Title: The Clocks Were Asleep

Author: Red Wasabi

Disclaimer: Not mine, All characters portrayed are legal.

Notes: I owe a hearty thank you to imognen, without her this would never have happened.

Rated: M

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For moment all Optimus could do was stare dumbly across the poorly lit room at the blood and energon splattered face fiercely directing mechs and humans alike. It was times like these that scared and excited him. She had changed so much in the past decade…things had changed.

Sari's eyes briefly connected with his optics from across the room, and Optimus's spark fluttered deep within his chest plates despite her obvious aloofness. Some days…some days he could almost swear that she felt the same kind electricity sparking between them; that she could tell how her briefest of glances made his exo plating tingle with anticipation.

Opitmus turned away from the domineering young woman and began to walk to his small quarters; he could only hope that her quick and unforgiving eyes had not seen the way he flinched at her cold stare. He knew that he shouldn't lie to himself about Sari's true feelings; it would only lead him down a dark path of self loathing and guilt if he continued to delude himself like this…but…he couldn't.

From the day he met her, her uniquely organic exuberance and zest for life had warmed him to his very circuit boards; it didn't matter that every aspect that had once drawn him to her had long since drowned in the bloody tide of rebel warfare. He could still remember what she had once been, and what she could have been.

The doors to Optimus's private chambers closed with a quiet hiss behind him as he wearily trudged to his berth. He couldn't blame her for changing; the war had made—no, forced them all to change. Even he hadn't been immune; more and more often he found himself caving, fighting not for principles as he had in the past, but for revenge.

Optimus fell back onto his berth, allowing himself a quiet groan. He hated how he had quietly acquiesced everything good inside his spark in the name of victory; for what had Sari become—and yet.

Optimus's optics flickered in pleasure as he ran a single digit across his still pulsing spark chamber. He let out a low moan as his digits rubbed roughly against a sensitive group of servos. He could still see her savage scowl and wild eyes as she cut through the melee beside him. He knew that image would linger in his neural chips for ages after she was would be taken from him.

Optimus shuddered wildly at the memory of her hot fleshy body pressed up against the cool metal of his exo-plates. There was no feeling on Earth, or Cybertron like her battle rough hands splayed against his leg reassuring him that she was still there, still alive, still fighting against the formidable forces of Megatron, despite the fact that it had become a lost cause many years back.

The spark in his chest flared brilliantly as he tugged the thick cables that rubbed against his heated core. He was so close to—Sari's dark, angry eyes swept over him as they surveyed the damage of their last battle—Optimus threw back his head as a loud ragged cry slipped from his vocalizer. His frame spasmed wantonly against the stiff plating of his berth, and then the feeling was gone.

Optimus lay still on his berth as his cooling fans whirled loudly in the now silent room, working to quickly cool his systems down. Gradually even they too became noiseless and Optimus could once again hear the steady thumping rhythm of the base's infrastructure; it was almost like a human heart beat.

Optimus's shoulders shuddered bitterly in regret as he rolled over to face the cold steel wall next to his berth. He would never feel something as deliciously alive as her heart beat pressing up against him in the middle of the night, reassuring, calming, loving. He could only lay alone night after night in his berth wishing that she still had a heart for him to hear.

AN: You know it only took ONE icon to make me ship this pairing…it must have been one awesome subliminal message huh?