The Final Hope - Transformers Prime (3)

Chapter One

  "No!" I screamed, pounding against the glass of the back window. "Stop! Smokescreen, stop!"

  "I'm sorry, A," He said and he really did sound sorry. "But I have orders."

  "No!" Tears were falling down my face now as the base became distant, as Optimus became distant. "We can't leave him! Optimus!"

  I could see the Prime watching as we drove, and I knew he could see me, but that meant I could also see how he let his emotionless mask fall. The same grief and pain was plain on his face, not concealed at all anymore, which made me cry that much more.

  I gasped as I felt a tug on the end of my powers, drawing me towards a pile of rubble.

  "A?" Smokescreen asked, and I could see slight concern on his face.

  I pointed at the pile of rubble. "There. Optimus is there."

  "What are you-"

  "Smokescreen, don't question me and just go there, okay? Optimus is over there, I can feel it."

  I heard the rookie mutter something under his breath, but he did as I said, ducking close to the ground as he weaved through the rubble. Smokescreen hesitated for a moment before phasing through the pile, the entire time that tugging feeling getting stronger within me. Then we saw him.

  Immediately, I gasped. I think Smokescreen did too. Still, we had no time, not with the Decepticons all around us.

  I tapped Smokescreen's shoulder. "We need to move. Grab his upper body and I'll get his lower. We'll bring him to that cave."

  Smokescreen didn't move, so I punched him again. "Come on, Smoke, we've got to go. We don't want to deal with the Cons now, we can't!"

  That snapped him out of his daze, and we got to work.

  Turns out, bringing an unconscious (at least, I hope he was) Prime to a cave while the surface is crawling with Decepticons is a lot harder than you might think. Still, Smokescreen and I managed to get him to the cave, and prop him up against the wall. That's when I finally took in how bad he looked.

  I've seen Optimus hurt more than a few times. I've seen him get the crap beaten out of him, I've seen him battle the Cybertronian version of the plague, and I've seen him walk away from all of that. But now, in the dinky cave and with the wreckage of the base above us, I couldn't help but feel tears lodge in my throat because I've never seen Optimus so... defeated.

  His body was more than bruised and scratched, it looked bad. He had wounds with energon dripping out, his once proud exterior covered in deep wounds and dust that seemed ingrained into him. Once Smokescreen set him down against the wall of the cave, I hurried to climb off the rookie's shoulder and onto Optimus' chest, feeling terror as it barely rose and fell.

  "He's hurt," Smokescreen said, but not dumbly, more worried. "But he probably looks way worse than he feels."

  I put my hands on the Prime's chest, using my powers to get a sense of how hurt he really was. "No, Smoke, he's really, really hurt. I-"

  The Prime groaned suddenly, shifting slightly, but enough to send pain through his body, enough pain that I could feel.

  "Optimus, don't move," I said quickly, looking up to see the Prime's eyes searching for me. Once they found me, his flickering gaze filled with a million different emotions, but Smokescreen cut him off before he could say anything.

  "Don't move or talk," the rookie said, his tone shockingly serious. "Just power down. Get your strength back." He looked towards me. "Amanda and I got you covered."