you puny Autobots!" Starscream raved. He swooped down and captured the Allspark while the Bots were stunned.

"At last. The Allspark is mine." Starscream smiled wickedly, and activated the Allspark's power, demolished a whole city block.

"It's more powerful than I even imagined!" The Seeker shouted insanely. All the Autobots could do was watch as the energy of the Allspark was abused.

"It's our worst fear come to life. The Allspark in Decepticon hands." Ratchet whispered. Optimus narrowed his sights on the Decepticon, noticing Sumdac Tower right behind him.

"Not without a fight." Prime growled. He took a few steps forward, before turning to face the others. "I want you all to stay here."

"What are you gonna do, bossbot?" Bulkhead asked. Optimus turned back to face Starscream.

"Something I should have done from the start." Then he spread his arms out. The Autobots watched as their leader disengaged the panel on his back that held his light array. It folded back and the bots saw an intricate design on Prime's back. It was made of black lines that made an image of wings spread out on his shoulders. Then something strange happened. Slowly, small lumps formed from the markings that grew and spread out, turning into the Prime's magnificent red and blue wings. His servo digits lengthened and tapered into talons, and blue feathers grew onto his Audios. He turned his head to look at the others, showing his large, gold optics and battle mask.

"Stay here." He ordered then took off. He flew low to the ground, out of the mad Seekers line of sight, to the other side of Sumdac Tower and started to rise, using the tower to hide before striking.

"Now nothing will stop me from leading the Decepticons, and crushing the Autobots forever!" Starscream cackled. Optimus narrowed his optics as he reached the top of the tower. He took his ax out and took careful aim, throwing and landing a hit on the Seeker's delicate wing. Starscream growled and looked at where the ax had come from. Optimus took that as his cue and lunged at the Seeker, ramming him and causing him to release the Allspark. He dove and caught it, flying back up and facing the gaping Decepticon.

"Well well well. So the little Autobot leader is a cross organic. How interesting." He leered at the red and blue mech, admiring his wings and talons. "I must say, you look much more lovely this way." Optimus tensed and flew a few feet back, keeping the Allspark close. "Now why would such a lovely little Prime want to stay with the Autobots after all they did to your own kind." The Seeker tried to manipulate Optimus, trying to play off his doubts and fears. Yes Optimus feared what the Decepticons would do to him if they had found out about him, but he also feared the Autobots, which was why he kept his cross organic nature hidden. But he truly believed in the Autobots, that is why he stayed with the faction.

"What do you mean?" Optimus asked, trying to ignore the Decepticon, but his words needled into his processor. It was like the Seeker was voicing all the things that Optimus had always felt but never admitted to.

"I mean, what kind of faction would perform experiments and even ban cross organics from living on Cybertron on their fellow Cybertronians? And even after all that, you would still fight for them?" He gestured to the Autobots on the ground. Optimus cast a quick glance down to see his team looking up at them both. Optimus saw the looks of fear and worry in the younger bots optics, while Ratchet and Prowl both wore glares. Optimus knew, in his processor, that they were worried about him and angry with the Decepticon, but he couldn't stop the feelings in his spark that said they were afraid of him, and hated him for what he was.

Down on the ground, Ratchet watched as Optimus attacked Starscream and was able to get the Allspark back. But he was confused why Optimus wasn't trying to escape with the Allspark and just staying where he was.

"What's wrong with the bossbot?" Bumblebee muttered, watching their leader with worry in his baby blue optics. Ratchet didn't say anything, but he did have a bad feeling what was happening. His suspicions were confirmed when Optimus looked down at them, his optics shining with doubt and fear. Ratchet knew that the younger bots didn't understand what was going on, but the medic knew exactly what Optimus was experiencing, he had seen it many times with cross organics before and during the great wars, both sides manipulating cross organics until they literally were ripped apart.

"Prime! Whatever that slagger is saying, don't listen! Just get the Allspark out of there!" The medic called up, hoping that the red and blue mech heard him.

Thankfully he did. He nodded down at his team and leveled a glare at the Seeker.

"I don't care what you have to say Starscream. But you are not getting the Allspark." He quickly turned and dove, trying to gain speed to get away. Starscream scowled and rocketed after the Prime. Optimus wove around buildings and tried to lose Starscream, pulling every trick he had to get away. Quickly heading straight for a building, he waited till the last second before pulling up alongside it, flying straight up. Starscream had to admit that the Prime was good, but he was better.

When Optimus cleared the building, he stopped to catch his breath and see if he did lose Starscream. The Decepticon pulled the same trick Optimus did and surprised the young mech by rocketing past and shooting over his head, transforming in midair, and grabbing a hold onto the Allspark. Luckily, Optimus had a good hold on it. They both flew up higher, trying to loosen the others hold, but neither gave out.

"You are good, Autobot." Starscream cooed. "Why don't you just join the Decepticons? You'll no doubt be treated better than how the Autobots will treat you?" Optimus shook his head.

"No! I won't abandon the Autobots and hand the Allspark over to you!"

"Do you really think that those Autobots down there won't abandon you to the Elite Guard when they get the chance? At least with the Decepticons," Starscream leaned close to the Prime's face. "You'll be treated with respect for your fighting and flying abilities. Just hand over the Allspark." Starscream whispered poisoned honey. Optimus refused to listen to the Seeker.

"Never! You'll do nothing but abuse it. The Allspark is life." Optimus yelled in the Seekers face. Starscream scowled and pointed his weapon at Prime.

"Then let it end your's!" But before he had the chance to fire, the Allspark somehow activated. It's container opened, revealing it's crystalline form and shining so bright that both mechs and the Autobots on the ground couldn't see anything. Pure power radiated from the Allspark, pulsing out around the city and a large explosion erupted where Optimus and Starscream were. It seemed like forever before the light faded and the bots could see again. When the Autobots looked up, they were surprised that there wasn't any sign of the Decepticon or their leader.

"Where is he?" Hot Shot asked. All the Autobots looked around for their leader, fearing the worst.

"There!" Prowl pointed. Somehow, Optimus had latched onto a blimp that had been flying by the building he and Starscream were fighting over. He was critically damaged, holding onto the side of the blimp with one hand while holding the Allspark with the other, his wings flopping uselessly. Even if he wasn't critically injured, he wouldn't have enough strength to safely fly down to the ground. They quickly transformed and tried to hurry to where Optimus was, but they couldn't make it in time. They watched as their leader lost his grip and plummeted to the ground far below. When they made it to the area Optimus landed, they were horrified at what they found.

Optimus had caused a huge crater where he landed. His arms and legs splayed out, and his wings broken and sticking out at unnatural angles. His body was riddled with cracks and dents. Sari ran up to the young mech.

"Optimus?" She asked fearfully, hearing him moan lowly. The others gathered around, hoping that their leader was alright.

"So this…is what it feels like…to be a hero." Optimus gasped, closed his optics, and went offline, his body slowly shutting down. His colors bled out, turning his body to grey. Ratchet stepped forward and scanned Prime's chestplates, and shook his head sadly.

"There's nothing we can do now. His spark's extinguished." Prowl went over to where the Allspark fell and kneeled next to it, trying to hide his pain at the lose of their leader.

"He went saving the Allspark. That's what matters."

"What!" Hot Shot yelled. "How can you be so cold sparked? Optimus just died, and you're worried about the Allspark?" The yellow and red mech would have hit the ninjabot if his brother hadn't held him back. Suddenly, soft feathers started to fall around them. Looking up, they all saw they were blue and red. They had come from Prime's wings after he had fallen. This seamed to finalize the fact that Optimus was gone.

"No," Sari whispered, tears filling her eyes. "He can't be gone. He can't!"

"I don't think that leaking thing's gonna help you get what you want." Bulkhead spoke softly. Sari looked up at the green mech, but then a thought came to her and her face hardened in determination.

"But I know something that can." She climbed up onto Optimus' chest and pulled off her key, placed it on the dark chestplates, and opened them up, revealing the empty spark chamber.

"Sari," Bumblebee spoke up. "There's some things that can't be fixed. Even by your key." He spoke with more maturity than he possessed, but right now, he and his brother were hurting at the loss of their leader and friend. He also didn't want Sari to get hurt by trying to bring Optimus back and fail. Sari ignored him.

"Prime didn't give up, and neither will I." She said determinedly, turning her key inside Optimus' spark chamber. When she did, her key glowed and the Allspark reacted, power radiating from it and into the key, enveloping Prime's body. When Sari pulled her key out, she saw a spark ignite and expand to fit into the spark chamber. The chestplates closed and Optimus' body glowed, his colors returning and the damage repaired. He opened his optics and gasped.

"Is this…the Well of Allsparks?" He asked, his vision slightly blurry, but clearing up quickly to see a tearful Sari right in front of his faceplates.

"No. It's Detroit." Sari answered, then threw herself onto Optimus' faceplate and cried. Bulkhead leaned in close, confused.

"Hey, I thought you only did that leaking thing when your sad?" The green mech asked.

"You guys have so much to learn about humans." Sari giggled. Optimus blinked and slowly got up, carefully setting Sari back down on the ground.

"How ya feeling, Prime?" Ratchet asked, helping the young mech to sit up. Optimus winced as he moved his wings.

"Better than before I'm guessing." He answered, then turned to look at his wings.

"Oh Optimus." Sari gasped, seeing the mechs wings were still broken and twisted. He looked more like an angel fallen from grace than the proud warrior he was. "I'm sorry. I thought my key would heal you." Optimus smiled reassuringly at the girl and shook his head.

"It's alright Sari. I've broken my wings before and it hasn't caused me any permanent harm." He then tried to raise his wings and winced, gritting his denta. Ratchet slapped the back of his helm to get him to stop.

"Stop straining yourself kid. You're gonna hurt yourself worse. Now I might not be an expert on organics, but I have taken care of a few cross organics in my time. So you'll be as good as new in no time, but don't you dare try moving those wings or retracting them until I can get a better look." The medic poked his leader's chest to emphasize that he should be listened to. Optimus just nodded his head and accepted Bulkhead's help in standing.

"Than let's get back to our ship. We can hide the Allspark there and you can take a look at me." The red and blue mech said, the Autobots nodding. Bumblebee and Hot Shot had the biggest smiles on their faceplates, relieved that their friend was alive. Prowl was hiding it, but he too was relieved. Ratchet was just thankful he didn't lose any of his teammates, he had lost too much in the great wars, he doubted he had the strength left in his spark to lose another.

All the bots transformed and made their way back to their ship, Optimus having to ride in Bulkhead. The twins stayed by the green swat cars' side, giving their own rendition of how the fight between Optimus and the Decepticon went down. Prowl having to remind them to keep to the facts and not glorify the story (No Optimus didn't use a building's antenna to swat at the Decepticon. No Prime did not enter the outer atmosphere to lose the Con. Not Optimus didn't skewer the Decepticon to a building using nothing but a flagpole.) And Ratchet drove in silence, just contented that everyone was alive and well.

"So," Sari said from the medic's passenger side seat. "Someone gonna tell me what a cross organic is now or what?"

What do you think? More chapters or just a oneshot. Send a review and tell me what you think.